Jaime Laurita is an accomplished chef, designer, and entrepreneur. However what you won’t read on his resume is his most gifted skill, which is confidence. As a child, feeding off the energy that his household of eleven children provided, Jaime knew that he was going to succeed. He has traveled the world and worked with major celebrities such as Steven Tyler, Sting, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Rolling Stones. He co-wrote a cookbook with Sarah McLachlin and is preparing to tour with Madonna for a second time as a co designer. He is part of a team that helps to create and maintain her home away from home. The team strives to deliver a perfect environment so that she can be creative.
Jaime’s success didn’t happen by chance, it was shear vision, discipline and his beliefs. He spoke a lot about how energy helps him in many different ways, his civil union on Bravo TV to his husband Rich alongside his Real Housewives of New Jersey sisters, and how he hopes his legacy will be remembered. There is no end in sight for this hard working dynamo. As a matter-of-fact, it’s just the beginning.
"I traveled with Sting and the Police, the Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Stone Temple Pilots. Each one was a different flavor of the same ice cream." JL
DC: Jaime, you are a chef, designer, artist, and an entrepreneur, how would you describe yourself?
JL: Sometimes I describe myself as a one man show. My husband helps me be who I think I want to be and who I am today. But I would describe myself as a dreamer and a believer.
DC: Tell me about your dreams that actually became a reality.
JL: I’m number eight of eleven born into a great family. However, as a little boy I was lost in that tornado and was exposed to a lot of high energy being number eight. There was a big amount of energy trapped inside my young body and I used to fantasize about what I wanted my life to be. I would escape into those dreams with a vivid imagination. When I watched TV I was always curious about fame. I wanted to taste that level of energy just to see what it was like. I wanted to be around celebrities and musicians. I wanted to work with Madonna and visualized what it would be like and it actually came true. I dreamed of a life in the culinary field that was different than most, which was traveling the world with the most famous musicians and nurturing them with food, design and music. I dreamed that would be my career and it happened. It’s not like I rubbed the genie lamp and wished for these things, but I took the necessary steps to do the work to make it happen.
DC: Describe the steps that you took in order to tour the world with these musicians.
JL: You have to build a foundation and I was very fortunate to have a father that supported my decision to go to culinary school, which was the first step. The second step was learning everything that I possibly could about what interested me, such as nutrition and travel. I also developed my common sense skills, because that is essential for what I do. I needed a European training experience so that I could understand other cultures. I applied for a scholarship at the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners (ICIF) which offered a small number of chefs a chance to travel through Italy for a certain period of time to learn about food and wine. A voice inside of me at that time told me that I might not get that scholarship, but I used that voice as my motivator and I ended up getting the scholarship, because I worked for it.