For entrepreneur Lisa Richards, work is a picnic.

For entrepreneur Lisa Richards, work is a picnic

That is, $5 million worth of picnics in 1990 alone

Looking at Lisa Richards, expertly directing her staffers on last-minute details for an America's Cup holiday reception, it's hard to believe that one of her first jobs in San Diego was disinfecting tuxedo shoes at Sears.

"I was starving, so I'd pick up any odd job I could, cleaning and shining shoes, waitressing or babysitting," said Richards.

At that time she was drifting, having left the University of San Diego in 1977 after her parents refused to support her "fun and games" for another two years, she said.

"I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I was having a lot of fun," she added.

She's hardly unfocused these days, but fun is still a big part of Richard's life. Richards plans picnics for a living and in 1990 racked up more than $5 million in gross sales by handling other people's parties.

Richards, 33, discovered her calling in 1979 while eating a sandwich at a San Diego coffeeshop and chatting with a friend. What about the idea of starting a business to cater picnics for local companies? she mused.

"He was a roofing contractor and I was shining shoes at the time. But he had money, $300," said Richards with a laugh.

From that meager start, Richards has built Picnic People and Festivities Catering into the county's largest all-inclusive special events firm. The company has grown to include 30 full-time employees and as many as 500 part-time workers during the summer months.

Richards, a self-described maniac, admits to having a short attention span and unfailing energy. "It's almost hyperness."

"I could have never worked in a normal 9-to-5 job all my life. I would have gone crazy," she confessed.

The fast pace and long hours at Picnic People, however, are things she loves, and her work encompasses her family members, especially her husband, Rick.

Originally vice president of corporate marketing for Four Winds International, a freight carrier, Rick Richards left his job in 1986 to help Lisa with her growing company.

That decision came after some tough considerations and concessions, Lisa said. Rick Richards said he likes working for his wife, but added it's not always fun and games. "There are days when it gets stressed -- particularly when we both have problems that interrelate," he said.

He added that it's tough going home and having to turn work off, especially when there are still matters to discuss.

Rick and Lisa met in 1979 at a dinner party hosted by friends. He was in town for a few days from his job in Iran, where he was in charge of closing a Four Winds office.

In 1980 the two were married by proxy, as Rick was living in South America at the time. "She actually married her mother-in-law first in Vegas, then she married Rick in Brazil," said Lisa's friend and former roommate Cara Asher.

Lisa sold her newly started business for $200 to her roofing friend and joined Rick in Brazil. After three years, Rick, Lisa, their new baby and another one on the way, were transferred to the states, back to San Diego.

Lisa began working for a tour company but didn't like the routine or being away from her kids. So in 1984, having bills to pay, she breathed new life into Picnic People, which had been left for dead by her former partner.

Shortly after Lisa restarted Picnic People, Rick announced that Four Winds wanted him to oversee some new operations in Saudi Arabia. Lisa refused to go.

"I wanted to stay married more than I wanted Picnic People to survive, but I didn't like the way my life was," when the family was living in a foreign country, Lisa Richards said.

"We went to marriage counseling. We went through a tough time," she added.

Rick eventually declined the Saudi Arabia post and worked out of San Diego for Four Winds for another year and a half. Then he joined Picnic People.

Rick has since taken over the finance, operations and warehousing divisions of the business, while Lisa handles sales, administration, personnel and catering.

Her style -- creative, relentless, friendly and sometimes bossy -- complements her husband's more reserved, rational and quiet nature. "I really couldn't do it without him, especially for what I pay him," joked Richards.

"He is the big-picture guy, while I'm more detail-oriented," she added.

She said her husband is not a great "people person," but by the same token, she is not very good at logistics. "I couldn't figure out how to get 18 parties out the door and set up in an hour; he can."

The Richards actually run four separate companies: Picnic People, the outdoor division that hosts picnics, beach parties and the like; Festivities Catering, considered the indoor division, which provides the food for all of Picnic People's events and also caters midlevel to high-end parties; California Celebrations, bought from partners of now-defunct Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. last April, specializing in high-end special events; and Destination San Diego, a destination management company that pinpoints groups traveling to San Diego.

