Four years after graduating from culinary school, I am getting burned out on food writing and I'm seriously considering going through with a dream I've had for awhile of becoming a personal chef. I've thought about this on and off for a few years now, and I feel like I finally need to act on it. Now, I'm still paying off my rather sizable loan from culinary school, and I really don't want to invest any more money into education. But I'm finding myself drawn by the promises of the educational programs at the two personal chef organizations (The U.S. Personal Chef Association and the American Personal and Private Chef Association). I would love to become a member of one of these groups, but I don't like the idea that you have to either take one of their (expensive) courses, or spend nearly as much to become a member. After all, I know I can cook, and I've been running my own profitable freelance writing business for 7 years, so being an entrepreneur doesn't faze me. However, I'd love to hear from personal chefs about whether it really would behoove me to join one of these groups and if so, which one is better and more reputable. The director of the American Personal Chef Association just published a textbook on becoming a personal chef, which I've ordered, and which hopefully will give me some of the specific business knowledge (i.e. how to charge clients, how to develop a business plan, specifics on how to prepare meals for freezing and reheating), but I'm concerned about starting off my business without being affiliated with a greater organization. Advice? Feedback?
