Staying Healthy and Fit with Chef Metisia Wooten

Metisia Wooten followed her passion when she began working in the field of health and wellness. WootenFitnezz, her fitness center, opened in 2010. Her goal was to have fun while staying healthy. Food, fun and safety always top Chef Metisia’s list of priorities. They are so important that she incorporated them into her business model. This helped to attract fitness enthusiasts who shared the same goal.

She found that fitness center clientele started asking many questions about healthier eating habits and food choices. As a result of the inquiries, Chef Wooten began providing cooking sessions to her clients and helping them with meal preparation. In order to enhance her expertise, she returned to college and earned a Culinary Arts Associates in Applied Science Degree from Lenoir Community College.

Fully Qualified

She is a Personal Certified Chef through the American Culinary Federation. The American Culinary Federation is self-described as the “premier professional chefs’ organization in North America.” The certification confirms her competency in menu planning, marketing, financial management and operational decision making.

Chef Metisia is ServSafe Manager and Proctor Certified. The ServSafe food and beverage training and certification program is administered by the U.S. National Restaurant Association. This certification is described as follows on the ServSafe website.

“The ServSafe Manager Certification verifies that a manager or person-in-charge has sufficient food safety knowledge to protect the public from foodborne illness. It is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) under the Conference for Food Protection Standards.”

As her fitness business grew, Chef Metisia expanded her service offerings by becoming a Personal Chef. She serves her customers with a variety of meal services. This includes cooking classes and meal preparation. She also serves up culinary experiences for clients who hire her to cater dinner parties and other events.

She enjoys working in a field that is satisfying professionally and personally. As a young girl, she loved watching her mother prepare meals. When she was nine years old, her mother gave her an opportunity to help. This opportunity sparked her interest in culinary arts.

Left Corporate America

Prior to starting her business, Chef Metisia worked in corporate America for over 23 years. She worked in the field of Information Technology as a Systems Engineer/Developer. She started WootenFitnezz, her health and wellness business, as a side hustle business. Chef Metisia continued to work full-time in her corporate job while growing the business. After several years, her passion and love for her business motivated her to “leap” into it full-time.

The leap has given families and individuals the support they need to liberate their palates and mind around food.

Gifts from Metisia

To get you started and to allow you to meet her, Chef Metisia has given each reader a gift. The link below will take you to Grocery Shopping on a Budget. This PDF shares links to recipes, meal plans and a 30-day Bounce Back Challenge. You also get links to follow the chef on your social media. Additionally, you can access several recipes to download and use immediately. Chef Metisia also has many other “good,” good specials to share with you.

I also want to invite you to listen to the Side Hustle Social Worker Podcast. We feature women entrepreneurs who maintain side hustle businesses while working full-time. Occasionally, we also speak with women who quit their nine to five to grow their side hustle into a full-time business.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Chef Metisia and you can hear her interview on the podcast. You will get to hear her voice and experience the enthusiasm she has for teaching how to prepare healthy, wholesome and “slap your mama” good food. The link to the podcast interview and to Chef Metisia’s gifts for you are below.