Consider becoming a personal chef, rather than trying to get a restaurant job or catering. If you google the phrase, you'll get all kinds of hits for professional associations, books, programs, etc.

I would also take courses in food service management at a local technical school. There's a whole different context, (and liability!), when you cook for other people.

Here in Georgia, you can't cook in your own home kitchen. A personal chef prepares the food at the client's house, which gets around needing a commercial kitchen.

One of my friends is a personal chef. She prepares and freezes 25 meals/month for her clients, based on their diets or preferences. I believe she charges them $300/month for the service.

Another benefit of food service management classes is that you get the training to do profitable meal planning and purchasing for a variety of clients, as an executive chef would do in a restaurant.

Taking the classes will give you a feeling for how realistic your idea is for someone your age and with a family.

Good luck!

Cooking professionally is nothing like cooking for your family. First of all, you need to follow the recipes and rules of someone else - the owner - and you can't just cook what you want. You have to understand presentation, nutrition, quantity cooking ... unless as the other person said, you become a personal cook for someone. The problem with that is twofold: First, if you cook for a wealthy family, you will need references and be able to cater a party. If you cook for an elderly person who can't cook for him or herself, the pay would be about a quarter of what you earn.

If you have capital, consider taking a risk and opening a small restaurant. MY daughter-in-law began a specialized food distribution business. She had a few family recipes and took them to stores in the neighborhood and sold quantities to them. The catch: In order to continue, she had to rent a commercial kitchen that was subject to inspection and preparation was closely examined by the local department of agriculture.

You need to sit down with a pro in the field and explore your options. Maybe someone in a local restaurant will take an hour at an offpeak time and go over with you what food prep entails.

Maybe your first point of entry should be keep your job and take a course in cooking. Your teacher will know the field and be able to explore options with you. In retirement, I have taken cooking courses and enjoyed them. My only problem was I sampled too many of the products I made and had to quickly go on a diet to keep my weight normal.

Good luck to you.

Hi Colleen,

If you really like cooking, you should definitely find time to do the type of cooking you love - this will help keep you inspired as you search.

I had a friend who worked as a chef for a company that did specialty health foods for sale in local stores. They rented the use of a professional kitchen and worked in the evenings when it was not is use - this got them around the issues of having to meet state requirements, etc.

You might see if you can find someone who is already doing catering, personal chef work, etc and offer to work some on the weekends (or whenever you can have someone watch your kids - not sure if they are still at home with you). Doing this type of part-time work will help you to figure out what parts of this work you like and can give you the chance to meet professionals who can give you additional contacts.

If you would like to see how a stay-at-home Mom started a career in Art while raising her kids, check out my website where I interview her:

avocationist.com

Best of luck and keep working on what you love!

I really like the idea of you working part-time in the biz before you make the big leap.

I once had a client who wanted to open his own restaurant and was able to "shadow" a friend of mine who owned a successful cafe for a couple weeks. Any chance you could do something like that?

Start by asking all the people you know--friends, neighbors, etc., if they know someone in that profession and could maybe get you an intro or two.

You might also call the local office of S.C.O.R.E. As a division of Small Business Administration, they provide free counseling and workshops on starting your own business.

Colleen

I too am an accountant wishing for a career change. I am a corporate controller, been in finance for 28 years!

It seems the career change isn't that difficult, its the potential $$ decrease, at least thats how I see it. Do you dislike finance?

Would it be that difficult to get professional training? Top chefs make good $$, and if you love it that much you are probably very good at it.

Hello Colleen,

All here have given good advice and leads to follow.

I have actually made the transition into a professional kitchen over the last year. I was a tenured college professor and left my position last year to take some time off to figure out my next career. I am pursuing three alternate tracks right now: web design, management and culinary work. Interested in web design, I had begun a dual masters program in IT and Management before I resigned and am continuing being a student while I work in a kitchen.

When I tendered my letter of resignation, I dreamt of working in a professional kitchen. Friends had wisely advised me not to go to culinary school unless I first worked in a real kitchen. So, I knocked on many doors and managed to get an entry-level garde-manger position at a fine restaurant in town with no other experience but my homecooking. The chef/owner took a chance on me because I was persistent and determined and also willing to work for little pay. In November, that limited experience helped me land full-time work with benefits at another great restaurant in the area. Given the caliber of the place, I have opted to stay on at least a year because this constitutes my culinary education and training.

I am forty something and I have many insights to offer you about this field but cannot at the moment do a full write up for you. Cooking at home and cooking professionally are two completely different ballgames. In the meantime, I would recommend the following two books to get an idea of what life is like in a professional kitchen. I recommend, in this order, Bill Buford's Heat and Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. You can probably get them at your local library. Bill Buford truly prepared me for what I was to experience physically and culturally in the kitchen.

Best wishes!