We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dominque Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dominque, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
As a personal chef, flexibility is key and one of the things that I value the most about what I do. My schedule revolves around my clients’ needs, which allows me to offer a highly personalized experience. I take the time to truly get to know each client, building relationships that help me understand their likes, dislikes, and personal flavor preferences on another level.
Every menu created is completely customizable to the client. There are no set dishes or rigid offerings. It’s just food tailored to your tastes, lifestyle, and goals. You can only get that kind of attention and detail from connection. When you book with me, you’re not just booking a meal—you’re booking an experience.
From our first conversation to the final presentation, I focus on communication, clarity, and connection. These simple, yet important elements ensure that there’s very little room for misunderstandings and it helps create an environment where you feel heard, respected, and excited about your meals.
It’s all about the food. The way it’s seasoned, paired, plated, and served. The feeling it leaves behind. If, weeks later, you’re cleaning your living room and suddenly crave that baked mac and cheese I made for you—if that memory makes you smile and lick your lips—that is why I do what I do. I aim to leave my mark through every bite.
Dominque, 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 mostly known around as Chef Nique. I am a personal and pastry chef. Born and raised in the small town of Muskegon, Michigan. I am a mother of five; two young ladies, two teenage sons and an eight year old son. I have a little over thirteen years of experience in my field. I am part owner along with my sister, Diahann Thomas at She’s Divine Cuisine Atlanta and Muskegon. I run our Muskegon location and together, we are The Divine Chefs.
I started my journey in the beginning from preparing meals for my family. I’ve never been a huge fan of fast food and I have always loved cooking since I was a little girl. As a child, my mother had me in the kitchen cooking with her from about the age of five on up. She would have us picking greens, or making cornbread for dressing and I would enjoy every minute of it. From there on, once I got into my teens, my sister Diahann was off to college at Central Michigan and she would bring myself and my cousin there almost every weekend to stay with her. We would shadow her in the kitchen/dining hall while she worked and my love grew stronger for it.
After my sister graduated she then moved to Chicago, IL where she was the food and beverage manager at University of Chicago Aramark. From there I moved to Chicago with her, where she gave me my very first job in the field. At that time I was in charge of creating menus, cleaning and restocking the food items and it didn’t matter to me because I enjoyed it and it was all being operated in the kitchen setting. I can still remember it snowing in the winter and her bringing me to the company Christmas party.
That was when I fell in love with calamari. My sister had always been very diverse with food and she walked up to me and said, “Hey, try this.” And shoved a piece of fried calamari in my mouth and from that night on, my entire life was changed, forever. To this day I can still remember that exact taste on that piece of fried calamari.
I moved back home after getting pregnant with my first child and from there I was enjoying motherhood. I have always loved cooking and preparing meals for my family because that is what I saw growing up. I come from a strong black woman who made sure that we ate and we had a hot plate of food every night for dinner. It was only right that I offered the same thing for my own family. I picked this up from simply feeding my own family and eventually it was decided to partner with my sister.
Three years ago, we had the grand idea of building the business from Atlanta and branching out here in town and we opened a chalet in downtown Muskegon where I ran two seasons there (2022 & 2023) at our small to-go style cafe. It was beautiful experience and we have since moved from that location and expanded in many other different areas. Today, I offer family meal prep, intimate dining, small event catering, cooking classes and a personal chef service where I will come into your home and prepare a meal for your family.
Our cuisine is what sets us aside from others. We are unique, we are innovative and we truly love what we do. Our focus is on you being able to get your time back with your family, and whatever that looks like we will help you create that. If you’re looking to have alone time with your spouse, make it easier on yourself for your busy days or interact with the entire family learning to cook something that you all can enjoy together, that is what we are here for. That is what we solve for you.
What I’m most proud of is the climb of the business and the name that I have made for myself. I take pride in knowing that who Chef Nique is, is what I have built from the ground up. With grit, with strength, with determination, I have made a great name for myself that has so much meaning behind it. It’s more than just food, my love for the industry, my passion, my drive. From the awards that we have received over the years, the news articles, to my name, our business, it all has been a blessing, but the rooms that we were spoken in and the doors that have opened are above all. God has always made Himself present in our lives personally and together and that is what I am proud of because with Him I have done all things.
Offering a wide range of cuisines from many different cultures and we aim to provide you the best experience which is simply divine.
What I would like my future clients/followers/fans to know is that my clients are something like family to me. I love building personal relationships with every one of them so that I can assure that they are getting exactly what they need. It’s important for them to be able to trust me and for me to actually care about their needs. Secondly, everything that I make, is made with intention. Your goals and preferences are important so that your experience is memorable. My service is not a one size fits all service. Every menu is customized and tailored specifically for that client based on their needs so everyone gets a different divine experience designed just for them.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
What started out as just a mom taking care of my family turned into a full blown career with the most amazing results. My sister called me up one day and said, “You should sell your pound cakes. You should try selling your Cajun pasta.” After a few words and ideas shared between one another, that was it. I was going to sell my pound cakes. I went into it full force, not scared, but nervous, extremely determined and not even sure if they would sell. Covid hit and my business grew to the point where I was selling out of cakes and cheesecake slices, full cakes on a daily, holidays and events. It helped me grow as an individual and as a small business.
I always tell people that word of mouth is extremely important. That is the main source of how it scaled. So how you treat your customers, your attitude, your character, your word; it’s all an important part that ties into the growth of your business and branding yourself. Being able to deliver great service and great food. For me that was all important because how I presented my service, gave quality products and offered flavor showed how dedicated I was. And people need to see you dedicated. They need to be able to see that you’re serious, that you will not stop by any means.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
My audience was built mainly off of social media. I’ve never really gotten into all of the other socials. Facebook was always the easiest for me because I had a pretty large following and it just continued to grow and grow. I would have random people message me from all across the world and ask me for recipes. I’d always reach back out and give them freely and offer tips. Great content and being strategic has always been important keys to getting an audience to follow you. It’s important to remain focused and consistent because it is a job within itself. It takes up a lot of time and a lot of dedication, but it can be successful and a great start for branding. You learn as you grow, so take those learning curves and build stepping blocks to success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shesdivinecuisine.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/chefnique_thedivinechef
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16VuswrrR1/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/share/1FNJHP229K/?mibextid=wwXIfr
