We recently connected with Victoria Cortes and have shared our conversation below.
Victoria , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
When I launched my website, I imagined—excitedly—the clients who might hire me as their personal, in-home chef. After five years spent crafting rich, celebratory dishes in culinary school, fine dining, and casual kitchens, I was thrilled to offer my skills directly to clients. While I understood that hiring a personal chef is a luxury for many, I hadn’t anticipated how essential my role could become for some families.
One of my first clients was a family who had recently transformed their eating habits. Their son had been diagnosed with a severe autoimmune condition, leading to major surgery. His health improved significantly when he followed a specialized diet. His mother, with a science background, immersed herself in understanding this diet, overhauled their pantry, and began learning new cooking techniques. She brought me in to cook alongside her, and to serve as a culinary resource in mastering this new approach to food. Together, we’d spend long days preparing a month’s worth of special-diet meals for the entire family. It was inspiring to watch her son’s health improve. When they finally no longer needed my help, I’ll never forget her words: she told me I had been a healer.
This experience left a lasting impact. My client began referring me to other families facing similar health challenges, and as I gained confidence in specialized diets, I realized I could support clients with various dietary needs. Over the next 14 years, I embraced special-diet cooking as my calling. Families hired me to nurture loved ones undergoing cancer treatment, and professional athletes relied on me to create anti-inflammatory meals to aid in injury prevention and performance.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
For twelve years, I served as an in-home personal chef and catered events as large as 100-guest weddings. Eventually I expanded my operation to a licensed commercial kitchen, launching an anti-inflammatory meal service to clients throughout Northern Virginia. Today, our clients include professional athletes, people fighting cancer, and busy professionals who seek flavorful, nutrient-dense meals.
As I gained experience cooking various special diets, I heard countless clients share how much better they felt, and it sparked my curiosity about my own health. With a family history of autoimmune diseases and diabetes, I’d been mindful of these risks, but in 2014, I made a personal commitment to try an anti-inflammatory diet for a month. The results were transformative.
This nutrient-dense plan centered on high-quality proteins, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, while excluding processed foods, grains, dairy, legumes, soy, sugar, and seed oils. This approach felt like a perfect match. For the first time, I felt fully nourished, and I found I wasn’t constantly thinking about food between meals. I amazed myself with my focus and dedication throughout that month.
By the end, my energy and mood were lifted. I moved effortlessly through long workdays on my feet, and I no longer felt joint pain in my knees when climbing stairs. Even more surprising, I lost eight pounds—at a time when the scale had only seemed to creep upward. From that point forward, I knew anti-inflammatory meals would be the cornerstone of my diet.
I felt compelled to share my journey, and soon I was guiding clients through their own month-long commitments to an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. When I launched our meal service in 2022, I was thrilled to offer a four-week anti-inflammatory meal program modeled after my own experience. For some clients, this evolved into ongoing weekly support, providing fresh, nutrient-dense meals year-round. My mission was clear: to make anti-inflammatory eating accessible for those who are too busy or simply need help navigating the kitchen.
Finding anti-inflammatory options in restaurants is challenging, largely due to commonly used ingredients like gluten, seed oils, sugar, and soy. For a home cook, sourcing quality ingredients and adhering to an anti-inflammatory plan week after week can be a major effort.
My vision is for our clients to always have a refrigerator stocked with vibrant, nutrient-dense, and delicious meals they’re excited to eat. This way, they can focus on work, enjoy quality time with family, get outside, and still stay on plan—even when life gets busy and stressful.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Clear Communication
Transparent communication with my clients has always been a priority. I like to establish upfront what they can expect from me, as well as what I need from them. Listing pricing and rates directly on my website is essential; it provides clients with an immediate understanding of the investment, saving time and ensuring everyone is on the same page from the start.
2. Community over Competition
The principle of “Community over Competition” has been a cornerstone in my work. Before I launched my personal chef business in 2010, I had the opportunity to shadow an experienced personal chef who introduced me to her network. These seasoned professionals offered insights and generously shared client referrals that were instrumental in building my business in those early years. In time, I found myself passing along client leads to up-and-coming chefs I knew. This spirit of connection inspired me to start a local networking group for personal chefs and entrepreneurs, with the support of a few friends. I always recommend reaching out to people already doing the work you aspire to—it’s invaluable.
3. Organized Finances and Scheduling
As a mother in a single-parent household for many years, I learned the importance of financial planning for my business. I made it a rule to keep my schedule fully booked two weeks in advance, with payment upfront to secure each client’s cook date. Since I could only cook for one family per day, a canceled booking had a big impact. Now, I advise other chefs to require prepayment or deposits before creating custom menus or planning events, so they have a reliable schedule and steady income.
Are you looking for folks to partner or collaborate with? If so, describe the sorts of folks you are looking to collaborate with and how they can connect with you if they are reading this and want to collaborate.
Along with serving Northern Virginia families each week, my team and I enjoy collaborating with corporate clients and look forward to welcoming more partnerships.
We offer customized, healthy Friday lunches that team members can look forward to each week. Additionally, we provide a week’s worth of nourishing meals to support team members facing difficult times, such as illness, surgery, chemotherapy, or family emergencies.
Local companies can enhance their wellness programs by gifting a spot in our 4-week anti-inflammatory meal program or by offering a week of our nutrient-dense meals. A meal certificate redeemable in January makes a thoughtful and much-appreciated holiday gift.
To learn more, please visit our website and reach out through our contact form.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://victoriacortes.com
- Instagram: @victoriacortespersonalchef
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chefvictoriacortes
- Linkedin: VictoriaCortesPersonalChef
Image Credits
Brett Wiley
Lacette Price
Abby Grace Springmann
Clay Vincent
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