Some people just have a knack for turning adversity into opportunity. For some, losing a job and a steady paycheck leads to despair. For Maurice Dixon, it led to entrepreneurship and a thriving catering business – Reese’s Culinary 210. When a large company fired him after learning about his past brushes with the law, Maurice knew something had to change. “At that point I knew that I never wanted to work for anybody else, because I was placed in a position where I was unable to pay my bills,” he says. “So that’s how entrepreneurship actually worked.”
“Sometimes you are forced into it and, there are certain circumstances that propel you to become an entrepreneur.”
So, in 2017, he decided to build a catering company in his native Washington D.C. With 26 years in the culinary field under his belt, Maurice thought, “Hey, why not use what you got and make it work?” He had started as a cook and became an executive chef, so he certainly knows cooking. The challenge was learning to run a business, and for that as well as for a financial leg up, he turned to Life Asset, which has been instrumental to his business since day one.
“Life Asset has brought wonders, not only just financially, but with business decisions, documents, business licenses, etc. Life Asset gave me an avenue and tutelage.”
With the motto, “No event is complete without Reese’s tasty treats,” Maurice hangs his culinary hat on providing food that, as he says, goes around the world. He blends Southern soul food with unexpected flavors from Asia, the Mediterranean, and anywhere else he finds inspiration. A dish from Chef Reese means you could, for just one of many examples, be eating traditional Masala chicken with some fried cabbage. He infuses his Southern cuisine with international flavors, he says, because food is greater than just one culture.
An opportunity to give back
His food creates a buzz – it’s as beautiful as it is delicious and sparks conversation wherever it’s served. Maurice has been so successful that he’s now opening another business. But he knows his success wasn’t a solo effort: he was mentored, coached, and given opportunities not always available to return citizens (return citizens are those who have been released from incarceration). He also knows that not everyone has skills they can use to create a rewarding, fresh start on life.
Maurice feels he was given opportunities so that he can create similar chances for others, so he works with many return citizens along with people in recovery and the underprivileged. They want the culinary skillset but can’t afford to go to school, so under Maurice, young adults can learn the culinary arts to gain the expertise they need to earn a living. “I am an opportunity,” he says. Reese’s Culinary bridges the gap between community and
food. He currently has five employees, all return citizens, and he keeps them busy – he’s booked months in advance. He also has other on-call employees if he has a large event that requires extra help.
It’s not just about the cooking, though. He teaches basic cooking skills, but he also teaches life skills. He knows many in his community lack not just the skills to get good-paying work, but the tools they need to manage a successful life. He’s passing along what he’s learned on his own life journey.
The entrepreneurship journey
Speaking of journeys, Maurice says his has been great. His mentors at Life Asset are invaluable and have provided a broader view of what he was doing. He saw that Life Asset was reaching out to small businesses and helping startups get going, showing them the ins and outs of how to run a business. The community involvement aspect was important to him.
“They (Life Asset) as instrumental to opening my eyes to a lot of things that I was not exposed to, like networking with the community.”
What started Maurice on his entrepreneurial journey was being let go from a prior job. With his skillset, he knew he could use it to make money for himself. Or he could take a job and then waiting for them to pull the rug out from underneath him – a stressor he certainly didn’t need. The decision for him was easy.
Because he had no idea how to run a business, he turned to Life Asset to learn the basics. He learned how to create a business plan, how to open a business, about business banking, and just about everything else he needed to know to open, own, and operate a business. Maurice got the tools – and the capital – he needed.
With that initial capital he started small, operating a café. Today, he still uses Life Asset for working capital as needed. “They have been a great, great, great business partner and asset and mentor.” They opened up a huge networking opportunity, he says, and through that process, he’s gained clients. “It’s a wonderful thing. It’s a great thing,” he says enthusiastically.
“The whole program of Life Asset gives you so much more than what you have by yourself.”
Inspiration from Mom
Maurice’s mother always called him Reese, and his company is dedicated to her. It was also from his mother that he learned about giving back. “the way that she did things, our family was like the Kool-Aid house,” he laughs. “Nobody can, nobody in the neighborhood would go hungry. They can come to our house and eat.” That defined hospitality for him. Combining cooking and hospitality creates catering, so his mother’s inspiration led to his current business model.
He felt he had truly made it when he had the money for an ad campaign that appeared on Metro buses. He speaks of it with pride.
“So the first time I saw myself on the bus, I was like, Mom, your boy did it. He made it, your boy made it.”
Bouncing back from adversity
Maurice may have had some trouble with the law, but it doesn’t define him. It actually prepared him for the tough world of entrepreneurship.
“You have to have tough skin. You’re going to rise, fall rise, fall rise, fall, right? It’s not the fall that really matters. It’s about pressing on and persevering and continue to rise, right? There are some things in entrepreneurship that you have to have. One is determination. Another one is resilience to bounce back, and hard work.”
You also have to have a great, trustworthy product, he says. But as important is setting the right foundation. His mentors gave him that – his mom, the chefs he learned under, and those at Life Asset.
Lessons learned
Running a business is complicated, and Maurice had to learn to “mind his business manners,” which includes things like getting the right permits and paying taxes. He also found out that wearing all hats wasn’t an effective way to run any business. He learned that hiring help saves time and energy, and it also saves money because fewer mistakes are made.
He learned that you can’t do it alone, which is why he is both grateful for the mentorship he’s been provided and why he wants to mentor others.
The future looks bright
With the support of Life Asset, Maurice is working to expand his business. It’s still a little hush-hush, but with their help, he’s working on his first brick-and-mortar venture. But it will be more than simply an expansion of his current business.
Maurice is still determined to give back to underserved populations and budding entrepreneurs. His new restaurant will also serve an an incubator for up-and-coming businesses as well as a training ground for food handlers and food managers. “The overall goal is to build a larger space that will do more of what I’m doing on a larger scale,” he says.