Today we’d like to introduce you to Zainab Ghadiyali.
Zainab, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Eat Cook Joy began with a simple idea: what if having a private chef could feel as natural—and affordable—as ordering takeout?
I started it when I realized how many busy people (like me!) loved the idea of home-cooked meals but didn’t have the time or energy to plan, shop, cook, and clean. On the flip side, there were incredible chefs who wanted to do what they loved—cook for people—without the pressure of running a restaurant.
First I worked in Austin restaurant kitchens to understand what is like to work as a chef. There I saw massively talented chef pool looking to monetize their skills outside the restaurant industry.
So I started small: planning menus, shopping for groceries, and inviting chefs into people’s kitchens to cook beautiful meals that felt both special and effortless. We made sure it always included clean-up
From there, Eat Cook Joy grew into something bigger—a service that brings human connection, nourishment, and a bit of magic into the everyday. Today, we serve busy families, new parents, professionals, and anyone who wants to eat well without the stress.
Our mission is simple: make it easy to come home to good food and support the local chef economy.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not at all. Like most meaningful work, it’s been a mix of scrappy wins, steep learning curves, and a whole lot of figuring things out as we go.
Before starting Eat Cook Joy, I became a chef at restaurants and saw firsthand how talented chefs were often stuck in rigid, exhausting environments. Many of them dreamed of taking their skills directly to people—cooking in homes, building personal client bases—but they didn’t have the tools to make it work.
That really struck me. Every profession has tools designed to help them succeed—accountants have accounting software, designers have design platforms—but chefs? Chefs had nothing. No playbook, no platform, no support system. That gap became the foundation for Eat Cook Joy.
Personally, my own challenge was that I didn’t come from a food background. Working with chef talent meant learning an entirely new language—from knife prep to sourcing seasonal ingredients to understanding what excellence looks like in a home kitchen. It was humbling, but also incredibly rewarding.
One of the biggest turning points for me has been partnering with Chef Chance Smith—an incredible chef and entrepreneur who’s helped elevate the quality of our team and bring real operational excellence to the business. He’s helped us reimagine what’s possible when great chefs are given the support they deserve.
It hasn’t been smooth—but it’s been worth it.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Eat Cook Joy makes easy for families to connect with local chefs at a fraction of price. With our weekly meal prep services, families can enjoy personalized chef prepared meals just for them starting at $7 / serving.
We leverage a lot of AI to help families customize their meals per preferences, find savings for them during grocery shopping and provide chefs with all the tools they need to successfully execute the session
We now also serve parties of all group sizes in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
My path to becoming a tech leader has been anything but conventional.
I moved to the United States by myself at the age of 19 with only $107 to my name. Since then, I’ve supported myself through college and graduate school, building a deeply fulfilling and diverse career along the way.
As the Field Operations Manager for the nonprofit Foundation of Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC), I built sustainable business models to provide free pediatric care to children under 5 living in some of the most remote parts of the world.
As an awardee of the prestigious Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) fellowship, I conducted research at the largest university hospital in Europe and published clinical trials in field of Psychosomatic Medicine.
Later, as a Tech Lead at Facebook, I led the development of products used by over 1.5 billion people. If you’ve ever poked someone, advertised, viewed a Page, or heard about Facebook’s Blood Donations product, you’ve interacted with something I helped build.
I went on to serve as a Product Lead at Airbnb and Canva building and leading their Product Infrastructure teams.
During my time in Silicon Valley, I co-founded wogrammer, an award-winning organization that has reached more than 4 million people and helped reshape how stories about women in science and engineering are told.
I hold a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Winthrop University in South Carolina and an M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For my work in bridging the gender gap in technology, I was honored to be named one of Foreign Policy magazine’s Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2015.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eatcookjoy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatcookjoy
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zainabg
