A Recipe for Reinvention

I didn’t follow a traditional career path I plated my own.
When I left school, I traded textbooks for knives and got classically trained as a chef. From the heat of local kitchens to the finesse of international restaurants,

• Simpsons Restaurant, UK
• Lough Erne Resort, Nortern Ireland
• White Barn Inn, U.S.
• Sault Restaurant, Australia (left)
• Maha Restaurant, Australia

I served up dishes until hanging up the apron at 24...(it's a long story)...

My culinary journey took me all the way to Australia, where I spent a year cooking in some incredible kitchens including Maha, run by celebrity chef Shane Delia.

I’d watched him on MasterChef Australia growing up and he was someone I’d always wanted to work with. So I did what any ambitious young chef with a dream would do, I walked up to his kitchen and asked for a job. And it worked.

Then came the hard part. Surgeries—plural. Not just two, but five over six years. Life threw me onto a different burner, and suddenly, everything slowed down.

I’ve had to learn to walk at least three times, thanks to emergency procedures, failed surgeries, and long stretches of healing that didn’t always go as planned.

Even now, progress is ongoing. Pain is part of the process. But so is persistence.

It tested everything, my patience, identity, and direction but also gave me space to rethink what I really wanted next.

2 weeks before the pandemic, I had my right ankle fused and while the world was baking banana bread, I had my foot raised above my heart for 3 months to help my recovery. To keep myself sane, I launched a podcast with no experience but a desire to learn.

Just me, a mic, and a curiosity that wouldn’t quit. That little show opened big doors. It got me hired at AppSumo, where I dove into the wild world of startups, founders, and community building.

When layoffs hit, I didn’t fold. I flipped the script again—producing podcasts for others and stepping into a new role as a Country Manager, where I helped brands grow and voices get heard.

Throughout it all, I’ve always had an entrepreneurial itch. No family footsteps to follow so I carved out my own. I’ve taken risks. Learned out loud. Stepped way outside my comfort zone (more than once). And I’m still hungry for what’s next.

One of my proudest side hustles? A simple podcast launch course that now adds an extra $500/month to my pocket and has helped over 100 people share their voice with the world. Not bad for something that started as a curiosity during lockdown.

No matter how much my career evolves, I try to stay rooted in what matters. On weekends, I volunteer at a local community farm getting my hands dirty, connecting with people, and slowing things down.

It keeps me grounded, reminds me to grow at my own pace, and gives me time to think (usually while pulling weeds).

Lately, I’ve been blending tech with tomatoes creating a AI agent to help the Five Acre Community Farm members figure out what to cook with their weekly veggies. From farm fresh to fork, it’s another way I get to nourish community and curiosity.

I’ve gone from kitchen heat to content strategy, from plating dishes to building digital communities and I’m not done experimenting.

These days, I’m focused on where events, community, and mission-driven work collide, helping creators grow their audiences, supporting nonprofits with visibility, and producing experiences that feel human in a digital world.

I’m especially excited about projects that make tech more accessible, elevate underrepresented voices, and build genuine connection online and off.