Episode 8
Jimmy garcia
Founder of Jimmy Garcia Catering
ON THIS EPISODE OF ‘JUST ONE THING ’:
Our guest on this episode has been called the prince of pop ups, tycoon of temporary restaurants and Baron of barbecues, and the Sunday Times called him London's Pop-Up King.
Jimmy Garcia runs his hugely successful catering business like a creative agency, designing brand experiences with food for clients that include Google, Meta, Netflix, Pinterest, and Spotify.
He's a zero food waste champion with a passion for seasonality, locality, and provenance that ensures his food not only tastes and looks incredible, but also tells the story. His career journey to date has been a roller coaster ride doing things his unique way making the most of the luck he’s been given.
Watch Jimmy on YouTube or listen to him on Spotify, Apple or Google podcasts
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Dear Jimmy (aged 21 in 2008)
It’s great that you went to Uni and saw it through to graduation, not just because everyone said you should go– your teachers, mum and dad, sisters all had good reasons for saying that - but because that Business and Economics degree is going to come in handy (and you’ll have some great times!)
Now you’ve graduated though, start to listen to your gut, it’s going to stand you in good stead. Try to filter the advice you’re being given; you absolutely can make a living from something that you love.
DON’T follow the advice from brothers-in-law, that a job as a City trader is what you need – it will be a time you never get back and it will be the most miserable time of your life! Remember back to those special moments spent with your dad, Papa G, cooking outdoors in Northern Spain with things you’d gathered and even those beautiful occasions when you and him just shared a bowl of lambs kidneys while watching the footie on TV – those are the memories and feelings that will fuel the journey you take.
This is a bit of a cliché but trust me on this one – be nice to people. The people you meet and the network you create are going to be the key to your future success and will open many doors. Be open to everyone you encounter and absolutely respect the wisdom of the older ones as much as the energy and enthusiasm of your peers. Pamela Price will come into your life – she owned a catering company in the 60’s, she served the Queen Mum – and she will be a constant source of knowledge, encouragement, and advice. Along with Papa G and a guy called Richard Groves, these “experienced” people are going to be invaluable.
The new people you meet will become long standing friends, you’ll meet some of them when they’re in junior roles and they’ll grow along with you and become more senior in more businesses and keep you as a supplier and you’ll grow your own business as a result. Make sure you don’t miss Mona Mohtadi – she’s integral!
In fact, the £250 you spend not long after meeting her may be the best money you ever spend.
That thing about your gut? It’ll come good when you’re offered your first opportunity to do a job that just feels too big for where you are (It’s going to be on the Southbank). You WILL make that leap of faith though, you WILL resist the urge to get outside support and you WILL smile the biggest smile ever when the gates open and the bar is swarmed immediately!
That big job will just about coincide with the start of the best rollercoaster ride! You’re going to get to experience some remarkable highs and lows and it will be mainly highs!
On the way you’ll make some big decisions – the one that’s going to keep you awake the most is what you call the business. Please think long and hard before rushing to use your name. Yes, there’s an initial thrill about seeing it “over the door” but maybe you shouldn’t make it so personal, there will be times when you want you to feel separate from the business, and that’s really important.
Never ever be afraid to ask to be considered for a job, even if it’s for a massive global brand, because it’s still going to be an individual event manager or planner at that brand who is going to decide whether you’re the right person or not for them.You do You Jimmy and you’ll be alright.
Speaking of global brands, you will get to work with some of the biggest there are, from Rolex to Virgin but also keep your eyes open for a whole load more Social Networks that will follow Facebook…they are going to be very important customers for you!
Stop and congratulate yourself and your team more often – you really did work hard and you deserve it.
Once you start your own business, it will get to feel better and better and you’ll feel really free and totally in control – savour those times.
Some days you might feel trapped or burdened by the responsibility of being the owner and feeling responsible for other people outside of your family. Try to reflect on that and embrace the role you have.
Find good people to work with you and reward them well.
In 10 years’, you will feel secure enough to explore ways in which you can start to champion what’s important to you in terms of the planet and people. Sustainability will become the key driver in how you run your business and will be the gateway to a whole new network of collaborators. Don’t laugh, you’ll also be producing a massive tomato crop from your own garden! You’re more like your mum than you know!
Mistakes? Of course you’ll make them. Don’t EVER start an indoor BBQ restaurant with poor ventilation and highly flammable insulation! And don’t assume that everybody working with you will work as hard as you – it’s not their business it’s yours and they are still working hard.
Learn from those mistakes, keep saying Yes, stay creative and innovative with food, and make sure you give yourself some holiday time.
And one last piece of advice, whatever the request, say YES and then find the solution.
Big Love
Jimmy x (2023)
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Mel: If I Could Tell You Just One Thing is an event industry podcast presented by me, Mel Noakes.
Max: And me, Max Fellows.
Mel: It's a podcast from Elevate where industry leaders write a letter to their younger selves and consider what wise words of advice they would give themselves now, if only they could.
Max: Our discussion is based on this letter. Be prepared for refreshingly honest conversation and wise words of wisdom.
Mel: Our guest on today's episode has been called the prince of pop ups, tycoon of temporary restaurants and Baron of barbecues, and the Sunday Times called him London's Pop-Up King.
Jimmy Garcia runs his hugely successful catering business like a creative agency, designing brand experiences with food for clients that include Google, Meta, Netflix, Pinterest, and Spotify.
He's a zero food waste champion with a passion for seasonality, locality, and provenance that ensures his food not only tastes and looks incredible, but also tells the story. His career journey to date has been a roller coaster ride.
Welcome to the podcast, Jimmy!
Jimmy: Thank you.
Max: Jimmy, for those who don't know, tell the audience a little bit about yourself. Who is Jimmy? And equally, what do you do? And why do people know you?
Jimmy: My name is Jimmy Garcia, from Jimmy Garcia Catering and Jimmy's Pop Up. I run pop-up restaurants throughout London in some of the biggest high-footfall locations in London, including Somerset House and Southbank.
Then another side of my business is event catering. I kindly mention that we service lots of brands, corporations, and obviously, high-net-worth private clients as well. So about 70% of my business is split across that side, the events, and 30% is in the pop-ups.
Max: Before we get into it, if we were going to go out for dinner right now and I was going to ask what would be your favourite meal, the last meal you could possibly have?
Jimmy: Are you cooking?
Mel: Max is a great cook.
Max: I am quite good. Last meal…
Jimmy: There are a couple of things that I'll say. I've got my favourite restaurant in London [Hakkasan], but I recommend that the last meal on Earth would probably be my mum’s lasagna. It's really good. It is a banger. She's got all the crispy bits on the outside and just lots of memories of sitting around that kitchen table with all my sisters and stuff.
Max: Well, that's quite a nice segue, and then in terms of your mum's cooking and things like that, Tell us a bit about your childhood.
Jimmy: That's the only thing she could cook. She was really good at it. Then, the rest, my dad would do.
Max: Obviously, you're on the sofa now, and thanks again for joining us. We've asked you to write a letter to your younger self, and we've taken you back to the age of 21. What I love to do is kind of start by going a little bit further before when you talk about your mum's lasagna, great memories, and things, but tell us a little bit about Jimmy growing up and what kind of person you were as a kid and up to that age of 21.
