Welcome to the Charcuterie Collective! My name is Abigail Schlesinger and I am the Owner and Operator of the Charcuterie Collective! We are a charcuterie board company located out of Phoenix, Arizona and we work to achieve our goal of bringing people together in a unique and special way. I started this business my junior year of high school and I was 16 years old. I decided to turn a hobby that I had fallen in love with over time into a business, so on November 22nd of 2020, we accepted our first order!
Charcuterie Made Simple
In July of 2019, my aunt introduced our family to charcuterie boards on our yearly summer vacation to Newport Beach, California. I was overwhelmed and amazed by the work of art she created on the coffee table of our beach house for dinner that night. She displayed all of the meats, cheeses, crackers, and garnishes in a way that accentuated the textures and colors of all the foods featured on the table. As a family, we were able to spend hours sitting around this beautiful spread and talking for hours. This trip is a special time for our family because we all live in different states, so we all look forward to the time we get to spend together, and charcuterie has brought us even closer together over the years!
Our Family Vacation Beach Picture in 2019
After trying that first charcuterie board in California, I was determined to learn how to make these for myself. Over the next two years, I continually practiced and made boards for various events and gatherings. After practicing building and serving these boards a multitude of times, I had many friends and family suggest that I start it into a business after seeing my boards on my own personal Instagram. At the time, I wasn’t interested in starting another business, because I already owned an online clothing resale business that I started at age 15. After awhile, I finally opened up to the idea of starting the charcuterie business, I thought it would be a fun hobby to make this family tradition into a business. It has been over a year and a half since we officially opened our business and in that time, our business has grown dramatically and I am so immensely grateful for the support from countless clients and friends, we have felt ALL of the love and support this past year. I absolutely love what I do and I could not be more grateful for this business and the people I have met through it.
In November of 2021, we released our online course, “Charcuterie Made Simple” with the hopes of providing the tools and resources to help people all over the world build beautiful charcuterie boards. I have seen very clearly how charcuterie has built a community and brought my people together, so I have the same hopes for both our in-person boards and boards built by clients using our online class:the hope to bring people together to invest in community.
In May of 2022, I graduated high school and I am so excited to continue my education at the Colangelo College of Business at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix in the fall. I will be studying marketing and design with a minor in entrepreneurial studies, while I continue running my business throughout college!
Some of the greatest advice I have ever received is from my grandpa. When I first started my business, he sat me down and told me this, “If you pursue an occupation that you love, you will never work a day in your life.” That phrase has stuck with me through the good and the hard times of owning a business. I get so much joy when I get to meet and communicate with clients. One of my absolute favorite parts about my job is that I get to be a very small part of so many people’s best days and memories. It is an honor for our team to be involved in a small part of clients wedding days, birthday parties, baby showers, and all of the other sweet events in between!
The Family Behind The Business
To our clients, THANK YOU for allowing us the opportunity to be a small part of your celebrations and milestones. We would not be where we are without the support from our clients, business mentors, and every person who has followed along and encouraged us throughout this journey. I started my first business three years ago with the dream of buying my own car and having the flexibility to control mu schedule so that I could still be involved in cheer, tennis, and student government at my high school. Now, here I am, three years later: I found my dream car, participated in four years of cheer and tennis, graduated as Senior Class President, all while continuing to growing my business as I do so. Thank you to everyone who has supported our business along the way and I cannot wait to see how we can continue to serve our community along the way!
Xoxo,
Abigail Schlesinger
