Today we’d like to introduce you to Hadassah Patterson.
Hi Hadassah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I do many things. I’m an actress, chef, writer, filmmaker, and model; my story has many twists and turns. I spent my formative years in kitchens. My parents were food, creative and technical people. We volunteered with the community and organizational kitchens while working on regular daily obligations, and my father worked massive food expediting jobs at convention centers. I got the best of both worlds while they immersed us in their passions and exposed us to new things and people worldwide.
When they needed an extra hand, we joined mom on the prep and service sides. My mother was a botany lab technician, and her mother was a private chef for a local university chancellor prior to the tumultuous Civil Rights era. My father worked in zoology, at one point owned a community store, and was also a master tailor. His people were tailors and hospitality folks, working multiple jobs to become the BIPOC middle class, as that shoulder generation so often did. Our Afro-Indigenous heritage is a thread woven throughout our existence and permeates every pore of my philosophical belief.
I’ve been a professional writer and journalist for 12 years, concurrently crafting my chef/brand ambassador work and diving headfirst into social ills, social justice, food sovereignty, solutions journalism, and interviewing thought leaders building equitable systems. I’ve worked all over the Triangle area cooking, and writing. I’ve been flown out to various states and traveled up and down the coast. My journalism career has grown to national coverage of specific social/cultural subjects. I get tremendous satisfaction from learning and sharing our human stories honorably. We have so much to learn from one another and history.
Before culinary school, I worked in banking operations and bookkeeping for a minority-run bank. At one point, I also served as a vault teller, marketing assistant, technical writer, and as C-suite level customer service rep. These experiences helped me well as my understanding of hospitality management combined with all of this training. I’ve served as a hospitality director in non-profits and have run my businesses for the last 8 years in some form. Most recently, my company served the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, a luncheon for its National American Indian Heritage Month Observance.
Alright, 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 most obvious challenge to others is doing all of this as a deaf adult. I am what we call Late Deaf or Recent Deaf. Meaning I became deaf after living as a hearing person. So, I use English, but American Sign Language is learned for me. I first experienced hearing difficulty as a teen. So this affected my entire adult life.
The larger challenge is continuing to grow and flourish in environments that can sometimes be hostile to women, people of color, and anyone with an ability divergence. It’s not just one thing that I’ve overcome. It’s my life as we know it, every day, facing fears and living my life to the full anyway. I don’t think about it that much anymore. I wake up determined to reach my goals every day. Being Deaf was finally a relief. The consistent, persistent, and determined challenge of self-awareness, self-acceptance, and living my life on my terms defines me. Pushing beyond my comfort zone at strategic points has helped me live out loud.
Also, having Indigenous background can put one in a gray area that people are unaware of. They don’t really “see” indigeneity. People are so used to ascribing Indigenous identity to some other background, and erasure is rampant. In recent years, I’ve been more concerned about raising recognition of our complex contributions to the Southern cannon of food and the American culinary consciousness from where I am.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m turning a newer leaf lately and have launched a new brand – Well Leaf Services – which folds my private chef/event work, food historian, food styling, and multimedia experience into one umbrella. I’m working on a few projects in front of and behind the camera and enjoying it. On the acting side, I was recently in a Lifetime movie. Talent One Agency handles my acting work.
Filmmaking is another form of storytelling and the next logical progression in my growth as a creator. It’s not super-new for me. I worked with national brands during the pandemic – to do internal videos and craft food videos and content as a celebrity chef who also signs. I’ve done TV, musical theater, and commercial acting work. It’s great. The musical we did recently produced a music video as an accompaniment, and I worked on the production side. It’s won multiple film festival awards – London International Short Film Festival, Las Vegas International Film and Screen Writing, and Utah Film Festival awards.
The world needs to smile more! My goal now is to continue with visual work and food education and help people benefit their well-being and entertain folks. Hopefully, I will also honor my ancestral heritage in this process and pass on valuable knowledge to those who will cherish it.
Let’s end by discussing what matters most to you and why.
I am passionate about positively impacting the lives of people I touch in whatever way possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wellleafchef.square.site
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hadassahpatterson/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HadassahPatterson
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13819775/
Image Credits
Braided Hair Crown in White Chef Jacket with mic- photo outside was “Courtesy of Hormel Foods” Airborne award photo “Courtesy of 82nd Airborne” All others courtesy Hadassah Patterson
