“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” — Napoleon Hill
Struggle is an unavoidable part of self-employment. Nothing ever comes easy, when you are trying to build towards your dreams. Difficulties and hardship, will be your constant companions.
It’s in those moments, that you will have to look towards those people, who have already passed through the struggle. Those people are going to remind you of why your current struggle is worth it.
So let’s read the story of Chef Rupal, the youngest executive chef from India & Qatar, in his own words.
My journey started when I was in 6th std & My father lost his job. During that time, my whole world became upside down as there were no earnings in the family. We have a joint family, but my grandmother & grandfather stopped giving everything to my father. So due to the lack of education, it was hard for my mom & dad to get a job & we had to survive for almost one year on our savings. We belong to a small town insuli which is located in the Goa, Maharashtra border. So when I was in 8th std & I decided to do a part-time job to support my family, but it was hard to get a job because of my age, so I decided to learn Djing. (Play recorded music on the radio or at a club or party)
I started learning Djing from YouTube & within three months, I got an offer to play as DJ in clubs in goa. I was extremely happy because I started supporting my family financially. My mom is a housewife & dad started doing any works for money & My mom started making & selling “Chudta,” used in the Konkan region for shelters of Homes, which is made from coconut tree leaf to support the family. My dad, too, started doing some small Household works to support us financially. I completed my 10th std with 92% & got admission to college through management quota in full scholarship. I took admission in accounting & auditing & finished my 12th with 85%. I told my family that I would like to make my career in the DJ field, but my family didn’t support me to take up DJ as a career. So I decided to choose Hotel management as my career option.
The Fees for the Hotel Management institute in India are very high. So my mom decided to take a gold loan from the bank against her wedding mangalsutra, but it was so hard for me to accept that sacrifice. But I believed in myself & got admission to IHM Goa, one of India’s top institutes for Hotel Management. So I completed my course & went for training in JW Marriott Sahar, Mumbai.
During my training, I worked 16-18+ hours almost daily. All chefs of the hotel were so much impressed with my hard work. So I got a job in the same hotel & that was the turning point of my life. I worked there for few months & I got another offer in Conrad Pune. So I joined that company as a Commis Chef & worked there for almost a year. Same time I was sharing my knowledge on Social Media like Instagram & one day, I got a message from one of the Hotel owners from Qatar. He offered me a job, but it’s hard to believe, so I asked some of my friends in Qatar to check about that company, and I got a positive response. So I decided to take that opportunity & landed in Qatar in January.
I started working in Qatar as a chef at the supervisor level. I worked on the menu with my head chef. They put some of my signature dishes on the menu & local people started loving it. There was one regular guest in our restaurant, and he’s from the Royal family. One day I got a notification on Instagram, and it was his message. He said he loved our food & offered me a job in his company, and that’s where my life took another turning point. I joined his company as a supervisor, but after seeing my hard work & efforts, he promoted me to the executive chef & after that, I officially got declared as the Youngest Executive Chef from India & Youngest Executive Chef in Qatar.
I got interviewed in the New York press agency by Mr.Kiran rai, being in the Topmost 500 Influential people around the globe in 2020 alongside legends like AR RAHMAN, SONU NIGAM, ADNAN SAMI, SHRUTI HASSAN AND MORE 500 people from Asia and all over the world.
I got interviewed as a Top 20 chef in Asia from a new york press agency. And my journey is still going on. I had given free study to more than 50+ Students in sindhudurg who can’t afford education fees & my journey is still going on.
