Self-taught Montreal-based chef and entrepreneur Marissa Leon-John is best known today as a MasterChef Canada<\/em> alum, private chef and founder of Elle Jay\u2019s private dining and Fairy Dust spice blends. But for most of her life, she never pictured herself working in foodservice at all. \u201cI love to eat,\u201d she says, \u201cand I grew up in a family full of folks who were great cooks.\u201d Some of her core childhood memories are of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, sneaking into the kitchen for bites from her grandmother or aunts \u201cwho were whipping up the most delicious foods for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Food, for Leon-John, was how people showed love and told stories. \u201cI\u2019ve had a deep connection with food as a way of showing love and togetherness and connection,\u201d she says. She also grew up with a very different model of kitchen leadership than the stereotypical screaming chef. \u201cI literally grew up in homes where it was Black women running the show. And everyone was asking them for all the tips and the tricks, so that\u2019s what I bring to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For years though, nothing about her resum\u00e9 pointed to a future in the foodservice industry. \u201cI worked for the Bank of Montreal for five years. I worked for Stingray Music for five years. Before that I was an army reservist,\u201d she says. \u201cThere was no way to have predicted I would end up here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the music company where she worked, staff often brought food to share. At the end of each potluck, Leon-John noticed a pattern. \u201cMy dishes were always empty\u2014mine and one other colleague\u2019s in particular,\u201d she says. \u201cMy colleague was obsessed with MasterChef<\/em> but didn\u2019t want to apply alone and asked me to go with her. So, we did that and I got on the show. And really, it was a fluke that took off from there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leon-John admits she went in cold. \u201cI hadn\u2019t watched the show before. I went in with zero expectations, and not much fear,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was just like a kind of cool adventure that I was about to take\u2026 and it went really well. I work well under pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back in Montreal, there were about eight months between filming and airing. She couldn\u2019t reveal where she\u2019d been, but she knew she didn\u2019t want to go back to being just the person who brought the best dish to the office party. \u201cI found myself chasing the dragon,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted to feel that. I wanted to feed people. I had a few friends who took a chance on me. I cooked for their dinner parties and birthdays, and it kind of just snowballed from there. There have been a few bumps along the way, but it\u2019s been really good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The decision to walk away from a secure nine-to-five was one of those bumps. \u201cIt was a really, really tough decision because I was very comfortable,\u201d Leon-John acknowledges. \u201cI liked my job a lot and it was stable. It was secure. I had a great paycheck every two weeks. There was nothing wrong with it minus the excitement\u2014I wasn\u2019t passionate about what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She took time to reflect and talked it through with her parents, and their initial skepticism fuelled her resolve. \u201cThey thought I was crazy,\u201d she says, laughing. \u201cAs the firstborn daughter, I just had to just carve my own path. I decided to jump in with both feet and go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leon-John\u2019s successful private dining and events brand, Elle Jay\u2019s, grew directly out of those first post-show bookings. \u201cElle Jay\u2019s was definitely born from my experience on MasterChef<\/em> and going into people\u2019s homes or doing corporate events and cooking for people,\u201d she says, but despite her courage, she was not immune to self-doubt. \u201cI didn\u2019t go to culinary school, nor did I come up in restaurants,\u201d she says. \u201cI was on a reality cooking competition as a home cook. And I still see myself as a very, very good home cook who gets thrown into chef-like experiences. I do not feel like an imposter. I know that I can show up in pretty much any kitchen and hold my own. I\u2019m happy to learn from those seasoned chefs and they learn things from me, like how to be chill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like most entrepreneurs, Leon-John has endured swings in both opportunity and fortune. \u201cCovid was a disaster,\u201d she says. \u201cI was just starting to feel established and like, I was booking clients six months in advance and then, all of a sudden, we\u2019re not allowed to leave our homes. Then, there was a devastating fire and I lost everything. I had folks who stepped in to scoop me up. People found a reason to book me because they wanted to help me get back on my feet. I got to see what kind of community I built through my brand, through being myself, through being genuine. We\u2019re not quite there yet, but we\u2019re getting closer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n During Covid, she joined a food business incubator with DESTA, a Montreal-based non-profit serving the Black community, focusing on education, employability and entrepreneurship. \u201cOver the course of eight or nine months I went through kind of like entrepreneurial foodservice boot