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

Alexander, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I came with the idea of A.M. Diverse Cooking because I wanted it to represent who I am. In the beginning it was a necessity for me to have a job in the food industry to provide for myself and my children. I traveled to different cities throughout Florida working my way up in Burgerfi which is a burger restaurant franchise. After moving up in position within 6 months to line cook to “Assistant Manager” to “Assistant G.M.” within a year things looked promising. I opened a restaurant for this chain, I trained numerous employees of Burgerfi policies, and taught the staff ServSafe standards in how to properly handle food. It wasn’t until I was laid off working at the Winter Park, Florida location and became homeless when everything changed. I then came up with a strategic plan to choose restaurants to learn all the skills I need to create my own business. I gain advice from someone I consider a mentor in Jacksonville, Florida by the name of Rod Borisade better known as Odd?Rod. He is a well known poet within the U.S. and he took a chance on himself by quitting his 9-5 job and creating his business in poetry. I met with him one day asking if he would give me advice on what I’m trying to do in business. He took time out of his schedule, gave me sound business advice, and said, “One important thing I want you to take from today is to always be diverse in cooking or anything you do. The more diverse you are the more access you have to be self efficient and you’ll never be limited.”. From that conversation in 2017 I came up with the name of my business A.M. Diverse Cooking in 2019.

Alexander, 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?

My name is Chef Alexander Mack and I am a personal chef that creates vegan/plant-based foods from scratch along the East Coast. I am the owner of A.M. Diverse Cooking which provides catering, meal-prep, private course meals, classes, and “Diverse Supper Club” events. I’ve worked in the food industry for 16 years, professional chef for 6 years, and owner of A.M. Diverse Cooking for 3 1/2 years. I got into the vegan cuisine once I changed my lifestyle of eating. I used to be overweight ranging from 260-280 lbs., depressed, ate poorly, and was a habitual drinker. Once I saw the healthy side through healthy plant-based eating through Dr. Sebi teachings I changed my entire lifestyle of eating, implemented exercise, started meditation to conquer inner conflict and past trauma, stopped drinking, lost weight in the process weighing 160 lbs, and changed my surroundings into a positive place for a positive mindset.

I introduce the vegan cuisine as a luxury demand for all while teaching how choosing the right foods for the body can possibly reverse or prevent illnesses. I assist the youth in the community in how to be self efficient in the food industry by picking up important trade skills to further themselves at an early age. Gaining knowledge from nutritional experts has helped me to assist others and learning the trade myself assist me to amplify many lives around.

I utilize multiple cuisines from Asian, American, island foods, Italian, African, Indian, and more into my own signature flavored packed dishes while preparing my food from scratch to avoid high processed toxic ingredients. My service is built on servitude and friendship because as a people we are all connected.

I am proud to have done cooking segments and interviews on WTOC-11 Savannah, I am proud to have worked with organizations that help the community like the Emmaus House, Loop-It Up Savannah, The Coffee Foundation, Bluffton County Black Chamber of Commerce, Chatham County Schools, and more.

The goal is to introduce everyone on how great vegan cuisine is while utilizing my platform to assist and inspire anyone for their goals/dreams.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I built my reputation on “In-Person Encounters”. I initially started out selling my signature “Herb Bread” with a 6×6 table near Kellers Auto in Savannah, Georgia on the side of the road. I enjoy conversing with others and building not only partnerships but friendships, So I intertwined with being personal with others by marketing my main services through selling bread. Through this I journeyed in multiple cities selling bread while telling them my other trades and with that built word of mouth about me being a personal chef. Through this consistent dedication attracted more clients to hire my services.

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

One thing I learned is you don’t need everyone or everything to get things done. If you have simple knowledge in that field you can do it with your own two hands. In the beginning of starting my business I didn’t have consistent or a lot of help to get to where I am today. A good friend of mine Daryl Givens, my God-Brother Charles, and a few others gave me sound advice and assistance in succeeding but, I learned outside from them I needed to use my own two hands to get things done. Everyone didn’t see my vision like I did and many thought what I was doing was worth putting their time in to help. So, I in turn did everything myself. I honed my skills and accomplished every task at hand. I created ads, videos, flyers, I created my website, clothing design, and more. All and all, anything can be done if you put your mind to it and act.

Contact Info:

• Website: amdiversecooking.com
• Instagram: a.m.diversecooking
• Facebook: Alexander Macks Diverse Cooking
• Yelp: A.M. Diverse Cooking
• Other: Google: A.M. Diverse Cooking

Image Credits
Alexander Mack III, Denzel Hill