After three successes, Destination San Diego faces the toughest battle of survival as local tourism suffers and a national recession compounds the problem.

But one competitor, Patti Roscoe, chairwoman of Patti Roscoe & Associates, said Destination San Diego will benefit from the support of Richards' three other companies.

"If she was starting from square one, she or anyone would be in trouble," Roscoe said. "But since she has a cash flow from her other companies, she is in a much better position."

While all of the companies except the latest startup, Destination San Diego, are profitable and she has won numerous awards, Richards said there are some things she would have done differently.

"First, I wouldn't pretend I knew more than I did. I didn't understand all the (business) intricacies behind the scenes, and I pretended I did," she said.

"One of the first and smartest things I did, though, was join the Chamber of Commerce," she added.

Richards said she has gotten a great deal of support from the local chamber and from the Small Business Administration. "There are so many good services the SBA provides to promote business ownership," she said.

Richards also used the services of a SCORE counselor (Service Corps of Retired Executives).

"He was very helpful. He passed away before he saw our success. He would have been proud of us," said Richards.

Maria Morris, vice president of the Small Business Development Center of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce, said Richards is one of the finest small business owners she knows. "Since 1984 she has started four new companies, and three are profitable. Tell me how any businessperson can do it for just one company? It's her drive and her ability to see a need. People buy Lisa," said Morris.

Richards doesn't picture herself as a saleswoman. "I could always talk about what I believed in, though," she said.

Brenda Hummell, assistant vice president, branch manager with San Diego Trust & Savings Bank, where Richards has received four SBA loans, said Richard is a valued banking client. "I wish we had 100 more like her. It's been a mutually beneficial relationship for both of us," said Hummell.

Hummell first met Richards at a Junior League meeting in 1986 and said Richards told her that she had always wanted to work at something fun and be around people who are having fun. "My first impression of her was that she was dynamic, and her energy was contagious," recalled Hummell.

Richards said that if she is indeed dynamic, it must have come from her mother, who raised six children. "My mother was like the glue that kept us all together. She never worked out of the house and was the model of organization."

Richards has three sons, ages nine, seven and two, and often feels the crunch of running a business, making time for the family, and having time for herself.

"Sometimes I get caught up and have to realize I am not superwoman. There are times were I should be less critical of myself," she admitted.

At the office she has organized her staff into three-person teams, so that everyone has teammates. If someone has an emergency, for instance, the other teammates will pick up the slack. Richards also encourages her staff to work out personality problems among themselves. If something can't be solved among the staff or managers, Richards will intervene.

Richards said her biggest disappointments since starting the business occur when she doesn't recognize the needs of her employees. "The hardest part of my job is dealing with the different personalities," she said.

"Sometimes I don't see that someone is not happy in their job, or they're burned out and they need a change," she explained.

There are other day-to-day problems that creep up, too, such as the party that guaranteed 1,500 people, and 2,500 showed up. "We are not perfect; 90 percent of what we do is flawless, and we spend most of the time working on the 10 percent that isn't," Richards said.

Her clients include San Diego Gas & Electric, San Diego Trust & Savings Bank, Cubic Corp., Sharp Hospital and the Sharp Rees-Stealy Clinics.

Richards' biggest coup in 1990 was the Festivities Holiday Chalet, constructed on the grounds of the Rancho Santa Fe Polo Club. The 7,200 square-foot-tent was erected for the 1990 Christmas party season and hosted IBM's Christmas party for about 500 kids and a sit-down dinner for 240 for Pacific Data Products.

"I didn't set out to be the largest special events company in town," Richards said. "I set out to be happy and prosperous. But there just isn't an end to the opportunities out there."

PHOTO : Lisa Richards, founder and president of Picnic People and Festivities Catering, has built the company into the county's largest all-inclusive special events firm.

PHOTO : Richards gives Bernie Kaye, of the Music People, a hug for helping at A Taste of San Diego, a recent event showcasing local caterers and party planners.