Buyer's Remorse

I wish that food was not political but frankly decisions about who gets to eat and who doesn't are very often determined in business and political offices around the world. Here in Illinois as we sit post election where Republican Governor Bruce Rauner ceased the office looking at such changes in funding, budgets, and allocations that are threatening to close our community colleges and leaving our public school without funding. Without a signed budget, state officials cannot draft a payment to anyone in excess of $600. For the second time this year, the Illinois Lottery officials are once again issuing IOU's instead of payouts.

All sorts of ripples can be felt within out city due to a shift change in political offices. Chicago Public School feels the squeeze and the Chicago teachers has already given the strike authorization to the union. If the union strikes, and it is looking very likely that they will, this will effect all sorts of things including, the need for alternative daytime supervision for the students, eliminate student access to the school feeding programs that lots of families rely heavily upon to meet their daily needs during the day, and need to get syllabus changes done to accelerate leaning in order to catch up on missed lessons.  These turns of events are costly in many ways but are a direct result of voting habits.

Illinois is a conservative state who mostly vote Republican, but the largest population resides in Cook County, which includes Chicago and some of the outlying suburbs, who traditionally vote Democratic and have a much more progressive outlook. Low turnout for our local elections have resulting in the election of another Republican Governor, but this time the office is held by a millionaire business person who has little experience in politics, some are so bold to say that Rauner paid for the office by out spending his rival for the office. So here we are, at a fork in the road, with the bigger picture of the states future and direction in jeopardy, as the Governor sees the state operation like a business issuing reductions here, there, and there, to save the state money instead of reviewing social, economic,  and educational efforts as a investment in the growth and sustainability of the state.

Now that all that I had feared about the last elections have come true, many voices, individuals and organizations, are now very vocal about the results. This is too little to late. Where were you guys for early voting, along the campaign trail, and on election day?? Some voters feel buyer's remorse because the believe that they were tricked into voting for a guy and now he is working against what the voter thought was going to happen during his reign.

I get upset by the rhetoric and posturing of those in office and the lack-luster eligible voters that helped to put us in this state. Food and shelter should not be dependent on politics or interrupted by politics. The who, what, when and how citizens gain access to required nutrition cannot be successful when left up to politics. Food procurement and access, cannot, should not, must not, be controlled by the few and doled out to the masses. This makes food a weapon or a tool of power instead of a human right. We as a society, have seen what happens when politics gets involved, just think about a homeless man sleeping on the street. Got a picture in your head? Good. What lead this person, a human being, into this situation? How did he lose access to shelter and regular meals? Why is it that he suffers from a lack of safety and care? When was the last time he could go a doctor? How much longer will he suffer in this situation which, without any doubt, will shorten his life span dramatically.

Voter action helps to protect the weakest member of our society, move incentives and actions in the direction that they agree upon, give the ability of fund initiatives the voters see as needed, and assist to educate our students which will foster the next generations of thinker, leaders, and voters. We are all effected by politics and I hate that, but it is a fact. The few take more than their share leaving the masses scrambling for the crumbs.

No matter where you are on the political food chain and no matter how you define your political philosophy, active participation is required. You can't stand back and expect others to vote the way you would like them to in your stead as you sit at home. You must participate. It's like all the lookie loos jamming up traffic trying to get a glimpse of the road side accident, knowing full well that they have no intent to help.  

So today we are still seeing the results of Britain's political actions and more importantly inaction. After the count was taken, the citizenry of one of the largest former empires on the planet, discovered that the vote went against what the majority, or so it is said, wanted the Parliament to do in the face of the issue to divest from the EU. Lots of political action now after the dye were cast. This is a prime example of how a democracy fails instead of triumphs.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36420148

Let's take the example to heart when the polls open again here on your own territory. We still suffer hate speech, low down dealings, discrimination, lawlessness, bigotry, xenophobia, and all sorts of explorations of women, young girls, immigrants, unlawful imprisonment by our own officials, abuses of power, and hatred that results in unequal pay, lack of access to resources such a food and shelter. and the list continues. How can we unravel the tapestry that we have weaved through our shared history if we don't make our vote count?

Elevator Pitch

If you have any type of career training in the last 20 years or so, you have probably heard about the 'elevator pitch', a short synopsis that gives the listener a clean, precise, understanding of who you are and what you desire to achieve. Two years ago, I turned a short bus ride into a shift in my career path.

The story goes, I had a free convention pass to the National Restaurant Association show at McCormick place. Parking is always hard to find and frequently expensive, I took public transportation. I entered the bus, and sitting a couple of rows back from the driver, was a guy in his chef coat that looked familiar. It took me a few to put it all together but I realized that this chef and I had been connected via social media for a couple of years. Chef Blackmon is a very talented person who is in charge of culinary arts training for Chicago Public Schools. I am limiting his role to just this aspect of what he does for teenagers all over the city of Chicago, Illinois.

