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

Shaun, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned in school and why that lesson is important to you?

I attended The Notter School of Pastry of Pastry Arts (Orlando, FL) and studied under Pastry legend, Ewald Notter. One thing he would always preach to us was how important it is to be patient and practice….and having the willingness to share knowledge…not just in the kitchen but in life as well! Tempering chocolate…hand whipping cream…building up a sugar show piece….and so many other tasks in my job requires patience and practice! When training new staff…it requires extreme patience and the willingness to share your knowledge and experiences! Definitely was one of the most important lessons I’ve learned and utilize daily!

Shaun, 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?

I have been preparing for a kitchen life since a youngster! I really enjoyed cooking and baking with good music playing loudly to keep my spirits high. In 2020 the pandemic hit and most of the country shut down…I was left with trying to take my 20 years of experience with desserts and hot food and use it on social media! I started, Covid Cooking with Shaun! I really enjoyed doing these live cooking videos on IG and Facebook…interaction with viewers…it was so much fun! So 1 day a song by Notorious BIG comes on while I’m cooking…”Notorious” a remake of Duran Durans 80s hit “Notorious”…when the chorus started…I just heard “Chef, Chef, Cheftorious!” and it was born…Cheftorious! I started using the name to cover all food things I was into…made a website…sell kitchen aprons and t-shirts…I’m developing another food show idea with guests and other chefs! Sometimes I pop up in a city and sell meals for a couple days if I have some fans there! I cover a wide range of traditional and my own creations…I do chocolate work and sugar work…I’m a master baker and executive chef…and hopefully soon I will operating my own small neighborhood restaurant!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe that being my absolute self and applying a Kobe Black Mamba type of mentality towards my career was the best thing that helped me! Most of my opportunities came about networking and other people actually liking me as a person! My experience was just the cherry on top! I feel like doing things with love and honesty…having integrity and honor…and be consistent with a hardworking spirit…will take me a very long way!! It’s been a blessing so far!

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

No thrills and chills in the money story…just good old fashion hardwork, sacrifice and saving! I learned how to bring money in and not let it get out…I watched my father build up 3 car repair shops when I was a kid…I watched my father make moves in this way! I knew what I had to do…no more Nikes and Chipotle every weekend…no more dates and movies, etc. I took 6 months of earnings and invested in some shirts, aprons and logo print…got some “to go” packs for food…posted online hourly and daily about it for months…built the website…started to interview people on Facebook live every other week…next thing I knew…my website was doing well and I went from 250 followers to 3k. Over excited about the rest of this year and 2026!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cheftorious.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheftorious
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/shaun.slater.3511
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cheftorious

Image Credits

N/A