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Chef Curl Ardee

Rachel Whitfield ’22 grew up with no aspirations for cooking or creating and sharing recipes. Still, she has grown a culinary brand that not only emphasizes the importance of flavorful, healthy eating, but she also attracted the attention of Vogue magazine and music icon Beyoncé.

“If you had told me when I started that I would have customers on every continent outside Antarctica, I probably would have laughed at you. Seeing the amount of growth that has happened and reaching the number of people I’ve been able to reach because of the internet has really been a joy for me,” Whitfield said.

Whitfield is the founder and CEO of Chef Curl Ardee, a company that specializes in creating low-sodium spice blends and seasonings. The concept grew from an allergy to onions she developed during her freshman year at the University of Central ������Ƶ.

“I actually hated cooking growing up,” said Whitfield. “One thing that people love, no matter their passion for cooking, is great flavor. Going back to the allergen I developed during college, my drive for cooking was centered around maintaining great flavor without a lot of sodium, which is complex. How do I find a solution that works for everyone and still addresses the need, no matter what you’re cooking?”

After encouragement from her family and friends, Whitfield officially created the Chef Curl Ardee brand in 2018.

“The process was very much my friends pushing me to do it,” said Whitfield. “I would have friends come over and visit, saying, ‘What did you put in this?’ I was also at a period of my life where I needed to take a step back and reevaluate some things, look at the table, and say, ‘What makes me unique?’ And I feel like having that support from my friends and loved ones to say, ‘You can do it. Let’s go ahead and make this happen,’ really meant a lot.”

The brand began as a food blog documenting her travels and food experiences.

“I’ve been very fortunate to be able to travel for work,” Whitfield said. “You are trying to understand and enjoy the local cuisine, and there are ways to bring those dishes back into my kitchen and to your kitchen.”

Since its launch, the brand has grown exponentially with customers from across the globe following the blog and social media channels to purchase her spice blends and seasonings. In addition to the recognitions by Vogue and Beyonce, Chef Curl Ardee has also been featured in Women’s Day and Little Rock-based television stations KLRT and KTHV, as well as many other media outlets across the country.

In addition to wanting to create healthier, low-sodium, salt-free recipes and seasonings, Whitfield has used the brand to address childhood hunger. Some of the proceeds from her spice blends and seasonings are devoted to nonprofit organizations aligning with Whitfield’s mission to “Be and Give Good Energy.”

“When I started the Chef Curl Ardee brand, the initial focus was making sure that a portion of the proceeds was always able to go to organizations who, in some way, had something to do with childhood hunger—focusing on the fact that if we can feed children, we can change the world. I do believe that,” she said.

Whitfield’s advice for someone wanting to become an entrepreneur is to be authentic and trust yourself.

“Just trust yourself and do it. If I had waited for everything to be absolutely perfect, I would still be waiting,” said Whitfield. “There’s never going to be a time where the sails are just right, or the wind is just right. You have to go out and make it right. You have to do it because you’ll always be waiting and wondering if you don’t.”