Today we’d like to introduce you to Chef Hoppie.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chef. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started baking when I was about 11years old. My Mother had a 7-up pound cake that was to die for, and when my dad left us she had to stop making it, due to picking up multiple jobs to make ends meet, but I just could not let the cake die off. So, on one of her off days, my mom taught me how to make the cake and that’s when it all began!
I would take the cake to church, football practice, school, anywhere I could to let people taste it. Next thing I knew, everybody started asking for different flavors of cakes, pies, cookies, and that pushed me to start my first business called The Doughboyz Houze of Pastriez. I have been in the culinary industry ever since.
I have worked anywhere from running an award-winning summer feeding program, cooking at AT&T stadium, and teaching at a culinary school called Young Chefs Academy all by the age of 16 to now being a celebrity chef to; NFL Hall of Famer, Deion Sanders, Dallas Cowboys WR Allen Hurns, all of the Dallas Cowboys Defense and more. I have been running my brand “Chef Hoppie” for about two years now and my food has been viewed across my social media over 1.5million times.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road for me has been everything but smooth, but I have always had the determination to make a Lemon Pound Cake out of the lemons God gave me.
That determination that I’m referring to was also a contribution to some of my struggles, When you want to be as successful as I did and still do, not only do you get ahead of yourself but you also get ahead of God, so he had to throw some speed bumps in my road to slow me down.
I think once people understand that when you understand; God’s clock, your purpose in life, and your passion THEN at that point is it time to attack. It’s kind of like a lion with his prey, he stalks it, maps out the prey’s moves, and baits it then attacks. Life is the same way!
Chef Hoppie – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My brand is known for creating food that will have you starving after you just ate when you see pictures or videos of it. A goal of mine is to change the view of the culinary industry, a lot of people around my age (I’m 21) think you can only make the millions of dollars from playing sports or the music industry and stuff of that nature, so I’m trying to show that as long as you have a plan and goal you can make that type of bread doing the things you love. Eventually, my goal is to be living the lifestyle of a rapper or athlete but from being a chef.
Also, A lot of people don’t classify the industry as a sport but if you look up the definition of sport, it is, especially with all of the competitive cooking shows and festivals. I’m working on teaming up with different brands to adding culinary in the mix to open doors for other chefs and more revenue.
I call myself the “PrimeTime of Culinary” because of how my mentor, Deion “PrimeTime” Sanders, changed football for his position and the overall game and I’m trying to do the same for my industry. This is something that sets me apart from others, a lot of people look out for themselves when it comes time for success and money but I’m looking out for the future chefs and dreamers out there who don’t think something like this is possible or even exists.
I think the thing I am most proud of is how I am letting God use me as a light and for him letting me do what I love while doing it. I am glad that I get to be an inspiration to the people around me and other people who are watching me from afar, across the country.
Chef Hoppie as a brand has made me proud not only because of how far it has come but because of how many people young and old that I am able to inspire and motivate to pursue their dreams and realize God’s purpose for their life. Another one of my mentors, George Hegamin, says to be “Purpose Driven,” which I am and inspire others to be!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I think there’s a tie so far for my proudest moments.
The first one is partnering with a group from my high school, called Project Downtown. This is a group of millennials who gather gently used clothes, toiletries, and other necessities for the homeless. We pack all of that up and I cook a nice hot meal and we go bless the less fortunate, It has always been in my heart to help others and this has inspired me to work on launching my own nonprofit, called Hoppie’s Helping Hand.
My second moment would have to be the recognition my food gets and has gotten, just from going to one of the Cowboys game and seeing that majority of the team knows how I am, to walking through the mall and having people stop me because of them noticing “that famous chef from twitter.” I take pride in my food so to see that my work isn’t going unrecognized is inspiring and motivating.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 8174482435
- Email: chefhoppie@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/manwellhoppie
- Twitter: twitter.com/manwellhoppie
Image Credit:
Angie Paola
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
