Meet Michele Cruz | Chef & Small Business Owner

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

Hi Michele, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks is a bit against our human nature. So taking risks in any sense of the word will always carry a sense of hesitancy and worry, but it is the ones that take those risks that succeed and thrive.

I grew up in a family of Doctors, Lawyers, and Journalists. So naturally I was raised to be a Doctor, Lawyer or Journalist. After graduating High School in 2014, I went to College for Communications and Emerging Media with a Minor in Political Science. During my freshman year of college I knew that this was not the career that I wanted to graduate from. After my freshman year I took a major risk by dropping out of college and telling my parents that I want to be a Chef. The only family members that supported this decision was my father and brother. No one else in my family believed that this decision was realistic and that I would not succeed in such a labor intensive industry. In 2015 I moved to Philadelphia for a fresh start and to search for my true self. I got my first cook job at a Venezuelan restaurant in Philly called, Puyer Venezuelan Flavor. I knew after my first day that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Couple months later I had to move back to Miami for family reasons. After moving back I opened my own business, Doña Posada, a meal prep catering service. In 2016 I was casted for Master Chef Latino and later got my first job in a fast paced restaurant called Wynwood Kitchen & Bar. After seven months working at WKB I was offered a job at The Standard Hotel & Spa. From no professional training or studies I was promoted within the first 5 months from a cook to Sous Chef. The risk I took in 2015 was finally paying off. I became a Chef at the age of 23 with the support of my father, my brother and a few close friends. Currently I have been at The Standard for 3 years and run my own Small business (Doña Posada) on the side. I am extremely proud of the things I have accomplished and realized how taking risks in many ways will change your life.

My name is Michele Cruz I am a Chef, I am a business woman, I took the risk and it payed forward.

God bless, follow your gut.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Being a 26 year old female working in a male dominated industry is a challenge in of itself. Being the only female chef out of 6 chefs, there is always this sense of wanting to prove myself. Being a young chef, having over 20 employees that are decades older than I am and for them to respect my authority I think has been the greatest challenge of my career. Today I am beyond proud how I hold my own as the youngest member on our Chefs team, I have earned the respect of my cooks and colleagues and I run my own small business from home.

The sacrifices I have made to get to where I am are only part of what it takes to be a chef. I have missed multiple Christmas’s, New Years, Thanksgivings, Weddings, and even funerals due to this career and it takes a certain kind of individual to be able to be apart from our friends and family when they need you the most. I have learned that being a chef is not just knowing how to cook a nice dish. Its numbers, training, management, inventory, food costing, etc. Like a mentor of mine once said, ” being a real chef you must be able to go from washing dishes to plating a $75 dish to going and doing overnight inventory.”

I want the world to know that just because the people close to you don’t support something that you are passionate about, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. My father told me something a couple days after I dropped out of college. He said, ” I chose to be a pilot. It was my passion, it is what I love, and too this day I feel like I have not worked a day in my life.” I live by this motto. I am a chef, I am passionate about what I do, and yes to this day I feel like I haven’t worked a day in my life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
breakfast at boucher Walk around coco walk
Then
Downtown for
lunch at motek

Wynwood for pics and something sweet!
The
dinner at The Standard of Course!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate my career to my father, my greatest mentor, inspiration and reason why I am a Chef. I want to also dedicate this shoutout to Puyero Venezuelan Flavor in South St, Philadelphia, they gave my my roots and the encouragement I needed to know that I had and have the potential to be great.

Instagram: @_chefmichi_ @donaposada