Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Villacis.
Hi Michelle , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
It all started in 2020, when I tried salami and cheese together for the first time at a friend’s house. It wasn’t something that had ever caught my attention before, but the moment I tasted it, I was hooked and wanted to explore more flavors.
As I dug deeper, I discovered a world of charcuterie boards made with real creativity, visually stunning, almost like edible art. I’ve always been someone who appreciates creativity and cares about how things look, so between my curiosity for new flavors and my love for aesthetics, I started putting together my own boards, making sure every one looked beautiful.
I began posting them on Instagram just for fun, with no intention of selling anything. It was the middle of the pandemic, and slowly people started asking if I could make a board for their special occasion. By November 2020, the requests were steady enough that I started taking it seriously. That Thanksgiving, I did my first real drop and received 25 orders in a single day, which felt unbelievable at the time.
Christmas and New Year’s brought even more orders, and as demand kept growing, I made the leap to doing this full-time in 2021.
Today, more than five years later, I’ve created over 250 grazing tables. I’ve since stepped away from individual charcuterie boards to focus entirely on grazing tables and charcuterie cups -it’s the work I enjoy most, and it gives me far more room to express my creativity. Along the way, I’ve started experimenting with design principles to make each table feel more cohesive and intentional, pulling from art concepts to guide color, balance, and composition. I love when a table isn’t just beautifully arranged, but colorful and full of life.
Alright, 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?
Honestly, the road hasn’t been smooth, though the struggles weren’t so much about the business logistics as they were personal. There were times I battled what I think was imposter syndrome. I’d finish a table, and even if the client absolutely loved it, I’d fixate on the small details that didn’t match the picture in my head. My perfectionism could get the best of me, and there were moments I genuinely didn’t want to keep going, even when everyone around me was telling me the work was great.
On the business side, the challenges were more practical: learning how to market myself and actually put my work out there, figuring out how to value what I do and charge accordingly, and navigating the more unglamorous parts of running a business, like taxes.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in grazing tables, but I don’t think of them as catering. To me, they’re edible art. My work is known for being bright, colorful, and unapologetically eye-catching, while never losing sight of what actually matters: it has to taste as good as it looks.
What I’m most proud of isn’t a single table or event, it’s my recurring clients. Anyone can impress someone once. Having clients come back to me again and again is proof that what I create isn’t just pretty, it’s memorable.
What sets me apart is that I don’t just assemble food, I design it. I approach every table the way an artist approaches a canvas, using real design principles to guide placement, balance, and flow so the eye is drawn exactly where it should be. That’s the difference between a table that looks nice and one that stops people in their tracks. I’m not just making grazing table, I’m creating an experience you can eat.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
My advice would be to follow accounts that share real, educational content about building this kind of business, that’s where I learned the most. I never really had a mentor. I did reach out to someone in the same space once, but it just didn’t feel like a good fit, and it kind of made me hesitant to reach out to people for a while after that.
What actually worked for me was just engaging with other grazing table businesses on social media, commenting on their stuff, showing genuine interest. Over time that turned into actual relationships. Now there are people in this space I can ask about handling tricky clients with, brainstorm new concepts with, and just bounce ideas off of.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://charcuterieatx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charcuterie.atx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Charcuterie.atx
