I’m fortunate to be in Austin, TX this week speaking at the national Catersource Conference. This marks my 20th year attending the largest gathering of caterers in the country. I remember that first year in 2005 when all the attendees were in a top-floor ballroom at the Bally’s Hotel in Las Vegas. One speaker at a time got up and presented to the audience of a few hundred people and the trade show consisted of a dozen or so booths. The conference has grown considerably over the past twenty years taking over large convention centers, having multiple sessions going on at the same time, and hosting thousands of attendees.

That first year I attended, I met Mike Roman, the founder of Catersource. He was the first person to encourage me to get up on stage and speak a few years later.  I did a presentation with my father about the three entities that we were operating at the time. The catering business, a restaurant, and the food and beverage operations at a golf course. I cringe a bit thinking about that session. It’s not that we didn’t have something valuable to share or that we bombed the delivery - I actually think we did a pretty good job. It is the fact that I’m looking at it through today’s lens.  

Twenty years is a long time and I’m proud to say that I’ve made significant progress in my public speaking abilities. I’ve read books about speaking, attended a speaking school, and watched countless TED Talks looking for what makes the speakers great. Having done hundreds of presentations since that first one, I’ve worked hard to refine my stage presence, found creative ways to engage with audiences, and crafted presentations that have tangible takeaways. I certainly appreciate the compliments I get on my presentations, but I also know that I can continue to get even better.

The road to success is filled with twists, turns, obstacles, and challenges. When we dream about what we want to accomplish, it can be hard to see the path to get there. It’s the small incremental steps though that start to add up over time and help lift the fog, making that road a bit clearer. When we evaluate our lives through the lens of time, we need to have grace for where we started. It’s ok to be a bit embarrassed of where we once were, and at the same time, we should be proud of how far we’ve come. We need to have humility in the success we’ve achieved understanding that there is always more to learn and room to improve. And we need to return to grace when we start to look ahead at all the goals we have yet to achieve. As I reflect on my journey through the years at Catersource and look toward the future, I have to remind myself of these lessons that come through the lens of time. And I can’t help but feel immense gratitude for Mike Roman and his mentorship during those initial years.