We recently had the chance to connect with Chef Mocha D and have shared our conversation below.
Chef Mocha D, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Right now I feel like I’m being called to step out fully into entrepreneurship and leave my 9-5. Before I had been afraid to step out fully because of the safety net my job provides, but I’ve reached the point where my 9-5 has taken over my ability to properly balance both. My biggest fear is that I stop chasing my dreams because I got lost in the comfortability of a job. I feel like I’m now met with a choice of either draining myself over a job that is no longer serving me or leave that job, step out on faith, and pursue passion with my full gifting, knowledge, and skill.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
At Last Alitas was founded by myself, Chef Mocha D in Madrid, Spain. The brand specializes in selling chicken and waffles and chicken wings sold in various flavors. The word alitas means wings in Spanish. What started as Sunday brunches in my apartment, grew into an international brand of all you can eat brunch parties across Spain and is now a pop up shop in Atlanta, GA at various food festivals and events. I have recently transitioned into the content creation space to start teaching people how to cook like a pro from home. My Youtube channel is @TheModelChef and the focus of it will be to teach people how to cook from scratch; bagels, bread, and pasta, and how to cook international cuisines. I am also in the process of setting up my pop up shop, At Last Alitas onto Doordash where people within the North Cobb area will be able to order food from me online with a much extended menu than what I’ve offered at my food events in the city.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that has served its purpose and must now be released is the service I’ve given in the culinary industry. I have been blessed with opportunities to work in culinary management and it has granted me the knowledge to know how to run a business, scale a business, understand profit and loss, manage a team of diverse personalities, and manage a kitchen. I am now in a place where I want to take all of the tools I have learned and apply it to my future for my own business needs instead of pushing the vision of somebody else’s business.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Absolutely! There’s always going to be a hindrance in your journey towards chasing your dreams, but you have to push through that hindrance. You can’t allow setbacks to cause you to fall back. You have to learn how to pivot. I almost gave up during COVID when I had to relocate from Spain back to America, but instead I reshaped my vision and sought out ways that I could continue cooking in Atlanta the same way I was cooking in Spain. That led me to opportunities to join the food festival scene in the city. When I transitioned from the food festival scene and focused on my 9-5 career in culinary management I had remind myself not to get comfortable and give up on my dream just because I entered into a state of more stable income amongst an unstable economy. There are still goals to be achieved and I can’t ever become complacent. That is why I am embarking on a new journey of leaving my job completely to pursue setting up my pop up restaurant on Doordash and start a cooking channel on Youtube. I refuse to give up and if a job is in the way of me accomplishing a goal, then I will give up that job and completely bet on myself to become successful because I am not afraid to take risks.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My faith and my loved ones.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What will you regret not doing?
I will regret playing it safe and not completely believing in myself to pursue my goals if I remain where I am. I have a keen sense of discernment and intuition to know when I’m entering into a transitional season in my life and it’s time to go in another direction. If I don’t take the leap of faith now to pursue my dreams fully, I will absolutely regret it for life. I refuse to think about what could have been if I had only did this or that. I will try and if I fail, I will try again.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: mocha_d_cooking
- Youtube: @TheModelChef
- Other: TikTok: mocha_d_cooking
