We were lucky to catch up with Kenneth Temple recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kenneth, thanks for joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

My whole life all I wanted to be was an entrepreneur. I remember being really young and my mom was watching the news, and a man came on with the title, “entrepreneur”.

I said mom, “what’s that?”, she replied, “that means he works for himself.” I said that’s what I want to be.

Fast forward 20+ years and hear I am. The life of a business owner is not for the faint of heart.

You will have more lows than highs but the lows, are character development to improve your skills not to embarrass you or break you.

If you learn from those lessons you’ll be a better business man/woman.

Occasionally, while scrolling Linkedin, I’ll wonder what it would be like to have a regular chef job. However, I snap out of it when I count my blessings of time, freedom, travel and the wide range of clients I’ve been blessed to work it.

Everytime there’s a slow period in my business I go into skill development mode because I actually have the time to focus but also want to improve my skills so I can learn ways to automate my business and replicate myself. While helping my clients and audience solve their culinary problems.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a private chef, food blogger, author, recipe developer and content creator. I wear a lot of hats at Savory, LLC.

When I landed my first NBA client in 2009, from a meeting my uncle set up with one of his patients. After telling him for years before graduating from college with a BS in Science in Culinary Arts that I wanted to become a private chef to stars.

The time was right to network because after a year of working in a restaurant I knew it wasn’t th lifestyle for me. Well, while in college I knew that but there’s nothing like confirmation, lol.

I haven’t looked back at going back into the workforce.

The problems I solve for clients depend on the client. For my professional athletes, I provide full service private chef services. I’m in charge of menu, meal planning, cooking, cleaning and serving.

For customers who are the working wife and mom who needs help preparing delicious meals. I run my blogging business that’s focused on New Orleans and Southern cuisine that maximizes flavor in under an hour. Plus, I have some online classes to improve knife skills and kitchen basics. They also love my Savory Low-Sodium Cajun Seasoning.

Then there’s my Fornute 500 and corporate clients that I create recipes for their site, or post it to my social media (@kennethtemple_ on IG) or stand in as a on-air personality. Not, many chefs can say they were apart of a national campaign for the Super Bowl.

Plus, I’ve been on the Food Network a few times and even won Chopped. So, there’s a lot to be proud of but so much more to accomplish in the future.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The last time I had to pivot was when I moved to Dallas. After getting married I lost the battle of who was moving to who’s city.

It took me almost a decade to build my brand in New Orleans. Only to uproot to a city where I had no contacts.

I was out of work for an entire year but did a couple of pop-ups. They were good for brand awareness but I always broke even and may have ended up in the red if I had to pay my friends for helping me.

Then the following year, I secured my first NBA client and it snow balled from there opening the doors to work with the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and doing a couple of sets on the news.

The key to pivot is the same in all facets of life. Believe in yourself and don’t quit. Some of us put to much weight on what other people will say or think but you have to be humble and willing to adjust or you’ll never get ahead.

You only grow outside of your comfort zone.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my social media by hosting a weekly show on Facebook a few years back called The Hunger Trap. Each week I did a live cooking demonstratation with music in the background with high energy, good food and engaging with my audience.

That’s how I started blogging because I need a platform where I owned my audience. I see to many food creators posting their recipes only on social media but your website is your own digital real estate.

That lead me to digital marketing via building my email list. You want the recipe, sign up and I’ll drop it in your inbox.

After doing 100 episodes, I pulled the plug and focused on improving my blog.

I started a YouTube channel, and ended up burning out because I cooked, recorded, edited and posted. While doing the Hunger Trap and working.

However, know with the power of reels, I record my content and post it everywhere and on my Youtube and it’s helped reintroduce me to new people and grow my channel.

My advise is remove this pressure create and post. The refinement of how you build your brand will come as your audience grows. Please don’t stress over posting every day. I refuse to be a stressing over content creation.

I use to make the excuse. “I dont have time to record; I’m to busy focusing on cooking the food to stop and record the steps. It would be easier if I had someone to record me.”

Again it was an excuse. Once I stopped making them, I was able to grow my online presence as my authentic self. Which people love.

So be yourself and remove the excuses.

Contact Info:

• Website: kennethtemple.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kennethtemple_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kenneth.temple.79
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-temple-b0008689?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KennethTemple_
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/ChefKennethTemple
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/KennethTemple_/

Image Credits
1st image: Ashely Lorraine 2nd & 3rd: Marrica Evans 4th, 5th & 6th: Kenneth Temple food images are (Smothered Okra & Tomatoes and Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri)