I have been interested in culinary since a young age when I was in the kitchen with my mom and grandparents. Culinary has always intrigued me because whenever you cook, you start with a blank canvas and it allows you to be creative and express yourself by using all of your senses. As well as let the patron know whom you are as a person. It's important for me to further my education in culinary due to the change in the industry with the phenomenon of people becoming vegan, juicing, stricter diets, the changing market and higher grocery prices. Learning those needed skills and techniques will allow me to stay ahead of the competition. With my 15 years of experience in the industry; starting as a busser for Texas Roadhouse, to a banquet chef for the Indianapolis Colts, at the Bottleworks Hotel and then becoming an Executive Sous Chef of a speak easy in Indianapolis, Bar 114, I plan to use my skills and knowledge to open up my own diners. I want to have a total of five diners; two located in Indiana, one in Atlanta, Georgia, and two on the west coast, unsure of the exact locations. My diners menu would be based solely on seasonal items available and working closely with local farmers, butchers, small business owners and entrepreneurs. It is vital that businesses in the culinary industry work with locals to become more independent and sustainable key options instead of using big corporations with less quality of product. They are not necessarily interested in the best quality bu more about quantity to maximize their dollar, which leads to bad quality and unhappy patrons. Opening your own business can be tough but by gathering knowledge, useful tools and understanding what your demographics are, location, market wants and needs, and how to attract people to your business is key to staying open five years or longer. One of the biggest factors that people miss in owning/ opening their own business is ensuring their employees are well taken care of. I believe its often missed because the owners focus is on profits and their patrons. If you do not take care of your employees, you want have any customers to make a profit. Another goal of mine is to teaching culinary classes to the disadvantage youth in low-income areas. For example, I want to teach them how to turn a simple packet of ramen noodles into a gourmet dish while using what is available to them in their home. As well as, educate them on how easy it is to cook and gather resources from surrounding food banks and pantries to help them with their daily and weekly needs. Passing along the knowledge and education that I have obtained can help end hunger one person at a time.