We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Keyla DeHoyos. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Keyla below.

Keyla, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

My career as a professional chef started by joining my mother and grandmother in the kitchen from a very young age, as early as 4-5 years old. I always had a huge interest in making food. It was extremely fascinating to me that you could put together different ingredients and follow specific techniques to get a final product that you could not only consume but that tasted amazing and that also nourished our bodies. The whole process of cooking and baking was a totally immersive experience to me. It was colorful and creative – two things that every child loves. I remember having a blast playing in the water while I did the dishes or how cool it was that ingredients all looked and felt different. At around 7 years old, I put an emphasis on my autonomy and was finally allowed in the kitchen by myself. Up until that point, I had always been accompanied by, and was learning from, an adult, whether I was helping my grandmother make arepas, assisting my mom in making rice and chicken, or working together with my dad to mix and bake cornbread. It’s around this age that I also started to seek my own culinary education in books at school or by watching YouTube videos at home on my free time. I continued to expand myself by making things I had learned about, focusing mainly on baked goods. By the time high school came around, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a local career and technical high school that had a hospitality certificate program. There, I centered my studies on baking and pastry arts which lead me to attend The Culinary Institute of America for my post-secondary education. I graduated with an associate degree in baking and pastry arts in 2017 and then moved on to working in the professional hospitality industry in my home state of Rhode Island. Throughout the last few years, I’ve continued learning from other chefs, mentors, and peers. My most recent endeavors have expanded into learning about cannabis infused edible products. I started consuming cannabis at a young age as well, and throughout the years I have learned more about the magical healing benefits of the plant. With laws and regulations that are always changing, and the science of infusion continuing to expand day in and day out, I work hard on learning about the healing powers that Mother Nature provides us with so that I can share the knowledge with others.

Knowing what I know now, I do wish I would have started doing research and learning about cannabis science at an earlier age to get a better understanding on how infusion works with different food ingredients and with different cannabis concentrates.

A few skills that have been the most essential in my professional culinary career definitely include perseverance, having a sense of urgency, great communication, the ability to pivot and make decisions on the fly, taking constructive criticism, staying clean and organized, and most importantly, understanding that cooking (and sometimes baking) is simply knowing ingredients on their own, understanding ratios, understanding different techniques, and knowing how to put those parts together depending on what you seek your final product to be.

I don’t like to limit myself, especially when it comes to learning about something that I love – If there is a will, there is a way. I have always taken education very seriously, which I continue to do on a daily basis through books, online, or as knowledge shared by others. Although, I will say that the biggest obstacle that has stood in my way of obtaining any other degree has definitely been financial struggle. I am still working on paying off the student loans of my 2-year degree. I most certainly will go back from another one, but until then I’ll just keep walking my path.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hey there! First off, thank you for reading my interview! My name is Keyla Zoe DeHoyos. I am a chef, hospitality professional, cannabis connoisseur, and entrepreneur from the state of Rhode Island. I have a business concept called Liquid Gold, where I provide some small batch catering, consult, host events, and educate consumers on food, cannabis, and living a healthy lifestyle. I’ve loved being in the kitchen for as long as I can remember and naturally gravitated into pursuing a career as a chef. Growing up, I took my education very seriously, especially when it came to food. I went above and beyond in elevating my culinary skills, forging my path as a professional. After graduating college and working in the industry for a few years, I seeked a deeper experience. Luckily for me, a chef that I worked for during that time, introduced me to cannabis infused edible products. He opened up a flood gate for me – Something that I had always dreamed of doing but could never in a million years picture happening for me. I’ve been an advocate for cannabis for a long time now, and the idea of combining my passion for food and my passion for cannabis as a plant healing medicine, was something extraordinary. Throughout the last 6 years, I have been working hard on making cannabis education more accessible to consumers while bringing to light my Colombian and Puerto Rican roots through the flavors and techniques I incorporate into my food. What sets me apart is that along with food and cannabis, I also emphasize the importance of a healthy physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual body to live a happy and peaceful life. Balance is everything.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My “why” has grown into this: I’m here to educate on some very important aspects of life, food being at the core, as well as highlighting that health is wealth. Let’s start with the fact that food scarcity continues to be an ongoing battle worldwide. Education on proper nutrition and basic physical healing is rarely talked about. Society has implimented such a skewed view on what having a healthy diet and lifestyle “should” be. If health is wealth, then why are easy, accessible resources of whole foods, plant medicines, and mental health help still thrown to the sidelines? For a second though let’s talk about cannabis – It goes hand in hand with expanding our creativity and spirit, to connecting within ourselves and others and yet cannabis STILL has such a negative stigma behind it even though it is one of the first dated plant healing medicines known to mankind. My “why” is about telling the story of who I am. It’s my chance to share the roots of where I come from. Most importantly, it’s to bring awareness to our own individual selves. Once we know who we are deep within, we can be the best to everyone and everything around us.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding part about being an artist and creative is the ability to connect with people through my food, my art and the education I provide. I love that in this short life, I can truly be who I am and those who are on the wave, get it. Being able to live an authentic life while changing others in a positive manner is what I strive and work hard for every single day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/zoe_keyla
• Instagram: @Liquidgoldri and @chefkeyzoe
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keylazoedehoyos/

Image Credits
Bridgette Victoria Cruz for the head shot in the beige blazer as well as the chocolate cake pictures and the smoking picture. Cherif Dagraca for the headshot in the apron and the one with the book.