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

Alright, Ryan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Grit and passion

Above all I think it takes these two qualities to be successful. Passion is the catalyst for anything great but grit is what keeps you going when you don’t see the results you want. I still haven’t seen the financial success I’ve wanted to after a few years with my business but I’ve been exposed to so many new experiences and relationships.

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?

My name is Ryan Gomez and I’m a first generation Mexican-American chef from Greenville, SC. I never really expected to be chef growing up. Originally cooking was just an afterschool and weekend job in high school and I didn’t really give it much thought until college rolled around. I ended up enrolling in culinary school at Greenville Tech as a way to kill a semester until I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. After my first day at culinary school I knew that this was what I wanted to do.

Today I have my own small company called SOL GVL and I specialize in doing small intimate private dinners as well as collaborations with other local restaurants and chefs. I would best describe the cooking style as a blend of Mexican and American ingredients, techniques, and cultures. Over the past few months I’ve been working on opening a small kitchen to evolve my business into the next phase and launch a few more small projects.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson I’ve had to unlearn is that progress is supposed to look linear when in reality a lot of the times progress has no set structure. This is a lesson I’ve had to unlearn many times. I’ve had so many hiccups and failures along the but then I look back at them and realize that they’re all necessary to improve and grow.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think the biggest help to building my reputation within my market has been making meaningful relationships with community leaders, business owners, fellow chefs, and local farmers who make it possible for me to conduct my business. Doing business with integrity goes a long way especially when you are just starting out.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: solgvl
• Facebook: SOL GVL

Image Credits

Asya Sheffield

Estefani Cano