My background is diverse.  I'm originally from Philadelphia.  I attended Howard University in Washington, lived in the south of France during college as I was a French major, went to art school in Chicago where I discovered "raw and living foods", then moved to Los Angeles to pursue my dream of TV producing, lived in Australia for a short stint and now I'm bicoastal between California and Philadelphia. I've always been a writer though.  I had a journal from the time I was five years old, starting writing plays and poems when I was nine and I received my MFA degree in creative writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. But I also along this miraculous journey have always had health problems which forced me to learn how to eat better so I went from being vegetarian at 14 years to vegan at 18 years old and eating a mostly raw foods diet at 25 years old. So my first published book is The Goddess of Raw Foods, a raw foods recipe book.  After I was producing, I opened up an organic raw foods restaurant in Los Angeles called Taste of the Goddess Cafe, therefore I thought why not call myself The Goddess of Raw Foods. I've been influenced by so many people from chefs to painters, musicians, friends, lovers, gardeners, spiritual leaders, and entrepreneurs. My book is dedicated to Gandhi because his work influenced me to become vegetarian and to explore other philosophies about life.    

Elizabeth Dole Young Entrepreneurial Grant Winner - 2007