Jimmy: There is a lot of energy. So I grew up in Wakefield, where my dreams are made and heartbroken.
Max: So it was like, I take that single.
Jimmy: You can tell us that a lot of times, mainly in bars with women. I grew up in Wakefield. My parents were both market traders. So, I used to do curtains and carpets in Wakefield, and I would go around. Obviously, there weren't many people. My dad was called Jesus. So, the house phone was the work phone, so everyone would ring the house phone and ask for Jesus. And I was a bit busy with that at the moment, but it's Sunday.
Mel: Christmas time is particularly busy.
Jimmy: Exactly. It's a birthday coming up. That was what we had in Wakefield. If I'm honest, my mum and dad used to work incredibly hard. It was six days a week. Sunday was church, and it was a day off. And they instilled in us pretty quickly that if you want something, you need to work really hard for it. So, yes, that was it. It was a lovely childhood. I would say my mum and dad didn't have a lot, but they always made sure that we had everything we ever wanted and needed.
When you get older and have kids, you realise the sacrifices that they made. Because when you are a kid, you just think that your mum and dad are there to live for you. Then, when you have kids, you're like, “Oh, god, they've done it.” Actually, you realise that, and I think that was a big realisation for me, so I was looking for that.
My dad is Spanish. So food has always been kind of in our DNA, and his way of relaxing was cooking. So, he'd work in the market all day, get back at 6 o'clock, and he would go straight into the kitchen with a bag of food that he bought from the butcher or he brought from the greengrocers and would then just get to cooking dinner for us, and my best memories of my dad are always based around food because that was a big connection that we had really.
Max: Did you get involved helping him, or would it be more so just watching?
Jimmy: To start with, I was really young. So much more just hearing my sister say “too much garlic” every day in Spanish. So that was always a big argument with anything we tasted, my sisters. No matter what, there's been too much garlic, and my sisters were like the ugly sisters, much older than me and highly strong.
That period, and then I got a little bit older. We'd used to remember football Italia, James Richardson; vividly in my memory, we used to watch football Italia together after church on Sunday. And we'd have lambs kidneys together, and remember that it was like our little obsession that we kind of do together. Memories really set in, and a big thing for us was that we'd have a Sunday roast.
But then the big thing was, we had guestsround, my dad got the pilot pan out. And that was like, He's cooking tonight. So we'd have, like, amazing cured meats that we get like proper cookies. My dad actually imports our cured meats now for us through the business. So, amazing cured meats.
Then we'd always have this big pile that everyone had together, and then my dad's go-to was these really good poach pears just to the end, just for dessert, and then get the after-eights out. And I was allowed to drink Schuler because that was like...
Mel: Did you have Viennetta in your household? The Viennetta ice cream that was always like the high...
Jimmy: Love Viennetta. It's been made of ice originally. We had it in our house not so long ago; it doesn't taste as good as you remember. Let me tell you, honestly, taste... I have nostalgia, but not much else. But yeah, it was like a very happy house, a very busy house, and my mum had an open door policy throughout the whole house.
My mum actually ended up setting up a charity in Kenya. There's a bit of one of those that used to be a running joke. We had a 70 last year, and we did a little bit of speech, my sisters, and we're just saying, One minute, there'd be like a Kenyan, who was living with us for a year in the house, came from the church. Then there was a Chinese student for 6 months who lived with us. Then, there was a recovering alcoholic that my mum took under her wing and took into a house. Then, there was a woman, my mum bought in homebase, who turned out to be hard on his luck or whatever. And then she invited him back today, and he ended up staying with us for like three nights.
I remember my sister's being like, This is mad, mum. This can't carry on. But that openness and that open door policy were something that we've always adopted and something that I always knew that when I was older, I wanted to be an exception to people. So, yes, it's kind of, and I only realised now, more so as I get older, how much I probably am like my mum, which is slightly scary. She's a woman, but it's scary in that sense. But she is also a pretty amazing woman.
Mel: And it comes across in your letter really nicely. You talk about those moments with Papa Ji where you'd like to sit down with some pastor and watch the football and stuff. Did you ever consider catering or food as a career when you were younger and cooking together?
Jimmy: To be honest, there's more on it, really. Actually, my cooking kind of really started as I got a bit older, and then it started with high school. No one's going to be at home when you get back home. So, if you're hungry...
Mel: You are on your own.
Jimmy: You should probably be trying to figure out how to cook and clean. It started with, like, get home, Heinz tomato soup, having a ham and tomato sandwich, and then watching Neighbours. We did that, waited for Hollyoaks, and that was our life.
Mel: There are people literally listening to this. I have no idea who my neighbours are or Hollyoaks.
Max: Hollyoaks is still going.
Jimmy: Is it?.
Mel: Is it still going?
Jimmy: My neighbour is on channel 42 or something, but that's how it started. Then, my mum introduced us to leek and potato soups because she made an amazing leek and potato soup. So she showed me how to do that, and I can make that with carrots and coriander. Say start with easy, and then I was always baking and things like that with my mum.
Before we went to university, when I was in high school, I started to realise I could probably quite impress the ladies with this as well. So, as I started to get into cooking a little bit more, at least at these dinner parties at the end of high school and then college, I said to everybody 10 pounds each.
So, all the mates put a tenner in. I'd go and buy food for four courses, go for it, and then, with only leftover money, we'd buy booze. So it is like these little parties basically with all of our life, really close friends. And I used to love it. I loved hosting, having my friends around, keeping my mum and dad out till 11 o'clock or something, and then having those parties.
Max: The sophistication of doing 16-course dinner parties where everyone else is on the golf course. It isn't easy.
Jimmy: We used to go to the rugby club. That was where we went to the stands afterwards. And I would say it wasn't very civilised, after all, and it was pretty raw.Mel: Like how you started by?
Jimmy: Exactly. I started classy and finished out not so classy. This is a way into it. That was again what we were doing.
Then, when I went to university, I carried that into university as well. So we had all of our friends and were working at Revolution at the time. And I was like, everybody put a tenner in and we'll do that, and it just started to turn into a bit of a thing that we do every few months.
Before university, I knew I had a job as a starter and dessert chef and comic chef basically in a restaurant called Wolski's, which is in Wakefield, and I just would be like plating the deserts, plating the starters, basically working on the weekends, working the night in the week, and kind of got a real feel for like, professional, and it was harsh in there.
I remember that before I got the opportunity to actually plate the stuff, I'd be put to washing. I remember one day leaning against the back of my sink because I'd done all the parts that needed to be washed. And I remember the chef is just going; what are you doing? And I went. I've washed everything. He just grabbed two eggs, threw them into the corner of the kitchen, and went wash them, and I was like, okay.
And then I remember that a couple of days after that, they said to me, If you eat a whole bulb of garlic, they will let you go home and pay you for the shift, and I was like, seriously? They were like, yes, no sweat. So I chow down this bulb of garlic. I know I won’t do that again, but just a note to the shelf: you end up sweating out for about three days. So don't do it. It's not worth it.
So that was my first foray into professional kitchens, really. Then, that’s really when I still didn't think that I was going to take it for a career. But I started to realise that if I could cook, I could travel. I had a real passion for travelling.
