Age 20
- Food Entrepreneur
Growing up, Monét’s idea of fun was cooking. While other kids her age played outside, she stayed close
to her grandmother’s side in the kitchen, discovering her talent and love for creating cuisine.
Monét also enjoyed writing and spent most of her high school years set on a career in broadcast
journalism. However, during her senior year of high school, she decided to switch paths and pursue a
culinary education. “I had always loved cooking and dreamed of owning my own restaurant, so it seemed
like the right thing to do,” she explains.
After deciding on a degree in culinary arts, Monét made it a point to learn from as many chefs as
possible inside the classroom, around campus and through the various seminars offered at California
School of Culinary Arts. These interactions helped Monét to hone her networking skills and discover a
variety of culinary philosophies.
After graduation, Monét completed an internship at the Crown Plaza hotel in Los Angeles and was
offered a full-time position. After several months at the Crown Plaza, Monét began working at the Lazy
Dog Café in Torrance, CA, where she worked until April 2008. She also works for LEAP Inc, an after-
school enrichment program for elementary students in which she teaches culinary fundamentals. She says
one of the most enjoyable aspects of this job was being in charge of creating the daily special. Alongside
all this, Monét still operates her own catering business with her mother Juanita Walker, Archange’s
Catering.
Monét is still passionate about writing and hopes to integrate her love of cuisine with journalism. She
works as a freelance journalist, writing on a variety of topics for publications such as Fly, which is a New
York-based urban magazine.
Monét also remains fascinated by broadcast media and hopes to have her own television cooking show in
the future. Moreover, she plans to promote her own brand in the culinary world with her own
restaurant and line of cookware.
Education: St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood, CA, class of 2005.
What inspired your passion for the culinary arts? As a child, Monét learned to cook from her
grandmother, who was her first source of culinary inspiration. Monét recalls, “My grandmother was
basically our family’s own private chef. She also catered church events, and I always loved to help
out.”
Another important culinary moment was Monét’s victory at the 2006 Future Chef of America competition
hosted by CSCA. She explains, “Winning really boosted my confidence and gave me the determination I
needed to push ahead in the culinary field. It made me realize that cooking was not only something that
I can do, but what I want to do.”
| 2008 Academy of Stars |
| Chef Monét’ |
| Chef Monet's Strengths/Talents |
- COMPETITION: The genius
of Competition lies in your
ability to stimulate yourself
and others to higher levels
of performance.
- FOCUS: The genius of Focus
talents lie in your intense
concentration on one task.
Your single-mindedness
enhances the speed and
quality of your performance.
- FUTURISTIC: The genius of
Futuristic talents is in your
emotional anticipation and
visual imagination of a better
future, which inspire you -
and could inspire others - to
make that dream a reality.
- POSITIVITY: The genius of
Positivity talents is found in
your positive emotional
impact. Simply stated,
everyone feels better about
life when you are around.
- STRATEGIC: The genius of
Strategic talents is found in
your ability to quickly weigh
various alternative paths and
determine the one that will
work best and most
efficiently. Sometimes you
think backwards - visualizing
the outcome you want and
then generating multiple ways
of reaching that goal.