Chef Joshua Murrell is a passionate, charismatic culinary educator who dedicates his time and resources to mentoring young people throughout New Jersey. Chef J’s humbling journey and life experiences have fueled his vision to inspire and motivate youngsters to live a life full of passion and purpose in all aspects of their lives.
Growing up, Chef J was surrounded by a culture of family events hosted by his mother that centered around delicious food. There always were southern classics as well as new recipes his mom would try out to the joy of the family. This created a love not only for food, but the way food makes people feel. At the age of 10 , Chef J baked his first cake and after hearing the reviews of his family, he decided to start a home- based bakery. Little did he know then that this would mark the start of an epic path.
Chef Joshua Murrell honed his craft at Lincoln High School in Jersey City through the Culinary Arts Magnet Program. His teachers saw a gift in him and pushed him to be the best; there was never a day he was allowed to slack off. This environment of excellence led Chef J to earn an internship at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, which lead to a 5-year tenure working under leadership that only produced top-notch service to their guests.
Chef Josh attended Johnson and Wales University to earn his A.S. degree in Culinary Arts and a B.A. in Food Service Entrepreneurship. Throughout his college years, Chef J traveled every weekend from Rhode Island to finish school back to New Jersey to run his now -evolved catering business and work at the Hyatt in Jersey City as well as manage a restaurant in Teaneck, NJ. This took great endurance but a leap of faith needed to be made. Chef resigned from both jobs to focus on school and run his business full time.
After finishing college, Chef J moved back to New Jersey to continue running his catering business. He was afforded the opportunity to speak to culinary high school students conducting a workshop on youth entrepreneurship. This sparked a new interest in teaching. In 2013, Chef was given the opportunity to teach Culinary Arts at Lincoln High School in Jersey City, NJ and thereafter in 2015 at Abraham Clark High School in Roselle, NJ.
While working in the high school setting, Chef J saw a need for change to take place in the lives of the teenagers he taught. He started the Chef J Foundation as way to empower and motivate youths to not only earn work experience in the hospitality industry, but to also aggressive find your purpose and live the life you desire to live. His foundation believes in supporting the whole person – in academics, post high school as well as personal interest of the students. Chef Joshua Murrell is a definitely a leader making an impact on the next generation.
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