When I finished college, before university, I went travelling for a year, and I got a job. I suppose I didn't work for the first six months. For five months, I went travelling around Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. Then I went to New Zealand for a month, and then I went to Australia with no money left. I felt like I had to go and get a job.
Before that, to save money to go travelling, I worked in a restaurant. So I used to work as a butcher during the day. So, from 7 to 6, I'd do the butchers. And then I'd go to the restaurant, and my mum would drive me there, and I was working in front of the house there. She drove me to the restaurant. On the way to the restaurant, I'd be like spraying the deodorant, getting myself the smell of raw meat and sausages cleaned off me. Then I go and work a shift in the evening. And I just worked like a dog for four months, and there's no time to spend the money. And I could just save it all and then go travelling.
Travelling again was a bit of a point, like, just really finding who I was. I just sounded like a massive clean shaver, 18 years old, going around the world. I went with two friends, and after two weeks, I left them to it and went on my own. You learn a lot about yourself, and you learn that you're actually alright. You know, I mean, like you are actually alright, and you get on with people and stuff, and I think that was a big confidence booster and a big moment in my life, for sure.
Max: Do you think everyone should go travelling?
Jimmy: I don't mean for everybody. But I think that it takes you out of your comfort zone in a way that makes you. You can either sit for 10 months in a corner and meet nobody and read books, but you're going to hate it, or you can embrace it and embrace loads of people in the same position as you, and all they really want is to go and have some fun and meet people.
For me, I could probably forget about the places I went, but I won't forget the people I met. I went to some amazing places, but the things that I remember the most are the people that I was with and the times I had with them, for sure.
Mel: Obviously, with this brilliant sort of introduction to food and this Spanish influence on cooking at home, the obvious thing to do at university is get an economics and business degree. Tell us how you came to choose that and where you went.
Jimmy: Again, I was a little bit confused growing up. I think for everybody when you're at school, and I remember my parents would just want better for us. They always wanted us to be better and better, and that for them in their heads was going to university. If you're clever, be a lawyer or a doctor, and that's success.
Obviously, I worked quite hard at school and was very cheeky at school. Then I say I've got about 14 and realise I should probably get my head down. Because it's probably time to do it. But what I would say looking back now is, you take it seriously; it's not the “be all.” I remember that time getting so worked up about those exams for us that it was just not worth it. Because there's a whole world out there that kids don't know about, which is like working—I mean, meeting people—and that doesn't need a degree? So, I think that was a pretty good point, really.
Max: You were talking then about the business economics degree, and you can explain a little bit more about how much you enjoyed or didn't enjoy it.
Jimmy: It is about how I got to that point. I guess the business economics degree. Yes, it is a little bit confusing with kids at school, but I found it. And as I was saying, I don't really know what I want to do, and I think it's 14 when you get to choose your GCSE choices. I mean, it's mental to think that anyone at 14 years old knows what to do in life.
I actually first was like, Oh, you know what, I love football. I'm going to go do a physiotherapy degree. So, I actually went to Northumbria to do physiotherapy. I'd been travelling, had an amazing time, got home from travelling, and said to my parents, I don't want to be a physiotherapist. I'm pretty sure that I don't want to be a physiotherapist. They said what you're going to be. I said I think I'm going to be a teacher, and they were like, You don't want to be a teacher? And I was—I think I do—and I didn't really know what I wanted to be. So, they want to go to university, give it a go, and see what happens. If you don't want to do it, it's fine; that's that.
I went, and I remember being in these physiotherapy lectures, which had nothing to do with the amount I was drinking the night before. But having these is just like having hot sweats of panic, and I don't care about any of this. Having these moments of just being like I need to get out of here. So, I got about November, and I was like, I'm not going to do this, and actually then I went travelling, went to go into a ski season.
I went on holiday with my sister for a week, and then I ended up getting a job on the last day and stayed there for the whole winter. This was in Val d'Isere. They then drove me to Courchevel, which is where the job was. Anyhow, I went to Courchevel, and she was like, Can you cook? So I was, yeah, I can cook, and she looks at you, I will take a chance or go to Courchevel, so I did it. And I run a chalet there for the winter. Again, these are all the people you meet. So one of my guests, one of my clients, was the creative director of Big Brother, Endemol, basically. I got along with them incredibly well. And he was like, You don't want... I was thinking about going to law school, but instead I said I just had no idea what to do. And he was like, You don't want to be a lawyer. He said, Why don't you come and do some running with me on Big Brother for the summer? And I was like, yeah, so I finished in May and worked on Big Brother for the summer. And I had the best time, and then I was around. I did my degree in September, but I'm going to do something that's generic. So it keeps my options open when I finish. And hence, business and economics were what I settled on.
It's been quite that, then fell, who I met and was doing the Endemol stuff. He's now the head of Sky Arts. We do lots of events for Sky and his daughter, Daisy-Edgar Jones, who's from Normal People. So we do lots of little things for her as well. So, it always stands you in good stead by, just like I say, just getting on with people.
Max: That's a running theme. And we'll come back to that because of a comment that you made in your letter later on as well. But this ability to connect, befriend, and create relationships with people will be seen as a passing thing. It was lovely to meet you and see you later on in everything; you seem to have a real ability to maintain them. And through decades, quite literally, in some cases, is that something that is naturally built into just keeping in touch with things like that? Or is it something you work harder at in terms of...
Jimmy: I think for me, it would be nice to everybody, unless someone does you really wrong, like what's the reason to not be nice to be, and I like to think that most people in the world, almost everybody in the world has good intentions, whether they get it right or not every time, but I think everybody means well. There are many nasty people in the world.
I think being open with people, honest with people, and warm will get reciprocated by people who are honest and warm as well. Then, there's this network of people that just get along, and I don't think it's necessarily worked out. Be passionate about something. For example, Jones and who are the guys that were with Sky? I wouldn't be doing events for Sky; just because Phil and I get along with him doesn't mean I'm going to be doing events for Sky at all.
It means this is a slight opening of a door. But then we've got to go and prove ourselves, and we've got to go and do the work and deliver because otherwise, you're only as good as your last event. That's definitely the case in our industry.
There are too many people out there doing really good work to rest on their laurels. But no, I think if you're passionate about something, you are talking about something because you're into it, not because you're like trying to get something out of someone or trying to get a deal. And I think subliminally, yes, maybe that is what happens
I always say that positive things happen to positive people.
Max: Firmly believe in it.
Jimmy: If you go out there and put it out there, I'll come back.
Max: We're talking about it prior to coming in, and the word networking is quite a dirty word. Networking as the principal act feels like it's quite suited to ties and coming in for business. But what was interesting and kind of where I was leading with that question about this relationship, building it, and you made the point earlier about is kind of almost a byproduct of just being nice and things.
So I wonder if you started getting or speaking to someone and they were thinking, How do I build that kind of relationship group or network? What would you say is the better way to go about it?
