We recently connected with Hillary Gillis and have shared our conversation below.
Hillary, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Well, that really overlaps with how I began cooking in the first place. I grew up the oldest of three kids in what we will just call not the best of circumstances. I don’t really recall a time where there was an option for me to have to be resilient out of pure necessity. By the time I was seven I was doing the majority of the caretaking for my younger siblings and myself, which included cooking, laundry, getting everyone up and to the school bus on time, etc. As a kid, you don’t have the reference point of anything but your own lived reality, and in real time. I had no idea I was being resilient, it was just simply a matter of things needing to be done and me being the only person able to do them. In those situations, the only way out is through, and I didn’t know any different.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a private chef, certified sommelier, and licensed nutritionist based in Oregon wine country. My culinary work is split seasonally between working with wineries for on-site events like wine club dinners, holiday gatherings, and various celebrations, as well as private parties outside of the wine industry. Club members will also hire me when they utilize winery event rooms for their own festivities. Open fire pit-style cooking and other outdoor destination culinary experiences have grown significantly in popularity over the years, and I’m excited for that. I also work with traveling clients who come in for wine and culinary tourism and want to host dinners in their second homes or vacation rentals.
The Nutritionist aspect of Kitchen Witch involves working with clients looking for a natural holistic approach to anything from allergy management, disease prevention, recovery, and weight/health goals. That can include anything from putting together a meal plan, shopping list, and recipes for them to use themselves, to doing their meal prep myself in my kitchen or theirs. I’m beginning a series of free online instruction available on my website www.kitchenwitchcooking.com and my social media platforms teaching everything from scratch cooking on a budget, natural remedies, nutrient dense gardening and cooking to maximize yield in your space, preservation, and more.
2025 will also kick off a pop-up seasonal dinner series pairing with indie wine makers throughout the PNW in different event spaces featuring seasonal, local ingredients and vendors, as well as my own Kitchen Witch products like duck breast prosciuttos and naturally fermented syrups and other fun and unexpected condiments.
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’d say first and foremost, disabuse yourself of the old notion that if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life, and similar cliches. There is no such thing as a career path that doesn’t have it’s pitfalls and the first thing you need is the realistic mindset to expect and prepare for those periods of time. Working in the hospitality industry for about a decade before I was self-employed, and growing up in an environment that demanded tenacity, helped me immensely with this common hurdle.
Follow-through is another big one. If you’re motivation to enter into entrepreneurship is based in thinking you won’t have a boss and can work, or not work, whenever you want, you’re gong to be in for a rude awakening. You need twice the discipline and self awareness of a traditional employee in order to be successful. I’d say the big benefit to that can be that you can, within reason, adjust to your natural biorhythms. For example, I’m a morning person, but not in a work capacity. I get up, get kids to school, do chores and errands, but my brain doesn’t want to kick into Work Mode until about noon. But after that, I can blast out a ten to fourteen hour work day, no problem. Lastly, but just as important, know the signs of burn out and how to get past creative blocks. For me, that part is built into my day. I not only need to spend a good chunk of time outside everyday, I basically have to because the garden, chickens, and other homestead projects that aren’t going to take care of themselves. I’m also lucky to live within a 20 minute drive of about a dozen hiking trails and foraging spots.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Self-employment and single motherhood are a daily guilt trip waiting to happen. It’s an ongoing challenge that won’t be letting up for another seven years until my beautiful son is an adult. His sister turned 18 a few months ago, so I’ve been at this for a hot minute to say the least. The challenge isn’t the personal demands of my kids, not only are they just easy munchkins but we have a pretty great system going and they’ve been with me at work more than they probably care to be but we’ve made the most of it. The real challenge lies in me and my problem with closing the laptop or shutting down the kitchen at night because I want to squeeze in just ooooone more thing. I’ve learned that the guilt free way for me to declare an end to my workday is knowing that’s a little more energy I’ve reserved for the ones who deserve it most, my children. I want to give 1000% to everything I do, and I have the tendency to hold myself to that ridiculously unattainable standard. I remind myself that work doesn’t know I’m not working and can’t tell the difference, my but relationships can.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kitchenwitchcooking.com
- Instagram: @kitchenwitch_chefhillarygillis
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/thekitchenwitchoregon
Image Credits
Sabrina Dedek, Bellatrix Photography
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