#cmchs

✨🎓 2 Degrees, 1 Day 🎓✨

For February’s #CMTOUCH talk, we’ve partnered with Louise Rakers of Nordic Cooking. We chatted with Louise to learn a little about her talk this month at Frothy Beard Brewing. 

1. What do you love most about what you do?

Creating new recipes and cooking. Oh I love cooking so much! On top of that I love surprising my clients with powerful flavors and a beautiful set up. I always go for the wow effect and really love to show Charleston that plant based food can be healthy, stunning and insanely tasty.

2. What inspired you and how did you become involved in your current career(s)?

I struggled with my gut all through my early 20s. A parasite infection and severe burnout from my job in social services caused me to travel to Thailand to do a detox retreat in Chiang Mai. It changed my life completely and I started learning about the plant based cuisine and herbal medicine. I also learned in the same go, that I was celiac. My love for bread and cake made me work hard to figure out how to bake without gluten and make delicious and beautiful creations. I still try to learn as much as I can by traveling and working with other chefs. Life is all about learning and learning never stops. My chef skills are constantly developing and I cannot get enough of it.

3. How do you start your day?

Morning snuggles with my baby and water with greens powder. The day starts early at our house. I have never been a breakfast person, so most mornings I have an oat latte from the Dime during my morning walk with the baby. Then around 9/10 am I have a smoothie.

4. Tell us about your proudest moment or accomplishment.

One of my proudest moments in my career so far has been an invitation to be featured at Opening Night at the Charleston Wine and Food Festival this year. It is an honor to help represent Charleston in a fully plant based and gluten free way.

But my overall best accomplishments are at the dinner events, cooking classes, weddings where we feed guests that don’t like vegan food and they tell me “if I could eat like this every day, I could be vegan”. That makes me proud of my work.

5. Do you have a hidden talent?

       Definitely an excellent karaoke singer if you ask me! Others might disagree.

6. Who or what gives you creative inspiration?

I always feel like traveling gives me fresh inspiration to create and dream of new recipes and ideas. My best work has always been after a trip somewhere and I feel like the change in culture and food helps keep me inspired.

7. Coffee fuels our morning events. If you’re a coffee drinker, what’s your go-to order?

       I love a good latte, counter culture beans are my favorite actually, with oat milk or homemade cashew milk.

8. What is your favorite place in Charleston?

       I have many places I adore, but I truly love Sorghum and Salt. I appreciate their use of vegetables and always feel inspired after having their vegan tasting menu. For a good glass of wine I recommend Graft or Blum if you want to find good organic wines. Neon tiger has amazing cocktails and if Mabel Maes Bakery had a shop I would camp right outside.

9. How do you unwind or de-stress?

       Might sound cliche, but I cook my way out of it. Being a brand new mom came with a lot of new stress and sleep deprivation. Cooking and journaling my recipes during postpartum was my favorite way to relax and feel connected to myself.

Rapid Fire:

morning person or night owl?

Morning Person

Summer or winter?

Summer (spring really)  

Mountains or beach?

Mountains

Pancakes or waffles?

Waffles

Fiction or non-fiction?

We took a walk with our June speaker, Trey Jameson, and found out a little bit about what makes him tick. Here is a glimpse into his life...

What do you love most about what you do?

The connection with my clients. It is more than helping others. It is impacting entrepreneurs and their lives by being a constant resource, motivator, and person to lean on.

How did you get into your field of work? Did you always know you were going to be a lawyer?

Since I was five I wanted to be a lawyer and professor. And I could not tell you why. The passion for what I do came when I clerked for the Supreme Court of Uganda. I stumbled upon “bootleg” dvds and was curious as to why there were no extraterritorial laws to protect our artists. And that started my journey into intellectual property law.  I am extremely passionate about protecting artists and their creations.

How do you start your day?

For 30 minutes, I get online and read ESPN, Facebook, then Inc.com or Entrepreneur.com for five inspiring posts. Then I check my emails to wrap my mind around the work day.

Tell us about your proudest moment or accomplishment.

My artist pro-bono program is my most rewarding work. I mentor a deserving creative in the community for six months to establish a profitable business with appropriate IP protection and serve as a business advisor once legal work is done, with no charge for legal fees. I believe your biggest imprint is being a part of the community, not the size of your wallet.

Do you have a hidden talent?

So hidden, I am not aware of it!

Who or what gives you creative inspiration?

Reading. I read business and self-help books to get my brain going. It is amazing how while reading, my mind wanders and drifts and I start having all types of new ideas that I journal. I sometimes do not remember the book, but definitely the lessons via my ideas and thoughts.

What's your go-to coffee order?

Iced coffee. Black. Nothing it it. No, not cream. No, not sugar. Black.

What is your favorite place in Charleston?

I have a hidden spot that I will never tell its location. Have to save something for a local!

How do you unwind or destress?

Riding through the “country” on the coast or wetlands.

RAPID FIRE ROUND:

morning person or night owl? Both!

summer or winter? summer

mountains or beach? Beach, though the mountains in the PacWest are a close #2.

pancakes or waffles? Neither

fiction or non-fiction? Non-fiction