We have always had a major soft spot for food markets, be they a traditional farmers' market, a grocery, or a combination of the two. Aside from being jealous of Emily's gig, which allows her to work at a community food market every day, we're in awe of her perspective on customer service and entrepreneurism.

When did you know that you wanted to work in food?

It started with cheese.

Four years out of college, I was working in a social services job that was on some levels extremely rewarding, but I found myself wanting more. I loved the people I was advocating for, but spent most of my days pushing paper around a desk to satisfy City requirements, and I wanted to find something I was more passionate about.

I moved a thousand miles away (into my parents' house, no less), and within a week I luckily found myself hired by a small artisan organic cheese farm in Bow-Edison, Washington called Samish Bay Cheese. They needed help with operations, sales, and just about everything else you can imagine. I had no experience in food, just a strong will and an obsession with curds. I became completely enthralled in the small family-owned business, felt energized by the variety of tasks that the farm afforded me, and finally felt that I had found a world I wanted to be a part of.

When I think about it, the fact that I chose this path doesn't really surprise me. All of my favorite family holidays and gatherings originate in the kitchen with recipes passed down from generation to generation. My mother grew up on a family farm in Wisconsin where we vacationed every summer as kids. In a way, moving towards a career in the food world felt like coming home.

How did you get your current good food job?

Upon moving to San Francisco just under two years ago, my sister (a long-time resident of the City) told me about this really awesome night market in the Mission District that was just starting up. I contacted the Executive Director of the Mission Community Market about volunteer opportunities, and shortly thereafter I found myself volunteering around 15 hours a week for the market. For about three months, I spent every Thursday at the market, from setup to teardown, and also edited the website and contributed blog content. I found myself falling in love with the place. I searched for other job opportunities in other fields, but when a part-time Market Manager job came available, I threw my hat in the ring. I also took a part-time position with Cowgirl Creamery and worked there as a cheesemonger for about a year until my position with the market became a full-time role.

It was at Mission Community Market where I began to synthesize my love of bringing people together around food with my background in advocacy and direct social services. Managing our market and its complementary programming has enabled me to work on a variety of issues surrounding food access, such as growing our food stamp matching benefit program.

How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?

Being able to relate to other humans is at the core of most food jobs. Customer service is key. Unless you're doing really solitary production work, you'll generally be asked to interface with the public and you just have to master that skill in order to succeed. I never would have gotten hired at Samish Bay Cheese if I hadn't been personable and friendly. To customers, the people who facilitate their food experience are almost as important as the food itself, so you have to always keep that in the forefront of your mind.

What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream?

The hardest part for me was starting out back at the bottom and sacrificing stability for happiness. I had to trust that eventually, I'd get that stability back. After working for four years with the same organization, earning a decent salary, having great benefits, and rising to the management level, I gave it all up to make considerably less, with no benefits. But I was pursuing a dream, had a bit of savings, and also had the luxury of living with my very supportive parents for a bit. I just had to trust that my path would eventually lead me in the right direction. It was challenging to make that jump, I had to accept the fact that, although my past experience would always be meaningful to future employers, you have to pay your dues in the food world, and that often means starting out from scratch.

What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?

I think that one of the coolest things that's happening in food is the wide range of opportunities for small, creative entrepreneurs who want to try out a business model before taking the leap with a brick-and-mortar establishment. Whether it's a farmers market stall, a food truck, or a pop-up, opening a food business doesn't have to be quite as risky as it's been in the past, and the barrier to entry is so much lower. If your product works and people like it, then you can take more risks. It gives you a chance to try things out and work out the kinks, and the public benefits from the chance to try a lot of different food that might otherwise never reach them with large barriers to entry in place. I see a lot of opportunities for small businesses to grow through my market and other similar venues, and I think it's great.

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?

Stinky cheese, strong beer, and a bottomless vat of fermented pickles.