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听 听 听 听 听 听听Katie Vinge-Chef/Owner of Forget's The Happy Nun Cafe and a successful Saskatchewan entrepreneur-recently spoke in Weyburn, at the invitation of Community Futures and Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan. Here, Vinge shares the story of her personal and professional journey of the award-winning eatery.

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听听听听听听听听听听听 Hello everyone, my name is Katie Vinge and I am the chef and owner of The Happy Nun Cafe in Forget.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Before I get started, I just wanted to thank Community Futures and Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan for inviting me to speak today. I am very honoured, excited and a little nervous to share my story with you. Being a chef, I am usually behind the scenes, hiding out in the kitchen, so as you can imagine, this is a big step for me!

Why I got into business for myself

听听听听听听听听听听听 As you may have read, I am from a small town in northern Alberta called Fairview. Growing up, I was lucky enough to travel, which exposed me to a lot of different places, cultures and cuisines. We always spent a lot of time in his area as we have a family cabin at White Bear Lake. This has always been my favourite place and I believe that having this love for the area played a huge part as to where I am today.

听听听听听听听听听听听 After I graduated high school, I moved to Edmonton and enrolled in journalism and then switched to interior design. While in this program, I still felt that there was something missing. My 鈥減oor parents鈥� was all I could think when I called them up again, telling them that I had come across an ad for the Culinary Arts program and I was thinking of applying. I knew how crazy it sounded; it was like telling them I wanted to become an astronaut. Lucky for them and for me, this plan stuck.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Fast forward to my first day of orientation in my new program. Sitting in the restaurant attached to the culinary wing, I was suddenly overcome with a stream of emotions. I felt like somehing had finally clicked. This was where I was supposed to be. It was the first time I had visions of owning my own restaurant one day. I couldn't wait to fill my parents in on this new revelation, once again surprising them with a new challenge. Little did we know, it would become a reality and five years later, my dad would be washing dishes in our very own restaurant.

听听听听听听听听听听听 I really started to expand on the vision of owning my own place when a good friend of mine and I started experimenting with pop-up suppers in the city. We were both working for the same restaurant and were excited about the possibility of hosting our own dinner with our own style of food. We were excited about the possibility of being the ones that could decide everything. With help from family and friends, we hosted our first two long table pop-up dinners. This was my first taste of culinary freedom and it was intoxicating.

听听听听听听听听听听听 It was after these pop-up dinners and years of working in restaurants that I felt I had hit a turning point in my career. I was ready for the next step. I craved independence and wanted to express myself and to create the food and atmosphere that I believed in.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It is funny the way things work out sometimes. Around this time, my husband was offered a teaching job in the area. This was a great opportunity for him and was too good to pass up. I was ready for a change and not too fond of long distance so I started to do some research. I felt that with my education and experience in the industry that I was ready to venture out on my own.

听听听听听听听听听听听 This was around the same time that a place I had never been to, on a road I had driven by a thousand times-called The Happy Nun- came up for sale. Well, after the first trip to Forget in November of 2014-in true Katie style- my parents received another phone call... I knew what I wanted for Christmas that year: The Happy Nun Cafe. Totally reasonable request, right?

听听听听听听听听听听听 After several more trips to Forget and many sleepless nights, we started the journey. The Happy Nun fit me perfectly. It was the space I had been looking for, that could give me the latitude to express myself in a way and pace that made sense for me. I believed that I was ready to add some new ideas and introduce people to my style and approach to food in the area.

听听听听听听听听听听听 I was ready to build on the wonderful reputation that had already been established at The Happy Nun by previous owners and visionaries Don and Shannon Shakotko. Like them, I had a dream too, to bring the restaurant to life again with music, laughter and the sharing of food. Nourishment for the body as well as the soul.

What do I like and dislike about it?

听听听听听听听听听听听 As a chef, I prepare food. That's what I do and most of the time, I am quite comfortable with it. Little did I know when my pursuit to become a business owner became a reality, that owning your own restaurant is SO much more than just the food. Not only am I the Chef- as I quickly-learned-I am a janitor, a teacher, a counselor, a music manager, a landscaper, a damage controller and sometimes, a handy-woman.

听听听听听听听听听听听 When I first started out, I did not have much knowledge of the business side of things. I knew food and figured I would learn as I went, as I had amazing mentors and support from family and friends. People believed in me- and however wonderful that may be- it did not prepare me for what owning your own business actually entails.

听听听听听听听听听听听 It requires 100 percent of your time and energy. You are never not working. You are always thinking about your business. You cannot leave your job at work when you go home at the end of the day, because your job is your life.

听听听听听听听听听听听 This was a hard lesson for me to learn, as I have never had that kind of responsibility before. I could no longer just not do things because I didn't feel like it. If I didn't do them, no one else would. It was the first thing I thought about when I woke up in the morning and the last thing before I went to sleep. I am not going to lie, I do wish sometimes there was an off button that I could switch, but there isn't. This is the reality of owning something that is an expression of yourself.

