We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vanessa David a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Vanessa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Right now I’m working to get my memoir published.

Vanessa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been creative my whole life. I started acting when I was nine, went to a high school that allowed me to focus on performing arts, studied theatre in college, and I had a career in the theatre for twenty-two years. But, as we all know, theatre doesn’t pay shit, so I worked in food from when I was nineteen until now. I slung frozen yogurt, decorated ice cream cakes, made Subway sandwiches and brought California pizzas to peoples tables. Being a server, while pursuing fame as an actor and playwright, was the most dehumanizing experience of my life. At the same time my mother was dying of Alzheimer’s. After she died I quit serving tables and spent two years at home recovering. It was then I discovered my passion for food. I started hosting themed dinner parties for friends and blogging about it as The Headbanging Hostess. Although the blog never quite took off in popularity it set me on the path that brought me where I am today.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

My mother always pushed me to become famous. She had gotten out of Liverpool as a dancer when she was fourteen, so she saw fame as the ultimate measure of success. In high school I thought I was going to be a rockstar, in college I thought I’d be a famous actress, mid-career I decided I’d be a famous playwright. I chased fame for decades, and while I was still working on my craft at the same time, I wish I had focused more on the things I can control. To a certain extent I did, I became a playwright to take more control of my career, but you can’t control what others think of you, in any part of life, so I wish I’d given myself a more achievable measure of success.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I spent seven years working as a lunch lady in a local school system. Over those years I earned the respect of my coworkers, was promoted from part-time general worker to Elementary Manager, and shared my passion for good food with countless students. During those years my district went from self-operated to outsourced and the quality of the food took a nosedive. When I left I wrote a memoir about my experience called The Lunch Teacher. I’m still working to get it published, but part of the message of the book is the necessity for living wages. So I really hope to add my book and my voice to that larger national conversation. I have found new joy in my current position as a Chef for a senior living facility, but I’m making even less money and, frankly, am not surviving. We need to address this as a nation if we want to fancy ourselves as world leaders.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/thelunchteacher
• Instagram: Thelunchteacher
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088671226097

Image Credits
Connect Couples flyer by Kate McNickle