The celebrated chef, humanitarian, philanthropist, and activist bringing cultura and lifting others up wherever she goes.
Q. What is your favorite part of being Latina?
A. Everything! The food, the culture, how much we love life. I have always been very proud of being Latina. I grew up in Venezuela at a different time — before the current dictatorship — and we were very proud of being Venezuelan. My grandfather was in the military; he was a general in the Venezuelan Air Force. I grew up literally channeling the Hercules — a military transport aircraft — back and forth between Venezuela and the U.S. My mom was always clear on who we were. She would say, in this household we speak Spanish and we’re proud of who we are. There was never any shame in being Latinos. Once I was back in Miami — I was actually born in Miami but was primarily raised in Venezuela — I spent the first chunk of my career working at MTV Latin America. I was surrounded by very powerful Latino leaders and pioneers. It’s not that I’m oblivious to the systemic racism that exists in this country — it is real, and I face it every day — but we have everything to be proud of. There’s nothing about our culture I don’t celebrate.
Q. Tell us about a time you were underestimated.
A. All the time. Every single day. My life is like walking around the Everglades. I never know if there’s a snake that’s going to bite me. It’s like walking through mud, it’s heavy. But I have walked through it gracefully. I trust the process, the universe, and my work ethic. I fall and I get back up. Sometimes, it takes me a minute to get back up. Other times, I don’t have the strength to get up. Sometimes, I have to say I need a minute because this one hurt me, or I need a minute because it’s so unfair, or I need a minute to process. But I do get back up.
Q. What is your superpower?
A. My ability to give back. I find strength in helping others and giving back to my community because that’s bigger than me. If it was just about me, I would not have the strength. It’d be too hard to do everything I do out of ego of my own self. Everything I do is for a higher purpose, and the mission is always bigger than me.
Q. What is your go-to recipe when you’re in a hurry?
A. Arepas. They give me so much joy and comfort. And they remind me of my family, my team, and my grandmother. There’s nothing like an arepa.
Q. You’re a well-known chef, and you use your platform to support several vital causes in the community. Tell us about the journey to where you are now.
A. That is the beautiful thing about this moment in my career: I get to use my voice and platform to lift people up. The journey has not been easy at all. People look at my Instagram, and say you’re so lucky. I had to create an Instagram persona that separates me a little, because my journey has been painful. I’ve lived a life marked by a lot of losses where I am constantly reminded of my mortality. My father passed away when I was one. I lost my cousin when I was 20. I lost my best friend and my grandmother. It’s made me humble. It’s given me a lot of strength. I don’t take anything for granted. But it also means I’ve had to work very hard, and I hope generations that come after me don’t have to go through so much, because it shouldn’t be like that. Despite the hardships, I made a conscious decision not to be a victim.
Q. What do you mean by that?
A.As a Latina, I grew up with a victim mentality. There came a point where I had to make a switch. I decided I am no longer a victim of my life. I am instead a creator of my reality. When I interviewed Jennifer Lopez she said, “You’re just like me. We’re two Latina girls. I’m a girl from the Bronx who decided to work hard and not let the stereotypes get to me. You keep working hard enough, and something will happen. Don’t let people put you in a box. Believe in yourself more than anybody believes in you.” Her words really resonated. She said, “You are the new American Girl; we are the new American Girls.” I later lost my grandmother, who was my North Star, and it was like I had lost my purpose. My dream was for her to see her recipes in my cookbook, to turn on the TV in Venezuela and see me, and that’s when I turned to giving back to the community and leaned into who I am.
Q. Grace, you truly started at the bottom of the ladder- what do you remember about those days?
A. I was 18 years old; it was a complicated time in Venezuela. My mom said to me, “I have nothing to give you, but you have an American passport. Your uncle lives in Miami. Go sleep on his couch and make it work.” And that’s precisely what I did. I slept on his couch — which was complicated because he was an addict — and I went to Miami Dade Community College. I worked at Dadeland Mall; I took the bus. I reconnected with one of my aunts who helped me get a job as a production assistant at Nickelodeon when I was 19. I bought a car without AC in Miami to go roundtrip from Kendall to Miami Beach. I did that for years with no plan B. I think there’s something powerful about that. When you have to make it work, you do. All I had was my work ethic and my reputation. And I worked my way up going from associate producer, to producer, to director. Then I transferred to New York. Figuring out how to live here was very overwhelming. I got a job at MTV. I was the first hire to launch the channel MTV 3 for Hispanics in the U.S. I was a supervising producer for artists. I feel lucky that I could contribute and be challenged with producing high-quality, interactive shows at such a young age. We had Ricky Martin, Madonna, Britney Spears, Beyonce, and Marc Anthony on air, and I really loved and enjoyed my work.
Q. Then you left all that and went to the Food Network to start over. Tell us about that.
A. That’s an example of how my life has been a series of “going for it” moments. I quit MTV and the great job I had at a young age and lived on my savings while I tried to get a job at the Food Network. I eventually did, and I again began at the bottom, working on Bobby Flay’s show, and working my way up. The key has been mentorship and people — especially other women — who saw me, had my back, and lifted me up.
Q. You then left that job and became a chef! I’d love to say the rest is history, but part of what we like to do at Informada is to demystify those pivotal moments. So, amid those changes, when you are about to take giant leaps of faith, what goes through your mind? Do you feel scared?
A. It’s like skydiving. The adrenaline is pumping, you’re excited, and then you’re at the door, and you’re like, “Do I really want to do this?” Then you jump and it’s the most peaceful and beautiful experience. You look down and you can appreciate the wonderful creation of the universe. Earlier in my career, I would get scared and would worry whether things would work out. Now, I would say that happens less because I’ve proven to myself repeatedly that I can land on my feet. Maturity gives you that certainty.
Q. How do you decide now that you have a platform and a degree of influence when to weigh in? There are many issues to advocate for and much work to be done; how do you make that calculation?
A. I’m struggling with this, I won’t lie. I’m living a dream- I get to work in philanthropy and be a humanitarian and activist. I get to go to the White House, the United Nations and with the amazing support of the city, I get to be part of the Chef Council in New York City dedicated to bringing more culturally appropriate foods into the school system. Recipes from my cookbook “La Latina” are now in over 85 colleges around the country, and it is the first time we have proper representation through my own food concepts. Last fall, we shut down Times Square for a Día De Los Muertos Celebration — the biggest cultural event held there — and it was my idea — which I could only bring to life with the help of the City, the DOT, Pedro Zamora Live, and an amazing team. So, what I do is intertwined with my passions and who I am, and it is hard to find balance sometimes.
Q. Grace, who is someone else that I should feature on this platform?
A.You should feature my good friend Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen. She is an incredible leader in the field of obesity and metabolism. She has a successful practice in New York City and is educating us all on weight loss medications and so much more.