Always having a passion for food and years of working in other professions I made the decision in 2003 to move to Louisville, KY. There I attended Sullivan University for Culinary Arts in Louisville, KY. While working on my associate’s degree in culinary arts and after graduating I was lucky enough to become a Kitchen Manager at Churchill Downs, home of Kentucky Derby. Here I honed my skills, absorbed as much information as possible and was part of a management team for the Kentucky Derby with attendance of 155,000 people and grossing over 20 million dollars in food and beverage in a single day. There was a saying “If you can get through a Derby, you can get through anything”, turns out it was true. After a couple of years, I moved on in sous chef positions and within a year or so became the Executive Chef at Old Faithfull Lodge in Yellowstone national park. After working exciting seasonal jobs for a couple of years I decided to settle back in Salt Lake City. My start in health care dining started when I became the Dining Services Manager and Executive Chef for all of First Step House substance abuse and mental health residential locations. After spending 5 years there I ventured out to Executive Chef of Catering at SLCC and then U of U. I then realized that I missed the appreciation and a sense of fulfillment and purpose that came from helping people and being able to get to know my clients. This brought me here to Truewood by Merrill Gardens as Executive Chef where I love my job. Making people happy using my experience and expertise is so rewarding and an environment I hope to continue for years to come.