audacious

Published January 30, 2012

S – we can meet on the boat, it’s in the last row named audacious. im not sure what that means but it came with it. do you know what that means?

Me – no, but it seems like it means outgoing, in your face . . . that kind of thing.

3 days later

Me – I figured out what audacious meant . . . the willingness to take a bold risk.

S – cool, I like that!

- – -

oddly enough, for the past year . . . I have been LIVING that word and I think its crazy how it surfaced at the perfect time. last week, I found myself defeated. I had a good time with some new friends on an amazing part of the island only to come back to myself again. yes I am in hawaii and yes I am making friends and slowly experiencing the island but I feel like I haven’t quite done what I was hoping to accomplish in my career. im looking to have an adventure in food. I want to come back saying I did something amazing that will fuel the rest of my life.

so you could understand how pissed off I was when I never heard anything back from my dream job at Down To Earth (hawaii’s version of whole foods) especially after they told me how badly they wanted to get me working there. but, as I say time and time again EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON. this lead me to frantically throw out my resume on craigslist to a million different ads . . . even in town. I didn’t care anymore, I just wanted to do something. but you all know how craigslist goes. the chances of getting a call back, especially for kitchen work are pretty slim. your better off showing up with a resume and schmoozing . . . I hate that shit.

I get a random phone call while sitting there from my first 808 number. this guy seemed normal, pretty cool actually. we start talking about food and my schooling and all of the sudden im getting quizzed on random things . . .

how do you make hollandaise sauce?

what spices would you flavor this with?

how much broccoli would you need to make 5 gallons of broccoli and cheese soup?

I answered the best I could, and I even straight up told him when I didn’t know the answer (thanks dad!). I still didn’t quite catch what this job was and he wouldn’t tell me until the very end.

sure enough, for 30 years he has run a successful catering/consulting business in hawaii. what does he cater? oh you know just the major concerts that come in including U2, mariah carey, journey, janet jackson . . . etc.

are you fucking kidding me right now?!

we set up an interview on his boat in waikiki. suprisingly, I get there with the least nerves I have ever had for a job interview. it was almost scary how NOT nervous I was. he told me he took the craigslist ad down after talking to me on the phone. he said that so many people had mile long resumes and for whatever reason, I was the only one he called. we chatted about food and the boat and about the events. I cant even say I was interviewed . . . it was really just kind of hanging there to see if I was someone he wanted on his team.

a few hours later I signed my paperwork and officially became independently contracted with his company. the work is very sporadic. sometimes there is a month or longer between shows. sometimes there are 2-3 events in a month. either way, it is good money and a hell of an adventure . . . which is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

even though I have so much to think about, and I still have to find part-time work to work around events . . . im in shock! shit like this doesn’t happen to me. all I can say is that im finding luck works best when you put yourself out there and TAKE CHANCES no matter how much fear is bubbling underneath.

feeling fear and doing it anyway is the reason why I wont be spending my valentines week alone and cold in jersey. ill be spending it catering for neil diamond instead . . . that sounds like love to me!

thank you all for your amazing support through all the crazy-ness of my adventure . . . especially now since it feels like just the beginning.