Discussion Forums
for the
Personal Chef Industry

Hi everyone, I'm on the verge of entering this business-it's seems like the perfect career for me. I read cookbooks in bed, my heart beats faster when my Bon Appetit arrives in the mail, and I've been told I'm obsessed with food! I'm hesitating because I've had no formal training, and I'm worried that perspective clients will ask for credentials of some sort. Do you ever bring food samples with you when selling? Are customers inclined to prefer a trained "chef"?Thanks for any feedback--I really like the feel of this friendly website.Also, can anyone tell me why they chose this association over the "other" one--I'm not sure what the differences are (besides price for the home training)

Hi Barbara! I read your post and you sound just like me! I too am a self taught cook and I also get the heart palpatations when my issue of Taste of home comes in the mail. I'm in the planning stages of the business right now and let me just say that Candy and all of the APCA members have been very helpful. I too was trying to decide which association to join when I spotted the better business bureau symbol at the bottom of the pages to both associations. With the APCA a little info thing popped up and with the "other" one a message popped up that the company was no longer participating in the bbb online reliability program and it made me think twice about going in that direction. Of course I posted that information once before and now it seems they are back with the program. I also sent a couple of e-mails that went unanswered but I did get a nifty little video in the mail from them. Candy on the other hand always answered my e-mails promptly and never tried to "suck me in" like other companies tend to. She was a big help and once I started corresponding with her and after I read through the archives of the public message board I began to feel at home here. I wouldn't worry about people only wanting "professional" chefs. As long as you are the one doing the cooking you are a chef and you can always take a couple of cooking classes to hone your skills if you think that might help. I'm looking into a couple of cooking classes myself just because I love to cook. If you do join the APCA I suggest getting the seminar videos. I've watched mine a couple of times and I always pick up on something that I missed before. There's a weath of knowledge that gets shared here so I hope to see you some day on the member's forum!


Samantha Ellis
The Enchanted Kitchen
Cape Cod, MA