Jimmy: Honestly, you're not going to please everybody. In terms of that, like the networking thing, sometimes you'll just get rapport with people, and you'll just get it, and it'll click. They're going to be the ones that you're going to be friends with in 10 years’ time, and you’re going to be the go-to guy for their jobs. You don't need to schmooze them. You don't need to butter them because you just have a good relationship. They're the best ones. And I just had a little moment of just finding your tribe with people and finding a genuine connection with someone, not just pretending that you love golf, and then you go for a day of golf with them and you're terrible. All of a sudden, it's, well, I mean, I don't play golf. You find connections with people, and then it's organic. If it's not organic, it's not going to really work, is it? Let’s be honest.
There are other clients with whom I have a relationship within the network. I don't ask many questions because that's not what they want. Slightly more professional relationship. And I think it's judging the person you're in the room with and making them feel comfortable. That's our job. We're a caterer. We're a service industry. We're here to basically provide a service for people.
The first job is to make people feel comfortable with who they're talking to. Then, after that, the rest is the fun bit, the food, and all that stuff. And then it just helps you down the line; you get trust, people trust you to deliver, and they leave you to get on with it. There's lots of things that happen by creating that nice atmosphere.
Mel: You talked about that open house policy and the fact that you're quite like your mum. How much do you think those early lessons from home and that sort of open house have contributed to the approach you have?
Jimmy: I would say there is no shame. At the start of my business, there was just no shame. I don't really care. I was so convinced of my own idea of what I was doing, and I thought it was right. I didn't care what anyone else thought. And people thought I was mad. The first pop-up I did in Balham was to put 100 scrolls on my neighbour's doors. I went outside Balham tube station and flew it outside Parliament tube station; I was just lucky. What was I doing? So, as I flew it outside Balham tube station and borrowed it, I sent an email to the Balham Baptist Church in Balham. Basically, I was asking for 25 sets of crockery, 25 sets of cutlery, glassware, three round tables, and 25 chairs. And I would give them two free tickets for the community as a kind of reward, and they went for it.
They said, Yeah, we'll do it. So I couldn't drive. So I had to go to the Balham Baptist Church, load all the chairs and tables into the taxi, and then drive the taxi. We drop it off at the house. We do three runs. And that was all the stuff there. Drop it all off Friday and spend the Friday setting it all up. On Friday morning, I'd go to Smithfield first. I didn't even know that you could order stuff and it'd get delivered to your house. They get delivered as a supplier. This is how naive I was at the beginning. And so I'd go to Smithfield, get my meat done, and bring it back in a suitcase. It was all right at that time—just too early; it's not busy.
Max: Hopefully, it was fresh.
Jimmy: Very fresh. The second one, then I just dropped it off and got it in the fridge. Then I go straight back to Billingsgate. That's a different kind of fish. So you get there, and this is the train to Canary Wharf; it is heaving. And I'd buy my fish; they gave me the cool boxes filled with ice, put them into the suitcase, and I had to go all the way back to Wakefield. And honestly, man, it is...
At that point, some suitcases are tilted.
Jimmy: Obviously, the fish on the tube is pretty smelly. It was a busy commute too, and I just remember sitting opposite this woman, since you're so busy trying to be so polite and just holding a nose.
I remember even then that I'd been on that tube, and I vividly remember being on that tube and having all these busy people and really thinking to myself, I'm the smug one her. I felt like I'd got a purpose. And I feel like I'm following a dream that I've got, and I remember nothing but shame. What's wrong with that?
I think then all that stuff about taking the right advice and the right people is definitely something, but my mum always used to have those kinds of things, like, doesn't matter what other people think as long as you think in your head, you're doing the right thing and it's right for you, and it's right for the people that you're helping other people that you're doing it for other than who cares? Someone else thinks it has nothing to do with them.
Max: I love it; no shame piece. It means that you kind of aren't worried, and another 1% in comparison is that the thief of joy is that actually, if you're in your own world without any influence or comparison, is actually to your point, and if you're just imagining this blinker, this smile on your face.
Mel: With fishing, you're...
Max: Wading through thinking, I'm going to do what I want; this is kind of your entrepreneurial start.
Jimmy: You are all going to be working on the gravy train, and I'm going in the opposite direction to do my little thing. I would have never imagined in a million years at that time that what we were doing then was going to turn into the company that has turned into it now, and it honestly would have been in my wildest dreams to be doing this. So, I probably don't think about that enough, actually. And, basically, promotional talk about it, to be honest.
Max: I want to ask you a bit about that gratitude and this understanding and appreciation of the hard work and where it's gotten you. You were mentioning there about this “no shame” piece, and in your letter you mentioned about the degree and kind of business economics, but actually, you took a slightly different turn into the world of trading, or was it really a bad decision?
Jimmy: That was awful.
Max: Took that route into, then reversed you back? Is it true about that, and actually, the acknowledgement of recognising that this isn't for me and how you dealt with it?
Jimmy: It's one thing I should probably put in as soon as possible. When I was at university, I worked on a yacht as a chef for three years. That was a big, big thing for me. The guy who owned my yacht owned hotels and nightclubs all over the world.
Max: This is a below-deck scenario.
Jimmy: It was not quite as big, so it was a 34-metre boat. You're talking about 110 feet. So, not quite the size of the below decks and not as many crew, but still very intense. Again, I went on that boat. I was 20 years old, coming from a state school in Wakefield. I know, and as far as I'm concerned, you might have loads of money, but you're still a bloke. I think it was really refreshing for him, because he probably previously had everybody trying to blow smoke up his bomb for however long; it's probably a bit exhausting.
He just had someone who was like a bit cheeky and was just cooking for him on the boat, and that worked really well. So I did that for three years, and then, when I finished there, I took a pay cut to go and work as a broker in the city. I had a friend who was a broker. I met his boss and got on with his boss really well, and his boss offered me a job. So I did a business-economics degree. So I thought, well, I should put this to the test and do it.
Similar, after about five or six weeks, there's a hot flush of going out. What am I doing here? Then, after about four months or so, I'm going to just see in a vision. I think it was some guy who was doing something like a 15-course Japanese-tasting menu somewhere. It's the first time I've ever seen or heard of the concept of a supper club. So, I thought it sounded quite funny. I hate my job—to do something as an outlet. So a bit of fun, and genuinely, that was what I was; it was an outlet as a bit of pocket money because I was in my 20s a year. And it's a bit of pocket money.
But it was more like a chance to have a bit of fun and do something that I could be really proud of, rather than just trying to, like, sit at a desk all day and get people's lunch. And I remember after about six months, I spent most of my time in that office, writing menus, using the printer to print menus on parchment, buying fancy paper, putting it in the printer, and then just printing it all.
I spent half my day, and now just a bit like, and again, is that if they get wind of it? Well, I'm not really that bothered, because I'm not really that bothered about this job. So I did a few of those pop-ups while I was working, and even my bosses could see that I was really passionate about that and not so passionate about all the other stuff.
I went on the holiday scheme. So it's cost-effective for this holiday, and when I went on holiday, I was with my best friends who have been out there; we've been seasons together before and got along well, and they were both managing different chalet companies, and they hated it because the staff they had were terrible. They weren't providing a great experience for their guests, and they were not happy about that.
We had a bit of a brainstorm on a ski lift and decided we were going to set up our own chalet company. So I went back to London. I called my bosses into a room and said I was going to quit. They said, What are you going to do? I said, I'm going to set up a chalet company. They're all right, and then I went out to Courchevel. And that's what we did.
