Bauman College Graduate Paty Stewart’s Quest as a Holistic Chef Providing Healthy and Nutritious Food for Children

Bauman College graduate Paty Stewart, cooking with her son

Paty’s culinary quest spans three countries, two careers and one unending passion for cooking healthier, nutrient dense food.

Join Paty as she explains how she went from an Accountant in Mexico to a Holistic Chef at a Preschool along with every step in between.

From Mexico to Brazil

Paty Stewart

I am originally from Mexico, where I worked as an Accountant and later got my MBA. In 2011, I married and moved to Brazil.

While in Brazil, I was not able to work and didn’t know the culture or language. The food and ingredients were also very different, so I put my passion into cooking.

I took some culinary classes to learn the food styles and help me learn Portuguese and my culinary journey began.

I started to look for ways to make food healthier for the family, myself and other family members in Mexico, who where battling health issues.

To a Mother in the U.S.

In 2015, I became a mother and our family moved to the U.S. With a young child, I continued to look for ways to make the food healthier and more nutrient dense. In 2017, I got a job as a Kitchen Assistant at a company that gave a lot of cooking classes as a way to think about a new career in the culinary field.

The demands of having a family and a heavy work schedule got complicated, so I left this position later that year, but was convinced that cooking or a culinary job was what I wanted to do.

A Graduate of Bauman College

Protein Bowl

Finally, in 2019, I decided to formalize my experiences and make a career change by enrolling in the Natural Chef Program (now Holistic Chef Online Culinary Program) at Bauman College.

I chose the Natural Chef Program (now Holistic Chef Online Culinary Program) at Bauman to learn more about nutritious food, how to cook it, learn more ingredients, and overall, how to make the food healthier and more nutrient dense.

Everything I learned at Bauman College was helpful, especially the skills we learned, the Servsafe certification and what the Chef Instructors taught us on how to be safe in the kitchen.

It is a very complete program, sometimes challenging if you have a job and/or other responsibilities, like in my case, family, but totally worth it!

Arroz Con Leche

As part of the final project in the program, I developed a business plan to become a Holistic Chef. However, with the COVID pandemic in 2020, I thought that the options to start a business were limited.

That is when I pivoted and got a job at a multinational supermarket chain known for selling healthy and organic food, in the Prepared Foods area.

I worked there for six months and definitely enjoyed the experience and learned a lot, but schedule demands with work and family got complicated again so I looked for other opportunities.

Conveying the Benefits of Healthy & Nutritious Food

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

In March 2021, I started a new job cooking for kids at a preschool and has proven to be a great decision.

This position is the course that I’ve wanted to take, conveying the benefits of healthy and nutritious food to children and young people as well as adding extra nutrients to the food that kids already like.

At home, I cook a lot with my son, and we talk a lot about healthy food and its benefits. I did a cooking class at his preschool, and he has been exposed to a variety of foods since he was a baby.

My son has an adventurous palate, so this job has definitely been nice and rewarding for me. I talk to kids at my work about the importance of eating well and nutritious food!