Interview with
Chef Luisa Toaldo
What's your name?
Luisa Toaldo.
Where are you from?
Brisbane.
Who are you today?
Luisa.
What do you do?
I am a chef by trade but I am expanding into creating my own business that teaches people how to create wonderful meals in their own kitchen their way with my guidance.
What's your story?
Food has always held my attention. Creating it just feels natural. I realized I’d like to share my knowledge and skills and empower others to have the same enjoyment as I do whilst nourishing their bodies with lovely food at the same time.
Why is creativity important to you?
Creativity means I am engaged in my life. Creativity means I am not just saying, ok that’s cool it means for me I am constantly exploring, questioning and investigating either ways to make something in my own way or explore the ideas and possibilities out there. Being a passenger to my life has never interested me.
When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?
When I kept daydreaming in my role as a chef in restaurants. My mind would wander, I would feel unfulfilled and I just knew this wasn’t enough for me anymore. It was time to expand.
How did you embrace it?
My seeking out a mentoring coach whom I already had had some experience with and testing the waters of the idea with family, friends and a marketing coach as well.
How did that feel?
Scary. Those close to you will try and keep things in perspective as such most often from concern and desire for your own security and peace of mind but really, there is a time when you need to decide if safe is good enough.
Where has your journey taken you?
So many directions. I have ventured into public classes and learnt so much about the need to be out there in the public eye. Stepping up and out of my comfort zone has been a great joy for me. I have confirmed my desire to keep evolving this business. I don’t know where it will go but I do know that I will keep making choices that bring a sense of joy and happiness along the way.
What challenges have you faced?
Creating a client base. You may have social media followers but that doesn’t always convert to sales. Reaching the right audience and having them book has become a new experience for me.
What worked for you?
Creating incentives, deals and promotions. Asking people for help. Researching what others have done before me.
What didn't work for you?
Just assuming because I had put an ad in a highly circulated magazine it would create bookings. There is a lot more to it than that.
What tips can you share to help others starting on a similar path?
Dream big — as the dream evolves if it is too small you make sabotage it to keep it from happening. I have had to keep creating new targets and projects to move the business along and stop it from becoming stale and mico managed by me.
What are you working on now?
Developing a client base where I can share my knowledge online in the form of newsletters and blogs and creating classes and workshops from these connections to be able to share this knowledge in a fun and dynamic environment.
What's coming up for you in the next year?
More workshops! This is where I thrive. Being face to face with people and going with what their energy and ideas brings up makes a class so fun for me. I don’t have a rountine I go through I adapt to who is in my class.
What else do you desire/dream to do?
Teach others to teach the way I do. I’d love to have a whole school of like minded food lovers who come together to share recipes, ideas and techniques for the fun of it and to feast together.
How will you make that happen?
Keeping in touch with clients, encouraging those that would love to join me to do so, having a forum or facebook group where recipe sharing becomes a part of the day.
What one question would you like to answer that hasn't been asked?
What keeps you motivated?
The joy I feel when someone tells me they loved my class, my food, reading my blog. The sharing of the joy expands it a million fold for me.
Where can people find you online?
My Web and social media sites are InMyOwnKitchen at:
Instagram.com/inmyownkitchen_luisa
7/3/14
Creativity Portal is honored to be included among Writer's Digest's annual guide of 101 Best Websites for Writers in its must-have May/June 2011 issue. We have enjoyed this privilege in previous years, appearing on the list
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Overcoming Self-Sabotage and Healing from Abandonment
If you’ve experienced ‘run-ins with your Outer Child — the self-sabotaging, bungling, and impulsive part of your personality’, often impacting creativity and productivity, this series by veteran psychotherapist Susan Anderson will inspire hope in you. The founder of the Outer Child and Abandonment Recovery movements, she has devoted more than thirty years of clinical experience and research to helping people resolve abandonment and overcome self-sabotage."Your Outer Child acts out and fulfills your legitimate childlike needs and wants in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and in counterproductive ways: It goes for immediate gratification and the quick fix in spite of your best-laid plans." She says. Included in this series are helpful exercises and visualizations to help you focus your future intentions and become the engineer of your own life.