We set up a chalet company and a business, and the total sum that it cost us was like two and a-half grand. We had a ski business out there. So we managed to get a deal with the chalet owner, which I don't think he even realised. I went to go meet this guy. We found this chalet in Courchevel, a chocolate box chalet, just outside of the ski lift.
It was to be let go for the following season. So I was labelled as the talker between the three of us, so I was. You can meet him, I said, alright. Both my mates are like the proper mountain menu, like huge beers, and love skiing, but I don't like people that much, so leave it to me to see the other stuff.
I went to Paris, and when we were just by the Arc de Triomphe, I was meeting him in this cafe. I had no money, and I got there about 40 minutes early because I didn't want to mess it up. I remember the kind of Latinos, about 15 euros, and I think I'm going to drink this for the next hour because I can't buy all of them, and we did this deal.
The whole deal was that I didn't have to pay a deposit on the chalet until the 2nd of December, by the beginning of December, which then meant I had like six months to sell the holiday, and that's what I did. So, we set up a chalet company, and then I came back in the summer. I needed something to do, and that's how the pop-ups really started. So, that's the kind of food journey, if you like, in terms of how it started.
Mel: That was a sense of industriousness and sort of doing whatever it takes and getting stuck in and not being afraid to sort of pull the fish along the train or start something new. Where does that come from?
Jimmy: I've always been very lucky. I also think that I've made the most of the luck I've been given, and I think the cliche phrase “Fortune favours the brave.” I think if you don't put yourself out there, you'll never know how good a situation you're in. If you don't see it to the end, I'll maximise that opportunity with whatever you're doing. I think it comes back to the bit of advice about saying yes. I think, what's the word?
This is one thing: I want to get really strict sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I say yes, and I go, “Oh, my God, what have I just agreed to?” and you go away, and you might feel a bit sick for a minute, but then how do you turn that panic into action? I always think if they can do it, I can do it. We're all just people. And what's the worst that's going to happen? No one's going to die today. I hope not anyway.
You have to sometimes. I have to rationalise. Still today, I have to rationalise stuff. I still panic and still get, so obviously I get overwhelmed with things I'm still only human, but rather rationalising is like this:
Mel: I love that because we talk about much of my personal journey while also seeing so many of my peers and colleagues. I often have this conversation that says growth only comes when you get uncomfortable. So sometimes you have to put yourself in those places and say, yes, to things that you don't think you should, that you're not ready for, or that are filthy big, because that's where growth happens. If it feels a bit uncomfortable, you're probably doing something right. So, I always say that we have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Max: You mentioned you've got a big example, or at least the first big ones, of saying yes, and apart from being a trader but doing pop-ups, apart from...
Jimmy: I was a rubbish trader, by the way. I was proper rubbish. No one, in the end, wanted me to stay at that desk as much as I didn't want to be there. So it was fine.
Mel: Naturally convenient.
Jimmy: It was. I think it's good.
Max: What's the biggest one, then, that you've kind of
Jimmy: Biggest say yes. The first big job I did, which is probably, I guess, in context of that and would probably be from that, was the Louder Lounge at V Festival. And so there's a VIP area for Virgin at the V Festival.
If I go back a little bit, before I launched the pop-ups, me and my friends used to get employed by a company called RunRagged at the Louder Lounge. Do you have an idea?
Mel: Yeah.
Jimmy: RunRagged, basically used to do concierge, if you like, for the VIPs that would come. So basically, put them in some branded clothes, drive them around in golf buggies, and make sure they had drinks. Me and my friends used to basically work for free for the weekend to do that. And drive the golf buggies around. Drive Cara Delevingne around on a golf buggy for the afternoon.
I think our best moment was singing. We had like all the One Direction guys were drinking now near our golf buggy, and we burst into the Wanted song, just as Glad you came out was hilarious.
Anyway, so I did that for free, and that weekend, we had Cook Adrienne, and I remember eating the crew catering; he realised it'd be rubbish. And the guys that were all there or that the team is everything—the food is so crap. So I was like, trying to find out who was running the Louder Lounge.
Mel: Enter Michael White.
Jimmy: To Michael White, and enter Mona Motahdi . And then I was like, basically, I really want to pitch for this, and we want to pitch this. I've been doing pop-ups like this. Here are some reviews, and like I just said, Look, I won't let you down. I think that's been a big thing for me. My name is on the door, and I think I'm still very involved. I think I'm very invested and I'm a very accountable, and I'd like to think that clients and people see that. Like it or not, the book just stuck with me.
I will be there, and if there's a fire, I'll be in it, putting it out with you. It's not like I'm going to... I won't leave it.
Max: How are you going to do that as the business continues to scale and grow?
Jimmy: Well, I would say that the people that I've got now, I think, are amazing. The way we approach clients is like... It is a service industry. There is not a set menu, and people are so quick to say no. People just in general, when you think about it, you are like, Why? Why for me, and I don't know if it comes back to the kind of no-brainer I've had, but someone's spending the amount of money they're spending with us on events and on food, and they can have whatever they want. We're not going to kind of be dictated to with them, and it might mean sometimes it's sausage rolls and sometimes it's pork pies. Other times, it's caviar.
But it's the best sausage roll you've had, and it'll be served in the best way we can with a smile, and that's the way to do it. So we'll give you what you want, and we'll do the best we can. So we digressed. Again, I'm moving off on a tangent.
Mel: That’s all right. We'll bring you back.
Max: The question was about the biggest, yes, when you perhaps were not necessarily prepared or structured for it.
Jimmy: I managed to plug myself into a niche job to do the crew catering. So I then had a tasting with the client, Simon Dornan, who now works with us, and it went really, really well. And then they're like, Yeah, it's yours. It's like, Oh, god, okay.
And I remember going to the site and clearing out all my business bank accounts to do this job. I've ever been to Booker's. My mum helped, then came and washed up with me. They were never going to let me. They were going to be right there with me. So mum came and washed it with me. Dad helped as well. Dad, we were all drinking Monster, the energy drink?
Mel: Yes.
Jimmy: Let me have a little bit of that. And it was clearly kind of a monster, and then the next day was actually me. You need to stay off that stuff. I slept all night. I was like, It’s all right, dad; you can handle it. I cleared our bank account and am walking around thinking if they don't pay me on this as it goes, I'm kind of, and actually we'll just do it the best we can.
Honestly, it's the biggest hit, and I think they changed crew caterers every year for five years. We kept that contract for every year until the Louder Lounge no longer existed. I do think as well, like a big part of that was, yeah, we were serving, like, home-cooked food. But we were serving it with enthusiasm and energy, and we really cared. I always say that it's not always what you do. It is the way you do it. It's true. We're in such a saturated industry; all of us are. There's millions of people who can cook and caterers out there. So, how you make people feel is what people remember.
Max: You mentioned a couple of names there, Mike and a few others. That is seemingly a running thing where, obviously, you form these bonds and relationships, you then prove yourself, and that
then kind of continues. Given, obviously, what we do and what you're now part of as well in terms of that offering advice and that mentoring side of things,.
You mentioned in your letter a couple of key people. You've obviously got loads of people throughout time, and these names kind of crop up because you have worked with them or met them there. And 10 years later, they did the biggest job ever.
