Today we’d like to introduce you to Chef Paul.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chef Paul. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Growing up in Barbados, I started being interested in cooking after watching my grandmother throw down in the kitchen for family gatherings and just daily meals… It was an art I quickly excelled in through trial and error and started my first company per se, selling pizza at age 14 to my fellow secondary school class mates.
The pizza was so convincing that many teachers thought I was buying the pizza and reselling it, little did they know, everything was made from scratch: dough, sauce and toppings. My inventory was also free and I usually raided my mother’s pantry for all the ingredients. When one summer, she took all my profits for the cost of the used groceries, it was a quick and effective lesson of sales and cost of goods. Seeing that I had a skill that needed encouraging, my mother asked if I’d like to go to culinary school in Miami, Florida. Fall of 1997, I moved away to Florida for culinary training at Johnson & Wales University, new school, new country, new culture, new experiences. It was a challenge not having a support system in a new environment however I used that void to throw myself into school. Taking the advance track system, I graduated in 2000 with my Bachelors of Culinary Arts. Throughout college, any and every volunteer opportunity was taken advantage of and that is how my big break first happened. In 1999, prior to graduating, my first job as Private Chef was with the popular reggae band Inner Circle. I was horrible; eager, immature, skilled but lacked guidance. I owe Inner Circle my career as the many sit downs, guidance, conversations, even got fired then re-hired at one point but those actions instilled a professionalism that followed through. While working for the band, I was recruited to work for mega producer Dallas Austin, who in turn put me on to Lenny Kravitz, Denzel Washington, Pink, TLC, Martin Lawrence to name a few.
Later I took an assignment of Private Chef to the CEO of a global Hedge fund company. After working with him and his family for 6 years, I quietly started my company, officially, and later attended graduate school at Nova South Eastern University. After acquiring my MBA, I freelanced with a few clients and focused on catering, large parties, weddings and the like. One day in the office, we received an email from the assistant of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson asking if I would like to be his chef. Who in their right mind would say NO?
Working with Mr. Johnson was challenging and he kept me on my toes however the lessons were invaluable. I still work with Mr. Johnson and his family periodically. A brief period of down time came as I started a family and spent as much time with my little one as possible. In 2016, I was tasked by the Government of China in addition with 7 Caribbean Embassies in China to lead the first ever China-Caribbean food festival in Beijing.
Upon returning from that, it seemed my career would take a turn and in a great way. My experience in travelling with clients led me to future travel assignments all over the world, including a second trip to Beijing to be the only Caribbean chef to single-handily prepare dinner for Chinese government officials as well as be a major part in Celebrating the 50th independence of Barbados. It truly was an honor, for a small island boy like myself to be able to represent my home country in Beijing once more. Subsequent to that, I was booked to travel to Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, Aruba, Barbados, Grenada, Canada and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. In Rarotonga, I spoke to young culinary adventurers, giving insight of my career, what I’ve been through and to follow their dreams. Feels good to give back and guide those coming behind me.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not a smooth road but I wouldn’t change anything.
Growing up, I struggled with social anxiety that stemmed from a childhood traumatic experience (of which I’m currently writing and shooting a book on titled “30 years in the Shadows: The making of a broken man”), nothing that I am ashamed of, just know it is a part of my life and use it as my drive.
Go figure, a private chef who socializes with the elite of music and entertainment that suffers from social anxiety. Usually while working, I would keep to myself, observe and say very little, working in seclusion.
Currently, I speak to young people about social anxiety and urge them to seek help coping with it. It is manageable.
Starting and running my company initially was also a major challenge but I overcame that by creating a fictitious character who handled the day to day interactions with clients via email and phone. Fun story behind that.
Every entrepreneur will have the same struggles, financial worry, cash flow, self-doubt, gaining and maintaining clients, etc. At one time, things were so bad that I joke that all I had in my refrigerator was light. Fun times.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Currently my company manages a small private cafe, keeping the employees and executives of a financial firm healthy and happy. My staff maintain the cafe while I travel for work periodically throughout the year.
My specialty would be health and wellness, as a large part of my background is athletic and incorporated into my services while preparing my food or advising my clients as a consultant. My true bread and butter, pun intended, is travelling with families all over the world for family getaways, personal makeovers or just family/executive downtime.
Clients hire me to travel with them to prepare meals so the hassle while travelling and eating is minimized.
Some clients also pay me to train them so they return home a new person. Either I’ll travel alone or I’ll travel with an assistant if the client is a large party.
The largest party I’ve completed alone so far is 14 adults. Fun times.
I’m most proud of the company that was built, it may not be large, but there’s lots of sweat and tears that went into making it what it is today. It provides for my family and for that, I am grateful.
What sets you apart from other chefs?
What sets me apart from most other chefs, especially in the current climate of social media, is we don’t advertise nor feed our social media with whom we’re working for.
Clients prefer the privacy sometimes, the seclusion, being able to let their guard down and they certainly can’t do that with staff who is a ‘sharer!’ Now, I’m not bashing people who post a lot of content, however I’m not seeking thousands and thousands of followers: just clients who appreciate my experience, talent and professionalism. A client does not always want to be caught destroying some ribs, mouth slathered in BBQ sauce, with someone having a phone camera in their face. Some moments are not to be shared. Not a good look. My two cents.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Humility, honesty and vision are all equally important. Also stick to your gut, your gut will tell you what you need to know. Finally, work on your craft, work on what you are good at and the money will come.
Miami is a great entrepreneur city however, one must be mindful not to jump into the saturation. For example, Miami, while having the demand, is saturated with meal delivery companies. All of which are competing to the point where they minimize the product cost and quality just to be competitive. I think there’s a shelf life on that avenue.
Our city and the surrounding cities, encourage young people and businesses a like to come be a productive business contributor.
There’s always more room for a new business venture however adequate research is necessary as Miami is one momentous and evolving culture. What is popular now can quickly be the, ‘Ewww, don’t do that, it’s so not hot right now!’
Pricing:
- Daily chef travel rates start at $600 plus expenses.
- Speaking engagements start at $1000 but for charities and non-profits, we can be flexible.
- Local daily chef rates start at $450 per day, not including groceries.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chef-paul.com
- Phone: 9546367205
- Email: info@chef-paul.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chefpaul305
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Chefpaul305
- Twitter: chefpaul305
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/chef-pauls-personal-chef-service-weston
Image Credit:
Shawn Fields
Autumn Brucato
Chelsea Whiittaker
Chef Paul
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