I'm a private chef in New York City. Sending one DM changed my entire career trajectory.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Maddy DeVita, 26, a private chef and content creator based in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity.
For me, the spring of 2022 was spent applying to pretty much every job under the sun that I was remotely interested in. I had been working at a global health nonprofit since graduating from college during the pandemic, but realized that, despite always thinking I'd go into medicine, I actually wanted to work in food. My cover letter was sparse — I didn't have any professional experience, I just loved to cook, and was a halfway knowledgeable home chef.
The search felt endless. I interviewed at World Central Kitchen and never heard back. I tried test kitchens, like Food52, to no avail. At one point, I decided to try going into management consulting, because I'd at least make a lot of money. Rejections kept rolling into my inbox, and I reached a breaking point.
Related video
When she started her career switch, DeVita had zero professional food experience.
Maddy DeVita
A string of rejections made me braver
But the rejections also made me bold — what else did I have to lose? What's something crazier I could try? I was so used to getting nos, so one more wasn't going to make much of a difference.
I'd been following a small Italian farm, Ebbio, on Instagram for a while, so I sent them a DM to see if there was any way to work together. They read it but didn't respond, but I weirdly wasn't deterred. I'd been turned away from so many jobs at that point, so I figured I'd just pitch myself to them once more.
Related stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
And this time, it worked. They responded and said they were working on a cookbook project and that they'd love to have me help. By early August, I'd booked a flight to Italy and put in my two weeks' notice.
DeVita spent six weeks on a farm.
Maddy DeVita
Quitting was never part of my plan
It's not like I woke up one day and decided to quit my job. In fact, as the supremely logical oldest of three girls, I never thought I'd quit without a clear career plan. If I'd gotten an offer from any of the more practical jobs I'd applied to, I probably would've taken it.
So many people are stuck in the thought loop I was in: "Oh my gosh, I want to do this, but it will never happen," or "I'm not the type of person who would do this." I learned, though, that there's actually a narrow pool of people who actually go after the crazy idea, so your odds of getting what you want might be better than you'd first think.
After spending six weeks on the farm and getting back to New York, I enrolled in culinary school and started private chefing for clients in the city after graduating. I kept posting content on my food Instagram, HandMeTheFork, which had mainly consisted of filtered photos of avocado toast when I first started my frantic job search.
The decision to go to Italy changed her whole career path.
Maddy DeVita
Listening to my gut gave me the life I love now
I spent most of the past two years cooking consistently for families — getting embedded in their homes, spending a summer out in the Hamptons, making everything from meal-prepped lunches to Sunday dinner — but I don't do that as much these days, since I'm starting to earn money from my online content. Now, I'm doing more one-off, larger dinner parties and figuring out how to manage the world of social media, so my schedule is way more flexible.
If I'm not cooking for an event and I'm feeling disciplined, I'll start my day with a Barry's Bootcamp-style workout class, which kicks my butt. I'll then do my admin work at a café in my Brooklyn neighborhood, likely while listening to bossa nova music, my current obsession. After finishing up any video or Substack editing and recipe planning, I'll go grocery shopping, ideally at the farmers market.
DeVita is now a full-time private chef.
Maddy DeVita
The afternoon is usually filled with recipe testing and filming content, and I actually try to limit my social media time to the midday hours. Evening means cooking dinner for myself and my fiancée, and doing some more editing. All along, I've just wanted days that are dynamic, that are always different, and I've found that.
Every day is different.
Maddy DeVita
Listening to my gut has been my north star these past few years, though it often feels like my brain has to catch up to my instincts. I haven't made decisions based on right or wrong, or the next most practical career step, but instead based on what I'm called to do in the moment. Of course, I've gotten lucky, but I'm so glad that I've led with what I feel pulled to internally.
