Community Highlights: Meet Neda Derakhshan & Mona Forouzandeh of Charmezz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Neda Derakhshan & Mona Forouzandeh.

Hi Neda & Mona, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As daughters of immigrants, we were always pushed to go the extra mile in life.

Cooking, hosting, and creating beautiful cuisine is part of our culture and heritage, and one of the key elements of our upbringing. We both grew up in different parts of the world (Neda in Canada, Mona in Dubai), with similar passions, so when we met, we clicked on so many levels.

Mainly because we shared a passion for cooking, creating in the kitchen, and watching our friends and family enjoy our edible creations, whether it was a grazing board, traditional meals, appetizers, or a simple spread.

In 2020, we quarantined together and shared several meals and experiences together which led us to come up with the idea of implementing our passion for creating beautiful food, into a business.

Fast forward to the summer of 2021, we bit the bullet, came up with a name, idea, and concept, went into it headfirst, truly believing that when you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life. We chose to create Charmezz in December 2021, and we have not looked back since.

We have continued to create, grow, learn, and stay fluid with our ideas. It has been a fruitful and exciting few months, and we cannot wait for what continues to be in store for us moving forward. We both thrive on feeding our loved ones and watching them enjoy our creations is so satisfying.

We wish the same experience for our customers and hope for them to also share our growth and enjoy our creations. Our name is a combination of Charcuterie & Mezze, which means appetizers, so stay tuned for the growth of Charmezz in the near future.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Every new business owner hits roadblocks and challenges.

The most important thing for us was to have the support of our spouses. With that being said, our biggest challenge was to learn how to balance and make time for our children, home life, social life, our second jobs, and our newfound business, which meant that as mothers, wives, and business owners, we have no days off.

Our work ethics and upbringing just do not allow us to give anything but 100% in every area of our lives, so finding that balance in the first month was challenging, but we have learned how to minimize the pressure, we have beautifully managed to balance all of the above in the past few months and are so grateful to our families and a few key friends for helping make it easier for us.

What sets us apart from many that we know, is that we thrive on smiling faces, we have children, so we cannot afford to have bad days, sick days, or get lazy. Our families keep us grounded, and motivated and push us to only put our best foot forward for ourselves, and what we bring forth to our customers.

As you know, we’re big fans of Charmezz. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We specialize in charcuterie boxes, platters, boards, and beyond!

We will be delving into creating special appetizers in the near future to expand our catering side of our business… we are known for curating beautiful charcuterie, and what sets us apart from others is that as a women-owned business and as creatives we go the extra mile for our customers to prepare our boxes and platters fresh to order.

The services we offer are available on our website and social media accounts. The best way to get in touch with us is through Instagram, email, or our website.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Mona: In addition to cooking and creating beautiful food, I also have a passion for art, and have also created artwork most of my life.  I can also speak 5 languages, and lived in multiple countries. A wife and very soon be a mother of

2. I have worked in the legal field as a paralegal for the past 10 years, which I am now leaving behind to pursue my passion full-time.

Neda: Besides being a wife & a full-time mom to my two beautiful children, I have many ways of expressing my passion for creating. My love and appreciation for creation go beyond, I’m also a self-taught baker, cake decorator/artist, and owner of gotcakeaz!

I come from a musical family, piano is my instrument of choice, which I would love to teach my children someday, also thanks to my past experiences in modeling and placing top in international pageants, I have been fortunate to travel the world & experience/become familiar with many countries and their cultures.

Pricing:

• Small- Large Charcuterie, and Specialty Boxes ranging from $10.00-$85.00
• 15-inch Charcuterie Platters and Specialty Platters ranging from $75.00 to $115.00
• Charcuterie, Fruit, and Veggie Cups ranging from $4.50.00 to $8.50
• Spreads, large events vary from $10.00-$15.00 per person

Contact Info:

• Email: Charmezz.2021@gmail.com
• Website: Www.charmezz.com
• Instagram: @charmezzAZ