Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz Bliss.
Liz, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started baking with my Grandmothers and Mother from a very young age and I am thrilled to be a part of a business that shares my passion for connecting with people through food. I’ve had a diverse career path and have been a Bookstore Manager, Retail Operations Manager, Coffee Shop Manager, Massage Therapist, Optician, Meal Prep Planner, Sales Professional and Directory of Retail Bakery Operations. Everything I’ve been and done up to this point has contributed to my position as Director of Culinary Entertainment, which is by far the most fulfilling career step I’ve taken. I get to combine my drive for operational excellence, background in performing arts, customer service experience, team development and my passion for connecting with people through food into one giant ball of fun.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not! I think the biggest challenge of the last 12 months has been learning an entirely new industry! Flexibility and adaptability have been growth areas for me this year. Specifically, with opening our second location, I found pretty early on that clients of our Plano kitchen had very different needs and desires from our Southlake clients, and had to be flexible in my approach to classes, scheduling, team development, marketing and outreach. Adapting to the differences in the kitchen has been both stimulating and challenging and I’m excited to see what the next year has in store!
Please tell us about your business.
At Taste Buds Kitchen, we provide a unique culinary entertainment experience for kids, families, adults and corporate teams by engaging and delighting our budding chefs in the kitchen. We support kids, families, adults, teams of all sizes and, of course, food, and strive to create a lifestyle around connecting, learning and growing in our culinary playground. We are known for creating memorable, hands-on experiences where our clients come for a cooking class or competition style cooking event and leave with the skills they need to replicate the recipes once they get home, and have a lot of laughs along with the learnings. What sets us apart from other cooking experiences, is the number of hands-on experience our clients receive during the class. We want everyone to leave with the confidence to cook for themselves or their family and friends. Because our clients typically work in small groups, they have the opportunity to dig in and learn the skills they need to make it happen once they leave the kitchen. I’m most proud whenever one of our clients comes up to me after a class and tells me they made something they never thought they could and that they can’t wait to practice at home. I also love when our loyal clients return and bring friends because they’ve enjoyed the experience so much.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment isn’t one specific moment- it’s every time a client thanks me for the positive impact I’ve had on their lives. Every time I see one of our kiddos proudly hold up their culinary creation and present it to their parents, each time a teen client comes out of their shell to share their passion, every time an adult client thanks me for demystifying a culinary term or technique and they learn a skill they can take with them, I’m super proud. If I had to pick one specific client, it would be “Joe”. Joe came to one of our Adult BYOB public classes, clearly was not excited to be there, told me specifically his wife had dragged him to class for date night and he didn’t want to cook. About halfway through the class, clients were starting on their risotto recipe, and he was standing at the burner, stirring away. I kept tabs on him, giving him tips and coaching him through the process. At the end of class, when they sat down to savor their meal, he came over to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me for making him a cook- he said, I didn’t ever think I would be someone who knew how to cook a dish as fancy as risotto, and now, I’m the risotto guy! I did it!- he was so excited to have something special to prepare for his wife and share with his family, that that’s really what we’re about!
Contact Info:
- Address: 7200 Independence Parkway, Suite 238
Plano, Texas - Website: https://tastebudskitchen.com/
- Phone: 214.504.2293
- Email: plano@tastebudskitchen.com
- Instagram: TBKPlano
- Facebook: Taste Buds Kitchen Plano
Image Credit:
Jude Robinson
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