We recently connected with Keedra Keeley and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Keedra, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think you first have to define what success means and looks like to you, because it doesn’t mean or look the same to everyone. For some people success is a whole lot of money and a whole lot of material things. For others it could look like their family healthy and happy. Whatever it is, it requires a vision, setting goals, and being consistent with whatever it takes to reach those goals in order to see that vision come alive

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Yes!  I am Chef Keedra, a Caterer and Personal Chef here in Atlanta.  I got started with cooking in college. I had a hard time trying to figure out what I wanted to major in until one of my college friends suggested hospitality, where I was able to attend culinary school for credits to go towards my major. I was always cooking for my friends and inviting them over to eat, so it only made sense when she made this suggestion. I would take jobs off the job board for Personal Chef and Caterers, and this is when I first fell in love with personal cheffing. At the time though, I did not have a mentor and I was kind of figuring it out for myself. I had a job working at a country club, but the manager was unreasonably difficult to work for. With this being my first kitchen job I decided then if this is what it was going to be like, I’d rather just cook at home for family and friends. So I left that job and didn’t cook professionally again for years. The love for food and cooking never died, so eventually in 2013 I found my way back to the kitchen professionally, and Keedra’s Kitchen was born by selling dinners to students when I lived on campus during graduate school.

From there I began catering again, and eventually personal cheffing. This time I made sure I found a mentor, so I found two mentors, Chef Razia Sabour and Chef Dephon Robinson, and worked closely with them to sharpen my knowledge and skills. I worked at a high school teaching students culinary arts and during the summers I would work in restaurants around Atlanta. Simultaneously I was building my own business and brand, and I felt as if I was exactly where I belonged.

After years of personal cheffing and catering I decided to expand what I offered as a Chef and I created curated events and food experiences. I currently offer intimate ticketed brunch and dinners, I created a cooking show called Inside Keedra’s Kitchen that streams on Youtube, and I offer Foodcations in which I take small groups of Foodcationers with me to travel to take in the culture of various cities through their food.

I love customizing food experiences beyond the catering and Personal Chef experience, and that is what you can expect coming out of Keedra’s Kitchen.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Yes! Take full advantage of what we have in the internet and social media. I wish the internet and social media were what it is today as I was leaving high school back in 2000 and entering into my next phase of life. All we had then were MySpace and Lime Wire lol. Because we have a front row seat to just about everything via the internet/social media, I know I would have done things a lot different. I still would have chosen food, but the options I would have had in which I chose to pursue food would have looked different and included more. And when that one boss became unbearable to deal with, instead of abandoning my passion, I would have learned earlier how to pivot, instead of feeling like I was left with no other options.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal to live my life by design is what drives my creativity. What I mean by that is I want to live my life exactly how I want to live it, and that is focused around family, food, and travel. I love being able to create how my weeks and days look so I can have the time I want with my family and the people I care about. Food will always be a part of me, always, so finding new ways to enjoy new foods is very important to me. I would like to do a lot more traveling and be able to incorporate travel and food, which is how I came up with my Foodcation trips. So, everything I do now, my creativity, and my drive are all definitely influenced simply by how I want to live my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.keedraskitchen.com
• Instagram: @keedraskitchen
• Facebook: Keedra’s Kitchen
• Youtube: Inside Keedra’s Kitchen

Image Credits
Profile Picture Photographer: Darius Voncel Photography & Design Make-Up: Akeyla Spradley All other photos were taken by me