As we spoke about our industry, I expressed my desire to begin teaching and had found the school applications online were almost completely geared to academic educators, making it difficult for someone like myself to successfully apply. The story goes, there are often openings for skilled instructors, and I put myself up for nomination and swift as I could emailed my resume. Almost two months later, I got a call about my resume, Chef Blackmon had forwarded my information on to another program in need of instructors. Even without having an opening with CPS, I was afforded the opportunity to interview for another position.

Sometimes you wait in a hallway wondering which door will open for you, other times you wait in waiting rooms seeking the door to get out into a hallway, a path towards new goals. You never know what connection you will make that can propel you into new spheres. Always be closing because when you are not, there is a risk of missing your change to jump in the deep end. No more kiddie pool for me.

Some people are put off by this ideal as they may not be comfortable talking about themselves. I am not quick to do so either, I don't have much of an ego, but I have learned to give out pieces of my career as validation of my skills and ability. Sometimes that's all you really need to do prior to sending off your resume, or even at the interview. For the food business, a portfolio can do tons of bragging for you, not having to speak a word, it is always helpful to have pictures of your work, easily available online for customers and potential employers to review.  This invaluable tool can speak for you, even when there isn't a new opportunity readily available, and having this presence can really come to arms for you.

Our industry runs on sensory perceptions, sights, sounds, smells, and taste all come together to judge your work. While I know you can't duplicate, or represent, all the aspects of food we love without being there in the moment, but pics can be a valuable representation of what is possible. Once you have peeked someone's interest then you can duplicate the experiences.

Always be prepared because not all opportunities come neatly packaged with a bow on top, or are scheduled on a calendar. Be ready, be a pinch polished, learn to speak to your skills instead of heaping on details about yourself to fed your ego.

It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go on

In this industry, lots of us dream of having our own outlet, some place as unique as we are talented. What is seldom taught, is what an individual must do to make their business ownership dreams come true. Culinary school focuses you for production work, and sometimes for artistic work, with food. It can take you down the nutritional information highway, the chemical action, the application of different heat sources, all the applied science of food.

Colleges will teach accounting but not often teach entrepreneurship, how to get licensed, deal with inspections, picking a great location, managing all the in's and out's of a business, how to find startup funding, and the like. So many many times, there are business partners needed for a chef to have a good place to launch their restaurant. Often times, family members will steak their savings or collateral to have funding enough to open a business, and it doesn't always work out.
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No one person is a master of all the disciplines needed for a successful operation. It can take two, or three, or more to help steer the ship and avoid the icebergs. A startup business can take a lot of capitol to get started and with the 60% failure rate of all food related business within the first year, it can be very difficult to accrue capitol to work with when starting out. And besides, no chef really wants to be tied to a desk, dealing only with orders and payroll, and typically that is a waste of talent that could be working on the plates instead of the books.

If you grew up like I did, from a middle class working home, then you may have a similar experience of having few relatives that understand your goals of business ownership. It isn't that they don't want you to succeed, it often is just not a path they understand or they would rather see you on a 'safe' path to wealth. Unfortunately, there are no safe paths anymore. So I am of the mind that, if you are going to work, you can either work and make someone else rich or you can take the risk to make yourself rich.

Funding is a interesting topic that many people are nervous to speak about, I think it's because not enough of us understand it. Macro and micro economics can be hard to manage, and those who have figured out how to use it productively are not giving their secrets away. "Just buy my new book" or "Sign up for my new seminar". People are willing to pay for advise with money and can often take differing approaches much like a fad diet habit.

Here's the real scoop. Any successful organization is created by putting the best person in charge of one or more aspects of the business. Even the President of the U.S. has a trusted cabinet to support his efforts. A good chef should both know their strengths and weaknesses. Our industry is filled with managers who have never been a chef and chefs who have never run an office. If you don't fully understand what the people you are managing do, need to do, and what it takes to do what you are requesting, is a no-win situation. The reverse is also true, if a chef doesn't understand how to manage a kitchen, invoicing, purchasing, P&L, and human resources issues.

Dream big but understand even the best of us cannot go it alone. Knowing where in the organization you contribute the best can save you effort, time, and money. Find a great business partner before opening or even planning to open a food business. Team work, a realistic budget, designing phases of growth, adopting to the customer needs, i.e. sound business practices makes all the difference in the world.

Entrepreneurship Isn't for Everyone: Part #2

Not everyone is able to become their own boss. Not everyone has the skills needed to make your own company efforts successful. It dose take some fearlessness and definitely takes skills. I have always wanted to be an owner of my own business, not just a paid employee. Therefore, when I would be offered some new position or opportunity, I looked at it as a chance to learn more about the working positions that I hoped to one day hire and manage. Not understanding how a job works when you are managing the workers who hold that position can be very costly. Making demands of your workers needs to be done with knowledge of how the position works. If you are a manager and demand an item be prepared and restocked in a half hour, but what you are asking for takes an hour to bake, let alone prep and packaged, you will be disappointed and/or a conflict will arise between you and the employee because you are asking for the impossible.

