What are Jamie Berger’s thoughts on strength?
I think especially in business, as a woman, you have to be strong for your family. I think women have a bigger challenge in the workforce because they tend to be the primary caregiver at home too. When I think of strength, I think of the ability to manage both your personal and professional life.
Jamie Berger never saw her career unfolding the way it did.
“It really was by accident, but it was definitely God’s plan for me,” says Berger, 45, who was born and raised—and currently lives—in Harrisburg. She was a paralegal, attending law school with every intention of becoming a lawyer.
But in 2004, Berger and her friend Carisa founded C&J Catering because the Lions Club meeting at their church needed a caterer. Pretty soon, a second Lions Club hired them. From there, catering contracts snowballed: doctors’ offices, government and corporate contracts, the Capitol Restaurant inside the state capitol, and Hershey’s Antique Auto Museum. Along the way Carisa bowed out as part-owner, although she continues to work for Berger. Just recently, C&J Catering was named official caterer of all concessions at the Farm Show Complex.
C&J is a PA Preferred caterer, which means they’re committed to purchasing 70% of their products from Pennsylvania providers, which Berger says sets them apart from other caterers. “I love contract work—I’m a relationship person,” Berger says. “I grew up in a family of party-throwers, so I love to entertain, to make people happy—I’m service and hospitality-oriented.”
It was her hospitality towards her 150 employees and their families amid the pandemic that earned her this nomination as a woman of strength.
“I love my people,” Berger says simply. “We had 80 people laid off, but we still had a little revenue coming in from government contracts, so we tried every single week to give back, to let people know we cared about them.”
She organized a weekly dinner drive-through pick-up, as well as food boxes. Several times, she outright purchased food boxes and distributed them in central Pennsylvania neighborhoods where the need was the greatest.
Berger says she has more compassion as a result of the tragic loss of her daughter Kasie in 2018 at the age of 24.
“She had epilepsy, but it was very well controlled—she worked full time for Disney and lived on her own,” Berger says. “But one night she had a seizure in her sleep and never woke up. There’s nothing harder than losing a child.”
Following Kasie’s death, Berger didn’t work for about six months—and she still feels indebted to her staff. Today, she focuses on her college-age son, as well as her business.
“I definitely feel like professionally, I’m just getting started, even though I’ve been in business for 16 years,” Berger says, “Because I still see growth opportunities.”
For more information on C&J Catering, see candjcatering.com.
