Deepti is the founder and CEO of FoodtoEat. She also works as an advisory council member on the NYC Food and Beverage Hospitality Council, works as a Global Shaper, and is on the Board of Directors for multiple businesses. She has been featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and continues to volunteer for multiple organizations.
Company: FoodtoEat
Degree Type: Bachelor of Science in Political Science & Business Management
What’s your 30-60 second elevator pitch?
We are a corporate catering concierge service with a focus on working with immigrant, women, & minority-owned businesses.
It is our mission to bring people together through a more diverse (and interesting) food community. So, we created a catering (tech) platform for small food businesses, which provide them with the (previously unavailable) tools and infrastructure to fulfill corporate catering orders that enable them to sustain and grow their businesses. And on the corporate side, we focus on improving team culture through palate-broadening food experiences that inspire conversation. We handle everything from small team meals to large orders of food, alcohol, and rentals for 500+ person events.
Did you consider any other careers as a student? If yes, which ones? What changed your mind?
Political Consultant. I worked in Politics because I loved the opportunity to get people I believed in elected into office that I knew would help drive change in my community. Being involved in my community has always been important to me and when the idea of FoodtoEat came to me I knew I would be helping the small business community in New York through my work.
Who or what experience influenced your career growth the most while at SBU?
Professors Robert Clark & Harsh Bhasin & Dean Jerrold Stein were some of the most inspirational people during my years at SBU. Professor Clark and Professor Bhasin were amazing to learn from because they worked in the fields they were teaching us about. It was such an honor to be able learn from their experiences.
Dean Stein treated all the students he met at SBU with a great level of respect and always found a way to help us with anything we were going through; whether it was looking for an on campus job or thinking about our future paths.
What do you wish you had known as a student?
Change is okay. In college we’re always worried that things need to work out a certain way and get frustrated when things don’t work out exactly the way we hoped.
I always believe that everything happens for a reason. I know it sounds cliche, but it’s important to realize that earlier in your career. It helps you cope with all the curveballs, whether they are from people or opportunities. Just learn to be okay with the outcomes and learn how to grow and move forward from them.
What piece of advice would you offer students looking to get into your area of interest and expertise?
You don’t need to have it all figured out right now. Take your time to figure out what you’re passionate about and pursue it.
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