Dawn Carter cooks up a storm

JOBURG – Dawn Carter has lived a life for the love of food, and for the love of people who love food.

The cooking and hospitality course facilitator, entrepreneur and rosebankkillarneygazette.co.za blogger shared how she found her way into the kitchen.

Born and bred in Potchefstroom, Carter studied through the London Cordon-Bleu School of Cooking in the early 70s.

“It wasn’t until the 90s that I became involved in hospitality. I have a great love for animals, and between 1981 and 1990, I established one of the first dog parlours in the Centurion area,” she said.

Carter opened her first restaurant, a pizzeria, after she sold the parlour.

A single mother of two, Carter felt she needed a housekeeper with all the skills to run her home and care for her children while she built up her business.

“My housekeeper at the time had no cooking skills, so I taught her how to prepare basic meals. She took to it like a duck to water, and it wasn’t long before there was a queue of her friends knocking on my door, also wanting to learn how to cook,” she said.

And so The New World School of Cooking was born.

Carter initially gave cooking lessons over weekends to domestic workers, but the group soon expanded to include housewives and bachelors.

After Carter sold the pizzeria in 1993, she focused on her cooking school until it had a more solid foundation.

She later established another restaurant, this time attached to a B&B.

“I realised the importance of having well-skilled and properly trained staff, so I expanded my training to include specialised training at game lodges, boutique hotels, restaurants and corporates,” said Carter.

The business expansion brought with it a few employees and a change of name, and the cooking school became The Team Training Consultants.

“Over the years, I established numerous businesses, and in 2000 I was nominated as a finalist for Educator and Businesswoman of the Year. I also appeared on radio and television,” said Carter.

Through her hands-on approach, Carter built up a wealth of knowledge which she constantly draws from to write or amend her training courses.

“My passion is to teach and inspire people, to seem them grow and empower themselves to be the best at whatever they do in life,” she said.

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