Karen V Davison was born in Dallas, Texas. She is a professional chef, culinary blogger, and overall culinary enthusiast. She has worked in kitchens and restaurants all over North America. Karen is the owner of two restaurants in Texas; Karen Davison – Dallas and Karen Davison – Plano. She is not just an amazing chef who cooks scrumptious food, Karen is a successful culinary blogger who shares secret recipes and tried-and-tested cooking tips with her followers on her website and social media.
Thanks for joining us! Let’s start with getting to know who Karen Davison is? And what are you doing these days?
Hi, I am Karen V Davison. I am a master chef and culinary blogger from Dallas, Texas. I am a Texan through and through – born and brought up in Dallas, Texas. I attended culinary school in Fort Worth but my love for Texas brought me back to my hometown.
My love for food and cooking dates back to my childhood which led to me enrolling at the Culinary School of Fort Worth, a nationally accredited culinary institution. After graduating, I took several jobs and worked in kitchens and restaurants all over North America. I started my journey of becoming a professional chef. My first job was at a seafood restaurant in Dallas. Although it wasn’t my dream job, I stuck it out and gained valuable experience.
Through sheer hard work and commitment, I have worked my way up the ladder. I have served as an Associate Chef, a Sous Chef, and most recently, as a Head Chef at some of the finest dining establishments in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I decided to become an entrepreneur after gaining experience in the food and restaurant industry. I opened two restaurants in Texas; Karen Davison – Plano and Karen Davison – Dallas. My restaurants are dining establishments that serve a mouth-watering buffet. People from across Dallas come there to enjoy the romantic ambiance and finger-licking recipes. They are a treat for residents of the entire state of Texas.
On the side, I love writing and I am also a culinary blogger. I share the secret recipes that I serve with my customers in Karen Davison – Dallas and Karen Davison – Plano restaurants. I also give away my tried and tested cooking tips to my followers on her website and social media.
These days I am actively working as a philanthropist partnering with top food banks in Texas to give back to my community.
What made you decide to become an entrepreneur?
There are so many reasons why I decided to take the risk of becoming an entrepreneur and opening my own restaurant. I love cooking, it’s my passion but working for someone else from 9-5 or beyond is not what I admire. I have seen my father working passionately building his own business and he always inspired me to never give up on his dreams no matter what.
One of the biggest reasons I became self-employed and invested my entire savings into opening my own restaurants is that I found it difficult and frankly unnatural for myself to follow instructions, working for someone else was simply not my piece of cake. I always had some great yet very risky recipes in mind that I wanted to try, and I knew it would be challenging to convince others of my passionate ideas and see the value of my dreams.
I love to discover new combinations or study the latest food trends. If I say I am a consummate learner, it won’t be wrong. I am always researching the nutritional value and health benefits of my innovative recipes apart from taste and presentation. So I believe entrepreneurship is what I am best suited for.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
For a successful entrepreneur, one needs to have the courage to face the consequences of their ideas and be ready to pay the price of running after their dreams. If you can’t take a risk, definitely a calculated one, you can never be a successful entrepreneur. One should have the ability to connect with their ideal customers, and the wisdom to do that at the right time. To become a successful entrepreneur, one has to have a growth mindset. If you can dream big, you can achieve bigger things.
You sound quite passionate about your work; why? Is there a story behind it?
I love food! I love to cook, I love to eat and I love to serve. I love everything about food. From a very young age, I was interested in food. I always helped my mother and grandmother with cooking. My love for the culinary arts made me stay close to the kitchen. I wanted to learn everything about it. My passion for cooking never dimmed, which led me to enroll at the Culinary School of Fort Worth, a nationally accredited culinary institution, and pursue my passion as my profession.
How do you separate Karen Davison’s restaurants from your competitors?
If I claim my restaurants were the first ones in Texas to include Kcals and the nutritional value of the recipes served, it won’t be wrong. Every fine dining pays much attention to ambiance, taste, and service but hardly any focus on the health and nutritional value of the food served. We offer our best sellers and chef’s special recipes in 2 forms, a low-calorie version for diet-conscious customers and normal calorie version for others. This is how we promote a healthy lifestyle in our customers and this is what makes KAREN DAVISON PLANO AND KAREN DAVISON DALLAS separate from their competitors.
What was the biggest problem you encountered launching your restaurants and how did you overcome it?
Handling financial matters was a massive challenge for me when I started my first restaurant till I hired Ross Darren as my business and finance consultant.
How do you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
Building a seamless process has helped me over time to easily stay motivated to keep going in my business along with cooking. When I started, I found it really hard to keep up with all of the hotel management, financial matters, inventories, and cooking. Building out a process has enabled me to stay on top of it. I have learned time management with experience. While trying to automate the process, I prefer to spread out the tasks between myself and my team.
What’s the best part of your job?
Cooking without a doubt! I still work in my restaurant kitchen on a regular basis and every Friday at either of the two restaurants I cook a chef’s special meal for our customers.
What is your definition of success?
Never giving up is a real success. Failure is part of every journey, but I believe you don’t fail when you fall, but you fail when you don’t get up and give up on your dreams.
Thank you so much for this truly amazing interview!
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