About Samia

Hi, I’m Samia. Thanks for taking the time to check out my website! The following is an extremely condensed story of my life. I hope you enjoy.

People are usually a bit surprised to find out that I grew up in Central Ohio. Dublin, to be exact. That’s right, this edgy-looking Greek & Indian girl is a midwesterner, and I’m proud of it too! Family was synonymous with incredible food, and my relatives knew to come find me if there was something new to try. I loved cooking from a young age, but for a long time, I didn’t see it as a viable career. I was academically driven and science-oriented, and when I started college at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2019, I was majoring in Chemical and Biological Engineering with plans to pursue pharmaceutical research and development.

I genuinely loved the coursework. But when the world shut down in 2020, everything slowed in a way I wasn’t prepared for. I was pulled out of my first real taste of independence and sent back to my childhood bedroom, trying to finish a semester of Organic Chemistry, Calculus II, Applied Physics, and Intro to Studio Art while the future felt completely abstract.

By the end of that semester, I didn’t have clarity, but I did have one conviction: when I got my independence back, I was going to pursue a life with joy as a top priority.

I changed my major to Creative Technology and Design, a highly customizable, project-based program within the engineering school. I focused my studies on videography, graphic design, and photography, but the most valuable thing I learned was how to think like a designer. How to understand a user’s needs, communicate clearly, and build with intention.

While in school, I began creating cooking content as a creative outlet. What started as a way to stay grounded eventually grew into an audience, and after one of my videos went viral, I started questioning whether I actually had the skills to back it up. I didn’t want to rely on encouragement alone. I wanted to be challenged.

During my senior year, I spent about 30 hours a week line cooking at Rosetta Hall in Boulder, an upscale open-kitchen food hall. I loved the pace, the physicality, the precision, and the energy of service. I loved cooking under pressure, talking to guests about their preferences, and moving through hundreds of plates on an eight-burner range. Even now, it’s the kind of work that still gives me butterflies.

Restaurant kitchens, however, are demanding environments. The hours are long, the work is physical, and the lifestyle requires real sacrifice. While I have deep respect for the craft and the people who pursue it, I also became clear-eyed about the limitations of the traditional restaurant path and the toll it can take.

After graduating, I moved to New York City and joined Nimbus, a B2B food startup, as the sole marketing hire. I was part of a small, fast-moving team during a period of rapid expansion, opening new locations, entering new markets, and scaling quickly. Only to then contract just as fast. It was a crash course in startups, growth, instability, and resilience. More than anything, it introduced me to dozens of culinary entrepreneurs and taught me that there is infinite room for innovation in the food business sector when it comes to NYC.

When my time at Nimbus came to an end, I decided to bet on myself.

Since then, I’ve built a career that blends cooking, consulting, design, and content. I’ve taught cooking classes, supported fundraising campaigns, helped cultivate one of the most exciting meal prep businesses in NYC, worked as a meal prep chef for a startup, created content on set for Amazon Basics, and served as a full-time private chef for a multimillionaire.

At this point, my business is me.

I’m deeply obsessed with cooking, but even more than that, I care about the people who choose to work in this industry. The ones who are creative, driven, and just a little bit unhinged in the best way. My goal is to help them build careers and businesses that feel sustainable, fulfilling, and worth the effort.