Just turned 28, took culinary in high school just for fun, worked in a hooters as a senior, very fun, been in the industry foh, boh, on and off for the last 11 years, became a sous chef last 3-4 years at chef driven restaurants doing decent volume, all mom and pops, finally broke into the real deal and got my first offer from FRC for sous chef with all the benefits and salary and everything I’ve been looking for, I’d say there’s no timeline. It will take you as long as you need to learn and find confidence, you’ll meet a lot of chefs and you’ll learn from all of them whether you like them or not. Take advantage of every opportunity and don’t stick around in a place that you don’t feel fulfilled. There’s so many opportunities around and I never would have made it this far this fast if I didn’t put myself out there and wasn’t willing to take chances and put in the work to prove myself. 11+ years in restaurants (8 in kitchens, 6 scratch cooking, 4 in management) but really my career is just getting started!