About me. I’m a transracial Korean adoptee that grew up in western Wisconsin. I currently live in Minneapolis, MN with my husband and 2 fur babies, Mookie and Tux.
In my free time I love to travel, try new restaurants, cook, cat cuddle, dance, go for walks, meditate, and be with friends and family.
I am here to be the narrator of my own dreams and find my purpose in this life by seeking what brings me joy, finding my authentic voice and using my gifts to help others.
Food Growing Up
When I was younger I would always imagine having someone teach me how to cook family heirloom recipes. I envisioned sitting down with my mother and being shown all about how to bake the perfect cookies and have my hand playfully batted away when I tried to eat the raw batter. That was definitely not the case.
I grew up in a family of fast food, high convenience meals that mostly came out of boxes or cans. The connection I had with family and food growing up was going out to eat to the mall every Friday so we could eat in the food court. Or on special occasions going to Ponderosa or Chi Chi’s. Food wasn’t eaten in our family as nourishment. We ate because it tasted good and it had to be done.
In high school I would cook for my friends, (mostly ramen with an egg and cheese in it or a decked out sandwich with Doritos and pickles on top, very gourmet.) What I found was that I loved making people happy when they ate something I made. Nobody is ever unhappy or sad when they have delicious food in front of them!
About Me As A Chef
In 2002 after high school I enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu. I learned about French cuisine and graduated with my culinary degree. I gained an understanding about food, cooking techniques, and enhancing my palate. It helped me feel comfortable around food and being in the kitchen.
My biggest take away from culinary school was realizing how daunting cooking can be. Anyone can follow simple directions on a package, just add water and butter. Microwave for 2 minutes. But unless you are taught through family or seek it out, knowing how to cook whole foods or how to eat healthier food choices is not something you automatically know how to do.
After school I knew I didn’t want to cook in restaurants because it made me feel disconnected when I worked in them. I wanted to connect to my food and the people I was feeding, which lead me to become a personal chef. As a personal chef I could have creative control, choose the food and clients I was working with, make my own hours and experience food on a deeper level.
Healing Through Food
On a personal note during this time, even though I was cooking better quality food for others I was still living that processed food, on a budget, take out, cheap food diet. I didn’t think about nourishment. It was about convenience, affordability, and comfort.
Over time in my late 20s I started having skin issues. I was also experiencing extreme bloating, water retention and trouble sleeping. Through trial and error and lots of research I realized most of it was related to stress and my diet. Through an elimination diet I was able to see gluten and dairy as my main triggers. To me they were highly inflammatory foods, so I removed them. After doing this I started to feel much better and decided to leave them out long term.
Through my own healing journey with food I was finally able to connect to my body and listen to what it was telling me. Curiosity lead me to seek out new foods, substitutes and recipes to make eliminating certain foods easier. I now eat a mostly plant based diet with minimal eggs and seafood.
What this food journey gave me was an opportunity to firsthand realize the power of food. Food can be healing, medicinal, therapeutic, energizing, nurturing. Working with food is powerful and that is why I wanted to focus on being more of a holistic chef that sees all aspects of food. That lead to me to wanting to share with people what I have learned about food, hence I started Jess Delicious Living. It started as just a food blog but has now turned into a place where I can share all my passions and connect to people who want to embark on their own healing journey.
I Knew Before I Knew
I have never been a religious person. Although I always felt there was something greater than me that existed, a presence all around working through everyone and everything. I didn’t know how to connect to it or identify with it but I knew it was there.
I remember when I was younger I would have my friends come over and I would have them lay on the floor and I would guide them through a guided meditation using essential oils and massaging their head and temples. They would always be blissed out at the end and felt super relaxed. I had no idea what I was doing but it was my first introduction to what energy healing could do without even knowing it!
About Me As A Reiki Practitioner
I had never heard of Reiki. Late one night I was scrolling on my phone and I fell into a deep Reiki search and all that it entailed. It gave me an undeniable feeling that this was what I was supposed to be doing. At the time I was feeling lost and unremarkable. I didn’t really feel connected to any spiritual practice. I was floating around without a purpose. Reiki was going to help me heal not only myself but others in the future. I could feel it!
Being able to heal through universal life force energy, tapping into that energy that I’ve felt all my life, a modality that is noninvasive and yet transformative. All I needed to do was show up and be open for guidance. Shivers sent through me, lets go!
I attended the Minnesota Reiki Center for Healing and Training in 2019 to receive my Reiki 1 and 2. I later returned to receive my upgrade and become a Reiki Master in Holy Fire. Since then Reiki has been a gift from the universe.
It has allowed me to do my own work and heal from within. I now have a deeper connection with source, and I am open to receive guidance. I am more grounded and able to see that there is so much more to this world than meets the eye. Clarity and seeking my purpose in life is my new mission. Now as a practitioner, I hope to share these gifts with you.
About Me as a Nutrition and Wellness Coach
I have always been able to help people with their problems. Friends and sometimes acquaintances would seek me out to ask for my advise. I was very good at listening, liked being able to support people, and I felt honored when somebody would share their deepest thoughts and secrets with me. After our conversations they would always say how they felt better and lighter.
I got into coaching because again I was drawn to learn how to hold space for people to help them heal. It was affirming that I was not alone on my approach to life. Seeking a holistic approach to life for myself has helped me become who I am today. I see health and wellness as being priceless. We are these perfect creations made to do extraordinary things, living in alignment with ones path, and purpose, cultivating connection with others is what we are meant to do. But sometimes life situations, traumas, circumstances, and events can lead us from our path.
Attending the Institute For Integrative Nutrition to receive my coaching certification has been validation that I am on the right path. We all are capable of finding things within us to heal. Sometimes we just need the space and the time to let it come out. I know first hand how hard it is to make changes. But I know it can be done.