How Losing My Job Led Me To Love Hospitality Again
The salient point of today's discussion revolves around the resilience and adaptability demonstrated by private chef Sebastian Price, founder of the Raw Pantry, amidst the adversities posed by the pandemic.
During our conversation, we delve into Sebastian's candid reflections on the challenges he faced, including job rejections and the emotional toll of the lockdown, which ultimately catalyzed his entrepreneurial journey.
He recounts how, through a series of inspired adaptations, he transformed his culinary passion into a thriving business model that integrates personal engagement with clients via innovative cooking experiences.
Furthermore, we examine how Sebastian's journey resonates with the broader hospitality community, as many have navigated similar upheavals while seeking to forge meaningful connections.
This episode serves as a testament to the indomitable spirit of those in the hospitality industry, showcasing how shared experiences can foster solidarity and inspire new ventures.
Inspiring, genuine and heart warming. This is Sebastian’s story how he picked himself up from the rubble and created his future.
To view the linkedin post:
Takeaways:
- The podcast features chef Sebastian Price, who candidly shares his struggles and triumphs during the pandemic.
- Sebastian discusses the inception of his business, the Raw Pantry, as a response to his professional challenges.
- The conversation underscores the importance of community support during difficult times in the hospitality industry.
- Adapting one's business model to meet changing consumer needs is highlighted as a crucial survival strategy.
- Sebastian emphasizes the personal connection he fosters with clients during interactive cooking experiences.
- The episode illustrates how personal hardships can lead to innovative business ideas and renewed passion.
To listen to what happened to Sebastian check out his later episode
To hear more from Chefs in the industry check out these episodes
Editing & Visuals by: Timothy R Andrews
Theme Tune: "Mandarin & Chocolate" by Doriane Woo
Sound Effects by: Epidemic Sound & Pawel Sikorski
Special Guest Appearance by Bertie the cat
Transcript
Sarah Kettel
::Talking Hospitality!!
Theme Tune
::(Theme Tune)
Sarah Kettel
::Welcome to Talking Hospitality, where I, Sarah Kettel, and my co host, Timothy R. Andrews, are talking about hospitality, bringing you solutions to the issues we're facing and inspirational stories from the incredible people who make up our hospitality industry family. This podcast is shared on all major platforms, iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, YouTube and Spotify. And it's marketed on social media. Hi, Tim.
Timothy R. Andrews
::Hey, Sarah. Good to see you again.
Sarah Kettel
::You too. How are you?
Timothy R Andrews
::Very well. How are you doing?
Sarah Kettel
::I'm doing all right. I'm doing all right.
Timothy R Andrews
::And who have we got on today, Sarah?
Sarah Kettel
::Ah, we're lucky today. Another lucky day. Recording Every day that we do this podcast is a joy because we have the most amazing guests. Today is no exception.
We are delighted to welcome chef Sebastian Price, who is the founder of Lockdown business success, the Raw Pantry. Welcome, Sebastian.
Sebastian Price
::Thank you very much for having me.
Timothy R Andrews
::Thank you.
Sarah Kettel
::Great to have you here.
So we've introduced your new venture, the Raw Pantry, as a success story that came out of Lockdown, but actually, last year was an extremely difficult year for you and you were brave enough to talk about that very honestly in a post on LinkedIn, which was a pretty heartbreaking read. And I'm sure that you're echoing the feelings of countless others out there who are definitely not alone. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Sebastian Price
::Basically, for the last 10 months, I've really struggled in general with me as professional on a career basis. But the beginning was. Was pretty difficult for a lot of chefs.
I'm going to say chefs hospitality in general, of course, but that's where I'm from is chefs. I was very lost. I sought out the wrong people. I'd say I look back with the wrong people. So I did the usual Facebook moaning.
I did the ranting on Instagram and I was told things like, stop moaning. What are you talking about? You don't know anything. It's going to go back to normal. I knew something was wrong. I was like, this isn't right.
I've gone on holiday on March 12th and I'm being told not to come back to work after my holiday. Something's wrong in bigger than just we're going to be close for three weeks. So I was really scared.
So I was petrified for my mortgage, for my kid, my wife, everything as everyone else was doing. And then you go for job interviews and then they wouldn't happen. It wouldn't. Nothing will come from it, so to speak.
And you get rejected from jobs again. And like, I put on the LinkedIn, I think it was about 140 I applied for and I got rejected from everyone.
And without being big headed, I don't think I've ever been rejected from a job, ever. I would turn a job down. The ranting wasn't working.
I was getting belittled by a lot of people around me and I was running like 80 km a week, like constantly. Yeah, I was, I got bit. I was going through trainers like for the first three months and that was my, that was like my cure to my mental health.
But one thing I did, I love cooking. Started baking at home cooking because I was actually learning how to do things in a home kitchen.
And it got to the point where I have to do this for people.
I always wanted to run my own business and I got so much, not praise, but support, but genuine support that I don't think I was expecting from LinkedIn, yourselves included. That's what I needed.
