I get this question a lot as I travel about town and all the other places I manage to end up visiting. “So, what do you do?” or “Are you still doing catering?”. I’ve answered this before but figured it’s time for an update.

We’ll start with what I’ve been working on today to give you a taste of a “normal” day in my world….

Up about 7am to eat a high protein breakfast. That’s part of my new goal of being in better shape and losing some weight. I’m in the muscle building phase and my trainer says I need more protein, less fat and no carbs…..

Put together the email newsletter and some social media stuff for Vintage Wine Shop. They’re one of my favorite clients to work with on marketing consulting. Not only because I do some of the work in trade which keeps my wine collection stocked, but also because they are awesome people who trust me to do what needs to be done without much oversight. If you want to get the emails and bash me for typos head over to their site and sign up.

Then off to a meeting with some new business partners about a retail project we are putting together. A bit early to spill all of the beans but think of places like The Ferry Building in SF and Pike’s Place Market in Seattle for an idea of what we want to bring to Reno later this summer. Excited for this one!

Of course my phone starts ringing off the hook from customers who need some last minute catering from Great Thyme. Have two new bids to send out today for parties that are coming up quick. I’m also finishing up some marketing pieces for my spot over at My Wedding Library to find some great new brides to work with this year.

Dad is on the way over to my house to finish up some work on his boat trailer. I built a garage a few years back at my house so I am the default workshop for most of my friends and family. Sadly, it’s full of extra catering equipment and “stuff” so I don’t spend much time building new things anymore.

As I’m writing this, I got a call about helping someone launch a brand of limoncello. They’re looking for someone to help take them from recipe to store shelves. These are the kind of things I love to work on. Get the concept down and figure out the execution, then let someone else take the reigns and go with it. It’s one of the aspects of my “old job” when my dad and I launched a marinade and spice company.

Sometime before the end of the day I will finish up a kitchen design, finish catering proposals, complete some business collateral pieces for my trainer (another great trade deal), write a post for Chow Reno that’s a few days over due and make some phone calls for a food event that I want to organize for this summer. And of course the personal stuff like laundry, dinner and packing for a trip to Seattle this weekend.

This all pulls together into a “dynamic” lifestyle that I absolutely love. I never stop strategizing and thinking about projects which satisfies my need to keep my mind moving. My breaks come in the form of tasks such as working with my dad on the trailer today. It gives me a chance to rest my brain and just use my hands which I don’t do all that much anymore.

A lot of people I know well give me a bit of a hard time for not working that hard. And really, I understand that. I don’t have a regular job, regular schedule or a regular paycheck. It changes from day to day and I won’t have it any other way!

Next time someone asks, I will just reply with “Trying to figure out how to make a buck without working too hard for it” and a sly smile……

I have a bad habit of constantly looking for new ways to do business. The reason I say that it’s bad is that it gets me off track from what I need to do. I know how to make money for myself, but I start to sway a bit and see opportunities pop up here and there that grab my attention.

I have two main loves when it comes to business. I’m married to the food world and marketing is my girlfriend. My catering business is the “cash cow” for now (not that I’m getting rich) that keeps the bills paid and affords me a bit of free time to build other ventures. Besides catering, I do a bit of business working with others to help them succeed in online marketing. I’m still defining my niche there, but have seen some successes with a few different folks.

My career in the foodservice industry has been a mainstay for my entire life. I’ll never leave it completely. But, I would like to expand and grow into a bit of a different direction than catering parties. Not that I hate it, I actually have a lot of fun working with my clients, it’s just that I don’t want to be loading grills and tables in a trailer when I’m 50….. So, I enjoy writing and I’ve had a fair share of people tell me that I’m good at it. I enjoy reaching out and interacting with other business people and learning about what they do and how they make themselves successful. Finally, I enjoy sharing my thoughts with people and building a community of folks that are interested in similar things.

I’ve found a way to tie all of this together into one project. I’m marrying my love for food, business, marketing and community into one in a way that I think most of you will enjoy. Early next month I’m launching a food news website. It’s not complete yet and I’m probably a bit early in telling you all about it but I’m excited to see it through. I will be sharing a chef’s inside look at new restaurant openings, new chef hirings, events, new menus, etc. Sort of a loose journalistic approach (I’m not a trained journalist) to food news. No reviews, a bit of professional opinion and hopefully the best source in town for foodie gossip.

