I was born in Bronx, NY but by the age of 5, I was a warden of the state when I lost both parents one a fatal accident and the other to the New York prison system. I spent years in foster homes and was eventually taken in by an aunt and uncle who were at the time living in Florida serving in the Air Force. It was with them that I spent time overseas and given opportunities to travel Europe, learning new cultures and experiencing plenty of cuisines. Loving all of it but it wasn’t until my early 20’s and began working in a local restaurant as a server that my love transformed into passion and grew into a desire to learn more. After only a short-time of working in the restaurant I knew that this was my calling and began researching culinary schools.
I soon enrolled in the two year Culinary Arts Program at Johnson & Wales University, Charlotte Campus. I was more than thrilled with this idea and upon being accepted with not an ounce financial help made a promise to myself that I would not fail and that I would take every opportunity I had available to me to get the most from my education. I joined several student organizations on campus, travel to Florida to work my first line cook job at The Breakers in West Palm Beach for the summer. Coming back to school I became a senior teaching assistant assisting with the demos of Thomas Keller, Lorena Garcia, Curtis Stone, Cat Cora and more, completed a co-op at Pinehurst Golf resort, and studied aboard in Singapore and Thailand, and eventually earned a BS in Food Service Management in 2008. After graduating in the middle of one of the hardest economic times the country has ever seen, my spirits were somewhat down about what my future would have in store for me. Being the fighter that I am though I never let up and I never stopped looking. I was approached by Compass Group America their Morrison Management Specialist division about a new position. A post grad management intern in Memphis, TN. The thought of Memphis was certainly not appealing at the time but I am never one to turn down an adventure. So I packed up and headed to Memphis. I quickly gained respect for my work ethic and leadership ability and was quickly asked to stay with the team as their new flagship account Sous Chef. Within a short time I gained my first Executive Chef title with the promotion came a relocation back to Charlotte, NC at CMC Pineville. I was thrilled. Wanting to explore more in the food industry and tackling a separate market after 5 years of growing my career with contact food service, I made a courageous leap and joined the world of retail food and joined the new Whole Foods Market food team as an Associate Team Leader in Prepared Foods. A company that has grown near and dear to me I still continue to work for the company part time. It was the appealing structure of schedule for raising my son and gift of connecting with children that bought my talents to the school system where I currently teach Culinary Arts at Independence High School. |
|