Today we’d like to introduce you to Trisha Haak.
Hi Trisha, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been in the hospitality business over 15+ years, I learned how to drive on a catering truck and was an on-site caterer for 5 years where I ended on leading the team and doing the desserts. I was attending community college for nursing, when I realized my heart was in baking and I was growing quite busy with cake orders for family and friends, so I decided to up and leave the Warren area where I grew up and move to Chicago to pursue baking and received my pastry certificate from Le Cordon Bleu. While in Chicago I was working the boats on the Navy Pier, I was there for 5 years ending on, managing my own boat, event coordinating and everything else in-between. That is also where I met my husband, he was doing his internship driving the boats, he is now the youngest President of the Great Lakes Western pilot Association, captaining freighters in the great lakes. We moved to Southwest Mi to be the middle ground between our two families and now have 3 children, 2 dogs, and 2 cats. When we first moved here in 2017, there wasn’t much in the area for me to do besides manage a restaurant and a lot of the event spaces that now exist did not then, so I decided to get my license and jump into real estate in this beautiful lake town. I met a lot of people in town and it was a great introduction to South Haven, I just really love anything that involves helping people and taking charge of a situation. I did that for 2ish years and had to put it on hold while I was having my second child (they are all like 15 months apart!). Then I saw Julias was for sale and I couldnt stop thinking of the possibilities they had a great reputation and it was my favorite place to go in town, there is event space upstairs and outside and my husband and I made it happen. Now I am running in all directions and trying to expand and the only thing stopping me is sleep haha
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Balancing home and work life will always be a struggle, my husband works away 3 weeks at time and is back for 1 week in a month from April until January. My plate is always full ….sometimes overflowing. It may have been a pleasant thought at the time to move to a place we love in between our two families, but we may have overlooked how nice it may have been to be close to loved one while raising our kids and in need of a night off. Staffing is always a constant worry in a seasonal town when your business is year long.
As you know, we’re big fans of Cafe Julia. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Cafe Julia is a fast casual restaurant offering breakfast, lunch, dessert and catering. We kind of do it all and pride ourselves on doing it well. We aren’t just doing coffee, we partnered up with Madcap coffee roasters in Grand Rapids who is direct traded partnerships, and quality over everything and takes care of us as a wholesale relationship. We use Bobs processing for our meat needs and they supply us with local great options for all of our menu. We shop locally at farms when we can and offer a diverse menu for all dietary restrictions and preferences. We have a full scale custom bakery and are partners with local event centers for all their wedding needs. When we can accommodate we offer fully custom catering for events and delight in going off site and wowing guests with our creations. We donate and sponsor a ton of things in South Haven and love being apart of our community.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I think it is a combination of feeling fulfilled, maintaining meaningful relationships, and making an impact through your work
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cafejulia.com
- Instagram: julias_soha
