40. Tillie Kerna, AKA Chef Tillie

Piece Of The Pai

It takes years of experience to be able to orchestra a six-course meal at a high level. It takes even longer to be able to do it as a small business owner. Doing it all as a woman in a male-dominated industry requires a special talent. Enter Tillie Kerna of Chef Tillie, a private and boutique chef who travels all over the world to bring her clients the freshest and most innovative meals.

Thanks to an upbringing in the rural Pacific northwest, Chef Tillie began hunting, fishing and foraging her own food when she was very little. With no mainstream restaurants down the street, her and her family flourished by trapping game, picking their own huckleberries and cooking with a wood stove. She quickly learned the importance of food, nurtrition and the importance of locally sourced food way before it was trendy. Today, Chef Tillie is a certified nutritionist, as well as one of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Ambassadors, in addition to her chef and business owner duties.

Chef Tillie joins host Nesha Pai on today's episode of Piece of the Pai to discuss Chef Tillie's journey from a young woman learning baking from her mom to being a private chef for celebrities around the world. Chef Tillie talks about her youth and what she learned from having such a personal connection to her food. She also discusses some of the challenges she's faced in business, what advice she would give to upcoming chefs, as well as breaking myths about the "celebrity chef."

Find Chef Tillie online at cheftillie.com. Follow her on Instagram at @cheftillie, and on Twitter at @cheftilliek. Find her on Facebook here.