We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Danny Kievit a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Danny, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
From a very young age I wanted to put others first. I was raised by my mother along side with my brother. She was a single mom and she had many jobs that she worked to keep food on the table for my brother and I. One of them was as a respiratory therapist, and she worked the night shift. I, as she said, was the man of the house and I took that as my responsibility. With this I found my passion to serve and to lead. I wanted to make sure that we did the things that were needed to make her life easier because she was so good to my brother and I. My memories are of helping my younger brother with the chores and trying to make things good around the house.
When I was 8, it was Mother’s Day, and Mr. Rogers was on the television. His lesson that day was a microwave cooking lesson, and eggs were the subject. I watched intently as he crafted a beautiful bowl of fluffy eggs cooked in the microwave, and Presto! I had an idea. I was going to make my mom breakfast in bed for Mother’s Day. So, I set out to make the worst breakfast known to humankind. It was completely inedible, and you probably could have bounced the eggs higher than any rubber ball every designed. However, the excitement that she showed when I delivered this tray of food was memorable. I never forgot that feeling, and I still feel it today.
The servant leader in me was developed during these formidable years and has carried throughout my life. I have learned leadership skills through the years in competitive sports as well as being an older brother that have also come into play in my life as a chef. I have always felt the need to be better, and the highest level of learning is to teach. At 15 years old I began working as a dishwasher and my career as a life long cook. I was introduced to skills and a kitchen education that I worked on over the next 9 years.
I had graduated college with a degree in Entreprenuership and Strategic Management and was ready to attend culinary school as I wanted to be a chef. A lot of the students were not as familiar with the kitchen and did not have the skills of a cook yet. Holding a knife for example was unfamiliar to many of these students, so this was my opportunity to guide and learn to teach. This set the stage for my years as a Chef and Leader in the Kitchen. I have learned so much from these early lessons of how to influence people. It is true the you win more bees with honey than with vinegar, and if people don’t weigh in they don’t buy in.
I have been a professional chef now for over 15 years and have had countless teams that I have been able to make impact on. My most notable achievement as a leader are my children. My son plays highly competitive soccer and my daughter is in the high school marching band. They are model students and also love to lead. My daughter has been working with me in my business for the past 3 years and has found her passion in cooking and showing expression through a craft.
We are Leave it to Kievit.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Danny Kievit, is an award-winning curator of culinary experiences. Chef Danny is a multi-faceted chef with the toolbox to create something for everybody, from the simplest steak and potatoes to the most over-the-top 12 course omakase. But cooking with Danny isn’t just about the incredible food, it’s an individually curated experience that will leave you smiling. Danny has a passion for strengthening human connections through food.
A born and raised Austinite with an insatiable desire to cook, Danny attended the Culinary Academy of Austin and trained in Austin hotspots Jeffery’s, Truluck’s Seafood, Castle Hill Café, Reeds Supper Club, and at Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill before becoming a personal chef. He was recently featured on a major streaming platform in a series that will come out later this year. Chef Danny is also a regular guest chef at the Condé Nast Award Winning Lake Austin Spa Resort as a personal chef experience and as an instructional chef for their guests.
Highly sought after as an experiential creator for Austin’s elite and well-known world travelers, Chef Danny has created a team of accomplished chefs that have been vetted to create the experience and quality that his clients expect and deserve. Every member of the “Leave it to Kievit” team knows the white-glove service and electric experience customers have come to expect.
Contact Chef Danny for weddings, holidays, business dinners, family gathers, consultation, open house cooking demos, cocktail events, or catering. He would love to take on you an culinary adventure, tantilze your taste buds and make magic on your special evening.
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?
Learning – learn all that you can from everyone that you can, and not just the good. Take hard lessons about what not to be as well. Treat others as you want to be treated.
Be Flexible – one of my mentors used to say that you have to bend like a reed in the wind. Nothing in life is perfect and you have to know how to roll with the punches.
Have Fun – we only get one shot at life. Enjoy the ride.
As Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast… If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you might miss it.” This is so true. Find what you love to do and have passion doing it. That doesn’t mean it will be easy, but trust yourself and do the work. The greatest power you can find is from within. With a little effort and belief, anything is possible. You are the architect, build what you want.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
They believed in me. My parents supported me in the belief that I could do whatever I wanted. Then they celebrated me when I achieved something. There is power in that for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: Leaveittokievit.com
- Instagram: @leaveittokievit
- Facebook: Leaveittokievit
- Linkedin: @dannykievit
- Youtube: @leaveittokievit1594
- Yelp: Leaveittokievit
- Other: linktr.ee/leaveittokievit
