[VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: Matthew is standing in a kitchen with two people prepping meals behind him. The NAD logo is at the bottom right corner.
MATTHEW: When I interviewed for a chef position in the kitchen, I always got rejected. One day, I decided to ask why I was not hired — I wanted to know if it was because I’m deaf. They explained that if there was a gas leak in the kitchen, the deaf person wouldn’t hear the leak, so it’d be too dangerous for a deaf person to work in the kitchen. I told them that gas explosions happened a lot, and the news didn’t indicate if the people involved were deaf. I also told them that you don’t listen for a gas leak, you can smell it. Without my hearing, I have a stronger sense of smell and I can recognize a gas leak before they even can hear it! Turns out I made a good point, they hired me! “What is your fear about hiring me and why?” is one of the best questions to ask. Be prepared for their response, if you can’t figure out how to answer then you’re not ready.
Black and white clip of Matthew flipping food in a pan. In the center, a white border surrounding white text “MATTHEW” underneath, appears in white text “CHIEF CULINARY OFFICER”.
MATTHEW: Hello, my name is Matthew Baker and I’m the Chief Culinary Officer.
Black and white clip of Matthew tasting something out of a bowl.
MATTHEW: In college, a classmate asked me if I could work with them and help them out. Keep in mind, I’ve never liked school. As a deaf person, working with people wasn’t easy so I usually preferred to work in the back. This meant you don’t deal with people. Eventually, that led me to a job opportunity that meant moving to San Francisco. My boss was the one who got the job and was ready to move but he refused to move unless his sous chef would move too. The sous chef wouldn’t move unless his assistant was also hired, that was me! They agreed and asked me if I wanted to move to San Francisco and I said yes – so I moved. We worked at the San Jose Hilton – that hotel was only five years old and when we arrived, they already had five chefs come and go. There were a lot of problems, so that’s why our chef wouldn’t work there unless he had his team with him.
Black and white clip of Matthew checking papers in the kitchen.
MATTHEW: As time went by, I experienced challenges that really changed who I am and led me to set up this business. For example, a customer goes into a restaurant and orders a hamburger but with no tomato. The server takes the order and tells me, the chef, to make a hamburger. I make the order and the server brings it to the customer. The customer complains that there is a tomato in the hamburger. So, where does the problem lie? The server! People always think it’s the chef that messed up, but in this case, it was the server. I got really annoyed with people blaming the kitchen, and complained to my boss about it. He told me I needed to be a restaurant manager. I laughed at him because honestly, I thought it would be impossible because of communication barriers! How would I communicate with our customers? My boss reminded me how I always said deaf people can do anything and that we should be equal to hearing people. Good point. Eventually, I was actually fired as a chef. The next day, I showed up expecting to work in the kitchen as a chef. My boss said no, he wasn’t kidding. At first, I struggled to interact with customers but that’s how I became a restaurant manager! As I dealt with people, I realized that helped break the ice with my fear of interacting with hearing people.
Black and white clip of Matthew inspecting a paper and gesturing to a kitchen worker.
MATTHEW: As I moved up the ranks, I hit the glass ceiling and I gave up. I moved back to San Diego but I didn’t go back to school. I decided to just drop out but I did complete an Associate’s Degree. I was at a loss for what to do next, nobody would hire me and I would have to start all over again from the bottom. I was able to get some catering jobs. People would often look for a caterer to create plates of cheese, fruit and small snacks. As I worked, I realized being a caterer was pretty cool. I started looking for a place and I found this place – it used to be a bakery that went bankrupt. It was affordable, so I grabbed it and started my own business – and that’s where I am now!
Black and white clip of Matthew chatting and gesturing with a kitchen worker. White text appears at the bottom center, “I’ve accepted my fact that I work in the hearing world. I make sure I stand out and stay true to myself. The staff signs with me, we write back and forth, or use the white board to communicate. Honestly, there’s many ways to make it work.” Light blue text “- Matthew” and a light blue line outlines the left side of the text.
MATTHEW: Every business has problems, period. People will say that everything’s good and how positive things are. Yes, of course we all want to say this all the time, I get it! But honestly? With full disclosure and pride put aside, I decided to hire a business coach. I sign “coach” this way (person preaching to me) because they are giving me feedback. My coach struggled to get it through to me that my pride was in the way and that I needed to put aside my pride. When I did this, my business grew because I put my pride aside and opened up freely about my problems. I couldn’t let myself get embarrassed, I asked for help, I asked stupid questions, and I rolled up my sleeves to figure out why I was struggling. It was a very, very, very healthy thing to do. Trust me!
Black and white clip of Matthew walking through the kitchen alley. Video cuts to a dark blue background. Red alphabet letters of “N-A-D” in American Sign Language appear one by one in the center of the video. The copyright text appears in white underneath, “National Association of the Deaf, Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved”.]