It took us through a couple of these key people. Obviously, you mentioned your dad being one of them. But you mentioned one or two others that play a pivotal role. Not so much in a necessarily client sense, but more so perhaps in further guidance and advice and that mentoring role that you've.
Jimmy: 100%. I remember I spent a long time in the middle of my business when I had... either that middle bit where you've got your kind of friends working for you and that always and most of the people I've spoken to. There's always a sticking point for that when it's time to move the friends away from being friends and more and more into the employment side.
I always think that there comes a time when your business grows to the point where it's time to stop leaning on people for favours. I remember around that time, I just used to get so many people telling me how they would do it. And it just seemed like if you would do it, just go and do it.
I always remember saying “take advice from the right people,” and for me, I have a big thing about “if you've done it, I want to see it,” because that's what I want to buy into. If you're telling me from your ivory tower, having never done this from your comfortable armchair, why would I drive that? Because what experience have you got telling me that now? So a lot of people like Pamela Price, who is, to be honest, one of my best friends. She's an 88 now.
Max: Amongst the two of you now, don't giggle...
Jimmy: When we go to Hawksmoor for dinner, Everyone's like, you can see, feeling like, Why is this relationship? She's like, effing and blinding me over the table. I'm like picking off her plate, and they're like, they're in a relationship. Is that his grandma?
Again, that comes back to the whole point. Who cares? It's nothing to do. No big deal. When I first started, basically, she had a kitchen in Clapham. She was an old, retired caterer who had an out kitchen in her home. So she had this home, and then she had a kitchen attached to it, which was a registered catering kitchen. Nothing much is going on there. There was a guy there. He does baking once a week for his market stall.
So I started offering to cook in her kitchen for 30 quid a day to start with. Then it went up to 80 quid a day; it was 500 pounds a month, and she just loved seeing someone like me in there who was just going for it. Don't get me wrong. She used to have a go at me most times, but there's so many funny things I could tell you.
We had her garden for this amazing gardening. After a while of working in that kitchen and taking so much, I didn't even know how to cost a job, right? So I used to be how much I charged if I could add in, and then you get to the end of it. I've got no money left after I've bought all the plates and everything. And I remember that she showed me how to price it. You charge equipment separately, you charge your food separately, and you charge your staff separately. Well, that's an eye-opener.
Mel: That makes sense.
Jimmy: Yeah, exactly. Well, that's good. But all these things, how would you know? And then she's like, You don't know, you can imagine your meat and your fish delivered. And I was like, really, and lots of things. She had a huge open-door policy as well. Again, we used to have everyone and any committee in her garden, where we swept. After a few years of running it in the kitchen, we outgrew that kitchen because it was a bit of a cottage industry kitchen, and we were just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. So then we moved to a kitchen in Tulsa. But I loved Pam, and then that whole relationship just had to carry on, and she had this garden that was just magical.
You'd walk along the Ivory Road, and you'd get to this walkway. You'd walk in her front door. Then you walk through an iron gate, and you walk around, and it was just like this oasis of vegetable patches, beehives, berry trees, and elderflower trees; it was like a secret garden.
We turned it into a pop-up restaurant in that space. Pam also used to rent her garden out on campus. So I was paying her like 150 quid a night to run this restaurant. It's a bit higher; the garden for the nights around the restaurant is 150 quid, or 500 pounds a week. It worked out for three nights a week. So it's like 26 grand a year. And then one night we turned it into an outdoor restaurant with barbecues. We tend to set up, and there's a tent where the table is going to go, and I'm like, Pam, what a pain, 24 pounds. I don't care how much the pain is. We've got guests coming in two hours, and you've got a minute. So she's like, okay. For these poor people, we had to take the tent away from them. And then, at 10 o'clock, when all the guests had left, we had to help them put the tent back out. Time's running out, but I'm like, Pam, guests are coming in half an hour. Can you put your bra on? Because she'd be outside sunbathing in the garden before the guests arrived? But again, she is shameless. For her, it was like, You do it well and don’t worry about the noise around it. It's always good to give me advice, and then I'll take it. You know, from her, you'd see that.
Mel: Cook for the Queen, mum, right? You sign the letter.
Jimmy: She runs all the boats. So I didn't run all the river boats. She cooked for the queen, mum. She still owns a venue in Clapham Junction. You know, Wessex House?
Mel: Yes.
Jimmy: You've heard of that? So she owns that.
Mel: So when you say take advice from the right people, not only was Pam and is Pam a legend, by the sounds of it,.
Jimmy: Absolutely.
Mel: So, she really knew what she was...
Jimmy: Pam has done it. Pam has been where I'm wanting to go, and I remember once taking a job on 48-hour notice. I got off the phone, and it was 400 people. And it was like sliders and bits and bobs and some skewers and stuff, and I got the phone. I was like, damn, I shouldn't have taken that. And she went, What are you talking about? Of course, you fucking should. Come on, let's go. And I was like, okay. All right. Yeah, let's go. 48 hours later, I'm in the M&Ms building. They have sone dodgy venues above the M&M store! And I went and did the event. But I left the baine-marie after the event because I couldn't load out because the party was still going on.
That weekend, I was on another job somewhere. My mum was down for the weekend. So I was like, mum, I've left this baine-marie above the M&M store. Can you do me a favour? You just go and pester me to get it out. So I started, so she went there.
Half an hour later, I get this call from my mum, and she's screaming down the phone. She's like, Who are these people you're working with? What is this audio? Basically, she's gone to the wrong floor. She's gone to the wrong floor. And the floor beneath is full of, like, Babe station models. All sat on the sofa with boobs out during the whole life...
Max: With a phone.
Jimmy: With sexcasting and she's like, What is this? And I was like, mum... It took me a while to come back. They love the chicken sliders. So it was a bit of a moment. So Pam was and still is an incredible influence on me. My dad, as well, has always been amazing. Less so in business, because I think he probably made a few mistakes on his way there. Less so in the business, but more so in just the way he is with people than the way he always has been. Everybody loves my dad.
Then, people, now that I'm still taking advice from and listening to people like Richard, Richard Groves who works for me. Again, the premise of my hiring him is that he will not let me make the same mistakes he might have made when he was at this point. That's the whole point. What people have walked in your shoes is, for me, the place to take advice. Where are you not even watching your shoes? You walked in the shoes you want to walk in. That's where I take the biggest advice from people and respect them. It's very easy for people to tell you what they think you should do.
Mel: Everyone's an expert from the sidelines.
Jimmy: Exactly. But no one really knows what it's like unless you're in the mix.
Max: You're doing it a bit differently. And you mentioned in the letter to yourself that you should have faith, trust your gut, and things like that. But now you're kind of blazing a slightly different trail and running the business almost like an agency, which actually, if you're conforming to others, you wouldn't have. So I suppose, with that and itself, where did that come from? What was the intuition to do things differently?