While at my college reunion a few months ago, I saw a ton of friends who were in my pre-med class, some of whom have finished med school and are fully doctors. It was such a surreal experience, realizing that could have easily been me, but that, despite my early expectations, it's not my life at all.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
They did their renos over 20 years, so all the home's features seem new
As the owner of a home staging/decorating business , Susan Crema-Martin stages homes where the look lasts only until the house sells. For her own home in East Gwillimbury, she and husband, Michael, took a long-term approach, thoughtfully planning renovations and executing them in stages over two decades. As a result, the 1998 home they purchased 22 years ago has timeless appeal, with older and newer improvements blending seamlessly. 'It's always good practice when you buy a property, to wait, live in it and feel it (before making major changes),' Crema-Martin says. The improvements she and Michael have made over time, starting with the kitchen, and, recently, to the basement, were planned to maximize function and flow. She's 'not a trendy designer person' and her home reflects traditional transitional style, combining classic style and modern elegance. Over the years, improvements have been carried out to make the kitchen the hub of the home, update bathrooms for their son and daughter, accommodate her staging business inventory, and create flow to the backyard oasis with its deck, pool, hot tub and lush gardens. Function has been the priority for each reno, such as creating direct access from the outdoor hot tub through the tiled floor laundry room to the powder room. Now that Crema-Martin's business inventory is stored at another site, the basement has been transformed into a secondary suite, adding value to the home if the Martins ever decide to sell. Crema-Martin's family is Italian, and her visits to Italy influenced her love for timeless design. That's why her kitchen cabinetry is off-white, a colour that never goes out of style, and her kitchen countertops are honed marble, a stone that's been desirable for centuries. Although some people shy away from marble because they fear it's too soft, Crema-Martin points out that Italy's historic piazzas are paved with marble that has endured for centuries. Many of the furnishings in the home are mid-century modern. It is possible to add updated or fun touches to a home without breaking the bank, says Crema-Martin. The master bedroom in her family home got a minor refresh with a feature wall created with boldly patterned peel-and-stick wallpaper, and a new light fixture. The Martins' home was featured in June on the CFUW Aurora/Newmarket Home & Garden Tour, and Crema-Martin was amused when several people complimented the 'new' kitchen reno, when it's actually 20 years old. Even though their two kids are grown and living elsewhere, the empty-nester Martins have no plans to move elsewhere, Crema-Martin says. 'We love our house. It's open. It's bright. It's our happy place.'
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
Former employee sues Major League Soccer for discrimination
Major League Soccer executives undermined a black marketing director after he complained that they gave a promised promotion to a white colleague — then fired him, he claimed in a lawsuit. Cedric Shine, who began at MLS in December 2022 as a brand marketer, was fired in May after months of poor treatment from top bosses at the soccer league, he said in a July 18 Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit. Shine, 41, said he was told he was about to be given a new job as senior director of marketing for the league when new direct supervisors were installed in February. 3 Cedric Shine was hired by Major League Soccer in 2022. Cedric D. Shine/ LinkedIn But days later, the new bosses reversed course, he said in court papers. 'The decision to block Shine's promotion came mere weeks after Shine's new supervisors terminated one of the few Black Directors in the Marketing Department, Justin Cox,' according to the lawsuit. The higher level job was instead given to 'a Caucasian MLS Marketing Director,' Shine said in the legal filing. When he complained to MLS' human resources department about the move, 'and its racial implications,' Shine was promoted 'over his supervisors' objections' — triggering a 'campaign of retaliation against him,' he claimed. Bosses berated him, lied about him showing up late for work, slashed his marketing budget and would abruptly leave events he organized, leaving MLS corporate partners and MLS executives 'in attendance to question why marketing leadership was leaving the event and reflected extremely poorly on Shine,' he said in the litigation. 3 Shine claims he was the target of retaliation at work. Cedric D. Shine/ Instagram Questioning 'their views' on his performance 'would be frowned upon' and that he 'would be seen as someone who lacks the ability to accept constructive criticism,' bosses allegedly told Shine, he claimed in court papers. When other officials and MLS higher-ups ignored his complaints of retaliation, 'Shine attempted to schedule a meeting with MLS Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson, who oversaw the leadership team that had been retaliating against Shine.' Instead of a meeting with Stevenson, Shine was fired, according to the lawsuit. 3 Shine said his bosses lied about him arriving late for work. Cedric D. Shine/ Instagram 'As a proximate result of MLS' conduct, Shine has been adversely affected in his employment and career, emotional well-being, the quality of his life and in his normal life's pursuits, and Shine believes MLS' conduct … has and will continue to have a negative effect upon him.' Shine is seeking unspecified damages. The league, which has instituted anti-racism campaigns in the wake of several high profile incidents, denied Shine's accusations. 'Shine's allegations of retaliation have no merit and the League intends to vigorously defend the recently filed lawsuit,' MLS said in a statement, adding the league is committed 'to providing an equitable and inclusive environment.'
