Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Dayani.
Hi Nicole, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started cooking very vigorously while I was a student at UCLA… using my mother’s leftovers to create gourmet meals for my friends between classes. We started a tasting table in my dining room, where all my friends would give my leftover creations a rating. They were very adamant that I should pursue cooking as a career & went behind my back & created a logo & purchased a website domaine for me which I still use today (NicolesKitchenLA.com)
One day my father walked into the house to see a group of college students passing plates while I was blending my mom’s dinner leftovers into a gourmet dish’. He very quickly pulled me aside and said that I would never be successful pursuing culinary arts and that I must pursue higher education in business and real estate. He very quickly got me a job at a real estate firm by the name of Sothebys in West Hollywood. I was terrible at real estate, and I just felt like my soul was dying on this office. One day, I decided to leave the office and to chase after my dreams. I walked into a French Restaurant with my work suit and shared that my family won’t support me to go to culinary school and that my only chance of advancing is working in a restaurant. The owner decided to give me a chance after much begging. I worked in this French Restaurant every day after school hiding from my family, and continued to work in real estate in the daytime as well and my studies at UCLA. After a few weeks, my father got a call from an acquaintance that I was working in a French Restaurant. My father was super upset that I lied to him but said that as long as you continue your real estate, this cooking passion can stay.
After a few months, I got stopped on the street, someone had recognized my face and had said, “Hi Nicole I’ve been a long-time follower, we have been trying to inquire for cooking classes but no one responds to the emails “ … I was curious and confused to hear this and after two years of my friends posting my work online, I decided to check my email that they had created for me. I saw that I had over 400 emails inquiring for classes.
I started to answer each email letting everyone know that pursuing cooking as a career wasn’t respected in my family and that they should inquire other places for classes.
I received one email that was different than them all, the lady shared how she also grew up in a conservative family and her wish was to pursue Broadway. She mentioned in the email that she would be sad to see a young girl like myself’s dream go to waste and she would like to support me.
She offered her home and said that I could teach a class in her home and said how about we collect a bunch of moms and we would all buy tickets and the money would go to children hospital. I read the email to my father and because it was for charity and helping back, my dad fully supported this idea.
After teaching my first class at the age of 20, it became a wildfire! I started teaching charity cooking classes between working at Sothebys and studying at UCLA!
Lastly, my parents went to a wedding and someone had recognized my father’s last name – the man inquired if Nicole Dayani was related to my father. And my father said yes. The man asked and said I’ve been asking your daughter for cooking classes for my accounting firm for a few years now but she says that she can’t pursue this as a career because it isn’t a respectable job. My father was very upset that this man was questioning his parenting.
Long story short, my parents left the wedding and my father was super sad for a few days. I came home one day so sad that a few years of my life went to waste working in real estate. My father handed me an envelope and it read, “Doing business as NicolesKitchenLA”. He said Nicole, there is no handbook to being a parent, I was always raised to think and believe that school is always the answer, I thought I was protecting you from a difficult path, and little did I realize I was taking your happiness away from you.
With that, my parents decided to support me to pursue cooking and teaching cooking classes. I have been teaching for ten years now.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It was difficult figuring out how to systemize and organize teaching cooking classes in the beginning since I had no clue what I was doing and took it day by day to learn the ins and outs of this business.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a chef and cooking instructor. I teach private and public cooking demonstrations. I teach all different types of cuisines but I feel that I am most known for middle eastern, Mediterranean, and Iranian cooking. I am proud of the community of amazing people that have come together through our cooking classes.
I think what’s set our company apart from other companies / cooking schools is the very hospitable and home-y environment that makes people feel at home.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Cooking makes the world a happier place!
Contact Info:
- Website: NicolesKitchenLA.com
- Instagram: NicolesKitchenLA