听听听听听听听听听听听 As well as the overwhelming responsibility that comes with owning your own business, I have found it challenging to balance my personal life outside of work. It is difficult to step away from the restaurant, whether it is planning a getaway or attending social events without feeling guilty about it.

听听听听听听听听听听听 However, in saying that, I really can't imagine doing anything else. I have met some of the most amazing people within the last two years of taking over The Happy Nun. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of many celebrations, such as marriage proposals, retirement parties, anniversaries and many more. I feel truly blessed that they choose to share these special occasions with me. This feeling of making a difference in people's lives continues to inspire me to create.

听听听听听听听听听听听 When I look back at the beginning of this journey, I can't help but notice how much this experience has changed me in a positive way. I am a completely different person than I was from when I started. I have done things that I did not know I was capable of. It has forced me out of my comfort zone and by doing so, has allowed me to grow as a person, increasing confidence in myself and my ability drastically.

Challenges or barriers I may have faced

听听听听听听听听听听听 Becoming a business owner is one of the most challenging things I have ever done.

听听听听听听听听听听听 When we first started up, our opening weekend, we were surrounded by family and friends that had travelled from all over to come and help us out. I remember thinking how surreal it was, watching all of these people that we loved so much, working together for us and our dream.

听听听听听听听听听听听 It was a great opening weekend except for a few minor hiccups: like running out of water, almost running out of food and a minor breakdown I may have experienced Sunday morning. (I may have done the ugly cry, haha). I was hit with a wave of panic and the realization that this was it. My friends and family were gone and now-for the most part- it was up to me. I was not on my own completely, but I was scared and overwhelmed, not knowing if I was capable of what it takes to run this business.

听听听听听听听听听听听 I gave myself the afternoon to sulk and then picked myself up-literally- off the floor. I started to brainstorm some ways I could make this easier on myself. Although it may seem like such a simple thing to do, I tend to have difficulty with it. It took me a while to grasp this concept, but once I did, things began to fall into place.

听听听听听听听听听听听 I was able to delegate certain tasks to people instead of trying to do everything myself, which made a huge difference and allowed me to focus more on the food aspect of the Nun.

听听听听听听听听听听听 I learned that when advertising for a position, it is very important to be completely upfront with people about what the job entails and the expected hours- right from the very beginning. We have found that developing a proper job description is extremely important; it has allowed us to continually create a team that is the best fit for The Happy Nun.

听听听听听听听听听听听 I have been told that I am a bit of a control freak, but I didn't really believe this... until I became a business owner... which completely magnified this aspect of my life.

听听听听听听听听听听听 I found that because I had invested so much of my life into this new business venture, that it was a struggle for me to relinquish some of the control.

听听听听听听听听听听听 In the beginning, I barely left the restaurant. I would spend days there, sleeping there, even. I quickly realized that this was not healthy; that while my job was a part of my life, it wasn't my whole life. I needed balance- which included trusting other people and giving them more responsibility. Stepping outside into the sunlight even, I needed to let go just a little bit.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Along with being a control freak, I found it very difficult to say NO to people and situations in times when I knew I should. It took a while for me to learn that while I strive to make everyone happy, it is impossible. I learned that I cannot take things personally; I am a human being doing the best I can. When I do mess up, the most important thing is that I can learn from my mistakes and walk away a better business owner.

听听听听听听听听听听听 On a lighter note, looking back at some of my challenges have been pretty comical. For example:

听听听听听听听听听听听 Cupcakes. For some reason whenever I try to make them, they usually end up all over me, my kitchen, the ceiling, everywhere but the pan! Baked potatoes... that's all I'm going to say there because I am still embarrassed about it. Also, I can't make lasagna to save my life, thank goodness for Google.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Despite some of these challenges, we have been very fortunate to win some awards and have received quite a bit of media attention. Within our first year, we were awarded Saskatchewan's Top 10 (Canadian) Restaurants听 as well as Top Canadian Cuisine and Live Entertainment on Trip Advisor. We also appeared in The Prairie Diner, which was featured on Global TV and The Prairie Palate on Access TV. This past spring, we were featured on CTV's Hometown Tour, which was a highlight for us, for sure.

What the future has in store

听听听听听听听听听听听 In terms of the future, I am very happy with where we are right now. It will be two years on March 13, 2017 that we've been open. We actually opened The Happy Nun on Friday the 13^th. It's a funny story now, but it was terrifying at the time.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Moving forward, I just want to continue to do my best to keep the spirit of The Happy Nun alive, building on the positive reputation that was established by its founders, Don and Shannon Shakotko. The Happy Nun is such a special place. Whether it's the live music or the food, I have found that it has an undeniable power of bringing out the best in people. I feel honoured that I get to be the one who gets the chance to share it with everyone.

听听听听听听听听听听听 In conclusion, I wanted to share a quote with you by Ella Fitzgerald that I came across. It really spoke to me and my journey of becoming a business owner:

听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淔or what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You may change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 Thank you so much for inviting me to share my story. I wanted to send out a special thank you to my Baba, Vivian Vinge, who is here tonight. None of this would have been possible without you. Thank you for teaching me the importance of a good pastry dough and that a lot of butter will always make everything better.

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