[ep 090] Lee Knaz on cooking as meditation, reciprocity & healing

Lee Knaz leads with love. His aura feels like warm light and, once you’re in conversation, his words are wise. For many years, he was in the culinary world—as a sought-after private chef, a finalist on season one of Master Chef, and founder of his own company Mission Olive, which focused on good food as wellbeing. After leaving his chef life behind, he’s now a successful life & relationship coach.

Born in a small agricultural town in Israel, Lee is the youngest of his family and the only boy among three sisters. His parents were peace activists, each in their own way—his mom was part of Women in Black, a peace activist group of Jewish-Israeli and Arab women coming together every Friday and gathering at one another’s homes. His father was an artist whose work focused on co-existence and who did work as an illustrator for various newspapers. 

He completed his military service from 18 to 21-years-old and was drafted in a war at 24-years-old. In 2006, Lee made a major move to California. He enrolled into business school at USC, but eventually joined culinary school during a summer off. Cooking had always come easy to him and though a gastronomy career hadn’t originally been at the top of his mind, it found him—and he began to truly set out his path in that world after landing on Master Chef. 

In this beautiful conversation, we explore the sights and smell of his hometown; his quiet observations as a child; why he decided to move to the United States; how culinary school felt like learning a language he already knew; cooking as meditation, reciprocity & healing; his career transition from cooking to coaching; how his daughter Vida is teaching him to be a child again; and much more.

[TIMESTAMPS]

3:27 - Growing up

11:03 - What made him leave Israel

13:14 - How he found his way into a culinary career 

17:55 - What does cooking feel like

21:29 - Can he tell when someone needs to be nourished

25:04 - How the spotlight was for him after MasterChef

31:23 - How he was able to stay composed while his dishes were being judged

39:50 - What drew him to self-leadership 

49:22 - How he thinks his daughter sees him

56:55 - Final question

58:31 - Where to find him

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