We recently connected with Fitzgerald Dodd and have shared our conversation below.
Fitzgerald, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
The test of my resilience came in recent years. My wife and I were set to move back to the Dallas area to establish the first of what I had hoped would be several successive restaurant concepts. I had my fill of working my way up through restaurants to executive chef positions and I even worked outside of the corporate machine as a private chef. My next aim was set on being a restauranteur with ownership. No one could have prepared us for what happened next.
It was January 2020 and as we settled into our new loft home, the looming threat of a pandemic encroached on all the plans we had for our future. All of our catering jobs lined up quickly evaporated right before our eyes. My wife was not yet established in her new career direction so our savings were rapidly depleting. By March, things were worsening on a global scale with no sight of a quick recovery… and then it happened.
As I was sitting at our kitchen counter filling out the online SBA forms for economic assistance, a searing pain started in my chest, cut through to my back, and down my spine. My wife went into first responder mode and called for help while attending to me. My situation was dire and we moved from the first hospital and was transferred to a specialty heart center for emergency surgery. I only remember her praying with me before going into surgery with all of the O.R. team standing around the bed. It was the day they called “S for a shelter in place” in Dallas.
Two weeks later, I awoke in the ICU and the whole world had changed. Literally! I could not talk ( I was trached) and was too weak to raise my hand against gravity. I was in a strange room with nothing familiar around me (except pictures my wife dropped off ) and too weak to move..
The grueling transition from that point to where I am now is nothing short of a miracle. A week later, I came home. All the rehab centers were riddled with COVID so, my wife rehabilitated me to restoration at home. I learned how to walk and talk again. We navigated through the many setbacks including a second surgery to repair more of my aorta and subsequently renal failure, which required over a year of home dialysis until I was transplanted in 2024.
My God saved my life. I have been given so much. “To whom much is given, much is required”. It has taken 5 years to fully recover. I’m back and building towards the original goal along with some new concepts. I HAD to get back to the kitchen because I believed that there is still work to do. I have people to connect to and a story to tell of hope and restoration.
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?
I love to create bold flavors and innovative culinary delights. My voice as a chef is playful, not too serious, but in a sense that I respect the craft and want to use the “rules of the discipline” to do new food that breeds excitement to all-comers; from the novice eater to the connoisseur. My genre is Creole and Southern foods.
Right now, I am doing private catering and select private chef contracts. When my wife and I got an opportunity to come back to Dallas in January of 2020, it was with plans to establish our own restaurant. …the pandemic happened and I had a life- altering ( almost life – ending) event that landed me in emergency surgery and the the ICU for weeks fighting for my life. When I came out of the hospital, I was starting from scratch to recover and the world was completely different.
The last 5 years has been a journey to recovery and to regain the momentum of my previously planned projects. I’m coming back better than ever. Stronger and full of ideas! I’m booked for a food and wine event this fall and working to put out some of my original spice blends that I created for my food. I’m looking forward to collaborations with other chefs I have met and follow in the last five years and getting back to my original plans to be a restauranteur. It’s nerve wrecking and exciting all at once!
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. Faith 2. Work hard. Execute with excellence. Read. Study. Stay curious
3. Do right by people and be kind
For the younger in our craft? Be teachable and find some respect. No one owes you, but everyone is looking to leave a legacy through someone. Let it be you.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
I’m already living my second chance. After my incident in 2020, I have a different perspective on life. God did a miracle in me and gave me a second chance. Many areas of my life are even better than before! I was spared for something. I have work to do. I’ve got something to give and my food is a big part of that. My time is going to be spent cooking, sharing, mentoring, creating, setting up legacy for my family and others and trying to prevent the mistakes I made from happening to others.
Contact Info:
- Website: Cheffitzgerald.com
- Instagram: @chef_fitzgerald
- Facebook: Cheffitzgerald
Image Credits
Jon Edmonds Photography
