And speaking of web-based business?if you admire Airbnb as much as we do, you'll want to check out their current job opportunities!

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

I didn't find a career in food until after graduating college with a degree in Community Studies and a career in nonprofit work with youth programs. When I was 23, I began eating a raw vegan diet, which helped me lose a substantial amount of weight and heal what had been a chronic back condition I hadn't been able to solve any other way. I thrived eating only fresh foods and loved the creativity and challenge of preparing everything without cooking. I also noticed this healthy lifestyle required a huge amount of shopping, prep work, and food management. I was so inspired by my positive diet changes that I wanted to help others eat the same way.

I began my culinary career as a private chef by offering raw vegan meals delivered directly to your home. This allowed me to experiment and develop new recipes every week. It kept me in the farmers market, local groceries, and always plugged into the food scene. From there, I worked on the side with catering companies, restaurants, and farmers market vendors - anything I could do to learn all aspects of the food industry.

When my private chef business grew to large for me to manage on my own, I partnered with Chef Elaina Love, and became the general manager of her raw vegan restaurant, Cafe Soulstice. We grew the company from 1 to two locations and offered a full menu of live food options inside of two fitness clubs. In 2009, I joined the Culinary team at Google, and offered my speciality recipes in volume. While at Google, I got a great education into what a successful onsite corporate food program can be, and I was also able to expand my culinary repertoire to include more traditional technique and cuisine.

How did you get your current good food job?

In 2011, my friend Tim West introduced me to Airbnb. I had never heard of the company, but they were building a new office and wanted to bring in a chef right away, even though there were only 50 people in the San Francisco office at the time. Running your own food program for a small and growing company is a dream job for many chefs, but there was one major twist to the Airbnb job: the kitchen space they had designed had no built-in cooking equipment (no oven, no range, no ventilation, no floor drains, etc). My skills as a raw chef were well-suited to this situation, and we built a very creative food program together based on scrappiness and creativity. We began our food program with plug-in rice cookers, hot plates, and a gas grill on the roof and grew to 300+ people before moving into a commercial kitchen in 2013. We now feed 1,000 people daily and are building out kitchen spaces to support 2,000 employees in San Francisco alone. By the end of 2015, our food team will be the size of the entire San Francisco office the day I joined.

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

I've always followed my heart and only worked for causes/businesses I care about and want to support directly. I am more engaged when there is an emotional investment and an outcome I feel strongly about at stake. Also, my background as a camp counselor and recreation leader prepared me to lead a team and make work fun for our crew every day.

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

Starting a culinary career later in life means I've always had to learn on the job and build new skills quickly. Not having formal training means I'm constantly growing, even while in a leadership position. I took a non-traditional path and had to make my own way, which was constantly challenging. What kept me going and motivated was the heartfelt feedback from clients and customers who appreciate access to healthy foods, and supporting a roster of amazing local vendors who grow and produce food the right way.

Name one positive thing that a former employer taught you that you continue to appreciate?

As a younger chef, I tried to blow people away with inventive flavor combinations, long ingredient lists, and strong flavors. When I tried this approach at Google in volume, it became difficult to execute and wasn't always well-received. My chef there explained to me that we can only actually comprehend a few flavors at a time. Anything more becomes confusing and distracting, and may detract from your food. Since then, I've always worked to simplify recipes and communicate a few key tasting notes, rather that trying to add the kitchen sink to every dish. This is also something I work with my staff on daily, as "Simplify" is one of Airbnb's corporate core values.

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

People crave real food! We've been so far removed from the source of our nutrition that people are literally hungry to reconnect with where their food comes from. Trustworthy connections with local producers, access to chefs, and quality transparent ingredients are incredibly valuable to people right now. I believe that as more vertically-integrated direct-supply food systems emerge and are supported by consumers, food security, food diversity, and food economies will thrive across the country and all over the world.

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

Food.