We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful JOY HASKINS. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with JOY below.
JOY, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I started cooking just to learn how to, just so I could learn how to for myself. My blog started out as a foodie blog where I would do restaurant and food event reviews. After a while I began cooking for my nanny clients at my full time job and then started taking catering jobs and private gigs on the side. It didn’t take long for food to become my passion and the foundation of my mission.
When I moved to Florida in 2016 I decided to transition from childcare to food service full time. Because I didn’t really know anyone in Tampa, I had to start my business completely from scratch and I also started working in restaurants for the first time. Food has been the catalyst to all branches of my businesses and roles I play in my community. I believe food is communion in a sense; it’s shared, it heals. Food is community, food is wellness. My life as a chef and wellness advocate encompasses all of what food means to the world.
JOY, 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 professional title is (Private) Chef but my reality is a lot broader. My career in food started out as cooking for my nanny clients and their extended families before shifting to event catering for a few years to now working primarily for private dining and meal preparation clients. I also do a lot of charcuterie service but my main work is intimate dinner parties for couples and small groups. Through my wellness brand Thyme Wellness, I offer health + home wellness products and this year I purchased a food truck that will be opening in the Miami area in the near future.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I had been working as a private chef and as a lead line chef for a great Tampa area catering company, Saltblock Hospitality, before Covid 19 hit the US. Even though I had a position I loved, after a rough few months in the beginning, I had to make some tough decisions in my life in order to prioritize my wellbeing and decided to go back out on my own in self employment. I started an online store that sold food items I made at home like seasonings, hot sauces, jams, and other handmade items. That online marketplace did very well and with those proceeds and some crowdfunding, I was able to open my first physical store location in Tampa, Thyme + Bloom Market.
I didn’t grow up dreaming of being a chef, I didn’t have any foundation in food or wellness. But life brought me here and now I get to live my dream, doing the work I love to do every day.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I feel the reason that I still enjoy social media and my activity there is because my following and presence has grown so organically over the years. I never pressured myself to be something or do social media a certain way, there hasn’t been a strategy. When I’ve tried to be the professional, the cleaned up version of me, I didn’t enjoy it because it wasn’t me. Sometimes I wonder if that has made me less palatable for brands to work with me but I do know that I don’t want to do anything where I have to perform and not be myself.
My advice is to be authentic. Speak like you’re speaking to a group of your friends and biggest supporters. Create like nobodies watching. Do what makes your soul happy. When people come to my page to watch my cooking videos they know they’ll probably hear some cussing, they’re going to hear my strong West Baltimore accent, and they’re will be whatever music I’m in the mood for playing in the background, whether its Erykah, Beyonce or 3 6 Mafia. My recipes, my food, are extensions of me so when you see my food, you see my life, my journey, you see me.
Be yourself, those who you are supposed to reach will be reached. “The girls that get it, get it.” – Mikhaela Jennings.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chefjoyh.com
- Instagram: @_joydoe, @thymewellnesscenter