Hello everyone! My name is Kaylor and I have been planning to become a peronal chef for a few years now. Life has been crazy for a while, and now is finally the time for me to start my business.
A little background about me. My husband is in the Navy and in 1993 we moved to England for a 4 year tour. There I learned to cook out of pure necessity. The food was awful, and we lived in a very rural area so fine dining, or even delivery, were out of the question. I trained myself to cook and learned techniques and recipe development along the way. I also taught cooking classes at our local community center, and even opened my own small baking business and delivered desserts and pastries to a local restaurant.
After returning to the states in 1998, we settled in Jacksonville, Fl. I started my formal culinary education at the Southeast Institute of Culinary Arts, a wonderful 18 month program in St. Augustine. Since my graduation, I have worked for local caterers, a country club, and several restaurants. I worked in Garde Manger, snack bars, prep, and banquets. Because of my commitment to my family, and my husbands Navy work scedule, I was never able to move up in my industry. It did not take long to realize that long hours and weekends were torture to myself and my family, and I vowed to never work Mother's Day again.
I took a year and a half off to go to school full time. I knew I was going to start a personal chef business, but I had some GI Bill money coming to me, so I began to seek my A.S. in Business Management at my local community college. Now my A.S is about 75% complete and I am now taking only one night class and an online course. I have also started working part time as a line cook again, but no nights or weekends, and only during my children's school hours.
Thankfully my husband is not going out to sea for a while, and we are only three years away from his retirement, and planning on staying in Jacksonville. My health care benefits are completely covered right now, and I am ready to fully take advantage of my current situation. For myself, I am glad that I waited a few years to start my business, I think that timing is everything.
Now, in just a few more weeks I will become a member, kind of waiting for the tax check first. In the meantime, I am just checking out the scene and introducing myself and thinking of a name. Are they all taken???
Thanks for reading this, Kaylor
<Elizabeth, FL>
Posted
Hi Kaylor, I hope you're still checking the Forum, since you wrote back in February. I hope you get this message. I just joined APCA and as I was reading the board I crossed your path. I just have to let you know how I admire your passion for cooking. My story is similar (without the Navy) but you're so much more dedicated. I truly wish you well, I guess we're all looking for the same: making a living doing what we know best, taking care of others. We learned that with our husbands and children, right? Thank YOU for teaching me to be strong, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth, Thanks so much for the encouragement. I have been very busy with family obligations lately and had to put my business on hold, but I am now ready to continue tackling this dream. I did join APCA and picked a name. I have been working on mu business plan and menus and such since then. Hopefully I will see you around the boards!