Not understanding the type of work and/or the skills needed for this or that position is very costly. Some find themselves hiring the wrong people over an over again because they don't fully understand what is needed. This effort to advertise and recruit staff can end up dragging your whole staff down, as they are working harder and harder to take up the slack left by being too short staffed. This effort to get new people takes manpower away from other activities, especially if you have to do it again and again. An employee that is underpaid, overworked, or see no chance at advancing, will eventually disappear and you will have to hire someone else to do the job.

It takes two to make a thing go right... Sometimes it takes a village. Opening your own food spot, from greasy spoon to fine dinning, takes not only culinary genius, it also take a vast amount of support. A good chef knows that they will need investors, workers, bookkeepers, lawyers, customers, market research, advertising, networking, licensing, insurance, and location support. Offering the wanted products in a area that is willing to buy from you regularly is key to your location efforts. If you are not at a good area for your business, your customers are less likely to go out of their way to give you their business.

On top of all that, there are no guarantee that success will come. You can offer the best products at reasonable pricing in a area that doesn't have a lot of food business and still fail. It's sad but true. Sometimes you capture lightening in a bottle, other times, closing your doors and perhaps trying again is the best solution.

O.A.N.: Let's discuss money, both inside and outside of your business. There are a couple of money issues faced by all companies, how much is this item worth, and what are my customers willing to pay for it? Both of these answers are quantifiable but the best of calculations can still end on a sour note. There will always be competition in the market place. For example, I create custom cakes and cookies, and sometimes potential customers get sticker shocked when they ask me for a quote. The most commonly heard complaint is "I can just buy a Walmart cake". Often this reaction comes from a customer who hasn't ever ordered a custom cake and does not understand the difference or the reason that the cost has been set. Many customers may wish to buy a cake that looks like it is right out of a magazine but don't have the budget to order such items. Therefore, a business that is concerned with longevity needs to take the temperature of the marketplace from time to time to see if they are pricing themselves out of the market or if they are not charging enough and losing potential profits.

Part #3 is upcoming..... stay tuned

If you are enjoying this blog, please follow us and check out our sister podcast on Blogtalkradio.com under the same name.

Entrepreneurship Isn't for Everyone: Part #1

I was born into two families, as we all are, my elders had long work records that highlighted a dedication to a blue collar workforce and style of life. Therefore, I was taught the ladder to success was in working for a company or the government for 40 plus years, put your kids in school, get the gold watch, and retire in peacefully.

Entrepreneurship wasn't what they understood or felt that it also could lead to success. Elders with that type of mindset cannot teach a child that starting their own business is a good thing. Most think it is too risky to attempt. They see that a stead job with benefits is the way up the ladder and business ownership is a ladder with missing rungs.

It takes a different mind to attempt such risk and you have to be somewhat fearless do to it. Business is always risky, no matter where you stand with the company, owner or employee.  The same company that pays you from payroll is taking a risk that the company will survive and taking you with them. It is just as easy to get laid off or fired from a company than it is to own a business and make it successful. So why don't you take a hold of the course your ship is headed?

With high risk comes high rewards, taking no risk leaves you with very little rewards and tied to other's fates. While you are working hard for another person or company, you are making them rich and taking a small percentage of the benefits. As an employee your labor belongs to another. Lots of people have used the innovation that employee #37 created while working for a company. Work in that mode is the "work product" of the company. If you invent the next big time comic book character, for example, while working for Marvel or D.C. the company owns it, not the one who created it. You have traded your rights to the innovation you created for a paycheck and nothing more than that. No royalties, no copyrights, nothing but a small check.

When you are working for yourself, it isn't easy, you must be knowledgeable, skilled, and dedicated to the company. But isn't that the same expectation that your boss has for you everyday? Owning a company means that it's your reputation on the line. You have to rely on your staff, manage your budgets, inventory, and everything else.

It takes much more than the efforts of one person to run a successful food business, it can take a whole village. Good chefs know their weaknesses and hire experts to lend a hand at those things they are not adapt with handling. Tons of people, every year, decide to try their hand at running a food outlet. They take their savings or take out a loan and jump into the deep end of food operations with little experience and training. The failure rate of independent food operations is very high, and opening can be very risky even when you have the skill and training needed. http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/03/infographic-failed-small-businesses.html

Business is much like the food chain, the big fish can swallow the little fish whole. Who is your big fish? Are you at the top of the food chain, swimming, and making decisions, or are you following the school of fish that you help to create? Have you researched the demographics of the area? Do you know what your customers want or are you selling what you like? Can you differentiate your business from all the others? Have you acquired the needed capitol, equipment, staff, and décor that drives customers to you or away from you?

There are so much to discuss on this topic that I am splitting it up over a few posts for ease of reading....

I'm Okay if You Say No.

