10 years industry experience
bartending; serving; catering, cooking, costing, scheduling, purchasing, management, and more.
agriculture & business background
lamb, pork, rabbit & chicken production, 4-H, FFA, restaurant manager, catering manager.
bachelor's degree in hospitality
studying things like cost control, marketing, banquets, current issues, ethics, menu design, and capstone classes where you develop your own business plan.
euro-trip
a drunken idea turned reality; a friend and I traveled across the Atlantic. we spent two weeks living and working on an organic farm in Sweden. after that we spend five weeks eating our way through some of Europe's biggest cities. we parted ways in Croatia and I head west to walk the Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile pilgrimage through norther Spain.
seattle
a corporate hotel cooking gig, a service job at a farm-to-table restaurant, and an 'around the world' stint at a French Vietnamese restaurant. Seattle gave me confidence and taught me so much about the industry, from design to product knowledge, and the importance of quality ingredients. most of all I learned what it meant to be a chef, and worked at a restaurant called Stateside that gave me irreplaceable kitchen experience.
most of all seattle gave me a huge supply of connections to some inspirational people.
All-Purpose.
opening crew
right before their big opening I joined the DIGS Gastropub Team, helping open the restaurant/bar and running the catering program for the first summer of operation. my tasks were wide-ranged and mostly self-assigned as we grew to know what the identity of the business would be. a truly incredible and educational experience, and a team I was honored to be a part of.
restaurant consulting
& design
a local ramen shop that had my heart as soon as the spicy broth reached my mouth. since I met the owners, I've been able to redesign their menu, write their story, capture photos of their dishes and establishment, and assist in social media management as they continue to grow as a successful business.
Taste the Local Difference
local food coordinator
helping promote the great local food systems here in the Upper Peninsula; getting the change to meet some amazing individuals in our food and agriculture industries, doing what I love