Jimmy: It's interesting because we get a lot of people; in fact, almost everyone says, You guys are so different, and I probably am not the best person to tell you what that is that makes us so different. I've never worked for another caterer. I've never worked for another agency. All I know is that I'm the way you were doing the work; the approach we're taking is the best way I know how. And that's taken, probably from the yachts when I had a pretty abusive Italian captain. As children, we learned pretty quickly that no is not an answer that you have on this boat. Do you understand? Understand? So four people come for dinner. Jimmy, we're going to dinner around 11 o'clock or before; was it okay? Well, yeah, cool. No problem. 11 o'clock comes and goes; midnight comes and goes; gets a half one. All of a sudden, 12 people turn up on the boat. That's fine, though, isn't it? Yeah, it's fine. It's fine. You're going to ask; they're thinking, How many pieces can I cook of this monkfish into? So before, it looks like I've cut it into pieces. So that was always a big part of that, not being in my vocabulary.
I think all of those points have probably brought us to the way that we're trying to run this. And it comes back to that point. It's like, it's a service-led business for me. We cook our food, and we have food that we love to cook, and we have a subliminal way of doing it. I think at the moment it is like, is that our approach to, What do you want? What's the event? How do you want it to be? Then we go away, and we try to put the layers on that. What's the message?
And then, when we've done that, it's kind of like, well, that's the event as a whole. Does that feel like that's what you want to see and what you want to say? And I think, like I said to you, it's trying to do it the best way. And that's just kind of what we've always done. I honestly couldn't exactly tell you why I think we're super flexible. I know that, because why wouldn't we be? Again, why not, and it's just that for us to kind of be able to change numbers? There's always a way to do things right.
You guys dealt with events in catering. There's about a million ways to skin a cat, and more often than not, you can find a way of making what the clients work, but by being honest and open about the compromises you're going to have to make because of budgets or things like that.
Max: Then having the ability and the emotional maturity to be able to manage those kinds of conversations in such a way that it becomes a constructive one rather than a, we can't unfortunately, and then being pissed off with you.
Jimmy: I think we've been known for the weird, wacky, and wonderful, and now people kind of come to us for that. We had to face it for a long time; wherever everyone is, we will like the donut guys because we do these walls where we put donut walls. But then we have artists painting whatever you want on the donut wall. So whether that's a logo, whether that's a message, and then at the end of the event, the guest takes it away. I mean, it's so 2019. We obviously did a big job for Google's example, with 2000 people.
We're doing desserts, and they historically had issues on this event with people queuing for the food stations and just having huge queues, and they didn't want to do that. So we're like, right, we've got an idea that's going to be really cool. But it's also going to be there's no queues, and we put a massive tree in the venue. We put 2000 desserts up and hung them all underneath the tree. I call it the Tree of Treats.
Mel: Oh. Nice.
Jimmy: The guests would just pass underneath, grab the dessert, and walk along, and it was brilliant. We might have done that a couple of times now. That's the whole part—actually, let's figure it out. Let's have some fun. We're doing a job in a couple of weeks, and when we're doing this, the tasting was like, epic, because, we are like, is this going to work, and it works.
We're doing a wall, which is Cookie, Cookie Bricks. So it's bricks of cookie that are this big, and then we've got spray paints, but it's edible purees, basically, that you can spray out, like flavouring paint. And it is a New York-themed party. So the idea is that the guests get a spray gun, can go and tag their brick and do what they want, and then they can pick the brick off and take it away. And then just go and eat their brick on the wall. That's the piece of art that they've made. So that's happening in a couple of weeks. But remember, the taste is great. It was like it works.
Mel: So many of the things that I've done in my career, you sort of walk in and try and sell them to a client. You're like, They're never going to buy this or it's never going to work, and then they do it, and you're like, Oh,
Jimmy: So we did a good example, which is actually a meta job that we do. Every year, we've done it for eight years in Canada, and one of the agencies—I won't say who it was—is great. But they basically sold this idea to the client and then came to us. So we've sold this to the client. We've got no idea how to make it work. Can you help? And I was like, Oh, God, and it was a colour-changing cocktail, basically, and we made it work. We went and figured it out.
Mel: Heston-Blumenthal-who?
Jimmy: It was basically around pride and equality.
Mel: Nice.
Jimmy: So the idea of, like, changing colours and stuff. But again, that's really satisfying for us, because that's our job: to find solutions to stuff.
Max: You mentioned gratifying and satisfaction there, a point you made earlier, and it mentions it in your letter is about that gratitude, that appreciation, and kind of taking a moment and things. You're obviously on a journey, and I know how old you are and not that old. You're clearly kind of aware, and even halfway there, you're getting a bit emotional when you almost start thinking about all the stuff you've done.
How do you make sure that you stay grounded, but you make time for this kind of acknowledgment yourself, but also do it in such a way that you are still driven to keep going? So it is a balance, but I would love to hear how you do.
Jimmy: To be honest, I probably struggle with it a little bit. Because I don't stop and think about how far we've come. And I think that's probably why I'm as grounded as I am, and because I actually have it, it's really important to not pay attention to the noise because it's just noise. It always isn't going to be the case. Outside of that noise, what's most important is your family, and it's keeping my business going.
But what's really important is family, and I think looking back on that, the journey that we've come on, I don't think I realise what we've done until I talk about times like this now. And I'm like, actually, that was quite cool. A lot of time people go, “Oh, you know, it's pretty amazing.” Because over time, I'm sure you guys are on a journey of self; over time, everything happens as it goes along that moulds into this one big, long journey, and it's really easy to forget that I was like, running to the market with a suitcase, and so I think that's a big part of it.
I think when I do stop and realise it, we're most proud of what we've done and proud of the team that I've had to help you do that. That's quite emotional.
Max: It's on the letter.
Jimmy: I found it really cathartic, actually. I think the lessons I took from the imposter syndrome were all those things, like, How do we get it so quickly? Do I even deserve that? All those things that kind of go through your mind because you've just been on this hamster wheel for so long? And all of a sudden you turn around, and you're like, “Wow, look at what we're doing. Am I the right guy to do that?” “Can I do this?” And the answer is “yes.”
It's that whole thing about trusting your gut and getting to tell that guy who's questioning everything to get out of the room. Put the competent guy in the room, but like everybody else, We all have that little niggle and those little doubts. So you are just trying to kick them away or deal with them.
Mel: You mentioned that your name was on the door. The buck stops with you, and in your letter, you talk about actually sometimes needing that separation. How do you separate yourself from something?
Jimmy: I think sometimes it can be quite hard with your team dynamic because I want my chefs to be the stars of the show, but it's always with my name at the doorways, always going to be the one running this. So, there's an element of that. But also, it's so personal to me, and it always has been, and I don't know if it will change without the name. I don't know if it will make a difference in the way I operate. To be honest, it probably wouldn't. I'm just taking things so personally, and I've gotten better at that as I get older because you get thicker skin. No, we all, and you, realise you can't please everyone. And that's okay. I'm okay with that. But I think the early years took it hard. It's just hard when you need it and when you can't be in control of absolutely everything.
Things happen outside of your control that ultimately come back to you, and you've got to deal with that. There's nowhere else to look or turn. You're the one who's got to pick up the pieces and go get them sorted. I've had amazing times. There's been some brilliant things that we've done, and I've cooked for some incredible people, and I've been really fortunate that now I've got an amazing team. It was that sticky bit, I think, when I was going from, like, working with my friends to trying to get out of building a business more and not be so coalface. That's when it's really hard because your friend, they're like, well, where are you tonight? Well, there's like six events on tonight; I can't be everywhere, and it's kind of that understanding of how that goes, and then as we get slightly bigger now and we have a senior management team,.
