My name is Carmen Florencia Ibarra. I’m from Miami and come from a Peruvian American family.

My first step into hospitality was when I was 14 years old, I worked at a five star beach resort picking up pool towels and I fell in love with the service industry from there. Since then I built my hospitality career working in hotels, restaurants, and events.

Cooking has always been a passion of mine. Food is a way for me to connect to my family memories and background, and create experiences for others. The pandemic led me to build my small business selling mango salsa and to the kitchen to pursue my love for food and creating.

I recently participated on Hell’s Kitchen Season 22 “The American Dream”. Like many, I grew up watching cooking shows at home and always thought one day that could be me. In my experience, it was one of the most challenging and rewarding opportunities in my career thus far. I got to work with other talented chefs in the industry and built a lifelong network.

No part of this journey has been easy. But I believe if something scares you, that means you should do it.