Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Goldstein
Hi Robin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Robin Goldstein is a California chef who works her culinary magic combining unique flavors with seasonal local products. As a professional chef, for over 3 decades, Chef Robin has made a successful career providing intimate, home-cooked experiences that are anything but traditional.
She spent years creating and cooking for many industry events, movie premieres and award shows with her catering and event planning business in Los Angeles, and later went on to work as a Private Chef for private celebrity clients, using classic techniques she honed at the renowned Culinary Institute of America in New York. As a private chef, cookbook author, instructor and food consultant, Chef Robin fuses together flavors inspired by her extensive travel around the Mediterranean and provides food and wine experiences on an intimate scale.
Chef Robin, a seasoned professional, has cooked up an exceptional program for private chefs and food service business owners to move their businesses forward, designed with all the “ingredients” for starting and expanding your private chef business
At its core this exclusive professional business program, “Secrets of A Private Chef”, is tailored specifically for up and coming private chefs, caterers, and event managers to run and grow successful event businesses. Empowering chef entrepreneurs to turn passion into profit. Unlock the secrets to a thriving private chef business in these interactive courses. Chef Robin shares insider perspectives and tactical strategies gleaned from decades spent building, marketing and operating a thriving private chef business. Attendees gain actionable insights for setting up their professional business to take it to the next level. Chef Robin’s comprehensive program advances businesses and equips participants with confidence moving their culinary visions forward.
THE INGREDIENTS
Develop your Niche and how to get clients.
Accountability and Mindset.
Intro to Client Communication.
Tools to Setting Up Your Business.
Business Structure, Billing and Invoicing.
Managing Schedules and Managing Documents.
Mastering Client Communication and Building Rapport.
Calculating Recipe and Menu Costs.
Pricing for Events, Portions + Food Costs.
Chefs Equipment.
Promotions for Business Optimization.
Mindset, Accountability and Actionable Plan.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely took time to build my client base and attract initial clients and grow word-of-mouth. Early on, I struggled with slow bookings. Managing expenses was a challenge as income and cash flow took time to ramp up while costs like my overhead was fixed, therefore I had to work for other catering companies in the beginning
As a sole proprietor, finding work-life balance was also challenging, establishing boundaries between work and personal time was a blur, and juggling my client demands. When I first started, marketing effectively and getting my name out there was laborious as it was before the world wide web or cell phones. Figuring out the right marketing strategies to find and attract my target customers took experimentation and many lessons learned.
Handling paperwork, taxes, permits, bookkeeping, tax filing added back-end workload on top of my culinary duties. I had very little training in this which was something I had to navigate on my own as this was not something taught in culinary school. As client preferences changed, adapting my menus and cooking style for different client tastes and dietary needs for each and every job required a great amount of flexibility and adaptability. Testing recipes for different diet requests, cooking gluten free and vegan dishes to keep up with the trends.
Gradually gaining experience over time helped me overcome these early hurdles through trial and error on my entrepreneurial journey.
As a single parent, coordinating school pick ups, in between shopping for clients, doing drop offs, managing babysitters, and working weekend jobs was a daily juggling act.
I wish I had had my own coach or mentor to guide me then.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a private chef coach, I specialize in helping fellow culinary entrepreneurs start and grow successful private chef businesses.
What sets me apart is my unique combination and years of hands-on industry experience and expertise. As a private chef and chef business owner, I personally faced the day-to-day challenges firsthand. Working for hi-profile celebrity clients had its demands. I worked for Grammy award winning singer Seal as his private chef while on a 12 month tour. Sometimes working on a single propane stove backstage and sometimes on the tourbus, in between venues, was to say the least, not as glamorous as it seems.
Now adding coaching to my work week, I am helping hundreds of chefs launch profitable ventures through my tailored courses and one-on-one guidance and sharing my stories of experiences and mishaps.
I’m most proud of the vibrant community I am creating. By bringing chefs together online, we lift each other up through collaboration and all of our stories rather than competition. Readers should know we’re in this together and you have an advocate ready in your corner. My goal is not just business skills but holistic mindset and wellness practices. I want my coaching clients to thrive both professionally and personally through this journey, finding work-life harmony.
Each course in my program builds upon the previous one, setting you up with foundational knowledge before expanding into new topics. This incremental approach allows you to digest lessons, apply what you’ve learned, and start to develop vital skills at your own comfortable pace. The courses can be purchased separately so you have flexibility in your learning. However, the full value is realized when following them sequentially from the launch course through operations, marketing and beyond. In addition to the courses, the ‘full course menu’ purchased with the 4 courses entirely includes weekly coaching sessions with bonus material not available when purchased individually.
My goal is empowering chefs to pursue their passion on their terms. The connection formed here lasts far beyond the initial investment. When you join our community, we work to rewrite traditional private chef narratives. Together, we’re building an industry focused first on wellness rather than profit at all costs. I love to learn more about my clients specific goals and help them realize them and take that first step!
How do you define success?
Success for me ultimately is helping chefs find fulfillment and passion in their work. Success isn’t just about profits, but helping chefs establish a sustainable business so they can cook for years to come. Providing value and making an impact, my chef clients feel my coaching truly has helped them grow their skills, while nurturing them, and uplifting their confidence as entrepreneurs. Seeing real results and transformation is hugely rewarding. While I run my business, it’s also about well-being. If chefs feel happier and less stressed—while encouraging flexibility and fulfillment—they can avoid burnout, and that’s true success in my view. At the end of the day, I want this work to fit their lifestyle and passions. Personally, as long as I feel challenged daily and my efforts matter, I consider myself accomplished. Above all, success is about positively impacting others through shared learning and community support. Both financial rewards and personal growth are equally important measures.
Contact Info:
- Website: privatechefrobin.com and privatechefcoach.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatechefrobin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554832830597
Image Credits
Robin Goldstein
