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

Maggie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

After college, I was on track to go to graduate school for Art Therapy. I was volunteering in the field and had taken the GRE to be able to apply for programs. I had just begun to enjoy cooking and I was given a cooking classes as a gift. That first class changed my path completely. I knew I wanted to teach cooking. It was a gut feeling, almost a calling. I didn’t want to own or work in a restaurant (although I would do the latter), I wanted to teach. Within 6 months I was enrolled in culinary school and upon graduating I was hired as a cooking instructor. I knew at some point I wanted my own cooking school, but I was young and new to the field so I had a lot of learning to do. Unfortunately, that teaching position wasn’t financially sustainable so I went into sales. The whole time I was in sales, I was still teaching. I was doing private cooking classes in people’s homes. Having my own cooking school was still my dream and I had even come up with the name, Whisked Away, I just didn’t know how or when I would get started.
About 5 years into that sales job, we moved into a new neighborhood. After a few of the women learned that I taught cooking classes, they asked if I would do one for them out of my home. Our house was set up perfectly for it. It is not big by any means, but the kitchen was conducive to teaching. So, I did it and it was amazing! It wasn’t just about the class, but it was this feeling that a door had opened and all I had to do was walk through it. I had an infant at the time plus a full time sales job, but now I had a fire that drove me to make this happen. I stayed up into the wee hours of night building my first website, many times falling asleep at my desk. It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time but I was there for it.

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.

I touched on this in the last question, but I’ll dive a little deeper. I grew up in Washington DC. Both of my parents were excellent cooks and I was exposed to a wide range of foods from early on. We did go out to eat and order take out, but most of our meals were cooked from scratch. We sat down as a family for dinner most nights of the week so gathering over food was how we came together. My mother also catered for a bit. Honestly, I never dreamed I would cook for a living after witnessing how stressful that was!

I went off to college and I graduated with a neuropsychology degree from Vanderbilt University. I always joke that that led me right into cooking! The truth is, I was given cooking classes as a gift the year after I graduated from college. I was on track to go to graduate school (assuming I got in), but that cooking class truly changed the trajectory of my life. I started culinary school 6 months later and was laser focused. I graduated at the top of my class and did my externship at the Food Network in NYC. I started teaching as soon as I got back from NYC and that it is where my career began.

I started Whisked Away in 2009 after the women in the neighborhood asked me to do a class for them out of my home. I quit my sales job in 2011 and I have been teaching full time since then. I started off offering mostly public group cooking classes but the business organically shifted to private classes. I still offer public classes, but not as many as I used to. I am a school for the hobbyist cook, so people come to me to learn, but they also have fun while they’re here. Since I do the classes out of my home, I make sure everyone feels comfortable as soon as they walk though the door. It can be awkward to cook in someone else’s kitchen but I make sure they know that while they are here, my home is their home. I get all levels of cooks here, but I will say a majority already know what they are doing in the kitchen. It is my job to make sure they leave with a new tip or trick up their sleeve! For those who come and are a little newer to cooking, my job is to give them the tools they need to feel confident enough to cook on their own or for other people. I want everyone to WANT to cook at home!

I also teach Kids’ Cooking Camps in the summer. That is a completely different animal! I have spent years creating a comprehensive program where kids age 4 and up learn everything from kitchen safety and table manners to knife skills and sauteeing. For the kiddos ages 8 and up, I don’t dumb it down. They are doing the same things I do in adult cooking class, just with a little more supervision!

I spent 7 summers taking people to Europe to cook. I partnered with people in Italy and France who had established culinary programs, but tailored a program just for Whisked Away clients. COVID put a brief pause on that, but I am starting back in October of 2027 in Spain!

They’re are many things that make me proud of Whisked Away! The thing that makes me the most proud is the loyal community that has developed around Whisked Away. The people who come time and time again to take my classes are what has built this company and their trust in me means the world. I am also very proud that I am featured in the first edition of the book “111 Places in Phoenix that You Must Not Miss”. It is such an honor!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think every business has moments when they just want to throw their hands in the air and walk away, but it’s passion that started the business that gets us back on our feet. I run my business from home so I NEED my home! There have been a few times in the time that I have had my business that I haven’t had it. The first time we had a flood in the kitchen caused by leaking refrigerator line. A good chunk of the house ended up being torn down to the studs and we had to move out of the while reconstruction was going on. That meant packing everything up and storing it in one unaffected room in our house. The rental was not conducive to cooking classes so I was just going to cancel everyone who had scheduled for the next few months. It was a significant loss of income not to mention the risk of losing clients. My husband was gone for 6 week out of this time and our daughter was in 4th grade. It was challenging enough without having to worry about the income. I decided I had to do something. I contacted the scheduled private class customers and asked if any of them would be willing to hold the classes in their homes. That meant digging out all of my equipment from the boxes and finding childcare for our daughter. Some of them were able to do and some weren’t. It was a lot to juggle, but at least a portion of that income was recovered.

Fast forward 5 months and COVID hit. This time, I had my house but I couldn’t have anyone in it! I obviously cancelled all of the classes I had scheduled and was enjoying the time ‘off’ with my family. Then people started asking if I was going to offer Zoom classes. I just couldn’t envision it. Not to mention being in person was part of the essence of my classes.

I am a regular guest chef on a mid-morning lifestyle show in Phoenix and at the time, the producer, host and I were brainstorming on how to do my segments. They were always taped as if they were live so we tried Zoom. That didn’t work so I created a crude set up with my phone and computer to tape the segments on my own with two camera angles. It worked! I figured since I already had the set up I might as well try Zoom to see if it worked better for cooking classes. I started with free classes to a handful of loyal customers to work out the kinks. I ended up doing several classes a week. Business Insider wrote an article on me because I was one of the first cooking schools in the country to offer Zoom classes. It pushed me TOTALLY out of my comfort zone and it was a completely different dynamic but it worked!

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I hope that any employees I have had will agree with what I’m about to say! I have a very strong work ethic. That comes with a caveat. If I respected my employer and they respected me, you would not find anyone working harder. I would work as if the company was mine whether I was bussing tables or at the top tier of sales. Nothing I did was beneath me. I would do what needed to be done. I always knew that when I had my own employees I would let them know they were appreciated, respected and valued even if what they were doing was part of their job description. That’s what made me a better employee.

I think it is so important for employers to remember that the business cannot be run without their employees. A little appreciation and a lot of respect go a long way. Your employees are an extention of you and your business. Don’t ever put yourself above them. Nothing breeds resentment and discontent more.

It cannot be understated that training your employees well is paramount. Many times an employee’s failure is a failure in training. Next time an employee does something wrong, ask yourself how YOU could have better taught them.

I have been very lucky to have amazing employees especially in today’s job market!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.whiskedaway.net
• Instagram: whiskedawayaz
• Facebook: whiskedawayusa

Image Credits

Life Created