Kaelin Whittaker- Irish trained chef but a Canadian with serious food roots
Tracie - The Food Business CoachShow Notes
What an incredible woman Kaelin of Awn Kitchen is. Her honesty and ability to learn through doing are why she is growing from what was initially a small business that developed into a Boutique Cookery School that has now gone through one of the harshest winters (Covid) because she bravely expanded during the most trying time in her life. I had the absolute pleasure of spending most of January 2020 in her first premises (her home-based boutique cookery school) where I was invited to be a guest tutor for two courses that I got to design and deliver. What an honor to be a guest of Kaelin in Edmonton and to be hosted by her fabulous family and to have experienced the true and deep-rooted food culture of Edmonton alongside the fabulous food journalist Mary Bailey. We went on many food journeys and we deep-dived into the reality of Kaelin taking that next step into expansion. I hope you love this woman as much as I do and I really hope you resonate with her story because the sole mission is to drop the shrouds and masks and speak the truths of being self-employed in order to help others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Tracie - The Food Business Coach
"If your local cafe is serving free-range eggs and sourdough while the place next door uses cheap, battery-farmed eggs—why are you paying the exact same price for your breakfast?"
"We import over 80% of our food on an island made of gold, while multinationals pocket the profits and our farmers get driven to the wall."
In this unmissable episode, Siobhan of St. Tola- a proud third-generation teacher and one of Ireland’s most celebrated, award-winning artisan cheesemakers—takes us on a raw, deeply truthful journey through the realities of her craft. She pulls back the curtain on the gut-punch feeling of discovering food businesses lying about using her iconic cheese on their menus, or worse, watching kitchens dilute her hard work with flour and inferior fillers just to stretch a margin. She walks us through the turbulent ups and downs of farm life and food production, but above all, delivers exceptional, battle-tested wisdom. With 27 years of building a thriving business and creating one of the country's most delicious, pure, and natural products, Siobhan’s insights offer a masterclass in resilience, integrity, and passion that every chef, producer, and food lover needs to hear. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Hidden Crisis Behind the Pass Let’s be clear: this isn’t one bad boss or a single toxic workplace. It’s systemic. According to Fáilte Ireland’s 2024 Labour Market Insights Report, over 60% of hospitality workers report regularly working beyond their contracted hours. The Irish Hospitality Institute noted that 41% of employees experienced harassment or bullying at work, while research from the University of Galway (2023) highlights that burnout rates among hospitality staff are nearly double the national average. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Entitled consumer behaviour is quietly stripping the profit, joy, and humanity out of my world – the world of independent Irish hospitality that I have given my life to. We do not permit BYO food into our cafe!