Today we’d like to introduce you to Anïsa Lewis
Anïsa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have always been a creative. I am an artist, a writer and a chef. I’ve always allowed myself to indulge in being a creative person, mostly because I can’t keep still for long. When the pandemic hit and I was stuck doing nothing much like everyone else, I decided to pivot because I was bored and not sure how I was going to proceed when the world opened up again. I started my business because A.) I couldn’t seem to get hired in my desired field, which was editing and copywriting and B.) I was over working in restaurants full-time. It was taking up a lot of my time and energy and it felt like there was no room to be myself. Because of these two main factors, I decided to be bold and start my own company, Unsolicited Cooking. This decision carried me through the last few years with a whole other level of creativity which keeps me motivated and continues to give me a feeling of purpose.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road. I’ve had to move kitchens several times, research a lot of things on my own with little direction. I learned how to seek out the best people to help me out along the way. I had to become more financially literate in the beginning, because I really didn’t know where to start when it came to paying myself, what budgets to set, etc. That part is still challenging for me. I learned that I don’t have to know everything, but I do have to find people who are better at some things than I am. I think the best thing that I have done for myself and the company is to hire an assistant and also an accountant/financial advisor. Things became a lot easier when I was able to pay someone else to do a lot of the client management at the school where I work so that I could focus on the farm to cafeteria program’s daily activity.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in farm to table cooking and educational chef work. I am known for being very flexible with ingredients in order for people to get what they need. For example, I do a lot of work with folks who have allergies, aversions to certain foods, or special diets. I love using fresh ingredients that I find at farmers markets or by going straight to the farm to buy produce. I am proud that I can show people how to create something out of ingredients on hand with my educational chef work. I am super proud that I created a job that I love and have collaborated with a wide array of people and companies and it has even taken me abroad. Out of all of that, I am most proud of my Farm to Cafeteria school lunch program. I put that together from scratch, really, with the help of my assistant. While paying close attention to the school community’s needs, I created a workable blueprint to replicate something like it if I were to expand. What sets me apart from others is the intentional environment that I’ve created. A child came to me recently to tell me that he always enjoys coming down to eat lunch because everyone is so joyful and the food is so good. I take pride in not only my food, but the work environment that I have created. We also respect the children. We always ask them if they would like the food, ask them to try things that they’re not familiar with and if they say no, it’s not a big deal. The big deal to me is the agency they have, and I have turned a lot of veggie haters into at least veggie likers. I also do not turn children away from lunch, which has sometimes been a struggle financially, but I don’t believe in letting kids go hungry.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
This is a good question. Because imposter syndrome is a real thing that I am pretty open about dealing with, sometimes I don’t know how to answer that question. I am getting better at it though. If anyone wanted to collaborate with me, it would be by helping me create educational cooking programs and hiring me. For example, I’ve done cooking demos for large crowds at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. I also do events and work with places like The Atlanta Community Food Bank to do lunches and events for them. We’ve been collaborating for two years. I’ve been a personal chef for yoga retreats in the past (and completed my yoga teacher training as well…which is a whole other level up) and I would love to do more of those, especially when school is out for the summer. In the future I would like to expand my business to another school in order to build upon my farm to cafeteria school lunch program. In order to do all of these things and more, I would need to hire another me and get a larger vehicle, so I would love information on grants/financial support that could help support me on that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.unsolicitedcooking.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unsolicitedcooking/
