Mise En Place

Laying the foundation for a solid career, and a great life in the industry.

Welcome, Chef.

Let's get down to business.

This industry is hard on our bodies, minds, and souls. The work is long, competitive, repetitive, and dirty. We are paid low wages, and expected to perform at top speeds. We are surrounded by people who are living unhealthy lifestyles, and we pick up bad habits.

The purpose of this course is to give you a solid foundation from which to change your life.

It's an introduction to how well you can live.

It will give you the tools and skills that you need to do the work that you love without breaking yourself down.


The industry will kill you if you let it.

It will happily kill you. And laugh about it. You know i’m right. As much as we love and obsess over and show unwavering loyalty toward it, it always repays us with poor health, addictions, mental problems, and no fucking money. It’s a love hate thing. For a lot of years, I felt like the one who was hated. By the industry, and eventually, by myself.

I started working in kitchens right out of high school. Social skills are not something that runs in my family, so I made it to adulthood with pretty much none. 2 years of community college culinary school sunk me deep into the world of the boh, a great place to hide. I learned how to adult from men and women who had been removed from the real world for so long that they lived in complete la la land. I drank and smoked to fit in, to easy the anxiety I felt- social anxiety from trying to fit in with everyone and regular old anxiety from trying to keep up, and trying to pay the rent on minimum wage. I ate what everyone else ate, which was crap or nothing. I drank coffee from the moment I pulled my hungover ass out of bed until it was time to start drinking again. I avoided my family, spent everything I earned going out to eat and drink, and moved every year- sometimes chasing a new job, sometimes just to shake off the feeling of having failed again.

Is this really the life I was meant to lead? Isn’t there another way to work in kitchens besides just surviving?

It was a lot of years of hard living before I finally decided that I had enough. I was getting fat, and feeling crappy. I was tired of moving, my resume of year long job stints was starting to look pathetic instead of well seasoned. I realized that I had a choice to make. I could continue on down the same path and follow in the footsteps of my role models in the kitchen, or I could find a new way.

I changed my life by making a few simple adjustments to my habits and my mindset.

You can too.

Come with me on a journey to better health and a better life. We will cover:

  • Foundation, including goals and values
  • Stress Management
  • Preparation for success
  • Exercise
  • Energy- where it goes and how to get it back
  • Addiction and substance abuse
  • Nutrition, supplements, and sleep
  • Work life balance

For a limited time, get free enrollment in my new course: Moving up in your career, tools to rise to the top!

I will automatically enroll you in the course when you complete Mise en Place.


Get started now!



Your Instructor


Laura McWilliams
Laura McWilliams

Laura draws from 15 years of experience working in commercial kitchens to create programs that are designed to help industry workers thrive. She is a Certified Holistic Health Coach, as well as a Certified NLP Practitioner. She has spent her adult life dealing with addictions and eating issues, anxiety, and the health problems related to the love of kitchen work. Laura is happy to say that overcoming these demons and creating a healthy, successful life for herself while working in the industry was possible. Challenging, but totally possible. She is dedicated to creating programs that meet kitchen folk where they are, and address the health and lifestyle concerns of the industry head on.


Here's a sneak peak at our Kitchen Yoga Video!

Kitchen Yoga is very simple stretches that you can do before or after work, or even on the line. Keeping your body in tip top share will only make you more powerful.


Frequently Asked Questions


Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone who works in kitchens in any capacity.
When does the course start?
It starts now and ends when you are finished! It is entirely self paced.
How long will I have access to the course?
Theoretically forever. At least as long as the internet exists.

Want to enroll your staff? Email [email protected] for group pricing.

Get started now!