Inspiring Conversations with Evan Fowler of YourchEfvan Catering & Company

Today we’d like to introduce you to Evan Fowler.

Hi Evan, It’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, could you share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Evan Fowler, and I am a Jacksonville native born and raised. I have been cooking since I was 5, a graduate of the Art Institute with a bachelor’s degree in culinary and hospitality management (2008-2012). The idea for my business, YourchEfvan Catering Company, came when Hurricane Irma caused a lack of work due to downtown flooding. I started offering lunch delivery once a week as I waited to return to work. I was formally a private chef and enjoyed creating heartfelt dishes for my clients while sharing flavors I cherished. With positive response and growth, delivery grew to 5 days a week, renting kitchen space and my first business license. September 2024 will mark seven years of delivery. In the seven years time I acquired new clients via references, was honored to provide lunch for local Big Brothers Big Sisters, and partnered with local restaurants to help my lunch delivery and catering grow.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Initially, the process was to pass the time as I waited to return to my 9-5 chef job. As the request for weekly lunches grew to five days a week, the joy of creating monthly menus became my outlet. I love creating menus with assorted cuisines, customer favorites, and recipes to eat and share. This created a routine that I really enjoyed. Within the first month of delivery, I knew I wanted to take this passion and create something sustainable. With personal chef experience, I enjoy catering to meal requests and building customer familiarity via individual food preferences. Coming from a family of teachers and educators, I found it nice to be able to treat several local school staff with new items from my delivery menu. I had a chance to attend brand building with Jennifer Holland and focus on what makes my company special. I instantly knew “the mission statement” was to bring “private chef focus” to as many as I could, so “YourchEfvan” was created.

I continued working my regular job and lunch delivery was my side passion slowly coming together. Some of the struggles came in 2020. Once again, my career and my line of work came to a stop. The silver lining was my clients remembered me and my love for cooking and delivering food whenever needed. Business grew, and so did my passion for focusing on more growth. Gas prices, food costs, and the overall cost of business are common obstacles to being independently employed. However, with each trial came fulfillment to know I wasn’t just cooking but planning, shopping, prepping, delivering, and feeding my customers with dishes I love from start to finish.