Everyone that knows me understands that I don't like missing out on opportunities and I especially don't like leaving money on the table. I keep multiple streams of income going and I have always had a high octane can of energy.

It took me a while to get into the place where I am comfortable when potential clients pass me over and chose another vendor for their events. I admit that I once would be sad when friends, relatives, and associates would have an event and I wasn't even asked if I would like to be their supplier for the evening.

I am a dedicated person who works hard in my field and I strive for excellence in everything I do. I say this to what end? I no longer let being passed over upset me. There are tons of reasons that people may want a different vendor or service and those reasons may not actually have anything to do with me personally, my pricing, or other such reason.

I have had clients who wanted me to cut my pricing, given them the 'hook up', questioned why my prices are what they are, tried to guilt trip me into lowering my price, or just wasn't a good client to have at that time.  Just as clients have a choice of who they want to work with, I too have the same choices about what customers I want to work with or not.

Just recently, I did a tasting for a clients in short notice. The party planner that booked me is one in which I have worked with for several years, and she was confident that this event would be one that the client would have loved to have my service. Alas, this was not the case and I suspected so once I had met them at my door. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. The party planner emailed me with a list of concerns that the client expressed to her after our meeting. I simply responded that I didn't wish to prove or disprove the issues expressed in the email because I felt that it would be a waste of my valuable time. They declined and that's okay.

Most of the 'issues' expressed were not fair, not understandable, and not relevant to the question of weather or not I was able to satisfy their needs for the event. The biggest issue, and the only one I will cite here, was that I have a pet and she was lose in the house. After having asked if they had any aversion to my cat and/or wanted her to be in her kennel, they said no. Therefore, how was this on their list of reasons to decline.

I provide excellence at every turn possible, and when I don't think that I can provide it, I have no issues expressing my concerns. Getting to this mental and professional state only came to me with my growing maturity. Beforehand, I often would kick myself about someone passing me over, or I would feel the tug and pull to give price concessions just to secure that I would win the order. Every time I  stuck my neck out for someone else's event, without a doubt, I regretted it. I once worked up a menu for a so-called friend's birthday and I didn't earn a dime for my efforts, only to have her make a list of complaints afterwards. She knew there was no where else, and nobody else, that would have done such things for that small amount of money.

Such is life, you live long enough, you will learn to value your work and time as a precious commodity worthy of honorarium. Cash talks and b.s. walks.

Going Live

Just like with live television, broadcasting a live podcast can run into problems. Last week, and a couple other time as well, we planned a live broadcast on Blogtalkradio.com only to run into problems. As I have had the opportunity to mess around with my options, I had a plan B. Since it is a program with very little visuals, I quickly went to a taped conversation that I uploaded after the conclusion of the conversation.

There are a few ways that you can create content for your podcast if the server is too busy or something interrupts your scheduled show. I often tape my shows from Freeconferencecall.com. This service allows callers to chat and record the conversation easily. All participants call into a common phone number and the host can use its tools to make a mp3 of the meeting. Most laptops and PC's have options for recording voice recordings. Sometimes the feature may not have options to change the format of the recording, so please check. If you record a conversation in a format not recognized by your broadcast service, you may need a converter software to get the recording in a format the you can use.

I enjoy podcasting. The conversations heard on my show are very similar to conversations I have offline and in real life. The food news, food culture, chef conversations, and the culinary industry are apart of my everyday. And I hope my audience agrees....

We set the goal of one podcast a week, and I hope to always go live on Saturday afternoons, however if we run into issues, we got to tape and upload later. The other reason that may force us to go tape is the availability of our guest. I'd rather tape a podcast with a dynamic guest whenever is best for them than not to get the conversation with the guest.

I got one scheduled for today, so catch us if you can:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/giantforkandspoon/2016/04/24/episode-16-maurice-miles-wy-dolphin-and-foodie

Master chefs, Exec. Chef training, and other advanced training...

Long ago, when Jesus was a boy, there were only a few culinary educations that a student could attain without going overseas to Paris or London therefore I, like many others, took the routes that were available at the time. As I worked in the industry, longer and longer, I began to come across chefs who held titles that I had never heard of, Certified Executive Chef.  An organization called the American Culinary Foundation seemed to be at the heart of this accreditation.

ACF was founded by three chefs in New York to help promote culinary education, offer certifications and training, networking and the like. Here in Chicago, the ACF is getting more popular but as a hospitality industry worker for the last 20 plus years, it has only been within the last few years that I have noticed chefs using and working within this organization.

No matter where or when you receive your educational background that is focused in our industry, what you come away with is really determined by you as the student. I can take three kids to train and mentor, and after we are done, I will see three different skill levels within the students. Our industry is very skill based, and no matter who you are taught by, your skill level is truly your own. I say this, to many students, don't base your selection of schools based upon the price, famous chef instructors, or any other tangible matrix, but do so based upon your motivation and drive, and what you want to do with your career. What do I mean? It can get very expensive, well it has gotten in the last few years, seeking a culinary education. The popularity boom of chefs and the creation of the celebrity chef has opened many new schools who offer courses, certificates, and degrees in culinary.

