“I managed to really leave my corporate career without regrets”

Not only am I more confident in cooking, I’m also able to take people on a journey of creating flavoursome healthy food. I’ve made my hobby into a full-time business.

I’ve always loved cooking and did it as a side business, separate to my corporate life. I became a professional pastry chef after training in Paris and then started my own catering company cooking for start-ups. I have a flair for talking about food and people love how creative food can be – it brings people back to the table. I enrolled in the Natural Chef course as I wanted to learn more about healthy cooking.

I learnt so much in class and during my internship

What I enjoyed most about the course was the business classes and training in knife skills. I also loved learning about pulses, grains and spices. My internship at NOPI (Ottolenghi) was also a fantastic experience. I learnt how to be organised, quick and creative. I realised I love cooking with people, and not just for them. I also got a better understanding of flavours as NOPI uses a lot of herbs and spices.

I’m able to customise recipes for health goals

Now that I’ve graduated, I’m training English families to understand the basics of healthy and tasty cooking to bring back families around the table. I’m able to customise recipes according to preferences and health goals. I’m now much more confident in creating recipes than I was before. My plan is to create plant-based recipes inspired by world cuisines for families, yoga retreats and food start-ups. I also plan to train people in healthy cooking and act as a consultant for restaurants.

My advice to anyone thinking of doing the Natural Chef course is, choose the right internship where you can put all your knowledge and skills into practice.

Kieu-My will soon be the lead chef on a luxury health retreat and regularly posts her beautiful recipe creations on her social media

If you are interested in embarking on a career like Kieu-My, come along to our next Open Day Event to find out how.