Finding a simple phrase to describe Howard & Howard Events and Chef Services can prove difficult.

As the name implies, the Mint Hill company specializes in event planning and custom chef services, but it doesn't end there.

Dwayne and Pamela Howard also offer custom shoes for special occasions. Need to buy some gift balloons? No problem. What about party favors? They've got those and more.

Neither could have imagined where their business would lead when they launched it nearly nine years ago.

Dwayne Howard, who runs the chef service, said he got his start in 1993 as a fry cook and advanced to bigger and better establishments. One of the services he now offers is an intimate dinner served in a private home or hotel.

"If somebody had told me back then that I would still be in food service," he said, "I would have laughed."

Pamela Howard worked as a licensed cosmetologist but quietly nurtured her passion for planning special occasions - at first small weddings of 50 people or so, then corporate affairs and finally larger events.

"It kind of took of pretty fast," she recalled. "People from outside of the city were calling us."

On April 1, the husband-wife team opened Pizzazz, a retail store on Lawyers Road that services the general public as well as the wedding industry. They share space there with Tommy Braswell, a longtime friend who offers interior design and floral services.

The couple recently sat with Qcitymetro to talk abut their various business ventures and the joys and pains of entrepreneurship. Below is a Q&A based on that conversation. Some answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
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(Click to enlarge photo) Dwayne Howard, center, serves an intimate dinner to Marc Brown, left, and Tanesha Manigo, right, winners of the Qcitymetro.com Valentine's contest. (Photo: Qcitymetro.com)	(Click to enlarge photo) Marc Brown, left, and Tanesha Manigo, right, winners of the Qcitymetro.com Valentine's contest, enjoy an intimate dinner served by Dwayne Howard. (Photo: Qcitymetro.com)	(Click to enlarge photo) Dwayne Howard, center, serves an intimate dinner to Marc Brown, left, and Tanesha Manigo, right, winners of the Qcitymetro.com Valentine's contest. (Photo: Qcitymetro.com)

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Q. What is Howard & Howard?

Pamela: Our business is an all-inclusive event planning and personal chef catering services. From an event-planning standpoint, we can plan, coordinate and consult for many types of events -- social and corporate events.

Q. Here in your store you sell a variety of products - stationary, wedding gifts, handbags, even shoes. Are the shoes new, or do people rent them?

Pamela: They're new. I don't sell off the rack. Everything is custom done -- custom colors, custom beading, hand-sewn thing. People come in and order them, and they come in about three days later. I tell people I'm not your everyday shoe person, but if you have a big event - a prom, a wedding, going to a ball, dinners - then I'm the shoe person for you.

Q. What does it take to be a good event planner?

Pamela: In my opinion, to be a good event planner or a good anything, you have to be a good listener and educated in your profession. I try to listen to my clients and get an understanding of how they see their events, and based on their vision and my expertise and education, it all comes together for a good event.

Q. The economy has been bad for a long time. Do you see people cutting back on wedding and events?

Pamela: We've probably seen the good and the bad of it. When the economy started dropping, being a small business, it actually was to our advantage. The small pup was now able to play with the big dogs. We always offered the same professionalism and the same custom service as the larger organizations, but without the big name you kind of got overlooked. So when the economy started dropping, our business actually picked up because clients were still looking for professionalism and customer service, but they were looking for it at a cheaper price.

Q. You do a bridal show as well. Is that annual?

Pamela: It is annual. It's every first Sunday in October. We will be doing our fourth this year at the Crown Plaza in uptown Charlotte.

Q Last year you were at the Gantt Center.

Pamela: Our bridal shows were designed to highlight newly renovated or new venues. The Crown Plaza has been newly renovated for about a year now. So we're going to show Charlotte's brides what the hotel now has to offer as a newly renovated hotel.

Q. Is your business primarily weddings, or is it half weddings and half something else?

Pamela: I would say that now, as of today, it's probably fifty-fifty. When we first got started it was mostly corporate, and as we branded ourselves and grew in the business it became more social. Now I think we get a good variety of both.

Q. What's been the biggest surprise so far, pleasant or unpleasant?

Pamela: The biggest surprise in eight years is to have our services recommended to celebrities. I don't think my husband and I ever thought that we would be referred to celebrities when they come to Charlotte. That's been a big reward for us.

Q. What would you do differently if you were just starting out?

Pamela: I probably would have re-branded the company a little bit better. When we first started, we were not Howard & Howard Events. We were Pampered Parties and Total Services. After we had been in business for about a year, we were asking ourselves a question: "We have a good product. Why aren't clients coming back and business growing?" It took a professional marketing consultant to point out something that was very simply. We were branding ourselves incorrectly, from the name to how we were presenting ourselves on websites and business cards. Nothing was consistent. The name didn't reflect what we did. We were coming off a bit overwhelming to our customers.

Q. Running a business is hard work. Has it been worth it?

Pamela: I think it's been worth it. At the end of the day, when you look and see what you have accomplished, it's worth it to me. I'd rather be working hard for myself than for someone else. I feel that I have a lot to offer my family, my business and people who are interested in the services that I offer, so every day I just strive to work hard.

Q. Have you ever thought about giving it up and just getting another 9-to-5?

Pamela: Yes. As a small business, we wear a lot of different hats. Some of those hats are the owners, operator, the legal person. It can get overwhelming sometimes, especially when you have a growing family and you have other obligations outside work - your church obligations, you social life with your spouse - and sometimes you feel like letting it go.

Q. Where do you go for help?

Pamela: I go to The Rock. (laughs) That's where I go.

Q. Where does Howard & Howard go next?

Pamela: We want to own a social hall. I see us having an old, historic home and us transforming it into an elite banquet hall and providing personal service to our clients. I hope we are less than 5 years away.

Q. Some say husbands and wives should not be in business together. How is that working?

Pamela, looking at her husband: You want to answer that?

Dwayne: I think it's a myth. Some can't; some can. Some personalities can conflict. Ours don't. Also, she does something different than I do. She does event planning, and I do the chef work. So it's not like she has a hand in what I do, and I don't have a hand in what she does?

Q. What advice would you offer others trying to build a business?

Dwayne: A lot of people will give stuff a year or two and not give it a chance. In other words, don't give up. After eight years of doing this, a lot of people would just give up, but it actually takes a while. Even up to this point we're still learning things. One of Michael Jordan's favorite sayings is, "You can't have success without failure." You 're going to have your bumps in the road.

Pamela: To anyone looking to start a business I would say it takes time, it takes patience, it takes sacrifice. You've got to be willing to give all of that - the time, the sacrifice and the patience. There will be bumps in the road, but consistency is the best advice I can give.

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