I’m lucky to have a great friend by the name of Sam Shad that is going to be a part of the journey. You may have seen him on The Dining Show, Nevada Newsmakers, or on the local news for many years. He is sponsoring the new blog through the dining show and using his years of experience in journalism to keep us on track. We may be the first local, independent blog that has TV sponsorship

I’m also looking at teaching some classes in online marketing to business owners. I have been to a few of these events that others are teaching, I’ve watched a few on video. I think I can add a little bit of a different perspective since I have the experience from their end. I’ve been the guy running a retail store, managing employees and still overseeing an interactive marketing campaign. I was also running all of the marketing so I’ve seen how it can all tie together in a full marketing mix. Just last night I had two people ask me about doing classes like this. We’ll see where that one goes.

So there it is- back on track, keeping my focus to three ventures. Catering, the new blog and exploring the possibility of teaching others some things I know. If I start to sway, please slap me!

Here is what I would like from you, my loyal readers — If you hear of any good food news- restaurant openings, closings, new menus, etc. Or, if you simply have a great experience at a local restaurant or bar, shoot me an email at clint@clintjolly.com. I have a list of 15 or so stories I’m going to go after to get started but the more the better so I can stay ahead of the game. Also, when we have the site up and running in a few weeks I would love your help in sharing it with your friends that may be interested. You’ll see announcements here, Facebook, Twitter, etc. when we have the site live and things are rolling.

Cheers!!!

So I’m at my first tech conference. Well, at least the first big one anyhow…. It’s Tahoe Tech Talk time at Harrah’s in South Lake Tahoe. Closely followed/joined by a food and wine festival featuring none other than Gary Vaynerchuk and Anthony Bourdain!!

I’m new to this part of the tech world. I follow a lot of these guys in the online world, to the point that i feel like I know them. (Does that sound creepy???)

Anyhow the point is this- I had the chance to meet some awesome folks tonight. Walked up, said hi and found out that they’re normal people. There’s some sort of veil that hangs between the online world and offline world that makes it seem, to me anyway, that these folks are just a voice out in the cloud.

One of the coolest guys that I’ve met so far you probably haven’t even heard of, yet…. Charles Meyer. He’s a young man even in this room. But from the moment you meet him you know he’s excited about what he’s doing. Although he couldn’t tell me about most of it due to NDA’s, but promised it will be big. We’ve all heard that before.Hell, I’ve said that before! But for some reason i believe him. He recounted his story of opening a car detailing business at the ripe age of 13, which went on to service three different cities. I hope to see the young man do great things.

I met Charles sort of through Jen Friel. I was talking to a Reno local that I sort of know and said “Nerds are cool!”. Apparently that made her happy! You see, she runs Talk Nerdy to me Lover, so she obviously loves geeks. Check out her blog, it’s got a cool story behind it.

I then ran into the two ladies blocking the dessert table from Tweety Got Back. They love chocolate. I love food. Made for easy conversation. Turns out that they started out doing MySpace backgrounds quite a few years ago and turned it into a business. Smart ladies! And to boot, Heather Capri just about has me talked into getting into the voice over business.

As I walked out I saw Gary Vaynerchuk and Chris Sacca and had to say hi. A little surprised that Gary is a little guy in stature. But then again, most guys look little to me… Here’s the guy changing the wine world, writing books, leading many brands to fame and called to speak all over the world, standing in my backyard, shaking my hand. Then Chris Sacca in his well known “cowboy clown” shirt. This is one of the guys that funded twitter, that’s kind of huge to nerds…. He was texting/emailing from his phone, probably moving more money than I will see in a few years of hard work.

Another note- the conference hasn’t even really started yet, this was just the pre-event mixer. Harrah’s even had a mashed potato bar, I remember doing those a few years back….

Here’s what I learned- it’s still about the people. Regardless of who they are, what they’ve done or what they will do they’re just people. And once you understand people your life, especially in business, gets a little easier. Cheers to a great weekend. I’m off to find the after party, or middle party since it’s not over yet…..