Celebrity vegan chef and Milwaukee native to speak at entrepreneurship summit this weekend

MILWAUKEE — “No one can take something away from you that is meant for you.”

These are phrases chef Adjoya ‘Joya’ Courtney religiously lives by as her culinary profession continues to develop by the second.

“I am grateful, I am blessed, it is positively surreal,” mentioned Chef Joya.

The movie star vegan chef has greater than 100,000 followers on Fb, 27,000 subscribers on her Youtube channel, and virtually 130,000 followers on Instagram. She makes use of these social media platforms to show folks tips on how to make vegan meals.

“I prefer to give attention to soul meals, southern delicacies, and African and Caribbean delicacies.”

She says her love for cooking started when she was a bit of woman rising up in Milwaukee watching her grandmother make meals within the kitchen.

“I’d all the time assist her and I’d all the time be within the kitchen along with her,” she defined.

Over time, Joya, who grew up vegan, realized tips on how to create vegan meals that weren’t solely wholesome however scrumptious. And in 2018, her cooking profession took off.

“I stored listening to being vegan is nasty, it is bland, it is this, that, and the opposite, and I am like what sort of meals are they consuming,” mentioned Joya. “My thought course of was simply to provide folks free recipes for 30 days, educate them tips on how to make them, present photos, and that simply took off.”

Since then, Chef Joya has competed on the Meals Community, written 4 cookbooks, and launched her personal seasoning line.

“I am all the time creating, I am all the time captivated with all the pieces that I do.”

That is why she says it was a no brainer when she was requested to be the keynote speaker on the eleventh annual MKE Enterprise Now Entrepreneurship Summit. It is a free program for Milwaukee entrepreneurs at any degree trying to community and study what it takes to turn into profitable enterprise house owners.

“I used to be not on the straight and slender path. I had plenty of ups and downs, sideways, across the corners, however I nonetheless have successful story,” mentioned Joya.

And by sharing her story, she hopes others shall be impressed to take an opportunity on themselves.

“By the point I am executed speaking, I would like everybody to really feel like I can do it, I’ll do it, it is going to occur.”

The summit will happen on Saturday, Jan. 28 at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty, starting at 10 a.m. Chef Joya is scheduled to talk at 11 a.m.

Report a typo or error // Submit a information tip