Meet successful young entrepreneur and private chef, Elia Donati. With a passion for combining Italian heritage with his experiences in Australia, Elia has honed his skills to perfection and his love for food and entertaining is evident in every event he
and his team put together.
Below we sat down with Elia to learn a little more about his journey.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
My family. They gave me all the love you could possibly imagine in the world, and also showed me how to be independent, a leader, not to be scared of making mistakes, and to pursue my goals. They showed me that you can be worthy of owning a company, of making money and that that is okay when you do so serving your customer to the best of your abilities by making sure they get more than they paid for.
Why did you choose Australia to evolve your culinary talents?
I came to Australia because it’s an English speaking country, and because it was so far and so appealing to us in Italy for the differences in nature and what it has to offer that I thought it may be a good match for a year. When I arrived with very little English and 0 connections, I was here to learn English and experience Australia, but as you can tell, 9 years later I am still here as a citizen, because I fell in love with this country and all it has to offer and its people. I believe it is the best place in the world for me.
In one sentence, what’s the best advice you’d give to someone just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey?
The best advice is to start. And to stay strong through the pits and rough patches. Be prepared to jump on a rollercoaster. Be you, and if you don’t know you very well, discover it and let it shine. Even if you aren’t inventing anything new, what you are doing, you are doing with your own twist to it, and that is what makes you different from everyone else.
If you were to write a book about yourself, what would you name it and why?
I would name it Learn To Trust Yourself And Why, because it has been an amazing experience to be in business and the best decisions I have ever made were the ones I came up with and the mistakes I made I was able to understand because I was able to go back to my chain of thoughts and fix what I did wrong, reprogram my brain, re-motivate myself, lift my chin up and kept going. They say trust your gut, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.
What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made?
Investing in myself, learning makes you earn. Mentors, trainers, coaches, meditation techniques, mindfulness, mindset, all the things they don’t teach you in school. I am eternally a student, if I stop learning I stop evolving. I can’t think of a better investment.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
I have had many, but the most satisfying moment is everytime I finish cooking and our customers come to me for a chat and tell me the best and most powerful compliments you can ever hear. That for me is everything, when my customer is happy and gives me such compliments and my staff is too because we worked but we had fun, that for me is the meaning of fulfilment. Not to mention all the entertainers that never had a chance to play or do their thing but finally had a chance thanks to my business.
If someone was to create a TV show about you, what would it be about and what would it be called?
It would be about and called: Home Food Cooked To Perfection.
I like to describe my style of cooking: rustic fine dining. I am in love with the quality of the ingredients, I always over buy when I go to the local markets to source food for my customers. So I would love to transmit the passion of cooking great meals at home and make it a moment to share this with your family. Make it count every time, make everyone involved, gather your people around you by cooking great food together, this is the essence of food, you have to be able to share it with your people and you have to be present in the moment to capture every single emotion that comes with it.
To book your own private chef experience, click here to have Elia and his team create an unforgettable meal for you and your loved ones.
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