Chef Raphael: I’m riding on content to cook up a storm

The traditional career path has a predictable linear trajectory – start from the bottom, work your way to the top and then retire.

For some, however, this model doesn’t offer the fulfilment they seek in their chosen field, so they look to walk an alternative path.

Instead of viewing themselves as employees looking for permanent positions, they redefine themselves as independent contractors and take their careers into their own hands.

Chef Raphael Ndaiga, 38, is among those blazing their own trail. He’s a food columnist and runs a Facebook page with more than 450,000 likes. He shares the lessons he’s learnt as he redefines his career path.

1. Gain marketable skills and experience

I began to develop my palette early in life. My dad worked at Carnivore Restaurant in Nairobi, and we used to go there a lot when we were kids. He would bring back produce from the restaurant like cauliflower, broccoli and coloured peppers that weren’t very common at the time. We also ate out quite often.

All these experiences exposed me to good food and my interest grew from there. After completing high school, I went to work at our family restaurant. I was thrown in the deep-end and worked as a waiter, in the kitchen and even tended the bar. The restaurant closed two years later, but by this time, I knew what there was to know about restaurant operations.

I then took a sales job before joining Utalii College in 2001 to do a three-month food and beverage service course. My main reason for doing this was because at the time, Utalii had a programme that would send people to intern in the US. Things didn’t quite go my way and after trying and failing twice to secure a visa to the US, I went to work at Carnivore as a waiter and was there for seven months.

I saw the need for proper qualifications to get a better-paying position, so I went back to Utalii and enrolled in their food production course. This time, luck was on my side and after I completed my training, the opportunity to intern in the US presented itself again. In 2005, I got a visa.

It was a one-year cultural exchange internship programme and I found myself working at a Sheraton hotel in Florida. The programme brought together people from all over the world and I learned a lot about other cultures and what customers from different parts of the world expected in the field of hospitality.

Once I was done there, I went to the UK, worked for another year and then signed on to work in a cruise ship where I stayed for two years.

Feeling the need for a more stable life, I made my way back to Kenya. That was in 2010. I got a job at a restaurant chain and was put in charge of one of the kitchens. It was a great learning opportunity for me and because of this, I stuck with the job even though I wasn’t earning anything close to what I was making on the cruise ship.

At this point, I was training people who were fresh from college and was promised the role of supervising several of the restaurant’s units. This, however, didn’t happen so I chose to leave.

2. Determine how to leverage your industry knowledge

Reaching a fork in the road, I contemplated what direction I wanted to take. Studying the Kenyan market, I hit upon the realisation that Kenyans didn’t have a big appreciation of food.

The reason Americans know what good food is, is because of food shows. That’s why their food industry is so big. I remembered Susan Kamau’s cooking show and saw that the only way this industry would grow was through TV.

I decided that this was the direction I would take. I talked to my brother about it and realised that for me to do something like that, I first needed to be a brand and the best way to go about this was through social media.

This was in January 2012.

Social media was big then, but not from a brand perspective. I asked myself what I was good at and the answer was training; I had been doing a lot of that, so in March 2012, I went live on Facebook where I would post step-by-step recipe tutorials on my page. I consistently created content on good food and posted the tutorials online.

3. Identify potential clients and partners

At first, I wasn’t making any money, but people saw my page and started calling me to give them cooking classes.

At the time, I used to charge Sh1,000 per session; now I charge Sh3,500.

A little while later, I posted a cake recipe and people started asking me to sell them birthday cakes. This is how I first started making money, but what I was making mainly covered the costs of buying products for the tutorials.

I knew that I wanted to be a marketer, so whenever I would post tutorials and recipes, I would also post pictures of the products that I was using, knowing that one day, companies would come and ask me to promote their products.

My followers kept increasing and I become more noticeable online. Nation Media Group then approached me and asked me to write recipes in their paper on Wednesdays. It was good exposure and put my name out there as a brand.

I then got a gig with Top Fry and was on their billboard as a chef for their event, and I later consulted for Unilever, developing recipes for them. I have been doing this for five years now.

4. Get a team in place to turn your career into a business

I realised that I needed a team to help me negotiate contracts with brands that wanted me to do product placements. I can’t manage my brand myself because I would rather concentrate on producing content. My team manages the business and guides my vision. You also look more professional when you walk into a meeting with a team beside you.

5. Create your brand identity

I may be a chef, but I am in the business of producing content. I am using the Internet to empower people at home by giving them information. I teach them what I know, which is cooking; a life skill that everybody needs to have. Last year, I went for the YouTube awards in South Africa as an influencer and a YouTube user where I earn ad revenue. I can be an ambassador for any of the platforms that I use.

Right now, because of the number of followers I have, I can do almost anything – I can start a publication, create a TV show or sell products.