We had the good fortune of connecting with Summer Storm and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Summer, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?

I believe our thoughts and words are extremely powerful, so saying affirmations to myself daily is very important. Throughout the day, I say to myself, “I am,” followed by something positive. For example, “I am talented, I am successful, I am beautiful, I am loved,” etc. When I catch myself thinking or saying something negative about myself, I immediately stop and say affirmations, like the ones mentioned above, to put myself in a positive headspace. I genuinely feel we have control over the paths of our lives. If you constantly think or feel poor thoughts, that is what you’ll experience. Your brain will spew out more negativity, leading to a domino effect. This is why I always try to see the light in negative situations. In other words, the more positive thoughts you have, the more positivity will appear in your daily life. This is where manifestation comes in. One of my nicknames is ‘The Manifestation Queen’ because I’ve manifested my detailed thoughts into the real world time and time again, such as achieving my dream career! So, to give you a manifestation example, worrying that you don’t have enough money to pay your bills tells your brain that you don’t and won’t have enough to cover them. But, if you change your thoughts and understand that you have the funds and there’s nothing to worry about, somehow, by the power of manifestation and hard work, everything will fall into place. Perhaps an opportunity to make quick money will arise, or you will receive an unexpected check in the mail, or maybe a family member will randomly gift you some cash. Thus, you will be able to pay your bills. It’s not your job to figure out the why or how. Just trust the process and that everything will work out because it always has in the past.

There are two quotes that I love that go hand in hand pertaining to trust. The first one is, “It is either this or something better.” And the second one is “Rejection is redirection.” Both of these quotes can apply to any scenario in life. An easy example is, let’s say you just had a job interview and are anxiously waiting to hear back on whether you got the job. Instead of stressing and overthinking, tell yourself, “It is either this or something better,” meaning I will either land this job or there is an even better job that I will get and love so much more. If you don’t get that job, tell yourself, “Rejection is redirection,” which means you are being redirected to the job that’s best for you. These quotes have taught me to trust that what’s meant for me will be mine, and there is so much peace in believing that.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

Absolutely! I’ve been in the culinary industry since 2011. I went to culinary school when I was 17, then jumped into the restaurant world, not too longer after graduation. I then worked in restaurants for about eight years, starting as a prep cook preparing ingredients and quickly making my way to the top as a chef at various restaurants. As much as I’ve loved cooking since a little kid, I began to feel a lack of passion for it a few years into working in restaurants. For example, I didn’t get excited like the other cooks when the chef ordered a new cut of steak, soft shell crabs, or a whole pig. I couldn’t and would never be on board. So, in early 2016 I decided to go vegan, which was one of my life’s best decisions! It made me feel better physically and mentally because I was doing right by my body, the animals, and the planet, and it fully brought back my passion for cooking again because I had to learn so much and be more creative than ever before.

In 2020 I decided to leave the restaurant industry because while I loved being able to create and share my dishes with people, the industry’s negatives greatly outweighed the positives for me, and I knew it was no longer my life’s path. And this is when I decided to start my vegan food blog, Garden Grub, which currently has over 150 vegan recipes that I’ve created! My food blog is what I am most proud of. I built my website independently, with absolutely zero knowledge of how to do so (I had to teach myself A LOT!). Before starting, I thought creating a website would be so easy, but little did I know I was in for a long, stressful ride. I spent every day for about five months, from the moment I woke up until I went to bed, creating Garden Grub, and it was a headache and then some! But, unlike other platforms, like Instagram and TikTok, I own my food blog. I have total creative freedom over it, and no one can take it away from me, making it special. In addition to my food blog, I’m very proud of the social media videos I create, whether it’s a recipe or a comedy skit. Between my food blog and social media, I’ve had to teach myself how to become a website developer, writer, photographer, videographer, and editor. I love that they bring many people from around the world joy, whether because of one of my delicious vegan recipes they made or because they got a good laugh from one of my videos. Two lessons I learned through my journey so far are that if you truly want something bad enough, you will figure out how to achieve it and that practice does make “perfect.”


Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

My mom deserves recognition! I think a big part of the reason I chose to become a chef is because my mom unknowingly instilled the passion for cooking into me at a very young age. And by a very young age, I mean three years old, believe it or not! She has a photo of me somewhere helping her cut up hotdogs for dinner- at the age of three! Then by the age of six, I was already making dishes like scrambled eggs and spaghetti all by myself, and as I got older, I continued to teach myself how to cook more and more meals. I remember when I was probably around fourteen, we made a grilled cheese together. But not just any grilled cheese! We added tomatoes and herbs inside to spruce it up. Now, I know that is nothing groundbreaking, but it taught me to think outside the box and get creative with food, which has benefitted me today. She even mentioned that night, after I accidentally burned my finger on the grilled cheese saute pan and jumped up and down saying curse words, that I should start a YouTube cooking channel because I loved cooking and was also comedic. So, to look at where I am now, a vegan chef, food blogger, and content creator, it’s incredible to think I am doing everything my mom and I had discussed years ago!

My mom has also supported me since the beginning of my career: developing and writing vegan recipes for my food blog and creating social media content. She has been there, from helping me figure out how to build my food blog to taste-testing all of my vegan recipes to being a part of my first-ever viral video and much more! She had seen me have breakdowns when I didn’t know what I was doing building my website and was there to try and help me figure out what to do. She is there when I need a non-vegan to taste test and give me feedback on my vegan recipes, even ones that may seem weird, like banana peel bacon and tofu salmon fillets. She is there for me when I need help filming videos, taking photos, writing a blog post, and everything in between creating content. So, with that said, I wouldn’t be where I am today without her support, and I am forever grateful!

Website: https://gardengrubblog.com/

Instagram: @chefsummerstorm

Youtube: @chefsummerstorm

Other: TikTok: @chefsummerstorm

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