camp,\u201d she says. \u201cI gained tons of knowledge on marketing, finance\u2014the business side of it. Not just the fun stuff, but how to balance the books and build a brand strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end, participants had to pitch something: a product, a service, an idea. For Leon-John, that something was a seasoning she\u2019d long used at home. \u201cI\u2019d always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to do spice blends, because I love to barbecue,\u201d she says. \u201cI just had this one signature blend that I\u2019d throw on everything, and folks really loved it. So, I got myself jars and one of my friends, who\u2019s a graphic designer, helped me out with my labels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her spice blend, Fairy Dust, was well-received, leading to a pop-up at Montreal\u2019s Jean Talon Market. \u201cBy chance, an influential person just happened to taste it. He reached out to a partner and invested in the spice blend, and gave me an opportunity to actually scale up and go from a prototype to the real deal. So, we officially launched Fairy Dust a few years ago with two blends. \u201cThey\u2019re both good,\u201d she laughs. \u201cSweet Heat is more for summertime bold, and Smokey is for anytime, anywhere and anyplace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In spite of all her success, Leon-John is clear-eyed on the structural and invisible barriers facing Black women in hospitality. \u201cWe\u2019re so undervalued,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s wild to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re often put in a takeout box, similar to Chinese food and Thai food, and we get takeout box pricing. People have this notion of what we\u2019re worth, yet when I look at our recipes\u2014not just mine, but most ethnic recipes\u2014the amount of expertise, skill and ingredients that go into a single dish make it cost so much. And folks don\u2019t want to pay for it.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n She often thinks about the reception Caribbean restaurants, recipes, and leaders get, reflecting on her own heritage and influences. \u201cWe\u2019re often put in a takeout box, similar to Chinese food and Thai food,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnd we get takeout box pricing. People have this notion of what we\u2019re worth, yet when I look at our recipes\u2014not just mine, but most ethnic recipes\u2014the amount of expertise, skill and ingredients that go into a single dish make it cost so much. And folks don\u2019t want to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That external devaluation can quickly become internal. \u201cThere was a time when I was selling myself short,\u201d she says. \u201cI was very quick to lower my rates if someone said, \u2018Oh, this is a bit too much,\u2019 rather than saying, \u2018No, I\u2019m going to find somebody else who I know can afford me or who sees my worth and values the work that I do.\u2019 I was very quick to shrink myself when I first started out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I understand that I\u2019m worth more. And for every person who says no to my rate there\u2019s someone else who\u2019s willing to pay double. It\u2019s just about finding that person and trusting and believing they\u2019re out there.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Experience and eight years in business have changed that. \u201cI\u2019m not willing to shrink myself anymore,\u201d she says, noting that her business model includes lower rates for non-profits but charges market rates overall. \u201cI\u2019m willing to make bargains with some folks, but if it\u2019s just someone who wants to undervalue me, I\u2019m out. I\u2019m on to the next. That might hurt the bottom line at the end of the month, but I\u2019m staying true to myself, and I understand that I\u2019m worth more. And for every person who says no to my rate, there\u2019s someone else who\u2019s willing to pay double. It\u2019s just about finding that person and trusting and believing they\u2019re out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other side of the kitchen, Leon-John believes that change needs to come from within communities, too. \u201cWe dumb down our own food,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s tons of pride\u2014tons of pride\u2014in the food, but sometimes we\u2019re undervaluing ourselves. So, let\u2019s just, like, kick it up a notch. When we are the ones setting the price and willing to pay that price, other people will as well. Valuing our food starts with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re willing to go to an Italian restaurant and pay for oxtail ragu. Well, when I put it on your plate, you\u2019re going to pay the same. I don\u2019t want to hear about it.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n When clients challenge her pricing, she doesn\u2019t hesitate to point out double standards. \u201cYou\u2019re willing to go to an Italian restaurant and pay for oxtail ragu. Well, when I put it on your plate, you\u2019re going to pay the same. I don\u2019t want to hear about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Leon-John mentors other entrepreneurs through DESTA\u2019s incubator\u2014many of them Black women and queer chefs navigating the same fears she\u2019s faced. Her mantra is simple, and she laughs at its clich\u00e9: \u201cYou miss a hundred percent of the shots you don\u2019t take. It\u2019s wild because I\u2019ve shot for things that I thought were so far out of my league,\u201d she says. \u201cThinking, \u2018There\u2019s no way anyone\u2019s going to say yes to me\u2014I have no experience.