Today we’d like to introduce you to Katy Lynch.
Katy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I moved down to Florida in 2004 and was a school teacher at the time. As a quest to meet more people, I started a dining group and hosted dining events in the West Palm Beach area. I was a natural networker at the time and I connected with the original publisher of what was DINE Magazine who wanted to do some events together. I was bored at my job and knew some change was in order so I asked if the magazine was hiring. I took over the position of office manager and did sales — and a few months later, I was asked if I wanted to take over the magazine. So, in early 2007, I became the editor and publisher of DINE Magazine. So, with a struggling economy, I knew I had to change my focus and that’s where I found my love for hosting food and wine events and working with social media.
While I closed the magazine in 2010, I had poured my heart into the world of food and wine and ventured off on my own. I started my new company, Savor Tonight, where the focus was on hosting food and wine events throughout South Florida ranging from happy hours to oyster and champagne tastings and everything in between. Restaurants saw what I was doing with my events and wanted to use my services to help them with their restaurants.
I now continue to host food and wine events, write for a few blogs and provide social media and marketing services to restaurants and food and wine-related companies. Everyone that I have worked with, has come from word-of-mouth and I’m thrilled with the line-up that I currently have.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Having come from Wisconsin, I was used to the ‘niceness’ that surrounded me, but that wasn’t how I was going to make it running a business in South Florida. I learned quickly to become firm in my beliefs and surround myself only with positive people.
One of the best pieces of advice I received was to never rely on one income stream and that was extremely important when I ran the magazine. The economy tanked in 2007 and it was a real struggle for me and the area restaurants who were the core of my business. This completely affected the ad revenue in the magazine. I learned to change things up and be creative. When an ad wasn’t selling, I’d trade an ad for an event and just found a new way to bring in money.
I also learned to capitalize on my event planning abilities and at one time, I was hosting 150 events in a year.
Savor Tonight – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company is called Savor Tonight. We provide social media and marketing services for restaurants and food-related companies. Since I’ve been working with South Florida restaurants since 2006, I like to say I know the industry. I’ve seen trends come and go. I’ve the restaurant industry in South Florida transform itself. I’ve seen chefs go from their first jobs to being the hottest in the industry. Social media and marketing can be broad, but I focus just on food. I know food. I’m passionate about it. Heck, I even dream about it.
As a self starter, I’m always looking to the future. I started the very first meetup group in Palm Beach County back in 2005. I formed a food influencer group before there was even a term for it. I introduced many of the original “food people” to one another — and we truly found our passion. I’ve also seen many people want to do what I was doing but it takes a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes and many people don’t realize that. I’m proud to say that my company and my career came from my own personal passion, which I then turned into my career.
I entered the food journalism industry in 2007 when things were just starting to go online so, I was familiar with traditional print media and the social platforms — and have grown with and adapted my company along the way. You need to, in order to survive. I take those skills and apply them to the clients that I work with.
My hard work has paid off and my plate is full. No pun intended. I have a dream list of clients, ranging from restaurants, dining websites and a food photographer — and they’ve all come to me from referrals. When you’ve been in the industry long enough, people talk about you and I’m thrilled with what they say. They are a huge part of why I have been so successful. My dream has become a reality.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success, to me, is doing what makes you happy. I was passionate about food and wine — and I found a way to make it into my career. It’s taking a dream and running with it — but also finding balance in life. There were times when I was in complete work-mode and was quite successful at it, but it wasn’t until I felt fulfilled in my mind, body and spirit — and truly loved myself inside that I felt successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://SavorTonight.com
- Phone: (305) 929-3463
- Email: katy@savortonight
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/savortonight
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/savortonight
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/savortonight
- Other: http://palmbeachonthecheap.com
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