I need to talk to people who've been through it and were willing to talk about it because I will talk to anyone about this problem, this, the issues I've had over the years. I think now it's starting to become like, actually, if you talk about it, they become more friendly with you.
You build a bond and you build a bit of trust with these people. The people who have seen that post have helped more than I had in 10 months from March 12th. For me, yes. There's a smile on my face.
Sarah Kettel
::You don't look miserable now.
Sebastian Price
::No. Trust me. Buzzing. Absolutely loving. I'm loving everything that goes on there.
Couldn't be more happy that I've learned a skill and I'm using it to how it's meant to be my own thing and it's proven that I can do it. It's the start and it's tough, it's bloody tough. But it's smiley time. It's not, it's me.
And that post on LinkedIn proved that people are willing to support you.
Timothy R Andrews
::One of the things that's quite inspiring about your post was external events kept coming in and you kept rolling with it and you kept doing something new. So whatever the challenge was, you adapted to it. And you're like, right, what's the next challenge? Bring it on.
Do you want to talk a little bit about raw pantry, how it came about and some of the things that you've implemented to sort of to deal with some of the changes that have been going on?
Sebastian Price
::Yeah. So basically when my furlough was finished and I lost the role, lost the job In London. And it was very quick.
The Raw Pantry was in the mind already. The brand had already been done for, like, later on. And I wanted to do supper clubs. So I was like, well, we're in lockdown.
People still want me to go and cook in the house. And it's obviously word of mouth that was working. And then obviously the rule of six changed. How am I going to do this?
I'll send you the food that worked. But then it wasn't the same because it wasn't really me in your house, talking, chatting, guests coming to talk to me about my career.
They wanted to see me pipe meal for, you know, the custard and all that. And I was like, I need to interact with the client or the guest because that's, that's what I am really, because I'm. I'm a chef.
I'm confident, but I'm more confident when I'm talking about my product and I'm doing it in front of you. That's why the development chef job was wicked, because I got to cook and talk about it.
The easiest presentation ever make is Development Chef because it's food. You just talk about what you're cooking and if they don't buy into it, well, you've done what you had to do because you sold it.
And that's what I've done here. And then the cook, along via Zoom, I had to try and find a way people are missing their families and they're missing their friends.
I was missing my family. I got to see my mum in months and I've got to get the two together. But how can I do without being rude or being in the way?
And actually Zoom works for that because you can cut the video, you can cut. You can mute it. And then I got a random request from a lady outside Oxford with her husband for a surprise birthday party.
And then I started to realize, oh, I got to do this for real. And then from that moment, they start talking to me. They talk about cooking, can watch me cook the fish or cook the steak.
They do it real time with me and then asking me questions, why are you putting butter in now? Or, you know, all these Little Chef y things that I just do naturally, but they have all the ingredients with them.
And when I did that one, I can go bigger on this. Then I did a family group of 10 people, so five cameras, so eight in total. And it getting bigger and bigger.
And then I was asked to do corporate and I've cut on that because I just think that ruined the whole relaxed vibe of having dinner with your family and your mates.
Sarah Kettel
::Because it's quite intimate what you do, isn't it?
Sebastian Ryder
::It is very intimate. And also, I have to admit, I do love hearing the bickering between a couple, you know, but then again, I'm, I'm the host. Everyone's listening to me.
So I go, oh, hey guys. It feels like I'm in a kitchen again.
Because they will turn around and they look at me and when I get that feeling, you're buzzing again and you're like, well, I feel like I'm retained commie chefs here. And they're all listening to everything I'm doing, but with really expensive ingredients.
Timothy R Andrews
::But it's, that's amazing.
Sebastian Price
::But every time the government kept bringing a different restriction in, I have to react to it. So I couldn't lose the same quality that we're trying to do here with the product, with the brand.
But actually we were, as my wife, obviously as well, she's behind the scenes of it. She's all the packaging and all the organization. Basically. I can cook and I can talk, but someone's got to take it from A to B, haven't they?
Sarah Kettel
::And I'm going to give her head of logistics now. Just by default.
Sebastian Price
::Yeah, by default. In life, in general.
Timothy R Andrews
::She was always head of logistics.
Sebastian Price
::Marriage certificate, head of logistics. And then now we're on to. We've been doing it for a few months, like developing it.
Let's say we've realized that what we're doing in the Raw Pantry, the Zoom Cook Alongs and supper clubs is quite premium, it's quite expensive. So we've decided to now do like a more affordable burger. Things clear that it's working. I'm enjoying every moment of the Raw Pantry.
A whole learning curve here. Massive, massive. But like, I'm still smiling and loving it.
Sarah Kettel
::It is a massive, a massive learning curve, I think for anyone who's, who's changed and pivoted their direction during lockdown.
