Discussion Forums
for the
Personal Chef Industry

I'm on the verge of joining the ranks of PC's. I'm comparing APPCA, USPCA, and PCN. I'd like to know why you chose APPCA over the others.

Anyone maintain membership in more than one of these associations? Why?

Thanks, in advance, for your replies.

Wow! I see you posted this on the 24th...barely even saw it due to the other postings.

I chose APPCA for several reasons. I thought it was the best fit for me, liked their support, and liked how they not only said they were the leader in the industry, but was actually showing what they had done, & what they envisioned & aspired to do in the future.

Soley belong to APPCA, 7 years later, I have yet to be disappointed. APPCA signed a partnership about 5 years ago with ACF, (and to date, the only personal chefs being certified thru ACF as PCEC, and PCC has come from APPCA all the while, being mentored & supported). So many more great things.... like just to name a few:

establishing the personal chef code of ethics

building more local chapters to increase member support

addition of a student-member category with discounted membership fee

continuing-education scholarships for professional culinarians

the scheduling of a 2007 culinary-training tour to Parma, Italy for its members to continue their education. (boy am I looking forward to this)

branching out to include private chefs while helping them in that realm of the industry

And a text book written by our CEO & founder, Chef Candy Wallace for professional personal chefs, and aiding its members to culinary knowledge/training to continue to succeed

Within my own service, yeah, I like knowing that I make a difference for them to eating & living better, but the ones that require so much more (like a hepatitis c client of mine, cancer patients etc) that I feel needs my services. It's a great feeling.


To me, it is not enough to just join an association....I want to know that the association I belong to, makes a difference to this great industry. APPCA in my honest & humble opinion, provides exceptional continuous service to its members, by helping them establish through its training programs, mentoring their members to being successful, aiding in continuing education for its members, and in short, greatly contributing to the personal chef industry as a whole.

I am a new member of the APPCA and I chose this association because it seemed to offer a lot of training materials for the money. I have been taking my time getting off the ground and have found the members forums to be invaluable. Even if you've never posted before, people jump right in offering suggestions and the past forums have given me a tremendous amount of knowledge.

I am planning on attending a seminar this summer and cannot wait to meet some of these outstanding people. Trust me, they are real people and they will help you any way they can.

I chose APPCA because they were themselves professionally AND personally. Immediately after joining, I was a member of the group... did not have to build my way up to certain ranks or the such.

APPCA has INCREDIBLE forum. Thousands and thousands of discussions have been through this forum and that is priceless.

APPCA has national conference called The Summit. I just joined APPCA over a year ago, and was fortunate to be able to attend to The Summit in San Diego...and that was a mind-blowing and incredible experience by meeting other Personal Chefs aka fellow friends.

CEO/Founder Candy Wallace is still among us, not "far away" or distant from us because of her position. She is surely a busy woman, very dedicated to this organization and bringing it to new horizons "everyday" but she's there for ALL of us, small or big.

I'm Deaf (obviously) and do require accommodations (interpreting) during the seminar and at The Summit. They gladly assisted me with services. Not very often I feel that, especially from organizations or people who have never experienced doing this before.

No regrets and Worth EVERY penny (not much pennies required, though) in joinging this fantastic organization for me!

I wish you best in making a decision. I hope to see you on board one day soon!

When I first considered joining an association I did my homework too. I decided to join the APPCA for several reasons:

I didn't get a "hard-sell" like I did from the USPCA. You can ask them to send you membership info and they will send you an infomercial telling you how wonderful they are. That type of marketing doesn't appeal to me. It seemed very "used-car salesman" like.

I was amazed that I received at least two personal calls from Candy Wallace when I contacted the APPCA for information. I asked her questions that I thought I would need to pay for to get. Basically, I could tell that she was generous with her knowledge, and she made time out of her busy schedule to personally contact me. I was very impressed.

This is why I'm glad I joined:
I purchased the membership package that includes a seminar.

I was fortunate to have Jim Davis at my seminar. He has a wealth of information to share about this business and is always willing to help a fellow APPCA chef.

The training packet that I received was worth the price of admission alone. You'll be able to start your business just from the materials you receive. But, if that's not enough you'll have access to the member forums where you can ask questions or get advise from seasoned Personal Chefs. Our great members is the best part of the association, in my opinion.

The "Day In The Life of A Personal Chef" DVD that came with my training materials was very informative. I knew exactly what being a Personal Chef meant, and what to do when I got my first paying client.

As a member, you can have a link to your website from the APPCA site. The APPCA comes up first on search engines like Google, and Yahoo.

Good luck with your decision. I hope to see you on the inside.