Success at Berkeley College and beyond

"Who knew how far a jar of homemade vodka sauce would take us?"

Danielle O'Neill reflected back on her journey with her fiancée Vanessa Guzman, recalling how they met in a Berkeley College class in 2019, and how their friendship turned into not only a romantic partnership…but an expanding business venture as well. We spoke with the couple recently to follow up on a past Berkeley Today story that documented the beginning of that partnership shortly after Vanessa posted a video of Danielle making her special vodka sauce on social media and encouraged her to begin selling it by the jar.

Not just one business, but four

Fast forward to 2024 and their initial catering business, D's Cozy Kitchen, is alive and well. They have branched out to now also run the café at the Berkeley College Woodland Park campus, catering for Berkeley College events, off-site caterings, and their newest venture, The Seasoned Rican.

"Danielle wanted to bring our food outside of Berkeley College and to the public," Vanessa said. "We saw an opportunity in offering Puerto Rican street food and quickly put together a business plan, which included a new logo and custom-designed tent we use for festivals."

Calling on her graphic design training

Vanessa, a graduate of Berkeley's Graphic Design program, creates all the promotional materials for their businesses. She spoke of using the skills she developed during her time at Berkeley. "I've been able to apply what I learned at Berkeley throughout our business journey-creating everything to launch and promote all our businesses," she said. "In fact, I met with Professor Julia Hutchinson to discuss my designs as we were developing The Seasoned Rican. She confirmed that the identity I created was perfect for communicating what was at the heart and soul of the business. It really meant a lot to have her blessing."

Business skills are an important ingredient

Similarly, Danielle recognized the importance of her training in Berkeley's Management program. "As a business owner, it's critical that we understand those aspects of our operation. Great food alone won't make us successful, we need to handle pricing and budgets, inventory, payroll, HR issues, and so much more. Leadership courses I took at Berkeley have definitely helped me in those areas."

Busier than ever

Typical days for Vanessa and Danielle now begin with a 6:00 AM alarm and don't end until sometimes 14 hours later. By the time they open the café in Woodland Park, hungry students are waiting to grab a quick breakfast before class and the lunch crowd follows not long after. They've also catered many on-site events for the College, including the recent All Associates Day where all Berkeley faculty and staff gathered. Weekends usually involve off-site catering orders and an increasingly busy schedule of events and festivals for The Seasoned Rican.

Making their mark

"Our signature items always sell out at events," Vanessa claimed, referring to their "Wepa Fries" and "Rican Empanada." "We really wanted to give our own spin to traditional Puerto Rican street food." Response has been tremendous. After a soft launch, they began contacting and booking festivals they've attended in the past-including events where Vanessa has displayed and sold her art-and they kept an emphasis on LGBTQ+ events. Their biggest event so far saw Vanessa and Danielle under their custom-designed tent at the Maplewood Pride Festival which had more than 15,000 attendees.

"We got so many compliments-not only on the food but on our tent. It really draws people in!" Danielle exclaimed.

Balancing business with a personal relationship

The couple agreed that it can be difficult to be in both a business and personal relationship. "We have to work at making it work," Danielle explained. "Sometimes we have to set aside time for a date night."

Vanessa agreed, "We have to remember it's not us against each other, it's us against the challenges we face. We try to take mini vacations whenever we can, taking advantage of a long weekend whenever possible."

Sharing their story and their talents

Vanessa and Danielle were also recently featured in "A Berkeley Love Story" -a cooking demonstration video in which they prepared one of their favorite recipes, "Marry Me Chicken Over Linguini." The online event was held in celebration of LGBT History Month and hosted by Dr. Heidi Hoefinger, who leads the Gender and Sexuality Alliance at Berkeley College.

A hunger to always be ready to try something new

While not planning any new business ventures for the moment, Vanessa and Danielle are constantly looking to expand their menu offerings. "We're always up for a challenge and we never say 'no' to anything," Danielle pointed out. "We've expanded to include pasta and gelato stations for catering events and Vanessa has been doing more and more baking, which has been going over very well."

The sauce was just the beginning

For now, Vanessa and Danielle are focusing on maintaining their high standards for quality in all of their ventures while still making time for each other. They often think back to the sauce behind their success and wonder what they might cook up next!

The views and/or opinions in this article are those of the individuals interviewed. The academic achievements and/or employment outcomes described in this article are specific to each individual and are not a guarantee of similar results for past or current students. For up-to-date and detailed information, please visit BerkeleyCollege.edu and view our catalogs at BerkeleyCollege.edu/publications.

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