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

Shelby, appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I am the happiest person as a business owner. Sure, sometimes I look at my friends with cush salaried jobs who clock in, clock out, and enjoy their weekends. But, truthfully? If you care about your job, you always take some of it home, so I’d rather it be my own creation if I’m going to dwell on it after hours. I like being on tap with my responsibilities and it seems to stress me out less just handling tasks as they’re thrown at me rather than saying ‘I’ll do that tomorrow’. I feel like owning your own business is akin to being on a diet, if you live a balanced work/play lifestyle all the time, you never have to diet, right?! I can’t imagine working for someone else ever again.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started cooking 12 years on an Organic Winery in Northern California. I then went on to complete an apprenticeship under a James Beard Award Winning Chef, helped to open multiple restaurants, worked my way up the Fine Dining ladder, and completed 2 whole animal butchering apprenticeships. I’ve read through countless books and have dedicated my life to my love of food whether I’m preparing it or exploring others’ creations.

I started my Personal Chef company 9 years ago in Vail, CO and within the past 2 years have committed myself to solely doing this. Cooking is my creative outlet and I don’t do well being boxed in so sharing what I love with others in my own unique way has been such a gift.

Each menu that I create is custom and I put a great deal of effort into channeling exactly what my client is looking for. I know that I could sell out and offer prefabricated menus that I send out by the thousands, but that’s not the point of my company Eat Dank Food. It’s got to be Dank and I have to stay proud.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I started Eat Dank Food back in 2014, I got some looks and some questions. Why would I name my business after ‘dank, musty food’? Who would want that and why would they call me? If people knew what Dank really meant, wouldn’t people just think that I’m some stoner selling weed brownies?

I stuck to my guns because Dank to me means High Quality. I’m from South Jersey outside of Philly where it means something so awesome that you have to use a new word to describe it.

Throughout the years, my food has spoken for itself to my clients and I believe that times have changed a little. I now get customers reaching out saying “we want DANK food!!” or compliments at dinner telling me “that was DANK”. I just smile and think…. “oh, you get it.”

When others poo-poo your creative ideas because they’re not normal, you’re doing something right.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I treat my staff as I would like to be treated. After years of feeling underappreciated in kitchens and realizing that the people that I have worked for, whom I respected the most, were the most hard-working and the most humble, I try to keep that mentality. I expect a lot out of my service staff but I compensate them above and beyond what the other catering companies are paying. If you decided to take advantage of me because of my kind, playful nature, you’re out. My food should stay fun but in order to have that carefree attitude, you have to take your job seriously and be pretty self-driven. I’m here to hire hard-working professionals. If I have to explain to you the broken down definition of what that means, you’ll never get it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eatdankfood.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/eatdankfood
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/eatdankfood
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/vailshelbylewis