Create an experience with Keyma Vasquez Montero

Mother  of two, Engineer by trade, Cook by heart, originally from Venezuela, living in Australia, influenced by flavours of my land and my migration journey

When I'm not cooking I enjoy dancing, crocheting and all things crafty, daily walks with our rescue greyhound Roger, and family time around movies and board games. My passion for cooking started at the young age of 10, when my mum's huge collection of baking cookbooks made me dream day and night about my next cooking projects. I grew up surrounded by foodies and amazing cooks in my family, and my cooking style was hugely influenced by my grandma and mum, as well as our trips around Venezuela and its different regions (Coastal towns, The Andes, and the Amazons) as well to other Caribbean landmarks (Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Dominican Republic).

In 2021 I took a leap of faith by applying to Masterchef S14 that aired in 2022, only to discover a world of new opportunitites, non believing I would go as far as the first week I stayed for the entire season achieving an impressive 4th place in one of the most difficult formats there's been in this competition, competing as an amateur cook against previous contestants, as a mum and a migrant this journey helped me discover a lot of myself, not only as a cook but as person, I reconnected with my culture, my sense of self and realised the strength I had in me and that I can be resilient, I found a sense of belonging after being away from a work enviroment for so many years, a journey that despite the challenges helped me to grow and believe in myself a lot more, and stayed genuine and true to my beliefs, I grew more confident, I even found I could be the voice for a community that needed more representation in the country, this whole journey had taken myself to now discovering a new career, now my aim had been inspiring people to go after their dreams, to motivate Women and Mothers to restart their careers, work on themselves and to believe that is never to late to start over, as I did. 

I am still finding my place in this new path but everyday I find motivation in the world surrounding me and my family and I reassure myself that the decisions we make in life both good or bad take us to the perfect place and time we are now.

While I've also started collaborating with Latin and Hispanic business and communities in Australia to impulse the movement in the country and bring more awareness to the culture and the food, I'm also constantly looking for opportunities to get involved in great causes in the Australian community to enrich the diversity and multiculturalism.

If you believe I can inspire your audience in any way, shoot me a line I'll love to work with you and your event or project.