No matter what is taught, and by who, the student's ability will grow with time and coaching.  If a student enrolls with no cooking experience,  they are somewhat behind than other students, but their raw ability can propel them to the top of the class. I entered into a culinary college with a very small population and without a huge reputation, 90% of what I do well, I learned from repetitive practice on-the-job.

The only advice I can give the aspiring chefs out there, study, practice, practice, practice. A school can teach technique and a foundation of skills. It is up to the chef to take off and sore. No two chefs have the skill or styles even after the same training. It takes time to realize what it is that makes you special and the only way to find it is to listen to customer and management critiques. I say this because if you are anything like me, most chefs only focus on the mistakes of a project, while other eyes see the glory. I am my own worse critic. I spend, literally, hours on a cake project and when I have stopped I can only see those things that could have been done better or those aspects that I would have liked to change, so often I am pleasantly surprised at the positive reactions of my clients. Go figure.

I am a huge supporter of higher educations. In my family, there was never any language of doubt about attending a college. It was always "when you go to college" not "if you go". I also know that not every person is suited to pursuing a PhD in philosophy. Trade skill are still needed and teaching programs are still required even with our nation's trending towards a intellectual model. Handcrafts will always be in demand.  

The best chef that I have worked for was one without any higher education. This titan of pastry had 40 plus years at the Palmer House. He began as a dishwasher and worked his way up to Exec. Pastry Chef. My chef was hardworking and hard on his staff, not in a mean fashion or abusive, he had one standard for us all, "Good work that is Palmer House good." We worked everything from butter, sugar, flour. We didn't use pre-made or mixes ever. The best days in that kitchen were days were we all worked in symphony and chef had nothing to complain about or correct. I learned a lot while there, including my passion for real scratch baking.

Chefs are broken before they are made, and the best instructors, will help students to build upon what they know as they teach them new tools in their toolboxes. Pursue your passion vigorously and wisely. Practice is the best teachers in this business and whenever you get to practice, especially with someone above your skill level, take it.

A chef has a lot of plates to spin, human resources issues, financial duties, order management, licencing, insurance, schedules, transportation, delivery, receiving, inventory management, vendors, networking, client requests, billing and invoicing, and all of this before the creation of sale items. We love what we do, no one would do this if they didn't, and we all take on much more work than can be done in a 8 hour workday. 

Good news, tonight at 10....

I try to stay non-political mainly because I don't like politics. I have lived my whole life in Chicago, a place of many scandals and imprisoned officials. We created a system of doing things known as machine politics, a unique style of corruption. I don't like what happens here and I don't like our current disposition in the capitol.

Anyway you cut it, food is political and increasingly so over the last many years. Corporations who manufacture food, food deserts, malnutrition, school lunch programs, charity food banks, inhuman slaughterhouse practises, factory farms, junk and fast foods, obesity rates, junk science around fad diets, culinary education, nutritional supplements, electronic exercise devices, access to health care, supplemental food programs, all boil down to economics and a dividing social structure that is eliminating the middle class. Unfortunately, food is political and often times it is unfairly distributed, wasted, horded, abused, and can often be misunderstood.

Politicians have proposed legislation to drug test supplemented food receivers, to limit 'luxury' food purchases such as steak and shrimp, and mandate sticker income verification making it harder to qualify for assistance. Hunger is always political, especially when working parents are not earning enough to adequately feed their families. Battles over raising the minimum wage are closely tied into the issue of feeding, if workers working full-time still qualify and need nutritional and housing assistance, then the minimum is no longer adequate.

Present day Chicago, we all are anticipating a teacher's strike, have seen and participated in rallies over minimum wage, police brutality, and racial profiling. It's like we are sitting on a powder keg while staring at a short fuse. I hate politics because of the inherent inequality and greed. Call me a revolutionary liberal, if you must, but no matter the label, I hate the political world around me.

Basic, the very least, everyday common human needs are required to be met, food, shelter, water, safety, and education. There should not be any debate over how we, as a society, a family, a government, make provisions for these needs. This major metropolis has a untold number of homeless people, kids that lack adequate nutrition both at home and at school, low graduation rates of our teens from high school, lack of employment opportunities for young people just entering the workforce, some of the highest taxes in the country, and several other obstacles that make living here difficult.

That's the bad news, now let's discuss the other side of the coin.  There are hundreds and thousands of our residents that are doing well, achieving, striving, and assisting others along their paths. But where is the news coverage of the awarding of diplomas and scholarships. Were are the press corp when our kids and young adults achieve despite the hardships, when they leap over the hurdles, and bust out of the barriers to success?  Who will show the world how talented, brilliant, and strong we are? What is the intent of the press to show so little of the great things that happen everyday? Are we being manipulated into believing all hope is lost?
 

Respect Yourself, even if no one else does.

A lot of the time, if you talk with chefs who have been in the industry more than a couple of years, you will hear a few horror stories about bad practices, bosses, and/or jobs. There are some that will stay in a job until the bitter end. This position of not wanting to do a job search and interview procedures can lead you in position where it is no longer beneficial to yourself and/or the company. Waking each day with a dreadful disposition and coming home the same is not healthy, no matter who you are professionally.

Respect yourself enough to understand when it is time to move on and stop being afraid to step forward into something new. Fear of the unknown and fear of rejection can keep the best of us from making changes in our lives. But if you are not in a place that you can nurture and it nurture you, then the place you are occupying is killing your spirit and in turn you are probably throwing shade on other people instead of uplifting them.

I have been guilty of these negative actions myself. Dragging my own pitiful butt out of the bed every day, dreading what I was possibly walking into, and knowing that I would not be happy at all at the end of the day. Why torture yourself and others?

Even if no one every tells you your worth, still respect your value. You have trained and studied to become who you are, so why do you think less of yourself? Take little time out of your day to do a job search to see what opportunities are available. Sometimes you will find that you didn't know that your own company has put out ads to hire new people and sometimes the job of your dreams is out there waiting for your resume to get on their interview list. Yes, you need to act upon your own abilities, knowledge, ego, faith, financial needs, or whatever else it takes to get you motivated enough to seek out your destiny.

I was taught to adhere to a very blue collar outlook at the job site. Keep your nose clean, do your work, don't let co-workers know too much about you, don't date at the job, and stick there until you earn that retirement package and the gold watch. Unfortunately, most of that wisdom isn't valid anymore. Chefs, especially, find that they will be on to the next position in about 5 years time, often. The company doesn't have a lot of benefits offered, might not be totally full time, and with the fickle customer base, they don't want to have such continuity. Is the whole industry like this? No, but it is a fairly consistent experience within and outside of the culinary world. Most of us chefs can have a hard time writing a resume that is limited to 1 or 2 pages.

Please understand that the same skills that got you hired in your current position, are the same skills that will get you hired elsewhere, and if you have added to your skill base since you were hired, then your stock price has gone up and you maybe a more qualified candidate than you were before. Add to this, if you are seeking new ground while still employed, you are not as pressed for time as you would be unemployed.

I have skills that are needed by organizations, families, communities, and what have you. I have worked for homeless shelters, schools, charities, churches, restaurants, hotels, sport arenas, and a few bars. I have ever starved working in this food city and in this industry. I have been paid less than I am worth, I have worked with horrible people, bad bosses, and ungrateful companies. But, know this, they can take away your employment but no one can take your skills and knowledge.  

Squeaky Wheels

There is a saying that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In the kitchen, as well as other aspects of life, the squeakiest is typically the messiest. I learned long ago that it is better to just get it done, or corrected, than running in and out of the office complaining. Often times, those who are always complaining, are actually trying to use a tactic of painting the others as such a bad worker or person, in an attempt to sack the other's position. Often times this can work to the complainer's favor but usually just once. Eventually, the complainer's agenda can easily be seen through like plastic wrap, and instead of a devaluation of the other's position, the complaining party can find themselves in the hot seat. A pattern develops that changes the viewpoint of management.

The last thing any chef wants to spend their time on is interpersonal issues within the staff. There is so much more going on that can stress the kitchen, late deliveries, mistakes needing fix, equipment failure, heat waves or winter storms, theft, accidents, a whole list of things that need addressing or controlled. While the list of complaints may have validity, picking your battles is the best thing to do. If the mistake is small, it maybe best to just make correction than complaint.

The squeaky wheel may need replacement instead of support. I have been a part of a crew, and middle management, and I have often been told that I don't brother my up-line or upper management unless it is something that I can't correct on my own. I have always taken my positions seriously and when the issues are mine, or under my control, I take care of the issue. The way I figure it, I am being paid to control this portion of the company and bugging my boss with the trivial, like a tattle tail sibling, is counter productive. Anyone can miss something or run out of time to get something done, etc. Instead of wasting time having a meeting or complaining in the office, I'd much rather help out or make corrections.

A manager that cannot control their staff is often viewed as ineffectual. Complaining about the smallest of things, or the easily fixed, only serve to make the noisiest of us look bad. Problems are problems, the chef life is all about solving problems for our customers and each other. If I make a mistake, just tell me, and I will make changes to eliminate the problem from reoccurring. There is never a perfect situation for everyone involved, but the customer should never be impacted by the issues that arise as they have paid us chefs to handle whatever it takes to get the job done. The last thing that a customer should ever ask themselves is "what did I pay them for?".

