How Solopreneur Jazmyn Wilson Turned Her Side Hustle Into a Full-Time Catering Business

Looking legit

As her business picked up steam at the end of 2016, Jazmyn began experimenting with FreshBooks.

“I needed a way to send invoices, and I wanted to look legit,” she remembers thinking. What stood out was how simple it was to use and how polished it made her feel. “I could put my logo in there, which I thought was cool.” 

Soon, she was using FreshBooks regularly for her business.

The decision to go all in

Jazmyn balanced catering with her day job. But with events filling her evenings, weekends, and even the occasional lunchtime, the pace was becoming hard to sustain.

“I was probably going to burn out if I kept doing both,” she recalls.

When her company carried out a sweeping layoff and Jazmyn lost her job, she was faced with a choice: find another in-house role or see what her business could become. 

"It wasn't a hobby anymore. This is going to be what I'm doing and where I'm investing my time," she remembers deciding. She began returning calls, following up with clients, and letting people know she was ready to take on larger events.

Making an experience worth remembering

Jazmyn has no culinary degree. What she has is a big family, a love of cooking for a crowd, and a background in architectural design that shapes how she approaches every event. Her Panamanian roots work their way into her cooking, too, often adding a spin to familiar Southern flavors.

The word “Sundry” means diverse—a nod to the range of food she offers. “You name it, we can do it,” she says.

For Jazmyn, a memorable event also goes beyond what’s on the plate. Her architectural background shines through her choice of flowers, tablescapes, colors, and all the small details that bring an event together.

“We focus on good food, but also on how we make you feel when we step into your space,” she says.

That attention and care helped the word spread. “When clients are happy, they tell their friends,” Jazmyn says. “And when their friends see them happy, they’re going to say, ‘Hey, I want you to do our event, too.’”

Soon, birthday parties and baby showers led to company events, and venues began recommending Sundry Events & Catering as a preferred caterer.

Keeping up as her business grew

With more clients came more to manage: estimates, proposals, expenses, invoices, and all of the details behind each event. FreshBooks was the place Jazmyn could keep track of it all.

"FreshBooks creates a checklist that I'm not even asking for," she says.

“If someone’s calling me to say, ‘Hey, I want to add this to the event,’ they don’t have to wait for me to get home. I can do that right from my phone.”

Eventually, Jazmyn could no longer run events by herself, and she began hiring staff for when she needed an extra set of hands. Today, four people work in regular rotation. For one of her biggest events, she hired a team of 17. “The event was so seamless, I almost couldn’t believe it,” she says.

A room of her own

Jazmyn has since crossed the six-figure mark with her business, surpassing what she earned in her career. 

Now, she’s preparing for the next chapter: a tasting room of her own.

She wants a space that reflects her style: boho, eclectic, and versatile. It will give her a kitchen she doesn’t have to share, room to store the inventory she uses to create events, and a place to meet clients face-to-face. She also envisions hosting small mixers and networking events.

Small is a big deal

This summer brought another milestone for Sundry Events & Catering: FreshBooks became one of Jazmyn’s clients when she catered a FreshBooks event in Atlanta.

She was also invited to appear as part of FreshBooks’ Small is a Big Deal brand campaign. At first, she assumed that the opportunity would go to someone else. But a friend asked her, Why not you?

That question stayed with her. And it’s one she hopes other small business owners will ask themselves, too.

"Small is a big deal because big things start small," she says.