From Hobby To Culinary Boss: Women Are Finding Financial Freedom In The Kitchen

The culinary industry is a pathway to profit and fulfillment for women chefs and cooks, especially for those looking to turn a hobby into a full-time career. While women make up only twenty-one percent of chefs and 36% of the cooks in professional kitchens, a shift is underway. With social media stars making $150,000 to millions yearly in brand deals, private chefs earning anywhere from $31 an hour to $61, and world flavors finding their spotlight, more women are launching catering businesses, lucrative influencer brands, private chef services, and culinary consultancies. They’re turning kitchen skills into sustainable income and flexible professions. 

The success of disruptors who came before laid the groundwork for something bigger. Martha Stewart went from Wall Street to ruling TV and publishing. Ina Garten traded nuclear policy for a specialty store in the Hamptons and long-term cookbook success. Beverly “B.” Smith went from supermodel to self-taught chef, building a restaurant and lifestyle empire.

Today, women are reshaping how food businesses look, with entrepreneurs opting for community-driven models (think, pop-up dinners with a cause), culturally rooted cookbooks supported through crowdfunding, ghost kitchens, or cottage food businesses run out of their homes. Online marketplaces like Etsy and platforms like Shef allow home cooks to sell directly to consumers, bypassing the traditional gatekeepers of the food world.

According to recent research, 41% of Gen Z watch, listen to, or read food related influencer content. Another poll found that 93% of social media users “regularly encounter food on social media,” and food-related posts make up almost 40% of their feeds. 

Women are building digital empires on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Substack—sharing recipes, wellness tips, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of their culinary journeys. Millennials, especially women, are leveraging food content not just for clout but for coin.

From S’NOODS chip founder Lauryn Bodden, who took her diverse skills in hospitality to become a private chef on charter boats, to Navy veteran Kimberly Nichols, who found financial and time freedom pursuing cooking as a business and brand, women paving their own lanes in the multi-billion-dollar industry.

Bodden reportedly worked seven charters her first year and made about $30,000, averaging an annual boost of $18,000 to $20,000 and benefiting from far more than a salary.

“This job and the entire experience were out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to use it to push myself on all fronts,” she shared with Entrepreneur last year. “It gave me the escape from New York City that I craved and the means to travel continents I had never seen, especially solo.”

Nichols, who has a following of more than 4 million on TikTok alone and has written two top-selling cookbooks, leaned into her military experience and home life to launch her brand. 

“I used to feed the whole ship in the Navy. I would bring food and desserts in, and I just kept doing that. I just kept on practicing and trying new things and honestly, a lot of stuff I was doing I was learning while posting on social media,” she recalled in an interview with Ebony. “I was posting free recipes for years before I dropped a book and before I dropped a seasoning. My followers and my supporters use my recipes and since they know that it’s good, they go ahead and buy it. So, I built that connection first before pushing the product.”

All of this points to the fact that there’s serious potential for turning a camera and a cast iron skillet into a five- or six-figure side hustle. 

If you’ve been sitting on a culinary idea, now might be the time to take action, create a plan, and showcase your skills to impact foodies around the world. Get certified, build your digital presence, test your concept locally, and scale thoughtfully. The table is set for women to dominate the next wave of food entrepreneurship on their own terms.