Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food service but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Christopher Brooks, founder of Brooks Personal Chef Services LLC., located in Glen Burnie, MD, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

The business that I created as a result of being laid off from my job in the hospitality industry due to the pandemic is Brooks Personal Chef Services LLC, the personal chef for busy professionals and families. I service the metropolitan Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia. Services include weekly meal prep, intimate dinner parties, and corporate and private catering.

Tell us about yourself

Let's see, the short answer would be I like to eat, so I had to learn how to cook! LOL. So I turned my passion for cooking AND eating into a revenue-generating business. I am the youngest of four, raised in the inner city of Philadelphia by a single working mother who, along with providing a roof over our head, provided us with nourishing meals. I would be with her in the kitchen as she cooked, observing, tasting, and asking questions along the way.

Planting those seeds early motivated me to pursue the hospitality industry in college and then completely embrace this industry upon graduation. My 30 years of work experience in various positions in management and culinary have prepared me for this chapter in my life.

What's my motivation? Let's face it, the service industry, especially food service, it's a thankless job. You're dealing with rude customers, long hours, the rising cost of goods, and a labor shortage. But that ONE thing that keeps me going in all this chaos, that one client who thanks you for the wonderful job your team did on their event. It makes it all worth it.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

One of my biggest accomplishments since forming Brooks Personal Chef Services LLC is securing a commercial kitchen to cook out of. Being a personal chef, I'm not required to have a commercial kitchen because I cook in the home of my clients. Having that commercial kitchen and license provides more opportunities to serve and educate.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

One of the hardest things about being a business owner is it's lonely at the top. It all falls on YOU! Yes, you may have an assistant, but the bulk of the work falls on you. You are EVERYTHING: marketing, H/R, payroll, accountant, culinarian.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

In no particular order:
1.) Find your passion, then monetize it.
2.) You won't always be motivated, so you must be disciplined.
3.) Pray. Take it to the LORD before you make any decision.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

• Be Consistent.
• Be of your word.
• Know out the gate that you're going to make mistakes, learn from them and move on.
• It's not always going to be good; just be prepared to weather the storm.
• Find a mentor.
• Realize that family will not always support you, and that's ok. Don't take it personally.
• Don't take yourself too seriously, be able to laugh at yourself.
• Lastly...HAVE FUN!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.brookspersonalchef.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisbrookspersonalchef
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brookspersonalchef/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-brooks-b998b7209/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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