Check Out Joy Williams-Clark’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joy Williams-Clark.

Hi Joy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m a Denver native who has had the pleasure of watching the restaurant scene grow from somewhere that had maybe 10 good choices to one that you could likely eat at a great restaurant every night for a year and still not try everything. I think I enjoyed cooking, and more specifically baking, from a young age… But that passion really kicked up around high school as I begin working in restaurants and really seeing what pastry programs and fine dining could look like. I initially pursued a degree in psychology, but about three years in, I decided to pursue my passion for all things sweet by attending Johnson and Wales University for my pastry arts degree. From there I was able to attend a small French pastry arts school in Yssingeaux, France; an Experience I will always treasure. While attending school I worked at least full-time in whatever restaurant I could to gain experience. Upon my return from France I began working with what would become a prominent restaurant group in Denver. As my career grew, I moved between some of the major restaurant groups in town working as executive pastry chef and over seeing programs as large as 12 restaurants. While I can say my focus has always been on innovating Denver‘s pastry scene, one of the most important things to me was building and working with some of the most talented Pastry teams in town, many of whom I still hold close to my heart. I’ve been honored with a handful of local publications as well as being featured in national publication, my family is very proud that they can Google me. Throughout all these moves, one of the most important things has been growing my family. And the proud mother of two daughters, and the proud wife of a talented local chef.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would say there’s been two great challenges in my career. The first was trying to find a mentor, and the second was becoming a mom. Early in my career I desperately wanted to find a pastry chef to work under, and anyone who’s been in Denver longer than 20 years knows that there hasn’t always been prominent pastry chefs to work under, or opportunities to apprentice. My first few moves into restaurants or in pursuit of learning from their pastry chefs, but each time it seemed that the pastry chef had chosen to leave the restaurant before I had much of an opportunity to learn. After many years of this, I eventually turned to any pastry book I could get my hands on and Savory chefs within restaurants to learn from. I often credit the skills that have made my pastry stand out over the years to the Savory skills I learned along the way. As I began my first few leadership roles in restaurants, I made it a personal mission to be the chef that I wished that I could have learned from. This philosophy and mentality has truly shaped how I lead teams, and has allowed me the honor to work with and develop some of the strongest teams in Denver.

Overall I would say some of the greatest obstacles in the restaurant industry revolved around being a mom. I became a mom fairly young in my leadership career. The demand for long hours and full attention was a great learning opportunity for setting healthy boundaries and making my family a priority, But it certainly took me a while to get there. I can certainly say that some restaurants and owners have been better than others about the value of family, but at the end of the day as much as I love my career and the restaurant industry as a whole they are the most important thing to me.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I currently work with a restaurant group called Edible Beats in Denver as part of their culinary operations team. While I still oversee the pastry portion of our programs, this role has allowed me an opportunity to expand my ability to be a resource to chefs across our company.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
People often find it surprising, likely because I have sent the last decade plus in restaurants, but my long-term goal is to open an ice cream shop. I love aspects of restaurants and the ability to do so many different types of things especially within restaurant groups, but ice cream has always been one of my favorite things and seems to be one of the most consistently happy things in the world. One day I’d like to have a small shop, with ice cream made from scratch. Nothing fancy, just happy.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @chefjoydarlene

Image Credits
Maternity photo, purple dress, happy hearts photography