Perspectives: Women Who Excel 2013 – Catering to your company's growth

Tammy Tedesco, President and CEO, Edibles Rex
Tammy Tedesco, President and CEO, Edibles Rex

Tammy Tedesco graduated from the University of Michigan in 1989, and just three years later, she started Edibles Rex, what was then a small restaurant. She initially started the small carryout café restaurant with the hopes of having job security and avoiding the potential of losing her job.
Tedesco worked hard at her new business, but at just 23 years old, she had a lot to learn as the business grew. One thing Tedesco did realize was that she had to continue to reinvest in her business if she expected it to grow. For the first seven years, she didn’t take a paycheck and relied on a second job to keep her going. Slowly, but steadily, Edibles Rex became much more than a restaurant.
“From a restaurant, it evolved several times,” Tedesco says. “Every time we evolved was to meet a client’s needs. Three years after being in the small restaurant, I could see that we couldn’t expand that way. A client asked us if we would come and manage a facility and be the in-house caterers.
“That really put us in a new direction and allowed us to grow.”
About three years after that, Tedesco had another customer ask if the company would ever consider feeding school children. At that time, charter schools were on the rise in Detroit and they needed outside food service since these schools didn’t have the facilities to do it themselves.
“So instantly we became a school food provider and started out with about 2,000 students,” Tedesco says. “We have since grown our school business to 10,000 meals a day.”
Today, Edibles Rex has 80 employees and is one of metropolitan Detroit’s top food and beverage catering and events services. However, the company has struggled at finding capital and space big enough to support the growing business — and that has been Tedesco’s quest as president and CEO.
“Our biggest challenge has been access to capital,” she says.
Tedesco was part of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women class, which opened valuable connections and taught her important business skills.
“I feel if we could have tapped into that eight or 10 years ago, we might be in a different position right now,” she says.
No matter the path taken, an entrepreneur’s work is very hard and you have to be willing to sacrifice to achieve success.
“It takes determination and keeping your eye on the vision, and if you believe in it, it will happen,” she says. “I knew that I only had myself to rely on. Early on, you should get yourself a mentor or someone who could be your cheerleader and your advocator to keep you going because there were days I wanted to give up.
“It’s really about loving what you’re getting ready to go into and knowing there are going to be a lot of dark and challenging days. You’re not going to know everything, and you have to be OK with that. A lot of people get a little too arrogant about what they know and they’re not willing to be open to advice. I was willing to get any kind of advice that would make my life easier.”
That kind of determined attitude has been crucial in Tedesco’s success. She is now passing that attitude on to her employees who work with customers every day.
“To this day, we are a catering company and we sell great food, but the No. 1 thing that we sell is customer service,” Tedesco says. “By us taking care of our customers, they come to us with new ideas for our business. It’s always about trying to work out kinks for our customers. I tell our employees that I’m not their boss, and I don’t sign the paychecks — our customers do. By taking care of the customers you’re taking care of your paycheck.” ●
How to reach: Edibles Rex, (313) 922-3000 or www.ediblesrex.com
 
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