Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandi Patten.
Brandi, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My culinary journey began many years ago when I was working as a nanny for a wonderful family. The lady of the house asked if I would mind getting a few things prepped for dinner here and there. I started with chopping of a few veggies, and then soon realized how much I enjoyed cooking! The next thing I knew, I was perusing cookbooks and seeking new recipes and styles of cuisine. A few years later, I decided to enroll in culinary school at The Art Institute of Atlanta, School of Culinary Arts.
While attending culinary school, I worked for the beloved Atlanta restaurant, Murphy’s, in Virginia Highlands. I moved from there to working for James Beard Award-winning Chef, Mike Lata. He began his farm to table approach to cooking in Atlanta before moving to Charleston, South Carolina. I learned so much from my time in these particular restaurants and several others.
I began my personal chef career and business many years ago, but really jumped in around 2010, when I started cooking for a mega-famous hip-hop/rap artist. I prepared meals for him for many months and had the privilege of doing his green room food for several of his concerts. From there, I received the amazing gift of word-of-mouth referrals. I have cooked for many heroes and villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the DC Comics World. One of the biggest coups in my career was in 2016-2017 when Brandi You’re A Fine Girl provided the personal chef services for eight of the main cast members of the Atlanta filmed blockbuster, Black Panther. I created custom, nutritionist advised meal plans for Oscar winners, Angela Bassett, Lupita N’yongo, Walking Dead star, Danai Gurira, as well as the Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman. That was a very exciting, although challenging time for my small business. I went from cooking out of my home kitchen to moving into a commercial kitchen. I began cooking out of Shared Kitchens in Decatur and have been there since 2017.
Most recently, I had the sincere honor to cook healthy meals for legendary director, Ron Howard, while he was in town filming Hillbilly Elegy. In addition to these super famous clients, I have several ongoing clients that entrust me to prepare them customized meals, based on the unique diets and needs they each have. I am pretty fluent in paleo, vegan, gluten-free, keto and many more diets. Most of the time, my clients want wholesome, organic, clean food, which is the kind of cooking I feel most passionate about.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As most of my female counterparts and contemporaries would attest, it’s not always easy being a woman in a mostly male environment, like a commercial kitchen is. You learn to have thick skin and not be easily rattled. Cooking in any kitchen is unpredictable and pretty volatile. I have learned to be flexible and roll with the punches.
One of the biggest challenges of my life happened in May, 2o18 when my family and I lost my beloved mother in a tragic house fire in our home. In addition to her heartbreaking passing, we lost our home. One month to the day, my grandmother, who my mother cared for, passed. My little family and I have spent the past 18+ months rebuilding our lives. That includes me working to rebuild a very successful business. I took about eight months off from cooking but kept my space at Shared Kitchens. My clients were amazingly understanding and supportive during this time and were ready and excited when I got back in the kitchen. When I first returned to the kitchen, I felt like I had lost my passion for cooking – which was pretty terrifying. Thankfully, as time moved on, I realized how valuable my efforts and services were to my clients, and it really put the fire back into my skills and creativity. I stretched myself by trying new styles of cuisine and diets. I’m still rebuilding many aspects of my life, but am extremely proud of myself and our family for the major strides we have made.
The advice I would give to young women choosing this as a career path would be to stay focused on the long journey and be graceful with yourself when you make mistakes because you will.
Tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Brandi You’re A Fine Girl, Personal Chef Services specializes in creating unique, delicious customized meal plans that will excite my clients’ palettes and create interest in eating healthy. I love to take a favorite meal and spin it in a healthful direction that works with my clients’ nutritional goals.
I am so proud to know that throughout Atlanta (and now further because of out of town based clients), my brand is known for delicious food, incredibly reliable and concierge-level service and acute attention to detail.
Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
As I mentioned, commercial kitchens are a predominantly male dominated environment. It is so important to me that I create a place where women and men feel empowered and respected. While I am their leader, I want my team to feel like their contributions and creativity are paramount to our success. I feel like I have been able to make up my own rules for my small company and I realize that I am extremely lucky to be my own boss. I strive to be a great teacher and mentor within my small organization. If I am going to ask anyone to do something, I am always willing to work right along with them and be “in the trenches” so to speak. I believe that makes an organization strong and unified.
Contact Info:
- Address: Shared Kitchens address: 215 Laredo Drive Decatur, GA 30032
- Website: brandiyoureafinegirl.com
- Phone: 404-510-6352
- Email: brandi@brandiyoureafinegirl.com
- Instagram: brandiyoureafinegirl_atl
- Facebook: Brandi You’re A Fine Girl, LLC
Image Credit:
I took all of the photos. The logo was created by Julia Toth.
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