We recently connected with Trevor Brown and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Trevor, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Growing up, the most consistent moments of connection in my life happened around the table. My parents and I grew our produce, cooked together, and ate together. There was an unspoken rhythm: food as a vehicle for presence. It wasn’t fancy, but it was grounding.

Fast forward to college, and that feeling disappeared for a bit. I was dealing with pretty intense SIBO and gut issues, which forced me to rethink my relationship with food entirely. I started going deep into the farmers market, understanding ingredients, cooking for myself out of necessity, but what surprised me was how quickly it turned into something more. I began inviting friends over, cooking meals, and unintentionally recreating that same energy I grew up with. I didn’t have the language for it at the time, but looking back, it was very aligned with the principles of Shabbat: intentional pause, community, and presence.

What started as a one-off 30-person dinner in my backyard for strangers last year shed light to the loneliness epidemic we’re in. Chef Trev Presents became my answer to that. The idea wasn’t just “host dinners.” It was my answer to: how might I create environments where connection is inevitable? Where the design of the experience from the menu to the seating to the pacing of the night actually facilitates people dropping in with each other.

That’s where my tech background came in. I started thinking about it like an operating system. Experiences as a service. That was 700 guests ago.

Trevor, 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’m Trevor Brown, founder of Chef Trev Presents: an experiences-as-a-service company built around the idea that some of the most meaningful human connection still happens around a table. My path into this wasn’t linear. I didn’t come up through traditional restaurant kitchens; my relationship with food started in a garden at home and evolved through life across Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe, where I became fascinated not just with what people eat, but how they gather, host, and build systems around food and community.

Before going all-in on food, I spent years in Los Angeles working in early-stage CPG startups and eventually built a VC-backed B2B SaaS company. That chapter taught me how to think in systems, how to build, test, and scale, but I felt increasingly disconnected from the work. At the same time, I was hosting dinners as my escape, and I couldn’t ignore how much more alive and fulfilled I felt in those moments. Chef Trev Presents came from merging those two worlds: bringing together the soul of gathering with the structure of systems-thinking.

Today, we create immersive, chef-led dining experiences from intimate dinners at my home in Los Angeles to large-scale brand activations and private events around the world. I think of it as “experiences as a service,” where the client side is white-glove and the guest side is deeply human. We’re solving for a simple but massive problem: people are more connected than ever digitally, but more disconnected in real life. What I’m most proud of is watching strangers leave as something closer. At its core, Chef Trev Presents is about helping people feel connected again.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Our most effective growth strategy has been organic referral, especially on the B2B or private event side. We’ve intentionally focused on being exceptional at what we do, and that’s created a flywheel where one great experience turns into the next opportunity. When a brand or private client works with us, they’re not just getting a chef or a catering service, they’re getting a fully integrated experience across food, beverage, music, media, and guest flow. This wouldn’t be possible without my team: Ren, Adam, Alex, and Alisha.

A big part of that comes from my background in operating roles. We approach every event with a systems mindset: every detail is mapped, double-checked, and clearly communicated from start to finish. Our clients don’t have to worry about execution, coordination, or the dozens of small decisions that create stress. We’re setting them up for success in a way that goes far beyond a typical vendor relationship.

We’ve also built a team that genuinely loves this work, and that shows up in the final product. There’s a level of care, precision, and personal touch that people feel. That combination, operational excellence and real heart, is what drives repeat business, referrals, and long-term partnerships. At this stage, our growth has been less about outbound sales and more about consistently delivering experiences people can’t help but talk about.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One of the most defining periods of my life was when my dad was battling brain cancer (GBM4) and I stepped into a caregiver role. It was a time that demanded a level of resilience I didn’t know I had. Day-to-day, it meant being present through uncertainty, navigating hospitals, and holding space for both strength and vulnerability at the same time.

What stayed with me most from that experience was how we connected through food. Being in the kitchen with him, cooking, sharing small moments, that’s where I saw a different version of strength. It showed me how powerful it is to create, to nourish, and to care for others in a very tangible way. It also reframed for me what it means to “be a man,” not just in terms of providing, but in being present, attentive, and grounded in service.

That chapter made something very clear: life is fragile, and time is finite. It pushed me to get honest about how I was spending my energy and what I was building. Chef Trev Presents is, in many ways, a direct response to that realization: choosing to invest my time into creating experiences that bring people together, that feel meaningful, and that I’m genuinely proud of.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheftrevorbrown/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevordavidbrown/

Image Credits

Alisha Jucevic