All these things over the years, you just started with just myself, and then all of a sudden that becomes, and I think as our company has progressed, I think it's my name at the door and knows a person too. But I think we've become a bit of a brand as well. And I think so. I think there's always a saying, There's loads of Jimmy’s on my team. There's loads of Jimmy's who come to events, and we'll deliver you incredible food and incredible hospitality.
Mel: That's your hallmark.
Jimmy: Yeah. Because that's how we want it to be, and everybody knows that.
Max: So, with that running to the end, we've got the big question coming. What would you say, and if you were to briefly summarise kind of the next 10 years or so, what's the future ambition for yourself and the business over to being the one?
Jimmy: You could probably imagine from the conversation we just had that I've only ever thought about the six months ahead. So 5 years or 10 years is a really long time. But honestly, I think, for me and where we're at the journey, I think that the kind of momentum that we've got at the moment is trying to get into more great venues and do more great things. And with the clients that we're working with, we were on a path, just keeping that trust up, so keeping that and doing bigger and bigger things. So, I have thoughts about an office abroad; it's been floated around. We do a lot of work in Europe. Now, to make that a bit easier, Over the next few years, it's just kind of keeping on enjoying the ride, seeing what comes up, and trying to keep growing the business and keeping a good team.
Mel: So we come to that point, Jimmy, where we asked the question, so we scattered around it a little bit. We've touched on it a little bit, but it'd be great to hear that one piece of advice that is so good you have to share it.
Jimmy: Just say yes. Be a yes man, I think. Don't be afraid to say yes to something that you haven't done before or that you think is maybe beyond you and work out afterwards. And it'll be alright. If it isn't the worst, what's the worst that's going to happen? At least you can say you gave it a go, and that's the only thing I think you're always going to You never regret the things that you did. You could always regret the things you didn't do.
Mel: I think that there's a few...
Jimmy Garcia regrets the lessons and two pieces of advice. That's kind of it.
Mel: Thank you so much.
Jimmy: Pleasure. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. I actually have a couple of little cookbooks for you both. That's one for you.
Max: Thank you very much.
Jimmy: One for you.
Mel: Presents are welcome.
Max: Amazing, and when does this come out?
Jimmy: Well, it's been out for a long time. Yeah, it's been out for a few years.
Mel: For those who are listening and not watching “Social Eats: Food to Impress Your Mates by Jimmy Garcia,"
Max: That's brilliant. Thank you very much.
Mel: Thank you so much.
Jimmy: Thank you very much.
Mel: It's not every day you have such a refreshing conversation. I mean, the passion from him was so evident, and his emotions at points really came through, and you can see that this isn't just a business to Jimmy; this is what he does.
Max: Where he is at the moment is such an interesting part of the journey, and it feels like that journey, but one that he's so enthusiastic and passionate about. We were talking about it after, even in a brief reflection, that it's the stages that he's gone through on this journey. This really hands-on, _____-ready approach involves dragging monkfish from Canary Wharf.
Mel:...anyone that was on the train that day.
Max: But while he's working as a trader, he's doing 10 pounds with his friends just to be able to do something he's passionate about. And then finding that passion evolved into this incredible multimillion-pound business, and still now, he's getting in there, getting his hands dirty, and really working hard for it. Because I think, as he said, it doesn't feel like work. It is kind of what he loves.
Mel: And I think what's been lovely about learning more about Jimmy's journey, and the way that he shared it was this, I guess, naivety in many ways of, well, I'm going to go and do this and I like that and charging him 8 to 10 quid and not knowing how to charge up businesses and whatnot, but just that ability to step into things and go through things and being unafraid about the outcome and going, okay, that wasn't right. Being a trader wasn't right. Okay, cool. I'm going to go and do this thing.
Max: It has an innocence to it.
Mel: Yeah. And I think there's so many people who often think they have to have it all figured out. All right, this is my path. This is my journey. This is what I'm going to do. This is how much I'm going to charge. This is what I'm... I think sometimes the joy of figuring it out and being flexible enough and able enough to go isn't right for me. So I'm going to go down this path because that feels better, and just seeing where that leads you and understanding that it's all part of your personal journey and a tapestry of the skills that you have experienced makes you unique. But in many ways, nothing's a wrong term, and I think so much of his journey is showing that.
Max: And what he said about it, it's that learning you mentioned about this area where you put yourself into these uncomfortable situations—that's where you grow the most. The last thing I wanted to kind of point out as part of that reflection piece is that I don't think I've ever met anyone quite like Jimmy, and I'm a big, big ambassador for connections and working hard to give more than you get and things like that.
But Jimmy has his authenticity and innocence, and I want to mention that he meets people because he cares so much about what he does, and when he does meet people, he wants to just help and do things like that. The amount of opportunities that have come from it and when I've talked about networking at dirty word and things, actually it's not; it's about meeting people and talking about the things that we mutually care about, and when it connects, it does, but you have to then be ready for when that turns back around and opportunity arises to capitalise on it.
And the weird and wild and 48 hours to turning around a dinner for 400 and things—these are opportunities that arise from those relationships providing that value. But if you don't capitalise on them, then you can't expand or leverage this network. It doesn't work, so for him, that readiness, that “yes” factor, the innocence, perhaps, or at least the willingness to try and maybe not get it right, it's just meant that he is carved out in this slight way. People would say that he is disrupting the industry.
I think he's just doing it the way that he wants. He said it's the way that I know how, and that's become this natural disruption and meant that he's a standout individual and with a standout business. So, I love the conversation.
Mel: Great conversation. I think the other thing that really stood out for me is this sense of him not limiting himself or what he thinks. Okay, _____ or what has been done in the industry already, like he said, it's just him doing his thing, going about it in the way that he thinks is best, and I will account for smashing it.
Max: Lovely chat, lovely chap as well.
Max: Elevate operates, thanks to the generosity of our partners and supporters. To find out more about them, you can check them out via our website elevateme.co. Together, we're changing lives, careers and the events industry for the better.
Mel: This podcast was powered by Wonder the independent specialist creative business-to-business and business-to-employee events agency and a huge thanks goes to our producer and fellow Team Elevater, Peter Kerwood.
What the industry says about our new podcast…
This podcast was powered by Wonder, an independent specialist creative events agency reimagining what’s possible across business experiences. They do this by helping businesses think differently about how they connect with the people that matter to them. We hugely appreciate their support bringing this podcast series to life.
Our sound and mix engineer is Matteo Magariello and our producer is Peter Kerwood.
About Elevate
Elevate is a pioneering free mentoring programme that has been designed with a specific goal in mind – to inspire, inform and empower people within the event industry.
Elevate operates thanks to the generosity of our Partners; Cvent, Jack Morton Worldwide, Live Union, Powwow Events, Protein STUDIOS (venue partner), PSP, The Production Department and We Are Collider. Our Supporters include; CastleBell Ltd, Trivandi, TRO, Xquisite Productions, SPECIAL SAUCE TRAINING LTD (training partner), Times Ten Coaching, Nic Neal (people and culture partners).
Together, we’re changing lives, careers and the events industry for the better.