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Personal Chef Industry

Hi Jack

Thanks for your message and good question. I just returned from a speaking engagement at the International Seafood Show in the Los Angeles area this afternoon, and was told your message was inadvertently deleted along with several others during some routine maintenance on this site. Please accept our apologies

I went back into the bulletin board software and retrieved your message and am going to re-post it so I can answer it for you.

Here it is:

(From Jacklmg)

"OK, I'm going to stick my neck out here. I've been reading on both this forum as well as the PCN visitors forum. I definitely want to join (one organization) and be a personal chef. I haven't decided yet which one. I've read many poeple at PCN say they are former members of APCA.(not counting the two leaders). I haven't seen anyone here who used to be there. Is there anyone? Just curious...."
Jack

Here's my answer:

Hi Jack!

Yes, Jack, we do have several former PCN members in our organization as well as former USPCA members and former independent personal chefs, too, who have joined us for the value of the support, credibility and visibility they receive. We also have members who hold dual memberships with other associations. We just don't ask them to post in our OPEN Forum about their decisions to leave their former affiliation or add to their current affiliation. We figure that's their business and we don't ask them to influence potential members who have enough to consider already. We feel our members belong in the MEMBER's Forums where they can take advantage of the comprehensive knowledge base APCA has compiled over the last 6+ years for their use in building and maintaining their businesses. We call it "Personal Chef Graduate School"©.

Most of these members are too busy cooking for clients to be posting about their choice of where to be and we don't feel it's their responsibility to attempt to sell memberships for us.
Quite frankly, they are here because they care about having successful personal chef businesses and being associated with a professional trade association.

When we started training and supporting new personal chefs 6 or 7 years ago we were as small as the PCN is now. Like PCN, we were so small we actually KNEW all of our members. I actually knew them by the sound of their voices on the phone, and we had LOTS of time to chat on-line and visit. That was FUN, but we had made a promise to our members and it was our intention to keep it. We promised to GROW and build not only this association but the personal chef industry as a whole and we have kept our promise.

Things have changed at APCA because we actually lived up to our promise to our members.
We have worked passionately and intentionally to forward the action for ALL personal chefs and have in the process become the Standard Bearers for the industry. Here's an example: It took years to forge the partnership with the American Culinary Federation but we did it. What that means is this:
The personal Chef industry started out being portrayed as a "fad". It was said we had no "staying power" and wouldn't last. APCA went to work through the media and speaking engagements and teaching national seminars to enlighten the culinary industry and the general public. We worked our way up to being considered a "trend" and a career to be "watched". That's progress, so More speaking engagements; more educating the culinary industry and the general public and lo and behold, the pre-eminent culinary certification arm in the United States signs a formal partnership with APCA, and adopts a third -party ACCREDITED certification program and publicly VALIDATES the personal chef career path as a LEGITIMATE culinary career. That's part of our promise to our members.

In the past year I received an international Award of Excellence on behalf of APCA for the innovations and contributions made toward building the personal chef industry for ALL personal chefs. These are no mean feats. What that says is that APCA has grown up. This is no longer a little chat club. This is BUSINESS and we're SERIOUS about supporting our members in their desire to be professionals in their field of choice.

Our members tell us that our STRENGTH is actually their advantage.

Here's the point. When we were as small as PCN we had the time to chat and visit and be personally involved with ALL of our members. Since 1996 we have trained and supported over 4,000 working personal chefs. It's impossible to know all of them. Chatting and visiting is not what our busy members want. They want is to be BUSY running their successful businesses and enjoying their lives.

That doesn't mean that the members don't enjoy themselves and one another in the Member's Forums. It just means that the posts are focused and intentional and there are fewer "You GO girl" messages than when we had less to share in the way of tips, trends and techniques.

People being people is also a factor, and you simply can't make EVERYONE happy when a group gets so much larger. A few members who were really "part-time" personal chefs really missed the clubby atmosphere. That's understandable. I understand there is a former APCA member in the PCN forums who repeatedly decries APCA's progress as "becoming too corporate" for him. That makes sense to me since this gentleman never really had full time personal chef clients, and made the bulk of his income from catering dinner parties so he had plenty of time to visit and chat and missed having a personal say in every decision APCA made. Everyone gets to make their own decisions, and we wish him well and hope he finds success and fulfillment wherever he can find it.

