Today we’d like to introduce you to Demeatrie Funderburk.
Hi Demeatrie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started my business a little over five years ago out of the necessity in my life to build a table and expand the footprint. By that, I mean I had gotten to a point where I was tired of being overlooked and underrepresented in a career field that I had spent over a decade in. I wanted to create my own food. I wanted to give people the type of experiences that I had the privy to with my upbringing in Europe and I wanted to further show that food is a connector without people recognizing it. As a black food professional, you are often expected to fit a particular narrative that I never fit and that does not apply to most of us. Being a military brat and Veteran, I have had the honor of living in various countries and cities. That put me into contact with so many different people, cultures and flavors that I felt the need to be recognized and highlighted. I try to do that with every item I utilize, with every dish I create and every menu I write. It is meant to be a production because the best food is created out of some sort of drama that people tend to act like doesn’t exist. I like to bring that to the forefront and show how it ties into the base element of all of us.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Being an entrepreneur, especially in the culinary & hospitality industry, is not easy by any means. It is even more difficult being a woman of color and more importantly a black woman. There are preconceived notions and stereotypes that get attached to what we do and what we can and do provide that sometimes alters how people communicate on a base level. It also makes it incredibly harder to get funding or even “to be seen” when there is a particular expectation or again, perception. I have had to tether the line with being authentic and true to my culinary voice and purpose while also jumping over the red line. However, that doesn’t meant that I do not do it. There were many instances that I was incredibly discouraged and considered walking away. The thing about purpose though is that you will always find your way back and when you do, you have to dig into your core to find out why you are there and why you know you are meant to be there.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I own a small business named The Starving Gypsy that provides private chef services on the micro to mini-event level. It is named as such because I am one that considers herself to be “starving” for connection in a world that I have traveled that never feels like home. It makes me feel like a gypsy in the respect that I borrow from the world around me to ticker tape my existence together. At the core, the main focus of my business is to facilitate acceptance, understanding and camaraderie through food that is something I consider to be the ultimate binder. I use the events I plan as a foundation for not only creating grand memories but a way to introduce people to others from portions of the world that they may have never thought about or seen, that they have so many commonalities. I also teach cooking classes that are very sustainability and worldview-focused. I lost my father very swiftly and abruptly to stomach Cancer last year. In the grieving process (that I’m still experiencing), I felt one of the things necessary in my healing was to find other ways to carry on his legacy. I have been doing that by committing myself to giving people the knowledge I have gained about humanity, spirit and resilience through the education of food.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I would say the main supporters of what I do would be my parents. I am an only child that grew up with parents who let me express myself as creatively possible. This was something I didn’t recognize until later in my adulthood. My mother has always been the cheerleader and had way more faith in my outlandish ideas (still does) than I ever could. My father gave me drive, stability and tenacity. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of the things I have if they both didn’t put a battery in my back when I felt out of juice.
Contact Info:
- Email: chefdemeatrie@thestarvinggypsy.net
- Website: www.thestarvinggypsy.net
- Instagram: @thestarvinggypsy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thestarvinggypsy
- Other: https://faradayskitchenstore.com/pages/cooking-classes-in-austin
Image Credits
Rachel Noble
Demeatrie Funderburk
