To some, it is just a faint whisper, over the horizon, unattainable. For others, it is something they yearn for but fail to achieve. But to chef M’Lisa Kelley, it is reality: finding a passion doing it for the rest of your life.

From a very young age, Kelley had grown up eating healthy fresh food. With an environmentalist father and a mother who had a home garden, it was hard not to get natural food.

“It wasn’t uncommon back then−now people think it’s kind of elitist to grow your own food, but you did what you had to support your family,” Kelley said.

Kelley did not always want to be a chef, despite her love of the culinary lifestyle. In fact, serving food was originally just a side job she did to supplement her normal job.

“I was serving food, as one of my side jobs, and someone stopped me and said, you know you could really do this, and then something clicked inside of me,” Kelley said. “I completely dropped everything−my paycheck dropped by $10,000, I moved to the east coast and completely started over.”

While on the east coast, Kelley attended culinary school in Rhode Island, and jumpstarted her career as a chef. She realized that she loved food, and that that was what kept her going.

“Good food is important for how you feel and how you think,” she said. “When you have good food, you just feel better about yourself.”

For a while, Kelley thought that she would make it as a famous chef for fancy restaurants, but she soon realized that there was something else about cooking that she was more passionate about.

“Sharing food with other people is the most beautiful thing−that’s what makes me tick,” she said.

Kelley learned the importance of sharing food through her work as a chef at the Seneca Center, a social services agency for underprivileged children.

“It was really great because it allowed me to take care of people like my dad who were underprivileged−my dad’s mother died when he was at a very young age,” she said. “Really the important thing was that it doesn’t matter where you come from, everyone deserves good food.

After working at the Seneca Center, Kelley went on to work at the Claremont Country Club, first as a prep cook, then as a chef at the spa.

“It was great working at the spa because I really got to be creative with my dishes,” she said.

She said that she decided to come to Piedmont because she loves cooking and she loves kids, and working at food service offers her a perfect balance of both.

“Working for M’Lisa is a life changing experience,” senior Michael Tam said. “She teaches me life lessons outside of the kitchen.”

Kelley said she enjoys working at PHS, even though she has to wake up at unreasonable hours to prep the food.

“M’Lisa is the most hardworking and inspirational person that I know,” Tam said.

Kelley experiences constant challenges and setbacks, but that just teaches her the most and inspires her to work harder, she said.

“You get 40-50 people who tell you how great your food is and then there’s that one person who doesn’t like it or doesn’t want to try something, so then I make it my goal to make something that [they will enjoy],” she said.

Kelley changed food service at PHS by making it fresher, Tam said. She started cooking more food from scratch and started selling fresh fruit for free. Some things that she has incorporated since she came to PHS are veggie chili, tomato soup, and kale salad.

“M’Lisa uses healthy ingredients and creates most of her meals in food service, giving kids a healthier alternative than the pre-M’Lisa era,” Tam said.

Junior Katherine O’Brien is one of Kelley’s food service TA’s. She said she really enjoys working with Kelley because Kelley has taught her a lot about food preparation.

“Working with M’Lisa is awesome,” O’Brien said. “I think the students at [PHS] love her food.”

Kelley is currently working with the Piedmont Middle School chef Diane Clark to offer students at the middle school better food. She helps make food for the middle school students so that they do not have to eat the factory packaged food.

In the future, Kelley hopes to integrate technology better so that students can view the menu more easily, and so that she does not have to print it everyday.

She is also hoping to teach a culinary course in the next few years and will be working on getting her certification over the summer.