We were lucky to catch up with Shelby Cross recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shelby, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

That my journey is an example and a testimony of the abundant life that we are promised walking with God , and with him nothing is impossible. That if I can, you too can receive his promises. “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her” As I remain faithful and transparent through my journey, use my blessings to bless others, operate out of love, be generous and authentic while serving others, that it leads others towards experiencing God personally. That my customers always receive a full experience for not only the body with great food, but also feeds their mind and spirit as a fulfilling memory of a lifetime.That my life is a light to others.

Shelby, 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?

I love cooking and the art and expression behind it. I love that with food, I can add a little “me” in everything as there is no “one” recipe for anything. I have been in business for 3 years now, but have been cooking for a long time. I wouldn’t say that I was ever taught to cook, but I did grow up around a lot of women who threw down in the kitchen and I was always observant. I just naturally started doing it, and found it to be second hand nature. I’m an introvert, and selectively an extrovert. I can interact and have a conversation with anyone, and I am a very sociable person, but I also don’t always like to be around a lot of people sometimes. I enjoy good food, good music, and spending time and celebrating with people in my life, but don’t always like the whole idea of going out and all the other hassles that can come with it. This is what helped me turn a vision into a business. To bring a luxury experience to people at their convinience. I help people by creating a memorable experience for their celebration no matter the occasion. What I strive to provide is food for the mind, body, and spirit. I provide private chef services conveniently in the comfort of your own home, or wherever you choose ( will travel). I specialize in brunch, but am not limited to. I also offer private dinner services, catering services for larger parties, and sell plates in my free time to serve the Houston area community for those who don’t have any events. Every event is specialized, not one is the same. If I had to categorize my food, it would be comfort foods with a twist. I like to take normal foods and add a little tweak to them. Things like stuffed chicken breast, Cajun avocado toast, garlic herb and wine chicken tacos, fried catfish loaded seafood baked potatoes, boudin burgers, and many other things to make your mind crave “The comfort cravings experience”.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

It’s funny because I didn’t know I would be a chef. I grew up an athlete, went on and played collegiate sports, and studied Kinesiology with a focus on exercise science and human performance in college. It wasn’t until the pandemic when I decided I wanted to explore more and see what life has to offer rather than the “norm” I grew up to know. That moment when the whole world stopped, my world had just started as I gave my life to Christ and he started to show me more to life.

Until July of this year, I had been a full time Manager at a gym in the Houston area for the last 3 years. I would cook and do gigs around my work schedule, mostly on weekends. There were many times where I had 7-day work weeks between the two, even times where I would get off one and go straight to the other. I could feel and see it growing, so much to where there were times that I had to turn down bookings because between the two my weeks were fully booked. In my mind I knew I needed to put more time and focus into my business to see it fully flourish into what it could be, but I never took the leap. I was continuing to meet needs of my job, but my business wasn’t where I wanted it to be because I put all of my time into building someone else’s dream. I was very successful at my full time job. I was recognized in the region for my expertise, and was a trusted person for growth and development in the company, but yet I still felt empty. No matter my accomplishments or what I gave, they still asked for more while I had nothing left to pour because nothing was being poured back into me that fulfilled me. On the other hand, when I had events, even on the long and hard days, I was always filled with joy because it’s something that I love to do. It was a tug of war, and I prayed for a little over a year and a half consistently for me to be able to be a chef full time. I was waiting for the “sign”, to quit, the “perfect time”, to save just a little more money, and all of these other reasons and I looked up and a year passed by and I was still there, unhappy and still trying to grow my business. I felt like I did everything I could, but didn’t have any answer or direction. Then I came across Luke 1:45 “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her”. I was praying for a way, and the whole time he had already prepared the way for me to achieve and receive more than I could even imagine ( Ephesians 3:20). I was just In my own way, distracted and not seeing it. All I needed was a little more faith. So I leaped, and decided to let him lead the way and put work behind my faith. I started out volunteering to cook for my church, did a few private events here and there in my free time outside of my full-time job, and now I’m able to travel and live the abundant life full time that God has promised as

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I know that me being myself helped me build my reputation. No market is ever oversaturated because your customers will support your brand because of who you are, the relationships you build with them, and how you help meet their needs. I used to stress about “perfect” content, marketing, specials, and etc, until I realized that there are people out there who will support regardless when you stay true to the vision and mission. I’ve had people reach out to me that were visiting Houston and they said that they chose to book me because they look at my brand and see how much the customers are enjoying themselves in videos, pictures, and reviews. Just pray, be yourself, put serving others as top priority, and your brand will grow. I like to have a good time, so I make sure my clients and customers do too when I serve them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Thecomfortcravingsexperience
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook: Shelby’s Comfort Cravings
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ShelbyNCross