Question: Why did you decide to stop being a chef

Shanine Smith answered on 23 May 2023:

That’s a great question Elinor! It was a very hard decision to leave that industry, as I love food and cooking. It was also a very fun job and the people I worked with were all my friends. I still miss the job some days!.
However, I am quite ambitious and always quite fancied Science, I just never got round to doing it.
The older I got, the harder being a chef was, it can be long hours and is physically hard. One day, I just thought, I cant be doing this hard labour (even though I love it) when am 60, so decided to change my career and went back to studying, applying for University when I was 30.

But I haven’t strayed to far from my love – I studied Food Bioscience after all, haha! I now get to mix my personal interest in food/drinks with my passion for science. I am also very interested in sustainability so I strive in my research to come up with sustainable food solutions!!

Hope that answers your question and gives you some food for thought (😂)
cheers, shanine