10/07/2026
Before I Was Chef Paul.
This photo was taken in 2012.
My first job in a kitchen wasn’t as a cook. I was the dishwasher.
I had only been in America for a short time. My English was very limited, and I knew almost nothing about kitchen culture.
I washed dishes, took out the trash, swept and mopped the floors, and was usually the last person to leave. Little by little, they gave me more responsibility—cutting vegetables, rolling spring rolls, and helping with prep.
I worked full-time for $100 a week.Yes, $100. 😅 I was fortunate to have a place to live and food to eat, so I wasn’t thinking about money. I just wanted to work hard and learn.
One busy dinner, the chef yelled at me to get broccoli from the walk-in. I couldn’t understand him. After repeating himself several times, he finally yelled:
“You should go to school and learn English before you come to work.”
Funny enough, THAT I understood. 😂
It hurt. I wanted to cry.
I called my dad and told him what happened. He said something I still remember:
“A strong person can turn someone who doesn’t like them into a friend.”
And somehow, that’s exactly what happened.
That same chef became my first English teacher in America. After work, he would teach me how to pronounce English and go through A–Z with me.
In return, I bought him ci******es. 😂
The day this photo was taken, the owner let me step away from the dish pit and try cooking at the stove.
I posted the photo with three words:
“Follow my dream.”
Fourteen years later, I look at this kid differently.
He barely spoke English. He washed dishes for $100 a week. He had no idea where life would take him.
But he had a dream.
And I’m still following it today.
— Chef Paul
