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

Lamika, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

My goal is to create a legacy of uplifting and inspiring others through food. I believe that food has the power to bring people together, evoke emotions, and create and call forth memories. I want to leave a lasting impact on the lives of those I cook for by providing them with meals that not only taste good but also make them feel good. Ultimately, I hope that my legacy as a personal chef will be one of making a positive difference in the lives of others through the power of food. I always believe that the best dishes are made with love, so I think they will say that I always tried to make people feel loved, even through the simplest of dishes. I hope that people will remember my passion for cooking tasty meals and remember me as a kind and caring individual who brought a little extra happiness and warmth into their lives through the meals I have prepared. I want to be remembered as someone who brought joy, comfort, and delight to people’s lives through my culinary creations.

Lamika, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an Army veteran and mother. I deployed to Iraq in 2009-2010. Upon my return from deployment, I found myself (as most combat veterans do) looking for what was the next step in my life. I honestly had a hard time at the beginning trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. At that time, my children were toddlers so having to juggle between being a mom, a soldier, and figuring what I wanted to do was not easy. I’ve always liked to cook but as time went on, I found myself watching more and more cooking shows, reading different cookbooks, and my curiosity for making different dishes grow. The more I dug into Culinary Arts, the more my passion for cooking grew. I then thought to myself, I really love to cook so why not make this my career? I eventually went back to school and graduated with my degree in Culinary Arts. I also have always loved entertaining my friends which gave me the idea of becoming a Personal Chef. As a Personal Chef, I plan the menu, the setup of the food and serve the food at events such as brunches, romantic dinner dates, luncheons, birthday dinners, or any special event that requires special attention to details. I also provide the services of meal prep for clients that have a busy work and personal schedule or have certain dietary needs. I take pride in every meal I cook and create so my clients will always feel like they are getting the best of the best. I listen to the wants and needs of clients, since every event is not the same, so that it turns out to be exactly what is wanted and envisioned. I want my clients to be heard and feel like they have a hand/say in every component of their special event or meal. I also want my clients to know that even when they don’t exactly know or have the event envisioned in their minds, I can help them with ideas that they may not have even known or thought of. My clients will always feel well taken care of and always seek me for all their needs whether it be cooking lessons, meal prep or special events.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I have had to unlearn is putting too much into worrying about what other people think of me and my life. In order to truly be happy, you have to do what makes you happy. As long as you know the truth about you and you are being the best person you can be, it doesn’t matter what others think. Always stay true to yourself. When I was younger, I always wanted to do what I thought others wanted me to do so that I was liked and loved by everyone. Everything from what I wore to who I was around was due to what people thought of me and me wanting them to think the best of me. It wasn’t until later in my adult life that I had the realization that people will think whatever they want of you and it’s not your responsibility to change it. Show people who you truly are and let them decide whether or not to accept it.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I first returned home from deployment, I had no idea what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to do and be something. For years I would try to do things and make something of myself but there were so many obstacles that would be in my way. Trying to be a great mom, work, be a good soldier, and mold myself into something was a hard task. I’ve always tried to be the best person I could be because I’ve always had my babies watching everything that I do and looking up to me. Setting a great example for them has always been, and always will be, one of my top priorities. It took some time but one day I thought to myself this isn’t what I want for me or my babies. I began applying for all the jobs I could, qualified or not, because I didn’t want to let an opportunity pass me by. Even though I was blessed enough to be given opportunities at different work environments, I ultimately began to realize that I wanted to be in business for myself. That is the moment I had an epiphany and began my entrepreneur journey. Ever since that defining moment in my life, I have had no regrets and actually see the lesson in the difficulty of the beginning of my journey. You have to know where you have been to see and appreciate where you are going.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: Culinary Artistry By Charelle
• Other: [email protected]