Hey There

Okay, let me set the scene for you. Its 2003, picture an adorable, curly blonde 6 year old. Her favorite word, BAM, Emeril Lagasse voice. She is sitting on the couch, tunnel vision on that days episode of Barefoot Contessa Food Network, the project of the day; chocolate sorbet. There she is, towering at about 3 feet tall, sitting on the edge of the couch, eyes glued to television, tiny feet dangling over the floor, ready to SORBET. This is when the adorable scene takes a turn. As the recipe comes to an end, the final step is to, "throw the mixture into your ice cream maker". Spoiler alert, hey, its me, that adorable little curly gal. Second spoiler alert, I didn't have an ice cream machine! I was bummed, but motivated. There had to be another way. This spark of inspiration snowballed into taking on the culinary world. Before I knew it, 2003 turned into 2011 and I was starting high school at Freehold Borough High. I got into the culinary program that they offered in Freehold. I was in a new town, new school and new faces. After a great four years, I decided to continue culinary arts. I was accepted into Johnson and Wales University for the Culinary Arts, Food Service Management Program. Lets make a long story short, hands down, the best 4 years of my life. Between the knowledge gained and the relationships made, I will always thanks Johnson and Wales for those years. So lets take the story to 2019. College has come to an end and the real world is ready to slap me in the face. As I prepared for my college departure, I had come up with a route to grow within the front house management side of culinary. Just when I thought I had figured out my culinary management career, drum roll please, COVID. Covid hits and the world shuts down, now what? How does a chef work from home, yeah, they don't. I was let go from my position at the time and began to work as a line cook at a new restaurant. I grew within the kitchen and became the sous chef. After a year and some change, I left there to go to my last chef position at a different company. It is at this job, where I hit a wall of realization. As passionate as I felt about cooking and how much I truly loved to cook, the work life environments, balance and respect were just not there. I decided it was time for me to take control of my life, learn my worth and try something new. I hesitantly left my job and planned to explore the world of human resources. So lets change the scene, its 2023, I quit my job, my human resources plan didn't work out how I may have hoped, I am stressed and doubting myself on the choices I have made to get me where I was at the time. I started to feel a wave of depression hit, the self doubt took over, I quickly forgot my worth. Now, before I play victim, I was genuinely dealt a terrible hand. Between all of the emotional massacre, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I couldn't help but think, what's next? As I struggled daily to find my purpose again, I came across a very old painting easel. This sparked my interest, I asked my father about it, he explained that the easel belonged to my great grandfather as he was an artist. A metaphoric light bulb begins to flicker over my head. I went to the store, got some supplies, set myself up in the backyard and got to painting. It only took me a few minutes to realize how not only therapeutic painting was for me, but how expressive and emotional it was. Since that day, I haven't put the brush down. I decided to make this site to share my art and my story. Just when I though my story had ended when I left my job, it had truly just begun. Painting reminded me of who I am and how powerful I can be. I stayed focused, got myself my dream job, (teacher of culinary arts), and continue to live both of my passions daily. Remember, the comeback is always greater than the set back.

​