 the amount of money that it took me years to save is equivalent to like what I'm making right now within two months. Wow. Are you a chef or do you cook some really good food and you want to start a career in this space? If that is you then you are in luck because in today's video we're reacting to how this chef made more than $14,000 a month as a private chef and to see if they're the real deal or not. Hello guys my name is Wilson your friend in helping you build a thriving small business and a profitable food business. If this is the type of content that you enjoy that you like make sure you guys smash the like button because that shows me this is something that I should create more of for you. Now without further ado let's dive right in. Hey Emily how are you doing? Here is the influences in the wild. The pizza making class chef of experience. This is Michael O. He's a private chef from Atlanta Georgia. You have no idea how happy I am. Since being let go from his corporate job during the pandemic Michael has been pursuing his passion turned side hustle cooking full-time. Since then he has more than doubled his income. The money's coming in you know I can't complain and I'm actually enjoying what I'm doing. This is very interesting because throughout the whole pandemic the world has been split in two. The first type of people 99% of the people out there they were stuck in their own bubble. They're waiting for things to be normal again. They were waiting for things to blow by yet they're not doing anything about that. They're letting the external circumstances control what they do and control their world. Yet the other half the other type of the people the 1% of the people the action takers actually went out knowing the rules of the game have changed. They went out and learned the rules of the games and they made a difference for themselves and that's the reason why he is able to reap the rewards of his labor. Michael has no formal culinary training. In fact he's never even worked in a professional kitchen but hospitality is as much about entertaining guests as it is preparing amazing cuisine. Guys Michael is the real deal guys like we're a minute into the video and he is already the real deal. I know that because he didn't let anything stop him from achieving what he really wanted to do. His passion he didn't let the lack of skillset not having formal culinary education not letting himself have all these excuses that prevents him from taking action and going out there to serve the world. He understands the secret the secret to hospitality the secret to food and beverage is all about the experience. When you can deliver a great experience that's what it's all about not just about the food. A lot of people mistaken this and they just focus purely on the food and neglect everything else. Food is all about the experience. We're talking about the five senses of experience. From what I'm seeing right now he gives his customers funny looking aprons that promotes his own brand while being able to entertain his guests. That's what plays into the whole experience. So for your food business that you're thinking about think about it for the whole experience journey that your customers are going through and how you can wow them in every single aspect from delivering your order to receiving your order from after the order. What are they experiencing? What prompts are you putting through? What are something intentional that you can set to make sure you can wow your customers? And it doesn't take long to see how his outgoing personality connects with his clients. I enjoy meeting new people. I enjoy you know the satisfaction that they get from the food you know that I prepare for them in the experience that I bring to their home. Since going full-time in 2020 Michael has been preparing about four parties per week. He also holds virtual cooking classes for big Silicon Valley corporations. Prices vary depending on how many people and the type of cuisine they want but usually range from $150 to $350 per person. All together Michael is bringing in around $14,000 each month. I knew that I made it big when I realized that the amount of money that it took me years to save is equivalent to like what I'm making right now within two months. Wow that is pretty inspiring guys. The fact that he went out and actually demanded the price of a hundred to three hundred bucks per person not a lot of people can do that at an event let alone someone with no culinary experience guys so that's really understanding the positioning that he has in the marketplace. How are you positioning yourself? Are you positioning yourself as someone who's delivering a whole experience at the comfort of your own home entertaining all your guests or are you going to be going with a low volume? Understanding your market and understanding your positioning is what's going to set you apart amongst all the crowds. Michael grew up in Alpharetta Georgia after his parents immigrated to the United States from South Korea. They want us to get into the best schools get the best job get married have kids the full nine yards unfortunately I didn't live up to those expectations. He always had a passion for cooking but his parents pushed him towards a more financially stable career. My parents didn't want me to become a chef they wanted me to work in corporate America do something that's very comfortable something that's going to pay the bills the nine to five job the benefits the 401k. Michael was working as a recruiter up until 2020 while cooking on the side but was laid off due to the pandemic instead of sulking he decided to pursue his dream and start cooking full time but first he had to line up some clients it was probably the most devastating news ever received in my life you know when after when you bought a house you have all these plans um what you want to do in your career it's it's a weird cliche you know what these say is you make lemonade out of lemons you know it's just silver lining and I feel like you know what why not do this right now let me give this a shot I got my severance money let's go ahead let's start my business and let's thrive. I love this this is really the attitude that we must all have is that we don't know what's going to be thrown at us the only thing we know is how we react to these circumstances and really that time to take action is right now if you have a passion for what you're doing if you really enjoy cooking if you know this is your calling to be able to see the faces the happy faces and to deliver those experience if that is your calling is something you're passionate about truly really it is time for you to take action and not wait for any longer wait for external circumstances external people telling you that it is time because before you know it it could never happen he's got something that is truly amazing and it is just luck for him because he's got laid off but for you when you're in your nine to five job and if you are stressing out and if you're not finding fulfillment in it day after day then maybe it really time it is really then maybe it is really time for you to take that leap so we are heading off to be for highways farmers market that's where i like to get my fresh produce all right you got some mozzarella cheese you go wrong with that the pandemic actually created a niche from Michael since most people were staying home and only gathering in small groups restaurant dining rooms weren't open so if they wanted a culinary experience they had to happen inside of people's homes michael took full advantage you know a lot of trips a lot of parties were canceled due to the pandemic and so they realized you know what we wouldn't have an intimate experience and that's how they were with upon me on instagram this is the key guys marketing yourself and branding yourself on instagram is everything especially if you want to be selling food this is the platform to be on because everyone shares their experience whether it's good or bad on instagram and if you're not utilizing this platform to really grow your brand using u gc user generated content