Former Restaurant Chef Makes Surprising Career Pivot to Work in Sorority House (Exclusive)

As a edifice chef, Kevin Ashton was utilized to cooking for crowds, but nowadays, his clientele looks a small different.

Ashton is simply a cook for nan Pi Beta Phi section astatine nan University of Nevada, Reno, cooking for astir 30 sorority girls each week. Ashton tells PEOPLE he prepares 9 meals each week, 4 dinners and 5 lunches, 1 of which is usually a large brunch dispersed for nan girls connected Fridays.

"I person a budget, and I break it down for those 9 meals and spell shopping. I shop each day, because it's easier for me, because each repast is truthful different," Ashton tells PEOPLE.

"Every greeting connected my measurement to work, I stop, prime up nan ingredients I need, and I spell successful and I navigator nutrient and I do my videos, and nan adjacent day, we conscionable commencement from caller again, extremity astatine nan store, prime up everything I need."

While Ashton prefers to do his shopping nan time of, he has to scheme his regular paper successful advance, giving nan girls a chance to springiness him feedback. They besides person nan action of choosing an replacement meal, for illustration a burger aliases a salad, if they don't for illustration what's connected nan paper that day.

"There's ever thing to eat," he says, noting that he has travel to study which meals are hits successful nan location and which ones group thin to skip.

"After a mates of weeks, I started to study that personification skips spicy nutrient aliases loves salads and ne'er eats meat. It helps maine constitute nan paper much geared towards everybody," he says. "I salary attraction to them." 

Ashton moreover has a proposal container for nan girls successful nan house, ensuring that he is catering to their sensation buds. However, astir of his meals are crowd favorites and group thin to petition dishes that he's already made for them successful nan past. 

Before moving successful nan sorority, Ashton was a edifice cook for complete 3 decades, moving astatine an Italian edifice for 20 years. Before that, he worked astatine a brewery, a butcher shop, and a steakhouse.

However, erstwhile nan COVID-19 pandemic deed and restaurants closed, Ashton was forced to return a measurement back. With edifice kitchens unopen down, he began making videos cooking astatine home, mounting his schedule and making immoderate sounded bully that day.

When things reopened and he was asked to travel backmost to nan restaurant, he decided to retire, but kept creating cooking contented while reasoning astir nan adjacent section of his life. 

It was past that an alumnus of nan University of Nevada, Reno saw 1 of his videos and reached out, asking Ashton if he would beryllium willing successful moving arsenic a sorority location chef.

While it was a large departure from his erstwhile jobs, he liked having imaginative power complete nan paper and that he would get vacation and summertime breaks erstwhile nan students weren't successful session. 

So, he agreed to effort it retired for a semester. That was 4 years ago.

The occupation besides opened him up to a caller world of contented creation, arsenic he shares videos showing his play meals. Ashton, who now has astir 5 cardinal followers, seemingly ever has thing caller up his sleeve — from caller food to fried chickenhearted and pasta bakes.

Not only does Ashton emotion his job, but he besides loves nan fun, ever-changing environment.

"These girls are truthful amazing, and they're inspirational, and they do a batch of philanthropy. They're ever giving back, and they ever do fundraising events," he says. "They've done a batch of fundraising events wherever I get to navigator thing aliases thief retired successful 1 measurement aliases another. I'm really impressed pinch really they springiness backmost to nan full community." 

Ashton felt nan girls' warmth and support firsthand erstwhile he was diagnosed pinch cancer. He says nan girls and nan assemblage stepped up erstwhile he needed them most, allowing him to return other days disconnected to get nan attraction he needed. Now, he hopes to return attraction of them nan measurement they took attraction of him. 

Ashton ne'er imagined nan trajectory of his career, but ever knew it would halfway connected making nutrient for others. When he was a small kid, Ashton jokes that he "was wrong playing pinch Tupperware" erstwhile different kids were extracurricular pinch Tonka Trucks. 

"I would make my imaginary room and I would play pinch it. I'd service my imaginary customers successful my imaginary restaurant," he says. "I had nary thought that this would go my life's passion. That's wherever it each started." 

Through his videos connected his TikTok and Instagram channels, Ashton hopes to animate others. 

"I ever show people, there's nary rules successful cooking, truthful there's not really immoderate mistakes. You can't say, 'Oh, I screwed up.' According to what book did you screw up?" he adds. "There are nary rules. That's what makes nutrient truthful fun. We tin do immoderate we want pinch it."