Today we’d like to introduce you to Valda Blackmoore.
Valda, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
There has been a lot of twists and turns to my story, certainly not a straight line. I grew up in the Caribbean, on the island of Dominica. I developed a love for cooking when I was about 12 or 13 years of age. I was in high school at the time, I remember the delicious aromas wafting across the school yard from the Food and Nutrition classroom. I remember thinking how I could not wait until I got to the 3rd form so I too could take that class. It was there, in that class that I started honing my cooking skills and learning about the nutritional aspects of food, and how to cook for people with specific dietary needs. Fast forward to my years in undergrad, I earned a bachelor of science degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management with a food production concentration. By then, I learned how to blend flavors from different cultures, how to cater for groups and how to manage the front and back of the house in a restaurant. I worked in hotels in various managerial positions, then went on to other industries, however the food and beverage industry remains near and dear to my heart.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I starting food blogging in 2011 while I was a benefits manager at a major resort. I was not particularly happy at that job so I started cooking as a way to calm my anxiety. I then decided that I wanted to write a cookbook, so I figured if I started a blog, it would keep me on track with creating and documenting my recipes. I stayed consistent for over a year, but my life took a turn that pulled me in an entirely different direction.
My anxiety got worse and although I was not diagnosed, I think I was in or near a depressive state. I resigned from my job and moved back to my mom’s house in New York. I had no job then, so I started taking different gigs to earn some income. Thankfully I have many transferable skills, so I found a job using my accounting knowledge. As I grew with that company and started learning more about the construction industry and government contracting in that field, I strayed further and further away from cooking.
My blog remained dormant for years while I grew my career in the construction industry. I renewed my domain name annually to keep the website alive because I knew I would return to it at some point. In 2016, I created an Instagram to link to the already existing Cooking with Val Facebook page. That same year I enrolled in law school. That three year period that basically monopolized my every waking moment. Every so often I would post photos for special dishes that I cooked but again, it was not consistent because I did not have the time to devote to blogging.
Cooking with Val – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Cooking with Val is a food and beverage company, specializing in Caribbean Fusion recipes, a term I coined in 2011. I blend the flavors of the islands with other flavors from around the world. When I travel, I experience different cultures through food and learning how to prepare dishes from the local people. I love to marry the flavors of different cultures to birth new flavor patterns.
What sets me apart is that I am not afraid to try new things. I am always eager to learn new techniques and to try foods that are new to me. Just because I’m Dominican, doesn’t mean I should only cook Dominican or Caribbean recipes.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
It may be surprising to some because I don’t talk about it much, but my proudest career moment has nothing to do with food. It’s actually completing law school as an older, non-traditional student, while running a company and being a full-time mom of a toddler. It was brutal but I made it through.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cookingwithval.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cookingwithval/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CookingwithVal/
- Twitter: @CookingwithVal
Image Credit:
Valda Blackmoore
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