Growing up in my grandmother’s Kitchen, I always knew I wanted to be a chef. But at that moment in Venezuela, it wasn’t a career I could depend on and my mother always encouraged me to follow my other interest- graphic design. Once in Miami, I enrolled in art school and started working.

I quickly realized I was following the wrong path. I got my first restaurant job and enrolled myself in culinary school. I don’t regret the time I put into becoming a graphic designer. I see the benefit of that decision everyday when I’m plating. It helped me better understand color and geometric symmetry. It’s also allowed me to design my own menus and graphics.

There’s always value in everything you learn, you just need to find how to use it. It enabled me to approach food through aesthetics.