And when I first looked at what you were doing, I thought that's really magical because what you've done is you've, you've taken that concept of the cook along, which has been with us for a while, you know, and there are load and loads of home delivery meal kit boxes available as well. But you fuse that together and then what you've just said to me, which has blown my mind even more about the kits for burgers.
I think it's easy to forget as a chef that not everybody goes out for high end food. For some people, they're going out is the burger and the chips. And that is perfectly enough for them to make them feel special.
And they don't need all the fancy bits that other people need because that's what they love, that's what they enjoy and that's what they're missing. And what you're doing doing is actually plugging that back in for them. It's amazing. And why do you think it works so well?
Sebastian Price
::I think it works because it's personal. I make feel confident cooking, so. And I love training chefs. That's one thing I always had a passion for.
I didn't want to be a head chef so I could get all the glory. I want to be a head chef because everyone could listen to my advice with these cook alongs and with these boxes.
I kind of want someone to know that they can. It's easy to do to make it like a chef. Like you say, the burger being someone's night out. But I didn't want to give someone a shoddy burger.
So I've worked with a local butcher in Bicester. We developed a burger. But it's my tweak on it, my twist.
But I know this will make people's Friday feel a little bit better because I had a bit of love put into it.
Sarah Kettel
::And the value as well, the value add is that if they did go out for a gourmet burger and that's their thing, they're not going to get to stand and talk to you while you cook it. They're not going to get to learn the secrets of how you make it so great.
And you're not going to share, share that information with them and that knowledge and your passion with them. And that's something that they now get as, as an add on.
Timothy R Andrews
::It's people like you that are bringing this ideas and making them happen into something that's, that's what this podcast is about. It's how people have had the battering, but what are they doing about it? And so you're great.
Your example is perfect for what we're trying to do because you absolutely were devastated by it. But now you're creating something. You're going into people's homes, you've got that buzz back and this is all wonderful.
And you wouldn't have had any of that had we not gone through this process 100% right.
Sebastian Price
::I love the fact I'm a chef.
I love the fact I've been in an R in an industry and hopefully going to be something in this industry with what I've done and what I'm doing that I need the hospitality industry. Everybody needs a wobble, whether it's in a job. But we've all had a wobble and we've all realized together that we can't let that happen again.
But I know the next time if it does, God forbid, but next time it does, it won't be like it was back in March to May. It won't be. There's no way it can. And the last six months have proven to me if you want to do something, you can do it.
And there is support there that is sure, you know, And I wouldn't have been able to do this if it wasn't for the pandemic. It's brought a dream out quicker than I was hoping.
Timothy R Andrews
::Quick Fire round. We're now going to introduce you to our not so new section of Quick Fire Questions. This is so our audience gets to know you a little bit better.
Sarah Kettel
::This is fun.
Timothy R Andrews
::We're going to ask you a question and you're just going to have to answer with the thing that comes into your head. Oh, yes. Yes. Seb. Seb. Sweater or hoodie?
Sebastian Price
::Hoodie.
Sarah Kettel
::Online shopping or store shopping?
Sebastian Price
::Online shopping.
Timothy R Andrews
::New clothes or new phone?
Sebastian Price
::New clothes.
Sarah Kettel
::If you could win an Olympic medal in any sport, real or fake, what would it be?
Sebastian Price
::Really?
Timothy R Andrews
::Oh, that's good. That wasn't the next question.
Sarah Kettel
::Yes, good answer.
Timothy R Andrews
::Who was your best teacher?
Sebastian Price
::Ms. Fox history.
Sarah Kettel
::@ what job would you be terrible.
Sebastian Price
::Oh, HR 100%.
Timothy R Andrews
::I think a lot of chefs would say that. What's Your favorite song?
Sebastian Kettel
::99 Problems. Jay Z.
Sarah Kettel
::If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Sebastian Price
::New York.
Timothy R Andrews
::Where is the worst place you could get stuck?
Sebastian Price
::A lift.
Sarah Kettel
::Weapon of choice.
Sebastian Price
::I don't know what AK47, but that's probably just purely a bomb thing or something.
Timothy R Andrews
::Milk first or tea first?
Sebastian Price
::Tea first.
Sarah Kettel
::And ketchup over the chips or dip the chips in the ketchup.
Sebastian Price
::Oh, dip, chips and ketchup. But no double dipping for sure.
Timothy R Andrews
::You're off the hook. So where can people go to find out more about the Raw Pantry?
Sebastian Price
::They can go to our website we have, which is www.the-raw-pantry.co.uk My Instagram tag is he rawpantry.
Sarah Kettel
::Thanks, Sebastian.
Sebastian Price
::Have a lovely day.
Sarah Kettel
::Yeah, you too.
Sebastian Price
::Speak soon.
Timothy R Andrews
::Bye bye now.
Sarah Kettel
::Bye bye. Thank you for listening. Please share, subscribe and like. We look forward to you joining us in the next episode of Talking Hospitality
Available on iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play and YouTube. Talking Hospitality
Theme Tune
::Inspiration.
