Meet Desiree Gonzales | Grazing Table Goddess – Lover of Bees – Supreme Snacker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Desiree Gonzales and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Desiree, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I think the most important factor/s for me, outside my amazing support system, is I love the details! Moreover, I love to SHOP for the details, probably a little too much I’m sure.

We, as humans, have such a connection to food, because it’s such a memory inducer. From sight to smell, to taste, it can be a great way to connect with people and have people connect with each other! I love that when someone opens the box, or looks at my tables for the first time, and they see that one something so small that catches their eye, and for them. makes it perfection,

Its’s that little special something, you probably wouldn’t have thought of, but ties the entire table or box together and it would look like it was ‘missing something’ if you took it away.

It could be the perfect arrangement of flowers, or the color cookies that are there, the shape of the cutouts of cheese, or even that the toothpicks that match the flowers and cookies, but it’s just that one thing that makes it little bit extra, kind of like me, I guess you could say! I will find out what your favorite colors are, your favorite foods, what you want to see or not, do you want something represented in ‘theory’ in order to make their grazing dream a reality. In every size and shape! .

I love to use my obsession with the details to make someone’s special occasion, a little bit more so!

Then of course, I love hearing ‘We hate to eat it, it’s so beautiful’! It’ actually IS the little things in life for me!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I actually kind of fell into my work, is the most accurate way to describe how i got started with boards, boxes and tables! It wasn’t anything that i had even remotely thought about doing as a business, charcuterie boards was just something i did for myself. My version of kitchen therapy so to speak. Some people like to bake to relax, i like to put together boards. Of course they’d get posted to one of my social media accounts, yes I’m that person, and i’d get anywhere from 5-15 messages asking me where they could find them and how can they order and why don’t i start doing them for people. That went on for a year,

This Valentine’s Day i decided to give it a try and do a limited number run of boxes. I had such a great response to that and the wedding grazing table i did two weeks later for a family member, that here we are! Its been such a unexpected, crazy journey so far, but I’m SO ecstatic to have unearthed a hidden passion.

One of my perpetual challenges is, and probably always will be, self promotion, so I’ve really had to start to be comfortable being ok with being ‘out there’ and talking about what i do. Honestly, sometimes i forget to mention myself when I’m recommending friends and family for various services, it’s not something I’m used to. I’m the friend who knows a friend usually.

My goal and hope is that in the upcoming months shifting my focus a little bit to start incorporating a more ‘local’ based board options. We have so many great products here in our state, it’s going to be so fun to showcase them! When it comes down to the bottom line, I’m just a simple Colorado Native, who just loves to snack a little bit on the fancy pants side!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If i had a friend visiting for a few days, we’d probably head to the hills! Winter Park is a favorite of mine and they have a great mountain atmosphere and tons of stuff goes on every weekend during the summer, tons of fun! I’m a shopper, so of course we’d head to the outlet stores in Silverthorne, killing a day shopping and eating and generally hanging out. After all that shopping a day at the Glenwood Springs Hot Springs would most likely be in order. A day or two! Heading back towards Denver, ya gotta spend the night up in Blackhawk, gambler or not, its a cool town to walk around and people watch. They have some amazing spots to eat, spa and stay the night as well! Back in Denver, skip the I-70 traffic and jump on Colfax for a drive down into the city and probably end with sushi at Sushi Hai.

Oh my gosh, to list things to do in Colorado would probably take me days, since every single corner has something to see and even a simple drive can be an adventure, I hate to limit it, but honestly, jump in the car and see where it takes you, you will totally find something amazing.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve been incredibly lucky in my journey to have so many who have given me encouragement and support, always starting with my family! My parents and all of my siblings are always there. From sending me messages, tagging me in posts, recommending me to everyone they know, to offering to help at events, i can always count on them! My other half is the best! He listens to my prattle on about cheese, tables, parties, aged meats and macarons for hours with no complaint and never hesitates to help when i need him, in this and everything else in our life, he’s tops!

My Sister-in-law and ‘Cousins-i-law’ (?) have been there since before Day 1. They have been my guinea pigs, supporters, idea bank, and just the best group of friends and messages anyone could want! I don’t think i would have done as much so fast if they hadn’t been pushing from behind the scenes.

SO many friends, some from years ago to brand new ones who have shown up, has been the icing on the cake for me, I’ve seen people from high school, so cool. Surprisingly, maybe just for me, I’ve had a TON of Social Media friends who have endlessly encouraged my madness, have bought boards, booked me for parties, told their friends about me, tagged my in posts, and shot me the best messages and texts over the last few months. The amount of positivity and attention, honestly, has been a little overwhelming, but has been such a blast! I don’t think I’ve interacted with this many people in years, so its been great and a fun adjustment! My faith in humans, nearly restored!

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