Ever since she was a child in South Carolina, Lisa Shaw has understood the importance of being a good host. “Hospitality was everything to my family. If someone came into your house, you better have a glass of water or ice tea waiting for them on a coaster with a napkin,” she said. But Shaw had no idea that she would eventually build a thriving business based on her flair for entertaining.
Shaw was working on Wall Street until the September 11 terrorist attacks forced her to reconsider her career plans. She started throwing dinner parties for friends in the backyard of her Brooklyn apartment. The parties gained popularity with local artists until her place became the place to be. Shaw was having fun, but a friend suggested she use her talent to start a business.
She decided to enroll in the culinary program at the Art Institute of New York City. And by the time she graduated with honors and found work in her field, she was married with two small children. But Shaw struggled to balance the demands of her new career and her new family. And she quickly learned that the restaurant industry wasn’t friendly to mothers. “Sometimes I would get to work at 5:30 in the morning and wouldn’t leave until midnight,” she says. Shaw grew frustrated with her inability to break the glass ceiling and decided that it was time to go out on her own.
In 2019, Shaw launched Lisa’s Boutique Catering. But when COVID-19 forced events to come to a screeching halt, she had to pivot once again. “I kept looking for ways to make
myself stand out during the pandemic,” she says.
She signed up for several free online workshops and used what she learned to develop creative ways to sustain her business, including catering virtual events and offering meal prep services. And her creativity is paying off. In the midst of the pandemic, Shaw launched an e-commerce business selling her homemade gourmet coffee cakes. “I started giving them out as gifts. I wasn’t thinking about selling them,” she says. Now, Coffey Girls Coffee Cakes have gained a national following. “Some of my biggest sales come from California and the East Coast,” she says. “It’s just a beautiful, fun passion project that has given me life.”
Shaw believes that her ability to create unique dining experiences is what sets her business apart. She works with her clients to curate menus that will wow their guests. “The food and music are what people will remember most about an event, so I try to get my clients to think outside of the box. It’s easy to slap sauce on something. But getting something homemade goes a lot farther,” she says. Her mojito chicken and signature mac and cheese are examples of her unique culinary creations and some of her client’s favorites. “The mac and cheese sauce takes 45 minutes to make,” she says.
Looking ahead, Shaw says she wants to continue her catering business and expand the market for her coffee cakes. She also wants to find a way to use her culinary talents to educate young people in underserved communities on the importance of healthy eating. She believes early education can help reduce instances of high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease that disproportionately affect people of color. “It’s nice to be able to turn what I love into a business. And not just one where I’m making money, but where other people can benefit as well,” she says.