Meet Maya Nettles

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Maya Nettles. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Maya below.

Maya, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

When it comes to creativity, allowing yourself to envision how you want certain things to look and becoming an innovative person to develop new ideas, will continue to keep you open minded and thinking outside of the box. Starting at a young age, you have the so much freedom to discover new things and new ideas. As you grow older, you begin to tap into different avenues. Whether it’s music, art, cooking, or journalism, you develop a sense of curiosity and passion for what you are doing. Overtime, you’ve established your own way of thinking and sense of direction to stay motivated in seeing the idea through. Creativity comes in many shapes and forms. Finding your lane and grove to maintain it will keep you going as long as you know what works for you. I have a true passion for cooking; I enjoy making delicious food and creating different dishes. That is where most of my creativity is showcased and continuing to strive in the space is non-stop. I manage to keep my creativity alive by experimenting and engaging in social platforms. For experimenting, there is so much freedom in the kitchen and I get to roam freely with day-to-day ingredients, creating flavor combinations, and trying new cooking techniques. I’m able to visually see how all those components came together as one to create a unique dish. As far as engaging in social platforms, having access to several apps, I can watch food videos of recipes I want to try, replicate, and execute right in my own home. Creativity is everywhere and when find something you love and want to continue to grow in, your creative juices will flow like never before by doing it in your own way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Hey y’all! My name is Maya Nettles, I am the proud creator and owner of the food pop-up shop, Kitch ‘N Chronicles. The food pop-ups occur two-three time out of each month, creating delicious, quality meals made by me. My small business showcases my love and passion for cooking and being able to share what I believe my truest gift to people who love food. I may not be a professionally trained chef, but I’ve manage to pick the habit to learn how to cook by watching and assisting my mom and grandmother at a young age. Furthermore, I found myself more interested in cooking by watching the Food Network Channel. Some of my favorite shows growing up were 30 Minute Meals with Racheal Ray, Giada at Home with Giada De Laurentiis, Hells Kitchen with Gordon Ramsay, the competition show Chopped, and more. As I got older, I still had a love for cooking, but my spark for it somewhat went away. Eventually it came back into action when I began working at a spice shop. After graduating college from Tennessee State University with a bachelors degree in Business Administrations and minor in Entrepreneurship, I had begun working full time at Soulard Spice Shop in St. Louis. I was so intrigued with being introduced to so many different spices and the mixing & matching of flavors that would enhance your food. Also, being so fascinated with learning where the spices originate from, their flavor profile, and sprucing up my own spice cabinet at home. Within the past two years. I had been improving my cooking skills, making dishes from scratch, and trying new recipes putting my spin on it. I would post most of the food I made on my social media and I would get several comments on how amazing it looks and how I should start showcasing my talent. For the ones closest to me, I would cook for my family and friends and they would love what I’ve made and always keep coming back for more. In 2023, I was posting more and more of my dishes and continued to get good reviews just from the photos/videos. So got the idea begin doing food pop-ups. I knew that I wanted to share my passions for cooking delectable food with others and it would be something people couldn’t resist. As of February 2024, Kitch ‘N Chronicles made its debut. and the pop-ups have taken off. As a kid, I always said I had the dream of “becoming an entrepreneur in the food industry”. and this is just the start I needed to get my foot in door and seeing where takes me. I’m just getting started in this business and have a long way to go. I’m excited to see how just taking a chance on something I love can impact my life in the future and transitions into something more than I’ve ever imagined.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I would say the three qualities that are impactful to my journey is authenticity, courage, and optimism. Beginning with authenticity, you always want to stay true to yourself in every season of your life. Knowing who you are and living your life the way you want it goes hand and hand. You learn to understand your personality, values, and purpose of what aligns with you and continue to present yourself as your truest authentic self in any aspect. Courage is showcased through stepping outside of your comfort zone and taking a leap of faith to try something new or put a spotlight on creating sometime from a peak of interest. The fears and doubts might be their, but having the courage to do it is enough. Lastly, being optimistic goes a long when you see your vision and plan through. The confidence in the work you put out and the determination you work toward getting to that end goal and seeing the results is always hopeful. Some advice I would give is finding your own lane and have ambition. Tap into really getting to know yourself, and perfecting your craft; you will really get to see what your purpose is in life and that can come in many different forms. A quote that I always keep in mind is “Its something special waiting for you on other side of that decision you scared to make”. With all the fears and doubt you may, just still take that risk. Whether you come across setbacks and fail, you can always persevere and strive to have a successful outcome, while continuing to remain true to your core self.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

My biggest area of growth has been becoming more resilient. You go through seasons in your life where you face different challenges, whether it be personal, career, financial, relationship, etc. In those moments you learn to understand that a difficult time is just a small part of your journey for the moment and not your entire life journey. You eventually come to a point where you overcome the adversity. Now you have to face it head on and see what changes you need to make and adapt to transition into a new season. To have that bounce back mentality is pivotal to making better decisions, becoming more aligned with yourself, and realizing that life happens. Many things are out of your control; you can only control what you can and how you choose to handle it. So my growth in being resilient is knowing that any challenge in you life can make you feel like your stuck, your behind in life, and things aren’t going the way you’d like. Although, in the mist of that, you have to sit down with yourself, go through the motions, and accepting change. In the end of that period, you come out of that season even stronger and a better you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @kitch.n.chronicles