Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kim Gandhi. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Kim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What can you share with us about the story behind how you found your key vendors?

Our business really has 2 customers- our hosts that book the private chefs and the private chefs themselves. Finding amazing private chef talent is key to our success and we are always on the lookout for great private chefs. We interview those that qualify for our program – they must have experience and have been in a sous or executive chef role in the past.

Then we look for personality as well as reliability. Chefs that want to interact with their hosts and explain or demo parts of their craft make for a memorable experience- if you don’t like people- then this is not the role for you!

Having a national team in the US can be very challenging and we need to trust that our chefs are going to show up and create an amazing experience for our hosts that set up reservations with them. We also run background checks on all of them. We want our hosts to feel safe inviting someone into their home or rental for these events!

Private chefs come to us because we are owned by an Executive Chef that understands what private chefs have to do when at a location. We continue to look for ways to make it easier to find hosts/clients and thus easier for them to make a living doing what they love to do. Trust is a two way street and our chefs know that we are going to pay them what they are asking to be paid along with working alongside them if any issues do occur. The reviews that the chefs get are testaments that we are finding amazing talent. We aren’t writing those – our hosts/clients are!

Kim, 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?

How I landed here at Food Fire + Knives? I think the biggest reason is that I fell in love with this concept of private chefs going into people’s homes or rentals and doing what they love while making other people happy. Food and gatherings are such an essential part of who we are as humans. I came to FFK at the end of the pandemic. People were hesitant to get back to pre-Covid and going to restaurants, interacting in large groups etc. A chef and perhaps a few of his staff showing up for an event became less risky to the hosts and once they experienced a meal, many of them realized they were tired of takeout or cooking for themselves for special occasions. Going into restaurants didn’t have the same level of happiness any more- sometimes shortage of restaurant staff or too many people in one space just turned people away but they were so tired of ordering home delivery. Thus that was an added plus for us.

I’m most proud of the support role I play at the company. I have gotten a few fun nicknames ( Home Skillet, Mama Bear, Mama Kim etc) and it’s given with love and comaraderie that we have with our chefs.

Food Fire + Knives embodies what I believe in – to support local Chefs through freedom of creativity, schedule flexibility, and deserved pay for one of the toughest and lowest paid industries. Plus I get to hear amazing stories of the events and many times it’s better than any movie or TV show that I could watch! And I get a front row seat!

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

This is one of my favorite stories. I was engaged in a similar business but had left it for a variety of reasons. My kids had birthdays coming up and were huge foodies. My husband suggested I see what companies were available in their area and when I googled “private chef”, Food Fire + Knives was at the top of the search list.

I booked and the kids told me it was really phenominal. The chef reached out to me after I booked within 48 hr and was responsive through the whole experience.

After the event, I reached out on the FFK website to tell customer service that they needed to tell their CEO that he was doing it right. Little did I know that he monitored the chats(we still do this today as leadership team) and he started to respond to me asking what I liked and didn’t like about the website. After a couple of conversations with him, I knew I needed to work with him. Took me 4 months to convince him that he needed to hire me. It’s going on 4 years and it was the best decision I ever made. I love what we do and Mike is a partner that I trust and believe in to do the right thing for our chefs and our customers. We work well as a team too and that makes it easy to put in long days and give just a bit more than I ever thought I could.

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

I love how many pivots I have made in my career. Not all were the right ones but each one taught me that I can do anything that I set my heart on.

I’ve been in debt, been without a home, figured out how to feed the kids when I didn’t have money to do that and sometimes didn’t eat myself, started over in my career at least 8 times and then had the highs of being an executive for 5 companies including FFK. I’ve made huge mistakes but also amazing choices(including my husband of 20+years and having 3 children that I am so proud of what they have become) that has led me to a life filled with amazing experiences and seeing so much of the world that we live in.

I’ve been at very low points in both my personal life and career but as they say “the sun will come out tomorrow” and for me, it has. My family is my everything and my husband believed in me when I didn’t think anyone else would. The strength that comes from your family and then watching my 3 children grow into amazing people as well is what life is all about.

I am a proud at 61 years old to be someone that may not have many public pictures or personas out there but my life is rich with experiences and memories that so few people have experienced. I love giving back and mentoring others as they negotiate their lives and hope they can learn from mistakes I made. I don’t regret many of my mistakes because it made me who I am and I have been part of some of the most amazing teams that have gone on to do even higher goals than I could ever imagine.

Things I don’t regret:

1. Having children- never thought I would be good at it but I have 3 amazing kids that do things that I could never do.
2. Being married multiple times- We make mistakes but if you can find your soulmate like I have- it’s all good- My husband is my rock and I woudn’t have met him had I made other choices – I knew him for years before we were together- he was my best friend before he was my husband- I think that is why we have been together for over 20 years.
3. Failing – I fail a lot- but I learn from it and do better each time – I just have to keep practicing to be better.

What I do regret:

1. If I have hurt people unknowingly and sometimes knowingly. They know who they are and if I could go back- I would and see how I could remedy that. I wasn’t always my best and I do regret that.
2. Getting married mutliple times- Definitely not my shining moments – and my inner self knew it was the wrong move but I did it anyhow. But I did get two wonderful children out of that so I wouldn’t change a thing. But my older self would tell my younger self that I was stupid for my choices until my current husband. I’d love to have waited but would my path have led me to him if I had done something different- probably not…..
3. Not being brave enough. As a woman, I definitely hit the glass wall often. I’m so proud of what I do today and the partnership I have with the CEO of FFK- I can be who I am and he never discourages me. I’ve been empowered both in my personal and business side but there were many times that I was “put in my place” where men probably wouldn’t be. I fought for my place at the table but I had lectures on my dress code, my directness, my decisions and the speed of which I made decisions(I was always too fast at decisions). I’ve been told I should just go home and make babies to perhaps I am just too emotional to be in my role and yet I’ve had men throw shoes at me(an executive no less), men throw temper tantrums to get their way and men that would torture me in a weekly meeting until I would cry(first meeting 15 min, last min over 2 hr till I broke). I regret that I didn’t stand up and walk out but I had kids to feed and bills to pay.

And yet- it led me here – I’m so happy with my life these days and who I am and what we are building at FFK. I’m still highly motivated but I can now reflect on a life well lived and though I made so many mistakes, it led to great success as well.

I took a chance this year to be a passenger in a real Indy car on the Milwaukee Mile track. The thrill of doing something new never gets old and as I reflect on that experience and the excitement that came with it- I know I will continue to search for those experiences that challenge me both personally and in my career- you only live once so make it count!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.foodfireknives.com
• Instagram: @foodfire_knives
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foodfireknives/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salesforce2/