Chefs don't always get along, and some, for whatever reason, try and make the day harder for other workers in an attempt to get rid of them. This is not a good look to have. Being messy over this or that is just petty. I have worked with people that I wanted to run them over with my car, but I did my work and didn't complain until it was appropriate. Pick your battles wisely. Be the one that helps out the rest of the crew, instead of the one that is always snitching. Stay in your lane and watch the road ahead instead of focusing on someone else's journey before you run into a ditch.

Conflict in the workplace

No matter the industry or setting, conflict of opinion, hostility, jealousy, and any other reason, can rise up and slow down progress. There is always a lot of effort to satisfy customers demands so often their really isn't time or energy left to settle interpersonal conflicts between employees. 

When I was a newbie in the industry, and barely able to drink, I experienced some prejudice at the workplace probably because some of the adults I was working with, and supervising, didn't take me serious, and some thought that I was just there to be cute.... nope. Then, of course, the minority girl issues, the chef life is dominated by white males, and when you are not reflective of the group, you can see or feel them test you or minimize you. There is a time frame in which chefs attempt to find out what you are made of, if you can take a joke, keep up with them on the bench, or be apart of the team both in and out of the kitchen. 

Once you have been tried and proven worthy/capable, often times you are knee deep with your crew bailing each other out until the race is won, only to be back at it again tomorrow. Even the best of brigades can have spurs up against each other from time to time. Bold personalities and workloads can force chefs to bit at each other about the little things and the bigger things. Most of the time individual production levels can bushel features because one or more on the team feel as if they are making up for someone's lack of accurate and usable work.

When tempers flare up in the kitchen, and they do, the big chef ego can get in the way of productive conversations about the problem. Small things become skyscrapers and tempers can fly very quickly. What shouldn't ever happen is that chefs are allowed to make their issue personal. When there are tactical issues, production issues, work overloads, painting a fellow chef as a villain only makes corrections harder, sometimes near impossible. No one is a saint, or even perfect, and serving customers and the community isn't a easy thing to do in the best of circumstances.

Chefs are not one dimensional cartoon cutouts who only exist in the kitchen, they have families, love affairs, some within the kitchen, economical demands, health issues, bills, and in the worst cases, chemical dependencies and alcohol problems. It is a harder life than working at a office, physically, but mentally its no punk either. We chefs are problem solvers drawn towards the chaos, sounds, smells, and noise of a commercial kitchen. We live for the oohs and ahhs of our clients, we get to be apart of the best moments of other's lives. The special night out, the anniversary dinner, the communion lunch or Sunday lunch after church is when we are on-duty and striving to make a nice day into a great one. 

Chefs often sweat, bleed, and get burned to please the customer. We block out of our minds lots of things like tired, hungry, hurting, and sleepy, chasing our high of choice, happy customers. In my new phase of my career, chef instructor, I consider it a victory when I show the kids a new vegetable that they like or get them to change even the smallest amount of their diet for the better. I teach in two neighborhoods that have a lot of challenges, but while I am their, I am working with them, creating a safe place, new exciting food, nutrition knowledge, and a hot meal. My students even earn a small stipend. It has never been easy but rewarding.

I have had to settle their drama, help their understanding, and redirect them to positive outlets. I can not afford to allow dissent in my class as it will deteriorate quickly, destroy our nurturing environment, and impede learning. The conflicts in my classroom are just the same as in the workplace, they often arise when egos get bruised.  Most of all conflicts, at the heart, are about folks' feelings, they don't feel respected, appreciated, or feel they are being taken advantage of them by others. The work is the work. It never goes away and you don't want it to go because then your paycheck goes away too. 

I have worked next to some that I literally thought about running them down with my car, but I still did my job. I love my job but I have not loved everyone I did it with nor every circumstances that I have had to my job. You can plan your butt off in the kitchen and dinning areas but it means nothing once the doors are open and the guest come in and get seated. I have had to deal with persons without much love for their fellow people, I have been spoken to totally disrespectfully, I have with the sweetest of persons, I have dealt with kids who were out of control, kitchen disasters, missing workers, injuries, the need to call the police to have people removed, I even had a wedding banquet happen that made to seating chart totally worthless and the guest count become so large that we had more people than glasses for drinking. 

Anything can happen and it usually does. The last thing anyone needs getting in the way of successful event is a coworker making it harder to accomplish than the customers did that day. A good leader can straighten things out so that no one gets hurt, most people just need to be heard, but there can be only a few environments more dangerous than a kitchen to have a conflict boil over. 

Politics

I don't typically share on social media my political stance as it isn't a political blog, it's a food blog. On top of that, I have met those who will hold your beliefs against you when doing business, as if it is a legitimate reason to select a vendor or not. Best price, best customer service, best products, ah.... but what was it that you said about the candidates in this year's election?

Finding out that Trump will be at UIC soon and Sanders will be at Argo High School has me feeling spurred to action.  My eldest child is a student at UIC and my middle child goes to Agro like my eldest did before her.

