Today we’d like to introduce you to Tish Cunningham.
Tish, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My journey with TasteLife began from something very personal – my love of cooking, entertaining, and creating memorable experiences for family and friends. For years, I was naturally drawn to bringing people together around food. But it was never just about what was on the plate. I loved the entire experience: the presentation, the atmosphere, making people feel welcome, and seeing people enjoy themselves. I’ve always had a passion for all things hospitality.
In 2014, I took that passion and began building it into a business. We started by catering and producing events for up to 100 guests. As the years went on, we grew – not only in the size and scope of the events we could handle, but also in our understanding of what we wanted TasteLife to represent.
Today, that original love of cooking and entertaining is still at the heart of what we do, but the vision has expanded. TasteLife is about creating a complete hospitality experience. Food is an important part of it, but so are service, presentation, atmosphere, and the details that make an event feel special. That evolution is what ultimately led to TasteLife Concepts – a broader vision that allows us to bring together culinary experiences, events, and hospitality under one brand.
When I look back, the growth feels very natural. What started with me doing something I genuinely loved for family and friends became an opportunity to create those same feelings of connection, care, and celebration for other people.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road. One of my biggest challenges has been building and operating a business while maintaining a full-time career with the federal government. For years, I was essentially managing two professional lives – fulfilling the responsibilities of my federal career while continuing to build TasteLife, serve clients, manage events, and develop the brand.
I recently retired after 35 years of federal service, so I’m now at a pivotal and exciting point in my journey. For the first time, I have the opportunity to give TasteLife the time, attention, and creative energy that I always knew it could benefit from.
Rather than looking at those years as time lost, I see them as years that helped prepare me for this next chapter. Building the business while working full-time taught me discipline, patience, organization, and perseverance. Now I have the freedom to take everything I’ve built and learned and focus on growing TasteLife to new heights.
In many ways, retirement isn’t an ending for me – it’s the beginning of the next phase of my entrepreneurial journey.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about TasteLife Catering/ TasteLife Concepts?
For me, business is personal. Every client comes to us with a different vision, and I believe our job is to listen – to really understand what they want their event to look and feel like – and then find a way to bring that vision to life. That philosophy is at the heart of TasteLife.
We don’t believe every event should look the same. We curate each experience around the client’s needs, vision, and budget. Some clients may want to focus primarily on exceptional food and service, while others want a more complete experience that includes presentation, decor, and atmosphere. Our goal is to meet people where they are and create the best experience within the scope they’ve chosen.
What drives me most is the impact we make while serving people. I love watching an event come together and seeing guests enjoying themselves, connecting with one another, and experiencing what we’ve created. Those moments are what remind me why I do this.
TasteLife has never been just about putting good food on a table. Of course the food matters – we want it to be memorable – but hospitality is about much more than that. It’s about how people are welcomed, how they’re served, the atmosphere around them, and ultimately how the experience makes them feel.
That’s really the philosophy behind TasteLife: it’s not just about the food, it’s about the feel.
What matters most to you?
Legacy matters to me. I recently lost my father, and that loss put life into a different perspective for me. It reminded me that our time is precious and that legacy isn’t simply about what we leave behind – it’s also about how we choose to live while we’re here.
At this stage of my life, I want to live fully, love people well, and continue to grow. I want the people in my life to know that they matter, and I want the work I do to have meaning and create something that extends beyond me.
Pricing:
- depends on the scope of the event
Contact Info:
- Website: https://TasteLifeCatering.com
- Instagram: TasteLifeCatering
