The Personal Chef Industry is exploding. Entrepreneur Magazine rates it as the 4th fastest growing home based business in the country this year. What IS it about this career path that is so appealing?

The general public is more and more aware that you don’t have to be a celebrity to use a personal chef. Like many other personal service such as house cleaners, gardeners, and personal shoppers, a personal chef service can contribute to the well-being and reduction of stress for many single clients, couples and families who want to eat food that has been prepared for them from all fresh ingredients. No more meals that come from jars, cans or boxes – a personal chef can provide them with meals that reflect their requests and needs.

The personal chef career provides exciting options for culinarians of every ilk. Being a personal chef is an opportunity for chefs of a “certain age” to extend their careers, for women chefs to be able to raise their families, and for second career chefs to cook for a living, but on their own terms. This means they can cook professionally, but avoid traditional institutional line cooking situations in hotels and restaurants which frequently involve cooking nights, weekends and holidays. Choice is a good thing.

Culinary schools are reporting the average age of their students is on the rise with the most recently reported average being 27-28 years. This reflects the influx of the second career chefs who are pursuing their dreams toward cooking professionally, but have no interest in following the traditional career path of being line cooks. Many want to obtain their skill set from the culinary schools, but have every intention of opening and operating their own businesses as personal chefs.

What an exciting time to be entering the foodservice industry! For the first time, there are options to exercise. After obtaining a rock solid base of skill and technique, sanitation and nutrition, culinary school grads are able to choose the direction they want their careers to take. Some are opting to be food writers or stylists or photographers, others want to secure positions as research chefs or to provide service as either a private chef or personal chef, and still others want to follow the more traditional path of restaurant and hotel chefs. Whatever the choice may be, it’s a grand time to be starting out with so many choices available.

Owning one’s own business in the foodservice industry used to mean owning a restaurant. Not any more. Personal chefs own and operate their own businesses, determine what level of service they will be providing and to whom, and how much or how little they choose to work. Some personal chefs work only several days per week, others may be providing service to more than one client per day by using an assistant or associate.

Industry projections are that at the current rate of growth there will be approximately 25,000 working personal chefs in the U.S. within the next 5 years.

Since signing a partnership with the American Culinary Federation in 2002 and collaborating on the professional certification that is now available for personal chefs through ACF, the American Personal Chef Association has begun to work with culinary schools to offer their specific training programs for individuals interested in pursuing careers as personal chefs.

It has long been my belief that this career has legs, and is here for the long run.

After having been validated as a legitimate alternative career path by the ACF I’m even more convinced this is the future for many culinary graduates.

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Having grown up in a big family with an Eastern European grandmother whose accomplished culinary and teaching skills were renowned in Chicago, Candy learned at an early age to navigate her way around the kitchen with confidence and skill. She also learned the importance of using only the freshest ingredients at all times in her food preparation. As Candy entered her teens, she became very well acquainted with the Embassy and Congressional dinner party circuit in her home town of Washington, D.C., both entertaining often and attending events in "the land of the great dinner party."

Following her love for cooking and entertaining, she cooked with the owner and Executive Chef at a California restaurant, prior to starting and operating "Taste", a successful party and catering business in the Los Angeles area. In addition to hands-on training and numerous culinary classes, Candy completed the Masters Series Course at J. C.'s Kitchen Cooking School in San Diego under the tutelage of Chef Neil Stewart, and frequently attends and teaches classes of culinary interest across the United States.

Candy has over twenty years of experience in Corporate America, having held executive positions in large national Corporations in sales, advertising and marketing.

She used her promotional skills and international business acumen when she joined Fundraising Concepts, Inc. in Los Angeles as Executive Director where she helped develop and implement the successful "Carry The Torch" fund raising campaign on behalf of the U.S. and International Olympic Committees in preparation for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul Korea. This opportunity to travel internationally fueled Wallace's interest in cuisines and passion to participate again in the food industry.

In 1992, after retiring from the corporate world, Wallace realized that she needed to follow her heart and return to her life's loves, cooking and teaching, and developed the concept of cooking for busy professionals in their homes. This led to her career as a Personal Chef and the creation of her successful service called "The Serving Spoon" which she operated full time for 3 years.

At this time Wallace co-founded and launched the first Personal Chef Association and Personal Chef Institute in San Diego in 1995. She soon became involved mentoring other chefs who were intrigued by the opportunity to leave their institutional chef positions and strike out on their own as owner/operators of their own personal chef businesses. In 1996, the American Personal Chef Institute (APCI) began operation as the first personal chef enterprise on the Internet, offering both training and ongoing professional support for personal chefs. The international association, American Personal Chef Association (APCA) was started soon after.

Ms. Wallace has taught in over 75 U.S. cities and she is now being asked to speak about the "Changing Face of Employment in the Culinary Industry" at many professional culinary academies and professional meetings.

Candy's dedication to the growth and development of this new industry and generous spirit for teaching and professional support for the fast growing Personal Chef Industry have resulted in her receiving the International Association of Culinary Professional’s (IACP) Award for Excellence as Businessperson/Entrepreneur of the Year 2003.

Candy has been a presenter at the National Meetings of the American Culinary Federation, Women Chefs & Restaurateurs and was presented with the coveted 2003 International Businessperson of the year Award of Excellence from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.