The advertiser who traded the keyboard for the cutting board
With my obsession for expressive writing, behavioral psychology, technical challenges and breaking stuff to make new stuff (along with growing up around computers and other nerds like myself) I was basically destined for digital marketing.
Between 2013 – 2022, my career took many forms. Social media manager, creative director, copywriter, web designer, PPC technician, CRO advisor, email marketing specialist, digital team leader and the thousands of other hats a marketer can wear. More often than not multiple at once.
But somewhere along the way, another obsession outgrew my career goals. One that would require me to start over completely.
Over time, cooking went from a necessity to a hobby to an all-consuming passion, taking up most of my brain and free time. Suddenly every waking hour outside of work was spent in my home kitchen experimenting with flavors, presentations, drink pairings, and how I could spin my plant-based food in a creative way. I had people over almost every weekend, hosting everything from twelve-course degustation menus to ramen lunches for hungover friends, and took every opportunity I got to cook for others.
I’m going to work in restaurant kitchens and elevate vegan food for a living, when the time is right, I thought. But just like many others considering a big change in their lives, I found out that the right time never arrives. Time is made right. So I did what I had to do. I left both the city I called home and my decade-long career in advertising to start making the right time, beginning with culinary school.
Leaving the industry that raised me, to pursue raising another
Finishing adult culinary school in 2023 with top grades, while taking courses in everything from fermentation and food chemistry to wine pairing and tasting, I was hungry and motivated. I went to work at restaurants I admired, from local hotspots like Manto and Vinberga Vinkiosk to internationally esteemed establishments like the Green Michelin Star-awarded Restaurant ARK. I did catering, private events, and corporate functions. Everything but waiting for the right time, and instead taking action to make the time right.
Because it’s not just about playing with food instead of synonyms and code.
It’s about going to bed knowing someone was feeling cared for with exciting flavors through my work. Not for the sake of recognition, but for the sake of hospitality.
It’s about bringing my plant-based perspective to new heights and avenues. It’s taking all the experience building brands, anticipating trends and digging through data and an a desire to apply it for the benefit of a restaurant and its guests.
It’s still the mind of a senior digital marketer, but in a recently graduated culinarian. It was always about living in service of others, the means were just swapped. Different toolkit, same goals.
I’m still juggling words, crunching numbers and finding ways to break stuff to make new stuff. Just as an advertiser who traded the keyboard for the cutting board.