Won't Get Fooled Again.
A young woman hired me to make her two weeks worth of meals, but not for the reason I thought.
I should have been clued in to the real reason why Tonya hired me to make her two weeks worth of meals from the git-go. She had unusual questions which I had not been asked before by any client. Things like “Why did you want to be a Personal Chef?”, “Where did you study?”, “Do you need a license?”, “How do you find your clients?” All questions I had never been asked after someone might have Googled “Personal Chef Durham NC” to then find my website with my detailed bio. Also, Tonya asked if I could give her a discount. That was another “first” as most of my clients could see the value in my pricing, so the answer was most definitely a no. We settled on a date and time and I showed up as expected the morning of.
Tonya lived in a small townhouse with a kitchen the size of a shoebox. I remember the lighting being very dim as well as her counter space being extremely minimal. She was home the day I cooked and was lingering around the kitchen island as I began unpacking everything. She was asking questions about why I bought what I bought while picking up the ingredients and looking them over. Again, I felt that this was unusual. After I got each meals ingredients sorted into their own piles, Tonya then asked if she could pull up a chair to watch me. I told her that I really couldn’t talk, as that would slow me down. This statement seemed to go on deaf ears as she then stated that if she had questions she wanted to be able to ask me. Again, I told her that talking would slow me down, but she refused to leave the kitchen, only to pull out paper and a pen.
Being as polite as possible, I suffered through question after question about the way I was doing things. “Why did you start with that?”, “How long do you cook that for?”. I felt like I was suddenly teaching a cooking class. The time dragged on and my level of anxiety was ratcheting up.
Towards the two and a half hour point I happened to look over to her notes as I was beginning to pack up her meals. She had written down cooking temps and times, meals ideas and various other unusual things and I definitely began to feel like there was an ulterior motive for her hiring me. Tonya returned and began drilling me on cooling times and packaging techniques.
Once I finished with the meals and had them put up in the fridge and freezer, Tonya asked about what was expected of me for cleaning someone’s kitchen. I thought she assumed I wouldn’t be taking out the trash, so I told her that I’d make sure the kitchen was as clean as I had found it as well as take out the trash. Again, I saw her make notes.
I filled out her invoice for the amount of $247.53 for the two weeks worth of dinners and lunches, listing the full grocery bill amount along with my Service fee. As she took out her check book and was writing me a check Tonya then calmly said, “Ya know, this was well worth the $250 I’m paying you because I’ve wanted to try being a Personal Chef, so seeing you do everything here was like me taking a class, plus I get to eat everything.” My heart sank and a feeling of anger rose where my heart once was. “Oh really?! Oh, wow… Um, well, it’s a lot harder than you might think, but good luck”, was all I could muster.
When I got home that evening I told my husband about what had happened in a rage. I felt used knowing full well that people who teach others to become Personal Chefs charge thousands of dollars for their know-how and expertise. David assured me that it wasn’t a big deal and to let it go as Tonya wouldn’t be a competitor any time soon.
My take away from that experience was that I’d never let myself be duped like that again.
Until next week, Thanks so much for following along on this journey! If you enjoy Secrets and Spice please make sure you subscribe to get each weeks story emailed directly to you. Also, if you would like access to any of my recipes please consider a paid subscription. It’s one of the perks of becoming a paid supporter. (it’s only $5 a month or $50 for the year)
Oh, and please share these stories with those you think might enjoy the read.
Thank you again,
- Shirlé
**All names, places and occupations have been changed to protect the identity of all clients.
Please leave a comment or two…I’d love to hear from you!
A Shout Out to this Weeks Paid Supporters:
A very special shout out to the following paid subscribers:
Robinlee Garber, Chef Lynn Warlick Wells, Jake Brokaw, Miyuki Furtado and Spanky Wilson, . A special shout out to new paid subscribers Myra Ruppe Schwartz, Lisa Deemer Sethi and Claudia L Sanders, Laurel Estabrooks and Leela Montella,! Thank you all soooo much for your support!
-Leela is a person I have known since kindergarten. She has made a lovely life for her and her family and I love watching her kids success stories.
-Myra is an old NC friend who I recently got to see here in beautiful Lisbon with her partner Scott. Maybe someday they will become expats in this fair land.
-Robinlee is a childhood friend and all around renaissance woman, living and playing music in Chicago.
-Chef Lynn is a fellow Personal Chef buddy and owner of Thyme Well Spent, Personal Chef Service, based out of Greensboro NC. When not cooking for clients or food styling for cookbooks, she can be found hobnobbing with tastemakers and culinary shakers all over the country.
-Jake and his wife Brigitte have long been huge supporters of my cooking and are also huge supporters of the arts in Baltimore, Maryland. Jake also has an Orthopedic practice I have had to use a few times.
-Miyuki has been a lifelong friend and bandmate of mine from days long past. He’s also one of the best fathers and husbands I know and has raised one of the coolest kids, his daughter Mino along with his sweet wife Tricia. Miyuki currently plays music in his Alt-Country band, Divining Rod. You can listen to Divining Rod out on all music platforms. (Chef Lynn, I think you would LOVE his music!)
-Spanky has been a huge supporter of my cooking from my NC days. When not fire fighting you might find Spanky hiking the Appalachian trail.
-Lisa has been in my life since the early 90’s. She’s a huge music supporter and a lover of all things delicious.
-Claudia is an old friend from my days in North Carolina. I met Claudia at a pig pull back in 1998, when I first moved to Chapel Hill. Since then, Claudia has started a successful Personal Chef business, Good Intentions Personal Chef Service in the Hillsborough area, as well as serving the Durham and Chapel Hill area.
-Laurel Estabrooks is a new expat friend, recently becoming a Portuguese resident. Parabens!! Someday I hope to meet up face to face. Muito Obrigada Laurel!!
Thank you all sooo much for supporting me in this endeavor. I am truly grateful for you.
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Secrets and Spice - A Personal Chef's Memoir is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.