Southern Living Home Parties

She's what's cooking at Johnson & Wales

Bernice Parenti didn’t find her dream job in Charlotte. It came to Charlotte and found her.

Parenti is a native of Rhode Island, the home base of Johnson & Wales University. And she has played such a role in establishing the school’s Charlotte campus that she’s practically the school mascot, from starting the popular Chef’s Choice classes to lining up spots for students at nonprofits all over town.

But here’s the surprise: Those two things are a coincidence. Parenti didn’t come here with Johnson & Wales. She was already here, a Northeasterner living in a strange Southern city and not sure if it was the place for her.

“I will admit,” she says, “it wasn’t until Johnson & Wales that I committed to stay.”

Parenti is married to an Italian-American, Frank Parenti. With her big brown eyes and spot-on fashion sense, she looks Italian. But she’s actually from a big, close-knit Portuguese family in Bristol, R.I. Her grandparents immigrated from the Azores to escape the volcanoes and settled in the Northeast.

She grew up with family all around her, with aunts and cousins and grandparents all within a few blocks.

“Food was everything, family was everything. Everything centered around food. You can’t have enough food at a Portuguese family party.”

Parenti married at 19 and raised three kids – two daughters and a son. Frank was in banking and they had settled in Boston, where he worked for Fleet Financial Group (which later merged with Bank of America). In the late 1990s, he got downsized the day before Bernice was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“It was a tough day,” she says now. “He’s so calm. He said, ‘First, we get you well. Then, I’ll find a new job.’ And that’s what we did.”

A lot of bankers from New England had come to Charlotte, so he was able to find a job here. He packed his clothes in the car and drove down, leaving Bernice to sell the house.

“I had no idea where Charlotte even was. I said, ‘Is it near the ocean?’”

Parenti had always bounced around from job to job. She did all kinds of things, even managed a box office. Her degree was in education, and she specialized in adult education, retraining people who had lost manufacturing jobs in the Northeast. Her mother had worked in a factory, so she understood the culture and really loved helping people.

Introducing Biltmore Inspirations: Home Party Plan | Southern ...

.  I have yet to visit The Biltmore House in person and cannot believe I have not been there before, but I sure hope to get there this year or soon anyway.  I have heard it is fabulous.

Focusing on home, entertaining, and food, Biltmore Inspirations is gearing up to start home parties July 1st and I’m getting on board!  To supplement my at-home business, I’ve joined up with Biltmore Inspirations as a Consultant and hope to build my own business with this fabulous company behind me.

Their products feature an exciting mix of tabletop, home décor, wine accessories, artist-inspired products, and chef-inspired foods that captures the best qualities of Biltmore.

There’s room for lots more Consultants with Biltmore Inspirations, so if any of you out there reading are interested in jumping into your own home business and want to join my team, I would love to have you! Even though I live in Atlanta, I can add women from all over the country to my team and would love to talk with you further about the opportunity.  If you have been looking for something to try at home as a stay at home mom or simply want to supplement your income, this might be a great party plan for you. The start up cost is very minimal.

I haven’t been that interested in party plans before, but something about Biltmore Inspirations got me excited.  And it’s brand new too!  The concept of gathering in someone’s home and sampling good food and drinks, chatting it up with girlfriends is something I enjoy doing, don’t you?  That’s what we’ll be doing.  Hanging out with girlfriends and talking about entertaining and decorating.

So, I’ll be booking some parties here in the Atlanta area for July and August and if any of my readers in the area would like to host a party for me, I’d love to talk to you too.  There are fabulous gifts along with free products and 1/2 price products available to hostesses.

What’s not to love about that?

Please email me for further details:  rhodasouthernhospitality@yahoo.com

Whether you might want to sign-up to be a Consultant or you want to host a party, I’d love to chat with you!

Oooh Rhoda how exciting!! I’m a sucker for a great party plan, so I’m definitely going to check this one out. I love the Biltmore! You definitely need to go sometime! It’s an easy trip from Atlanta. The winery tour is great and the gardens are just amazing. Check it out a Christmastime! They put up too many trees to count, and it’s like a winter wonderland!

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