using testimonials using your own values and your own culture and the way that you are just doing your business then you are missing out on a really big platform an opportunity to make 14 000 a month crazy stuff utilize instagram guys what's up man how are you i'm good man i've got to go with some hanger mistakes man michael oh has never worked one day in a professional kitchen or attended any type of form a culinary training i'm 100 percent assault hot but posting his culinary creations on instagram created a massive audience for him i always post all these pictures i do all these travels kind of looking like anthony bourdain and one day someone reached out to me asking me if i could be private chef for uh his wife and her partners and next to me and know it i'm like i don't even know what i'm doing but yeah i'll do it right away that's the attitude guys if you don't know how to do it just do it say yes learn along the way and figure it out it is okay don't let not knowing be a reason of you not taking action that is key guys and for you guys to actually stumble upon this video you guys already know where to look for information when you don't know to do something and that's on youtube follow my channel make sure you guys smash the like button so then that way you can get more of these knowledge bombs in your inbox and so that was my very first gig that i've done on the side after the success of that first party in 2016 his cooking gigs took on a snowball effect one client would post on instagram or facebook and some of their followers would reach out they see stories but their friends post right they see pictures of them being tagged and all these great experiences and they want to capture all that how's business been man pretty good i know man michael's weekends quickly filled with private parties but even still he made travel a priority so we could continue learning new cuisines and techniques i'm traveling around the world and i'm acquiring a lot of knowledge i go to baloney italy and learn how to make pasta and i fell in love with it and i'm saying to myself you know what this is something i could actually do this is something i can make a living out of i could actually come back to the states and show people how to make possible scratch bring the experience that are home michael still doesn't have a formal website or a booking process the majority of his clients reach out through dm or facebook groups that is insane guys once again he is really living the life of just you know what not living by any excuses guys no website no nothing no logo no nothing only an instagram page and even facebook page and through referrals guys when it comes to marketing word of mouth marketing is everything so definitely you must deliver a great experience and really be intentful with it like i was saying from the very beginning be intentful with your customer journey and everything else would immediately fall in place thanks man i appreciate it all ready we're off what i'm doing right now you got some fresh tomatoes right here and just kind of squeezing them going full time proved to be lucrative for michael but with more parties taking place each week soon he was being stretched too thin he needed to bring on some help the mangoes right here so i'm just gonna get okay that's fine man now that michael has extra hands he is able to increase his catering capacity here we are right now in june and i'm already booked down from june till november everything was booked up that is insane and guys even in vancouver and this is not only in the states this is not a unicorn this is not something that's special just because he's lucky no there's a huge demand for private chefs serving and entertaining small groups and an intimate setting this is exactly what's happening in vancouver as well we see these private chefs being booked out months in advance and i like to host my friends in private gatherings as well because in times of uncertainty what do we want we want some certainty and we want to feel safe we want to feel familiar we want to make sure that we don't get judged by people when we're outside having good laugh and everything and that's the reason why these private chefs at home is such a popular item and a niche that you should definitely head into if you're a private chef and if you love cooking you know the weekends are all been kind of crazy you never thought that it would be like this at all you know quick easy sauce that's gonna be for the pizza his parties are a mix of private cooking classes followed by a meal prepared by michael and his team typically the guests can learn how to prepare the appetizer like a homemade pizza or dumplings and this one you could feel free to put whatever you like i figured like you know i have a little no wonder he can charge 150 to 300 bucks per person guys remember i was talking about experience experience is not just consuming it is also being participating it is doing it as well what better food tastes good what how can food taste bad when you make it yourself and even if it tastes bad it's okay because you made it and you're proud of it and you had the experience with your friends now you learned something a little bit more now you've gained value from this person this mica now you've gained value not just on the meal itself but also you learned something new you might never be making a pizza yourself at home again but it's okay because you feel that you've received the value this is the full on experience that he's designed for his customers for you what kind of experience can you deliver to your customers that can be added value that they feel that this is worth it whether it is cooking dumplings whether it's making ice cream whether it's a workshop to understand the history of ice cream whatever that is added value in your customer's journey is going to make this whole experience much more fulfilled and then that way you can charge more that's actually with a little bit truffle oil in here too then as they enjoy the fruits of their labor michael cooks the rest of the meal and that's the key by the way guys people don't love to do work they want to have fun so they can make the easy stuff while michael prepares the rest of the stuff that's the reason why he's actually doing it like this because he understands people don't like to do hard work they don't want to cook their whole meal themselves they want to cook a little bit have fun and then enjoy that gathering that environment while someone else take care of the hard stuff it's like a watercress puree which is really really good oh my god oh my god i mean like look how much meat we have guys i'm probably not the most cheapest chef that are out there right now but i can assure you it's michael oh it's me some people hate onions and cilantro but like when they make eats eat giving cherry it's totally a different ball game you know wow michael hopes to one day expand the chefo experience branching off to do any different sectors mainly getting to the catering business hosting larger parties and although he has found financial success he says his biggest win was combining his passion for cooking with his love of meeting new people obviously food is very good in every restaurant right but how often is it that they allow people to come over to their house cook for them and build in that strong relationship with them i love this this is truly the real deal he understands food and beverage is all about their experience and being able to deliver an experience to the customers while holding true to what you're passionate about is truly a success and the financial is just the cherry on top so definitely great job chef oh you've done an amazing job you're the real deal guys i hope you enjoyed this video because at the end of the day really it's about the experience if there's one thing you can take away from this video is that experience is everything when it comes to food and beverage if you guys enjoyed this type of video make sure you guys smash like button shows me this is the type of content you like otherwise i will see you guys in the next video