Tragedy didn’t keep her from growing her business

Jill and TJ Donovan launched Donovan’s Dish, a catering and take-out market, in 2011. Four days after opening their first storefront in Apex in 2016, TJ Donovan died unexpectedly, leaving Jill with three young daughters and a five-year lease. Here, Jill Donovan talks about moving forward after tragedy and how she’s grown the business.

Q: What inspired you and TJ to start Donovan’s Dish?

A: I’m an entrepreneur. I always wanted to be in the wedding industry, and I thought I wanted to own a wedding venue, but I’m from up north and venues always have catering in-house, and I don’t cook. Then I met TJ, and he was a catering chef. He worked at another company in the area, and we were supposed to buy that company, but at the eleventh hour, the deal fell through. The next morning he quit, and we started Donovan’s Dish.

Q: What made you decide to go with a take-out concept instead of a restaurant?

The take-out market was always TJ’s vision. At events people would always ask, “Where can I get your food?” We didn’t want a restaurant because we wanted a family, and we thought quality of life would be diminished if we had a restaurant.

Q: How did you continue with the business after he died? Was there ever a time when you thought it was too much?

A: I never thought for a second about closing. He had a great team of chefs under him that he’d worked with for eight years, and I really felt the best way for me to honor him and his legacy was to keep going. We’d worked so hard to build it.

Q: What were some of his favorite dishes to make?

A: Shrimp and grits for sure. He was so innovative. He would read cook books when we were away. That was his hobby — tweaking things so they were his own. He was known for his Southern influence cuisine and Creole. His family was from up north so he did amazing Italian food also. He was really very talented.

Q: Have you done anything differently with the business?

A: When TJ passed away, I was the recipient of a meal train for two months. People would bring dinner to my house for 10 people and drop it on my front porch. That was a life-changer for me. It helped me so much, and that made me launch Dish to Door so you can shop the whole website, and we’ll bring it to your house.

Q: What’s your life philosophy; what do you say to yourself when you’re overwhelmed?

A: I feel like I’ve always worked better with a full plate, and I feel lucky, like I’ve had opportunity in life a lot of people don’t have. Even with tragedy, I still feel so grateful for all the time I had with TJ and what we built together and the family I have because of him.

Q: How do you help your daughters remember your late husband?

A: We tell stories about him. The baby was only 11 weeks old (when TJ died); my middle was 16 months old, and my oldest was 4 years old. I’m so glad I’m in the wedding business because I’d met all of these great photographers. Beautiful pictures were important to me, and so I had the most beautiful photos of TJ with each of them, even the baby. He always did Eskimo kisses with his nose with the girls every night, so I do those from their daddy. I just keep him very present in our home and in our lives and in our heart. I tell them how proud their dad would be of them. I try to do the little things he did that meant a lot.

Q: Do you have any advice for other people about moving forward after suffering a tragedy?

A: The best advice I got was from my mother when I said, “I don’t know how I’m going to do this.” She said, “Jill, just put one foot in front of the other; that’s all you need to worry about right now.” That was the best advice. For me, grief was like a tidal wave where it would just come over and wipe me out. That became my mantra and helped me through it.

Jill Donovan — Tar Heel of the Week

Born: Oct. 8, 1976, in Long Island, N.Y.

Family: Three daughters: Jillian, 7; Pressley, 3; Cameron, 2

Business: Owner of Donovan’s Dish in Apex and Raleigh; donovansdish.com

Education: Athens Drive High School; degree in fashion merchandising from Meredith College

Fun fact: She also owns Jill’s Beach in Cary and Raleigh.

Favorite Donovan’s Dish: Manicotti

This story was originally published September 7, 2018 at 4:33 PM.