I'm a liberal and if this is problematic for you, then don't finish reading this post. I'll understand. I wish that my career, my business, my educational efforts, and my personal life were not impacted by politics, but food is highly political. I define myself as a liberal, not a democrat or a republican. I am not influenced easily by conspiracies, political propaganda, or other people's opinions. I have learned from many sources in all phases in my life and it is from those experiences and knowledge base that I come to my own conclusions.  

Food strikes at the core of what it is to be human. It touches every one every day. We feed each other and transmit culture and emotions through each bite. Food cooked with love does more for the heart of man than the nutritional input could ever offer. Don't think food is political?  Try living without access to quality food outlets for a month or live without adequate food intake for just a few days, you will have fresh eyes for the issues.

Political promises of a chicken in every pot, legislation imposed on small business, school lunch programs, proposed Chicago Teacher Union strike, and slashed funding for culinary education, culinary colleges closing, food deserts, charitable food assistance program, framer's markets, and even state supplemental food programs such as WIC and Link, are all political.

Some conservatives speak of reductions to vital programs that feed our most vulnerable members of our society and advocate for a vision of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. But what if your deficiencies are the equivalent to not having feet to put boots on? The poor will always be with us, needs will always be present, but suffering malnutrition should not be so wide spread in a 1st world country.

My career as a chef has lead me to feed some well known political figures and for the most part it was an honor to do so, even when I didn't agree with their platform. Every plate filled and every month feed strengthens our society as a whole. A hungry man is a dangerous thing. That hunger will spur him to just about anything to cease the call for calories. 

I wish I could live in a world unaffected by politics, legislation that both aid one group of people while harming another, where profit isn't the sole function of a company or group of individuals. A world without the greed and adversarial warfare. I would like a Zen world where everyone only uses what they need and doesn't bother to take from the most vulnerable ones. A world where there is no issues of lack, ill educated, no sympathy for fellow man, or underpaid and overworked.

As I type this, I can see this topic is going to have to be revisited later on. There's my final thought on politics for the day. The issue of minimum wage. Too many people, that I have encountered, do not understand the legislation of a minimum wage law, why it was enacted, and why many are now advocating that the minimum needs to be raised.

The minimum wage laws were conceived and enacted to combat the injustice of  having a inadequately paid populous. When your working staff is paid too cheaply, the owners of the company earn a much larger portion of the profits than the workers. The resulting expenses of a poorly paid population effect the whole society as medical treatment can't be afforded by the individuals but then must be paid out of taxes raised by the state, the number of malnourished people increases which again effects the need for medical treatment, the children of the underpaid lots of times end up increasing the burdens of the state as the parents cannot afford the basic needs of the families to which they belong, birth control to prevent families from having too many children becomes out of reach, the education of the children of poorer families must rely upon the state to provide those kids an education, and the total health, education, and welfare of the state is greatly reduced. The legislation was written with this in mind, a family of 3 or 4 should be paid enough to be able to supply for the needs of its members; food, clothing, shelter, and education. Without this as a standard, you will increase the homeless population as they will not be paid adequately enough to be able to pay rent, you will have children unable to learn and grow adequately do to a lack of food, and you can eventually find that your society will be forced to commit crimes in order to supplement their needs. Under educated students will finish school without all the tools they need to have a proper sustainable income as adults.

Many people have expressed their negative emotions about raising the minimum wage with statements like "No one should earn that much working at the burger joint down the street, are you crazy?" "How will small business be able to hire employees at that rate of pay?" This issue isn't about the greed of the workers, to me, it is more reflective of the greed of the employers, big or small. If I can't afford to get back and forth to work, then I can't come in an toil for the betterment of your company. If I can't feed myself and my children then I will not be able to spent all my time an effort working for you because I will need to work two jobs to make ends meet. If a worker is under the stress of everyday living to an unreasonable amount, then they will not be a good worker, but rather more like an indentured servant relying upon their betters benevolence.

The trope that companies cannot afford to pay American workers at a minimum wage law of $15 an hour for 40 hours of work, or more a week, doesn't hold up as truth when you look outside of our boarders. Many well known companies have a world wide audience and a international workforce. Take a look at a company like McDonald's. They have presence in many companies and I would have been inclined to believe them when the rebuff proposed changes to the wage law if I had not looked up the rate of pay for this company in other nations and discovered that they are paying this wage, and much more, to their workers overseas. So you can see clearly that this is just propaganda at best. 

Protection of both the company and the workforce is absolutely needed as the company provides work but it is the worker that makes the company successful. When industries become unregulated in lots of different ways, then it isn't long before you start seeing natural disasters, workplace accidents, unfair worker pay issues, environmental violations that put people and wildlife in jeopardy. In my personal experiences, unions are not always successful and sometimes there is corruption within the union officials, however, without unions there would have been a much darker world that would have immersed.

Keep being informed about politics, as it only takes the righteous people to ignore corruption, and do nothing, for evil deeds to arise and flourish.