We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Raven Ross a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Raven , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In my junior year of college, I decided I wanted to be a chef with no prior experience and I wanted to start a business to go along with it. I was 1 year from finishing my Bachelor’s in Allied Health with plans to go to Physical Therapy school, but 2018 came around and I realized that I had no passion for it at all. Throughout my entire college experience I cooked for so many people. My roommates, their friends, people on campus, my friends, etc. It became a weekly ritual, almost. Someone was always looking for me to cook for them and sometimes I would look for them to try a new recipe I was testing out. Ironically, I went to Nicholls State University, which is the home of Louisiana’s only 4 year culinary program. However, by the time I realized my passion, I felt as though I was too far along to start over. So I decided to take a different route. I took to cookbooks, Food Network, Youtube, etc. to learn more about cooking. Eventually, I started selling plates out of my on-campus apartment. That, however, was short lived due to someone reporting me, which resulted in the housing department prohibiting me from any further sales after about 4 successful runs. After this happened, there was still an extremely high demand for my food. One of my closest friends put the idea in my head about starting an actual business. She encouraged me to take the leap because of how many people still wanted to taste my food. So I took a hiatus, built a social media platform to lead up to my business venture, started working in restaurants to hone in on my skills, and kept working to perfect my craft. In the peak of the pandemic in 2020, D.R.E.A.M Kitchen was officially born. The opportunities I’ve received from networking and believing in myself are immense. I’ve worked for organizations such as The Spears group, New Orleans Film Society, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., just to name a few. All because I took a risk and I continue to bet on myself.

Raven , 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?

My name is Raven Ross. I am a 26 yr old chef, business owner, and content creator. My start in the culinary industry is not one of tradition. While I’ve always enjoyed cooking, I did not realize my passion for it until my junior year in college when I was 1 year away from finishing a degree that I had no interest in. With that being said, I did not attend culinary school, although I still hope to one day. My passion sparked in me when I started cooking for my roommates, friends, and family on a weekly basis in college. With no prior experience, I just thought of this as a hobby. Soon after, I started to realize that the way people reacted to eating my food caused a light to shine in me. This was no longer just “something to do”, this was a love language of mine that I wanted to be able to share with people from all walks of life. My support system agreed that my food needed to be enjoyed by more than just the people I could reach on my college campus. So after some research, hands on experience, and a whole lot of faith, I eventually started my business, D.R.E.A.M Kitchen during the height of the pandemic. Services I offer consist of catering, private chef services, meal preps, etc. I plan to branch out into hospitality consulting soon as well. I feel as though I offer my clients a luxury service that provides them with the convenience of experiencing a restaurant atmosphere right in the comfort of their own homes. My clients are not limited to one specific type of food because I don’t limit myself to the things I do. I’ve had a lot of firsts when it comes to client requests, but I will never turn down an opportunity to experience something new. I will simply do my research and test my recipes until they are up to par for me as well as the client. I think that sets me apart from other people who offer the same services as I do. Most of the time they are bound to a specific niche. For me, I’m my own niche. I refuse to put myself in a box. I have an eagerness to learn and my main goal is to be multifaceted, not only as a chef, but as a creative and a business owner as well. This where my content creation comes in as well. I am the face of my brands, therefore I do all of the marketing. On one hand I have my business page where I focus on making food driven content. However, I also have a page specifically for the “D.R.E.A.M” brand which focuses on highlighting other small business, like mine, who need marketing as well. Whether that be a restaurant, a clothing line, a new activity in the area, etc. I use my platform to bring attention to the business I love to support. My support does not stop there. I am working to build an app that will be somewhat of a directory for small business near and far. This will serve as a direct source for people to look up specific services that they need and have the various small businesses in their area with those services offered and be able to connect directly to them. I have major plans for my brands and I’m hoping that I can get the exposure I need as well as help other people like me to get the same in the process.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My main goal is to prove to myself that I do not have to settle for what society deems as “normal” or traditional” in order to be successful. Dealing with imposter syndrome and the inconsistency that comes with running a business and being a creative, can be detrimental to the belief that what you’re doing is the right thing. I’m just here to prove to myself that there is a purpose behind my passion. That’s what drives me, fuels me, to wake up and work towards success everyday.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding this about being a creative for me is seeing the reactions of clients and supporters when they experience what I have to office. When I cook for people and they light up after eating my food, that’t the greatest reward. That makes everything worth it to me. As a content creator, seeing business owners be grateful for the exposure they receive or being people in the comments say they actually tried something I recommended and they enjoyed it. That’s the purpose of what I do and it brings me joy to see it all pan out.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dreamkitchen.catering
• Instagram: d.r.e.a.mkitchen
• Facebook: DREAM Kitchen
• TikTok: d.r.e.a.mthebrand