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

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

I was working as a sous chef at Yellowstone Club in Montana. The restaurant was open for dinner service only so I’d work afternoon through dinner service. I was offered to do brunches for one of the guests at the club and accepted the offer. Once I came back home to southern California, I was at a local restaurant for happy hour when the owner(a friend of mine) introduced me to a property owner that was looking for a chef to cater for some of his guests. I said yes and one thing led to another. That was in 2017. I started by word of mouth. Then I designed a website. Next we partnered with an SEO company and the rest is history. We’ve been going strong with growth each year.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Food has been a major part of my life since before I can remember. From being next to my Mom cooking her style which was Spanish with a huge French influence, to being next to my Grandma cooking Tex-Mex with a huge influence from the south, lil did I know it would further turn into a living.

I started as a steward back in 1996 while attending high school. After graduating, I met my wife and started a family. Of course being a young father, having a family to raise, I was unable to attend culinary school so I worked a lot of odd jobs. I worked at Jiffy Lube, Safeway, I did construction, valet parking. I was even a non emergency ambulance driver for a while. All the time I kept a part time job in the kitchen as my family was growing. In 2007, I was finally able to pursue my career full time. I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the most talented chefs across the nation. Some of the places include, Loveland and Ft. Collins Colorado, Salina Kansas, St. George Utah, Tampa Florida, Yellowstone Club in Big Sky Montana, and of course our beautiful Coachella Valley here in Southern California.

As an Executive Chef and a Sous Chef over the years, I’ve worked on many special events and private parties. Now, having 4 beautiful kids, I am in a position where I can be there for them in a more significant role as well as continue on with my culinary passion.

As a personal Chef I am proud of what I do because I get to work directly with people and to me, food is not only a necessity, it also brings people together.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My Wife/Partner and I have been married for 24 years. We both had career changes multiple times. When I started the business, she was helping me on the weekends and working full time during the week. After about 4 months of the business being open, we decided to roll the dice and bring her on full time. It was a big risk her quitting her job and us putting everything we had into the business but it was the best choice we could’ve made. Now 7 years into the business we are going strong and not looking back.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Oddly, we didn’t start off with a lot of capital. We bought the business license and got insurance. I already had uniforms and tools. The good thing about this business is there is no inventory. We shop the day of the event and execute the same day. We don’t need a brick and mortar or place of business other than our home. This is an in home service meaning we show up to your home and cook. We couldn’t have been more blessed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chefjacobperez.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoursouschef.pcs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chefjacobperez
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-perez-9a6354a6/overlay/about-this-profile/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base%3BWCluYT%2FyS9%2BwI8Dgp%2B%2BAtQ%3D%3D
• Twitter: @yoursouschef
• Youtube: @yoursouschef-morethanjustfood
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/your-sous-chef-la-quinta?osq=your+sous+chef&override_cta=Request+pricing+%26+availability