Julian has been a professional chef for 13 years, including stints at several 5-star resorts. Julian's passion for exquisite cuisine and fitness led him to create a combined personal chef and personal training service called Chef Segreto and Jag Fitness Solutions in Charlotte, NC.

A graduate of Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte, Nikki offers private and team-building cooking classes for adults and children as well as in-home catering through her business, FOOD LOVE (www.n2foodlove.com), in Charlotte, NC.  She shares culinary inspiration and professionally tested recipes through her food blog Minced (www.mincedblog.com).

Monica is currently an executive chef and freelance personal chef in Gastonia, NC. She defines her style of cooking as modern southern foods with finesse and lots of love. She graduated from Appalachian State University with a bachelor's degree in foods and nutrition, then went on to complete a culinary degree at the Art Institute of Charlotte in 2012.

Lisa has an associate degree in culinary arts from Central Piedmont Community College. Her specialties in the kitchen include Southern American, Cajun/Creole, Caribbean and Vegetarian cooking. She won the Moore & Van Allen MVA Bowl Cooking Competition in 2012. She's owner and executive chef of Heart and Soul Personal Chef Service.

Chef Jenny Brulé has been developing recipes and writing about food since graduating with honors from Baltimore International Culinary College in 1994. Jenny has been a nationally published food writer and recipe developer for twenty years. Her work has appeared in Cooking Light, Shape, Fitness, Swiss News, and countless regional magazines and newspapers.

The Mr. Food Test Kitchen is an established, diversified, media brand that has championed the benefits of quick and easy cooking at home for more than 30 years. Today, the Mr. Food Test Kitchen TV segment is nationally syndicated through CBS Television Distribution, boasting a daily audience of nearly 3.5 million viewers between broadcast and TV digital platforms.  Through its publishing division, Cogin, Inc., the Mr. Food Test Kitchen has sold millions of books, making it one of the nation's most successful cookbook authors.  In addition to print and video, the Mr. Food Test Kitchen has MrFood.com, one of the country's fastest growing recipe websites with millions of page views weekly and more than 1.8 million unique visitors monthly. 

Carl is the owner and founder of Big Show Foods, Inc., the makers of “John Boy & Billy Grillin’ Sauce” and “LizardLick Barbecue Sauce”, and the owner of Carl & ‘Chelle’s Grill Room in Goldsboro, NC.

Carl’s love for BBQ & cooking began when he was 8 years old helping his Daddy shovel coals under a whole hog and he was hooked. He’s been cooking up his award winning dishes ever since!

Chef John Bartel has had a varied and interesting career in Foodservice. A graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park New York, John also studied pastry at La Varrenne, a bi lingual cooking school in the heart of Paris.

John is now proudly representing Community Coffee as their Corporate Chef and is excited about teaching you how to include their fantastic coffees into your meals in a non-traditional way.