FINDING A NEW VOICE ...

If I’m honest, it was well beyond time for a change.

It was difficult turning my back on what was a very rewarding career in sports writing. My time at NFL and EA granted access to athletes and superstars I would’ve never had access to before. I was even fortunate enough to make some friends along the way. That time in my professional career will always be cherished.

Though like much of the industry, I was part of a massive layoff in 2019. Severance package allowed me to take some time with my son, who was one at the time, before finding the next step. Shortly after that brief father-son break, Covid changed the world overnight. Freelance writing jobs became difficult to come by as the pandemic went on, even more so with the rise of AI.

On a personal level, I struggled to find the next step. I had a career I was proud of, but it was clear that this was not the booming profession I had hoped for in college. It was time to find something new.

That’s when culinary school came up. Cooking has always been a passion of mine. Whether it was getting that perfect smoke flavor on a brisket, or my endless pursuit of copying my grandma’s fried rice, I loved and still love exploring the vast world of cooking. Culinary school was always that, “if I could do it all over again,” scenario for me. So why not make a career out of it?

I’ll tell you why, because it’s scary. There I was, a dad in my 40s, turning my back on the only profession I ever knew, to start all over with no professional kitchen experience outside of working at In-N-Out Burger through college. I’d tell myself it’s foolish to start a new career. “A new job is just around the corner,” I’d repeat to myself while staring at the ever-growing, and embarrassingly large, list of rejection emails or notifications that the job was no longer funded. If I just hung on through these choppy waters, everything would turn out fine.

Maybe it was hopeful. Likely it was fear. Perhaps even plain laziness kept me from starting my next adventure. The excuses kept piling till it just hit my while playing with my son. What in the hell am I teaching him by not going for it? Wouldn’t I want him to know that it’s never too late to learn something new or to follow a different passion? At what point am I going to stop job hunting and start finding my own path. It was time to get of the fucking pot and do something about it.

In January, I finally began my culinary journey. I enrolled at The Institute of Culinary Education in the Culinary Arts program, and it feels like one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Roughly halfway through the program and I’m already a significantly better cook than I was, my palate is more refined, and I’m surrounded by a diverse crowd of people that share the same passion.

I’m excited for what the rest of the program can offer. This has already opened more doors than before. The end goal is a bit open-ended at the moment, but pursuing my culinary voice already feels like a tremendous step in the right direction.