We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jordan Miller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jordan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
I would consider my Dad as one of my role models and life mentors. He built his successful dentistry practice from the ground up and has shared with me the important learnings along his entrepreneurial process that have inspired me to start my own business. One thing I really appreciated about being raised by him is his willingness to let me take risks and make my own decisions and mistakes. Even beginning in middle school, I was always pursuing little business ideas, from selling lemonade, to making bracelets and designing shirts and selling them to raise money for causes I was passionate about. He was always there to support my ideas and let me see them through on my own, start to finish. I think having that kind of support and belief in my skills and vision gave me the confidence to do what I do now.
Jordan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a personal chef and freelance food content creator, and I run a boutique personal chef business in Washington, DC called DCEatings. At this time I operate DCEatings as a side business outside of my 9-5 job. DCEatings offers private event catering, cooking classes, and recipe development for food brands. As a personal chef, I cook inside the homes of my clients, or, if they have a destination event, I do occasionally travel and cook at Airbnbs or retreat venues. Something that is really special about being a personal chef is the intimacy of the work. Especially when I’m cooking inside the home of a client, I have the privilege of getting to know them more closely and be a part of their entire experience. It makes my work feel less transactional and more collaborative, which I really appreciate. One of the best things about being a personal chef is being able to see in real time how your food makes people feel. I usually know that people are enjoying the food when the entire party is completely silent while eating, as they’re totally focused on the food. I deeply believe in the power of food to both heal and foster community, and it’s incredibly rewarding to be a personal chef and to contribute to a positive experience around food for people. Some of my own most vivid memories involve a delicious meal with people I love, and to be able to give that experience to someone else is the best part of the job!
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One lesson I had to unlearn about entrepreneurship is the assumption that you have to do it all yourself in order to be “credible”. The concept of bootstrapping a business completely alone is a reality for some people of course, but the more I meet people who have pursued an entrepreneurial path in one form or another, the more I realize that most people didn’t get to where they are completely by themselves – and there’s nothing wrong with that! Some people go down the investment route. Others build their business models off of collaboration. Some have employed their entire families as their first employees to be able to get their business up and running. It’s refreshing to learn about these sort of experiences. We live in such an individualistic society that priorities personal gain over collaborative success, and I deeply believe that we cannot live successful lives without community – whether that be in your personal life or your career.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The two best sources of new clients for me have been through my Instagram presence and word of mouth. Over the years, I’ve learned that social media audiences like to know the person behind the camera, so I’ve had to build confidence in showing myself and parts of my life more publicly. However, I do think it’s paid off as prospective clients are able to get a sense of who I am as a person before submitting an inquiry to book my services. I think a big part of what clients pay for, outside of delicious food, is my entire brand identity. That includes my personality and my ability to connect well with other people. This has translated into a lot of business through word of mouth. I love being able to meet people who are connected to past clients I enjoyed working with. It feels like I’m building a huge network of amazing people who would all get along if I brought them together at a singular event!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.dceatings.com/
- Instagram: @dceatings
- Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-miller-4b6a1061
Image Credits
Headshot: Chesley McCarty