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Scams, forgotten passwords, and lost fortunes: Meet the digital locksmith who helps people get their bitcoin back
Crypto prices are surging, and so are cases of lost crypto keys and crypto scams. Crypto recovery specialist Julia Burlingham is seeing a business boom as a result. Here's what happens if you lose access to your crypto wallet. Forgetting your Instagram password is annoying. Forgetting your crypto wallet password could be devastating. Crypto owners don't have the luxury of emailing themselves a password reset link if they're locked out of their self-custody wallet. It's an issue that's becoming bigger as bitcoin and other cryptos surge in price and crypto holders scramble to retrieve previously abandoned wallets. For Julia Burlingham, who owns the business Professional Crypto Recovery, business is booming. "When the price of bitcoin goes up, my phone rings all day," Burlingham told Business Insider. Burlingham started her business five years ago, after helping her brother recover his dogecoin during the memecoin's heyday. According to Burlingham, she was able to unlock his wallet, where an initial $300 investment had grown to $6,000. She's seen it all, from people who inherit locked crypto wallets to those who have misplaced their seed phrase. Here's what it's like inside the world of crypto recovery. How does crypto storage work? There are two main ways of holding crypto: on an exchange like Coinbase, or through self-custody using your own crypto wallet. While self-custody provides more control and privacy, the responsibility of securing the wallet lies in — as the name implies — yourself. Setting up a self-custody wallet generates a seed phrase of 12 or 24 random words that encodes your private key. People often write the seed phrase down with pen and paper, according to Jess Houlgrave, CEO at the digital asset startup Reown. Issues arise when that slip of paper isn't stored securely. "As soon as you're in the self-custodial realm, you need to be able to store and recover your seed phrase in order to be able to use the assets," Houlgrave told Business Insider. She's also seen people store their passkeys on Google Drive or password managers, which Houlgrave doesn't recommend, as those methods are susceptible to being hacked. Both Houlgrave and Burlingham mentioned that the LA wildfires earlier this year resulted in many people losing their seed phrases when their homes burned down. Last year, Reuters reported that some wallet recovery services saw requests for their services more than triple when bitcoin rose to $70,000. Now, with bitcoin prices firmly in six-figure territory, the stakes are even higher. A day in the life of a crypto locksmith Burlingham helps people with issues such as forgotten passwords, partial seed phrases, corrupted wallet files, or old wallets that no longer sync with the blockchains. Her clients range from original bitcoin investors who bought over a decade ago to people who just set up their accounts recently and suddenly lost access. "Depending on the wallet, sometimes you can brute force it," Burlingham said. It helps if you remember fragments of a password or seed phrase. "I'll ask for password clues and how they typically make their passwords," Burlingham added. Using specialized supercomputers with high GPU and CPU power, Burlingham runs password recovery tools that test millions of combinations. Because wallets and private keys are highly sensitive, she runs them on air-gapped computers, or machines that aren't connected to the internet. Burlingham also helps those who have been scammed of their crypto, a growing problem. According to a report by Chainalysis, more than $2 billion was stolen from cryptocurrency services already in 2025, surpassing the total for all of 2024. The recovery process can take months. One case that Burlingham started in November of last year took until this April to finish. Recovering crypto is also an energy intensive endeavor. "It's really high," Burlingham said of her electricity bill. "You have to have cooling systems because these machines produce a lot of heat." Lost crypto Unfortunately, sometimes, nothing can be done to recover the crypto. According to crypto wallet provider Ledger, it's estimated that between two and four million bitcoins are permanently lost. James Howell is an infamous example of this unlucky outcome — the IT worker accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 bitcoins back in 2013. In the case of crypto, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound — or several — of cure. Make multiple copies of your seed phrase and putting them into secure physical locations, such as a locked safe or bank vault, Burlingham recommends. And it may sound simple, but avoiding phishing links and keeping your seed phrase private are steps that many people still overlook. Read the original article on Business Insider
