Today we’d like to introduce you to Jo Ann Goin.
Jo Ann, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Glory House began as an idea in late 1999. I was working in a large restaurant as the front of the house manager and one day had a word from God that I should start a catering company. In December 1999, I had a tax ID number, was set up as an LLC and I was on my way. I gathered together my Mom’s and Grandmother’s recipes along with my husband Steve’s Hawaiian recipes and my own and launched the company. I had experience in foodservice and understood food cost, consistency and many factors involved in being successful. I was 34 years old and had a 1-year-old baby, Kiana, My husband Steve has always been supportive of any goals and dreams I had.
Glory House moved into a vacant commercial property in early 2000. The company started out only doing catering delivery so we did not need a high traffic retail area. Main Street in Irving was the perfect place for us. We purchased the commercial property through owner fiance, which was of great benefit to us since at that time we would not have been able to take out a commercial loan. In September 2001, we were here on our property when 9/11 occurred. Catering completely stopped as no corporations were doing business as usual. We had to scramble to figure out how to survive the rest of the year. We decided to open up a shop where customers could come in and pick up a sandwich. We offered this service for a year and it saved us from going under. After catering picked up and resumed, we were back on track. By the time Kiana was three, she was “helping” in the kitchen and riding around on a Glory House cart. Now, Kiana is 21 and works in every aspect of the business when she is not attending college classes at DBU.
After building a reputation for excellent food and service in the DFW area, we purchased the connecting property in 2007 and doubled our space, building out a large area for on-site events such as weddings and private events. The next three years were spent building up on-site events and continuing our catering. In 2008, our overall revenue per year dropped more than half for the overall year due to the massive economic downturn. During that time, we were able to look at every aspect of our business, streamline our processes and the amount of staff to survive. It was very tough, but we made it through. One great thing that came from an economic downturn was my husband, Steve, came on full time at Glory House and has made a huge difference in controlling cost and inventory. Having him here has saved our company money and resources in many many areas.
In 2010, we decided to open up for lunch here on site. We were doing well with delivery catering and events on-site, but our property was underutilized during weekday business hours. The lunch business has been very successful and is now 23 percent of our overall revenue.
In 2017, we re-designed the aesthetic of our Bistro, offering a more modern look and expanded the overall offerings for lunch. By this year, our company was very well known in Irving and the surrounding cities.
We continued to grow and in 2019, we celebrated our 20th anniversary. We had a whole line up of celebratory offerings for 2019 and we were plugging along when disaster struck! On April 24th, 2019, I received a call at 6 AM from my kitchen manager. She was hysterical and I could not understand what she was trying to say. My husband, Steve, and I rushed to Glory House and found that a massive portion of our roof collapsed in the night. The entire building was flooded and extensive damage was done the entire front portion of our property. We were devastated. That very day the Lord spoke to me and said: “All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” I knew I had to stand on that scripture or the burden of dealing with fear would overcome me. The Lord worked on our behalf immediately. I had a customer who owns a large construction company. He saw my post I had put on Facebook early that morning asking for prayer. He immediately came to our property and was like a general on his phone giving orders for his “troops” to get to Glory House ASAP! That first day, every drop of water was removed from our property.
That was the beginning of many, many wonderful people and resources that God mobilized on our behalf. Our insurance company (Travelers) was wonderful and helped us with everything with no burden at all. By August 15, 2019, what we thought was our end became our new beginning. Our property was completely revitalized, new everything! Our customers were so excited about our re-grand opening, we had the largest crowd for lunch in our history.
Looking back over the last 20 years, we can see clearly that God went before us and behind us and protected us from all harm. As a Christian company that tithes, we see clearly that our resources are protected and we are very certain that none of it belongs to us, but everything on and in the earth belongs to God including our business, our commercial property and our lives.
We are looking forward to the next 20 years!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Owning a business is never smooth. There are always struggles. My advice is to put systems and controls in place to monitor your costs and inventory.
Don’t enable employees, in other words, hold them accountable and deal with issues as they come up. Don’t let things slide, or you will pay the price for it later. Nothing good ever comes from enabling.
Pray and tithe. If you tithe, your bank account is blessed. If you don’t, your bank account is cursed. Tithing is having faith that God can do more with your 90% than you can do with 100%.
Take a day off. It is imperative to rest and not work yourself to death (literally).
Stay calm in crisis. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. And that means nothing is ever as good as it seems either. If it is too good to be true, it is not true.
Don’t fudge on your accounting practices. Don’t hide cash or cheat. God will audit your books and you will have to give an account of what you have done. It is not perfection, but a matter of the heart. God will provide all you need to pay taxes and all other expenses that come from owning a business.
We’d love to hear more about Glory House Catering & Bistro.
We offer catering delivered to homes, businesses and venues. We offer on-site lunch here at our Bistro Mon-Fri from 10:30 AM to 2 PM. We are excellent at catering for large and small events. We are organized, detail-oriented, and offer 20 years of advice for event catering. Our cuisine is homemade and excellent quality. We pride our selves on an excellent presentation. We pay attention to detail and offer friendly, honorable customer service.
We are set apart from others with our “old school” customer service and we build relationships with our customers. We have catered for some of our clients for a full 20 years. That kind of consistency in foodservice is hard to find.
So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well-positioned for?
I believe that if you follow God’s path for your life, there are no obstacles based on gender. I know that is radical thinking in today’s society, but what can stop God from accomplishing anything He wants in your life if you align yourself with Him? Nothing.
If one door closes, another will open. Follow the peace. Follow the word God is saying to you. Don’t kick down doors that are just not opening. Be patient and walk through the doors God opens. The doors that no man can shut. How can you be more well-positioned for a career than the position God puts you in??
Early on when I started this business, I told God that I wanted specific things to define my life. I wanted to own a business AND be a great wife AND be a great mother, AND be faithful in church AND be faithful in taking care of my body by working out and eating right.
I have been able to all of these things by the grace of God because I made them a priority and God empowered me to achieve all of them.
Pricing:
- Our catering pricing ranges from drop off catering around $12 per person to full event catering at $40 per person
- Our Bistro menu ranges from $9.99 per person to $15.00 per person
Contact Info:
- Address: 109 S. Main Street, Irving, TX 75060
- Website: www.gloryhousecatering.com
- Phone: 972-259-1123
- Email: jo@gloryhousecatering.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gloryhousecatering_bistro/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gloryhousecatering/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Glory_House_TX
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