Rising Stars: Meet Andeshia Catora Grant

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andeshia Catora Grant.

Hi Catora, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In my childhood years, I was raised by a mother, grandma and aunt. My mother had mental health and physical disabilities that didn’t allow her to raise us adequately. At the age of seven, I took my brother and ran away from home. At that point, I lived between my Grandma, aunt and then heavily raised in the foster care system from the age of 7-21. My grandma and aunt cooked a lot. The kitchen was the meeting spot and comfort zone. I knew how to cook at the age of nine… I made my first family-style meal at that age. As a foster child, I was in and out of over 30 homes in my lifetime. Some for just one night. Many homes had locks on their cabinets and only box mac and cheese and oodles of noodles visible to eat. I left those homes silently and immediately. Maybe at that age is when cooking may have mattered to me, unknowingly, as being in the kitchen calmed me.

When I was around the age of 19/20, I went for a check-up and found out that I had stage 3 ovarian cancer.  After a few incisions, treatment, and minor surgeries, the cancer went away, or so I thought. Eventually, life went back to normal after my recovery time was over. I graduated college with a Bachelor’s in Social work and from 2006-2017, I worked for the agency I was actually in foster care with. I flourished in my roles within the social services sectors. I worked in a group home and always had access to cooking for the youth. I won’t say I was where I am now but it definitely was my happy space and I always wanted to handle the meals. Today the staff jokes about thanksgiving dinner I assisted with and how I burnt the Turkey. They said, and look at you now; being flown out the country to do Thanksgiving dinners for high-end clients, lol.

In 2014/2015, I took a career change and decided to work within a health home sector of social services to which I worked countless days into nights. This must have taken a serious toll on my body as the cancer returned and I worked myself into exhaustion with high levels of stress. I went to work one day and after a few dizzy spells, I passed out. My supervisor took me to Urgent care and everything went downhill from there. Within days, I lost feeling on my right side and my body stopped functioning normally. I finally found a Dr that cared and didn’t want to inject Botox in my head. The Dr found out that I had a condition calledIdiopathic intracranial hypertension with a small cyst like tumor. This is also called: pseudotumor cerebri; which shut all the major nerves down in my body.

My physical therapist couldn’t even figure out why my body was so distorted. So here I am , laying in bed, trying to walk properly again , holding my head in my hands because it felt like everytime I walked a bomb was exploding in my head; internally mad at God for months and awaiting surgery dates. I finally decided to change my mindset and I said… God, I’ve been through so much and I made it out of every other form of turbulence. I’m sure if I can get through this, you have something much greater planned.

Later that day, I called my lawyer, and after a much-needed talk, she told me that once I got better, to go to culinary school since I loved to cook so much. I mean.  I could hardly walk as I was holding my head and taking baby steps around the house as my girlfriend helped me, but here I’m still trying to cook, because she didn’t know how and we had to eat. Smh lol.

I had two surgeries and then I had the gastric sleeve as a means to reduce my obesity and reduce any other tensions. Once I was at a level of comfort, I decided to take a course for first-time entrepreneurs with a program in NYC called “Operation Hope”. I graduated from that program and used those tools towards the business of the business I wanted to grow. I just knew that I never wanted to be expendable to a job again. I then went to culinary school and graduated in 2019. I dove straight into the culinary scene.

I worked for two Michelin star restaurants, the US open and then Barclays center. Within 6 months at the Barclays, two NBA players picked me up for a private in house chef role. It was my first experience entering private chef life. From there, I worked for nonprofits, for-profits, political events, family, friends, new Framily and many celebrity clients (Tyler Perry studios, Kevin hart foundation, TRY HUNGRY, Robert Glasper, Keyon Harrold, Taurean Prince, Elijah Hughes, Ayanis, Caris Levert, Neyo, Loaded Lux, Sean Ringgold, Devale and Khadeen Ellis… just to name a few). I have also competed on Food Network’s #Chopped (Season 51) and Food Network’s #KitchenCrash (Season 2).

I took my unfortunate condition and turned it into a passionate and lucrative lifestyle. I never knew that pain could actually turn into passion. Now I do, as I’m a living testimony to it.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely was not a smooth road. I have been through physical abuse, mental abuse, unsatisfactory living conditions, foster care that wasn’t always pleasant. I had to raise my brother while I was still raising myself. I endured ovarian cancer, treatments, brain malfunctions, entire nervous system and body shutting down. I’ve questioned myself and why I was put on earth so many times. I’ve been broke and broken.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Traveling Private Chef. I work heavily between NYC and Georgia but have and will travel to many other states and countries as a chef. I cook an array of food that has no limitations. If you desire it, I will curate it. I do not have a specific type of food. I am a creative. I don’t box myself in. I am a mentor. I am an example of struggle turned into a passion. My food and the peace I get from curating show how much this truly is why I was created. To create and share my skill. I love to share my skill and time with community efforts and programs. It makes me fulfilled to give back as I was once there. It gives me the joy to give hope to others. That’s what I’m most proud of. I’m proud of my deliverance. I’m proud I didn’t give up. I’m proud I found a Segway through my pain and now I am able to share that universally.

What sets me apart from others is my ability to adapt and work in all environments and with all populations. I truly don’t even want to be set apart from anyone. I want to be apart. I want to learn from everyone. Social services has helped me with that. Being a foster child has helped me with that. Also, my personality. It’s super high energy no matter how exhausting a day has been, you would never ever know. I’m always upbeat and on 10. Unbeknownst to me all these factors eventually played a huge part in my now reality.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
In the next 5-10 years it is my goal to be active in the community and political efforts. I want to own a building and turn it into a culinary center for competitions, cooking courses and independent living skills courses. I want to focus heavily on culinary therapy as it’s so needed and very much overlooked as a coping mechanism. I also want to travel more to countries and learn the way of the land. I would also like to be a host and judge for food shows and be on more panels discussing my stories in hopes that it can continue to impact others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tasteofcatore.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/chefcatore
• Facebook: Facebook.com/chefcatore
• Twitter: Twitter.com/chefcatore

Image Credits
Instagram – @drepool Andre Vanterpool