\u2019 And then they say yes, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When she looks at the mentees who thrive, she notes a pattern in the winner\u2019s circle. \u201cIt\u2019s the folks who are willing to be afraid, and then do the thing anyway,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s like the common thread and it\u2019s something that I often push. The folks who are willing to really sit with that fear and carry that fear with them and keep moving forward have the greatest success. The ones who kind of get stuck in the fear and try to inch their way forward are really holding themselves back because they don\u2019t truly believe that they can do it. That\u2019s why they ultimately don\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The multi-hyphenate notes that, while fear of failure is universal, she\u2019s noticing a new layer with younger entrepreneurs. \u201cSocial media adds another dimension of doubt and vulnerability. They\u2019re afraid of saying the wrong thing, and they\u2019re worried about whether or not people are going to like them.\u201d As a mentor, her advice transcends generations. \u201cThere will always be people who don\u2019t like you, but it\u2019s the people who do that count. You\u2019re doing it for the people who love you and support you and want to see you win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From mentorship to private dinners, Leon-John resists the pressure to retreat to a persona. \u201cOne thing I take a lot of pride in is that I\u2019m unapologetically myself. What you see is what you get, all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That matters in a business built on entering people\u2019s homes. Some clients may expect a quiet, invisible presence in the kitchen, but Leon-John has different ideas. \u201cSome folks have hired me, and it\u2019s a rough statement to make, but they\u2019ve hired me believing that they were hiring the help,\u201d she says. \u201cThat is not my brand, and that is not how I hold space. That is not how I take up space. So, some people are not ready for my presence in their<\/em> space. I suppose I am putting on a sort of show when I\u2019m cooking in your home for you and your guests, but at the end of the day, we\u2019re gonna hang out. You\u2019ve invited me to share something beautiful with you and your loved ones. There\u2019s no acting there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, she admits she\u2019s careful about how much she shares publicly. Early on, she wrestled with her image and even tried copying successful models she saw in the industry, but it didn\u2019t fit. \u201cI don\u2019t want to replicate what they\u2019re doing because it just doesn\u2019t vibe with me,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to be anyone else. So, I figured, why not just keep being me. I want people to know my essence without knowing every detail of my existence,\u201d she says. \u201cFinding that balance has been fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For all the headwinds Black women face in hospitality and beyond, Leon-John is clear: there is room to flourish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re in interesting times right now,\u201d she asserts. \u201cIt\u2019s like the climate is shifting in a way where it seems like we don\u2019t want women to succeed anymore\u2014like it\u2019s almost reverting back to old ways. But I\u2019m not buying it\u2014I\u2019m just not buying it. We\u2019ve just got to keep it moving. What excites me is seeing all of the young, up-and-coming talent who aren\u2019t even paying any mind to this \u2018overcorrection.\u2019 I\u2019m talking about Black women. I\u2019m talking about queer chefs. All those people they\u2019re trying to silence and shut down are screaming louder, and I\u2019m so here for it. I\u2019m happy to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If she could go back and talk to her younger self\u2014or to any Black woman considering a leap into foodservice, entrepreneurship or leadership\u2014her message would be simple. \u201cJust go for it. Even if it\u2019s scary, hard or uncomfortable, just do it. You\u2019ll feel worse if you don\u2019t do it. And, even if you do it and it doesn\u2019t go well, you still did it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have confidence in what your work and talent are worth, and don\u2019t downplay, discount, or diminish yourself just to make other people comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Show up as your true self\u2014values, voice, and all\u2014without editing who you are to fit other people\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Leon-John, success comes from walking through the fear to reach your full potential.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9952,"template":"","menu_author":[471],"menu-category":[491],"menu-tag":[487,490],"class_list":["post-9951","menu","type-menu","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","menu_author-menu-magazine","menu-category-leadership","menu-tag-chef","menu-tag-women-in-leadership"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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\n\n\n\n3 Pieces of Advice<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
1. Don\u2019t shrink your value.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2. Be unapologetically yourself.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. Feel the fear\u2014and do it anyway.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n