Marie Catrib's

Baby steps and leaps of faith brought Marie to where she is today. She moved from Lebanon to Flint in 1970, and later moved to a small town in the Upper Peninsula where she first listened to her entrepeneurial spirit by baking baklava at home and testing local avenues for sales. Within a year she opened her first restaurant, Marie's Deli, in Houghton, Michigan. A yearning for culinary training later led Marie to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC as a pastry cook where word of her talent spread across the country. She was pursued as a pastry chef in two different industries before listening to her heart and returning to Michigan. Marie Catrib's story is one of guts and determination to follow her dreams of being her own boss and sharing her love of people and cuisine. "Don't lose focus – just do it," says Marie of starting a business. "It doesn't matter how old you are. If you can breathe and move – you can do it."