Chef & Owner of Marcus Samuelsson Group, Author, Media Personality

Dream big. Dream bigger than what your first dream was. Because someone out there needs what you're thinking about. Whatever you're thinking that might not be out there yet, that might be exactly what we need.

I look a lot at people outside of our industry: Prince, Basquiat, A Tribe Called Quest. They hit a level of excellence that inspired me despite having nothing to do with food. Sometimes you have to look outside the industry to find inspiration, which can help you when you come back to work.

One of the reasons that people enjoy coming to a great restaurant is that when an extraordinary meal is placed in front of them, they feel honored, respected, and even a little bit loved.

Hospitality is an upper mobility industry where there is a place for you, whether you want to be a food photographer or a line cook, a bartender or a marketing person. You may not know it when you're coming in as an early 20-something, but going out, you might be like, 'Wow, this industry has given me so much.'

What's balanced for you might not be balanced for me and vice versa. That's something that I've learnt a lot from the chefs that I'm working with. I 'go' all the time. That's just how I came up, but not everybody is built to do that. Not everybody wants to do that. And that's not negative. It's good.

I look at things that are in our environment that can actually add value to people's culinary life, whether they are chefs at home or chefs in in professional kitchen. We can always improve the spaces we are in through flavors and bringing people together.

One of the things I have learned during the time I have spent in the United States is an old African American Proverb saying: Each one, teach one. I want to believe that I am here to teach one and, more, that there is one here who is meant to teach me. And if we each one teach one, we will make a difference.