If you want to be part of a club and have lots of time to chat and visit, that's one avenue.
If you're SERIOUS about becoming a successful personal chef, and having a professional life you love, that's another.

Thanks again for your question, Jack & sorry about the mix-up with your message.

If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Candy

Jack,

I think you would find that the tone on the APCA forums strikes a pretty good balance of serious business talk with a good dose of friendly banter thrown in to remind us that we're here first to run our businesses.... but never fail to forget that we should have fun doing it. Everyone is looking for something different but it doesn't take too much research to figure out which organization is taking the role of spreading the word about the personal chef industry the most seriously. All you have to do is look at is the APCA home page -- look at all those respectable relationships and partnerships. Do you see that anywhere else?

I hope you make your decision on what the organizations truly have to offer and not what they have to say about the other guy.

Good luck.

I think when one looks at what association to join, it is far more important to look at what they have to offer in support, education, and marketing.

While I am fairly active on the message boards, something I do because I love to share my knowlege, it is not what drew me to the APCA.

I chose APCA because I was looking for professionalism. The APCA has proven this to me throught their associations and partnerships with orgnaizations like ACF, IACP, and the like.

I have nothing against the other PC organizations, but I believe if you are looking to join the leader in this industry, there is no other decision, but to join APCA.

Hear Hear to all of the above.....
You only have to see the number of Personal Chefs from across North America, that attended the Personal Chef Summit in San Diego to realise that this is a serious association. Congratulations on finding the APCA open forums, now my suggestion would be to speak to some of the members, do your research and then make an informed decision. Up here in Canada we have members from all three US organisations and like the APCA, we do not tell you, as a serious business person, which association you can and cannot join, that is up to you? in fact like this association we encourage you to go and check them all out! and if it suits your business plan join them all!

Chef Terry Henderson
Owner: Canadian Personal Chef Alliance

All I can add is that choosing an organization can only be each individual's decision. Of course, finding out what the others offer, but also getting a feel on what they are about.

As it was stated prior, yes, we have several "dual" members here, b/c they can get even more support, more listings (find a chef & hire a chef listings) etc. Some chose only 1 organization as the one being the better "fit" for their needs.

I cannot tell anyone which association to join...as it would only be my humble opinion at best. I will say I felt more comfortable with APCA. My questions about the industry itself, were answered right off the bat, while the others (only a few at that time) wouldn't give me any info unless I joined first. It is difficult when making a carreer change & getting solid info is necessary, not optional, when trying to make an informed decision. That being said, the other organizations I investigated may no longer take that approach..as this was 3 years ago. So again, only you can make that decision.

I do not regret becoming an APCA member, quite the contrary. Being a member has certainly enriched my life in many ways, business coming first & foremost (afterall, we don't need "clubs" to join in order to get acquainted, or even make friends). Membership here is awesome. When joining the APCA, one does not just get training materials & videos or attend a seminar/summit. APCA & its members offer never ending support & are just absolutely tremendous with passing on knowledge, & expertise.

This is not to say that joining APCA or any other organization, will make one's business successful, as that only can be achieved by each individual themself. But again, the APCA & its members help each other all we can, by giving the guidance, information, training & support that can aide in the individual's building of a successful business. Marketing yourself & handling the business end, will have a lot to do with it...it is not just about if one cooks well or has a culinary education. The phrase "you get what you put into it" comes to mind. Many, many personal chefs are successful...the organization (if any) they belong to was a stepping stone per se.

AS it was suggested, talk with members from the organizations available. Ask pointed questions about what the membership will give you, and what the organization is doing for the personal chef industry as a whole..not the latest "water cooler" type gossip.

I honestly have to say that if I was just now considering this industry, the APCA would still win me over, hands down. If for nothing else it would be because of the unselfish dedication Chef Candy has shown with promoting the personal chef industry not only to the general public but by partnering with the ACF, and the affiliations with IACP and WCR to just name a few.

Jack, I hope I was of at least some help, and wish you the best.

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply. Thanks, Candy for the lengthy response. When I'm ready to get my PC career started, I feel confident in my decision to join your ranks!