UNIVERSITY UPDATES
Nicholas Angel :
Finding Lasting Purpose in
Culinary Nutrition and Entrepreneurship
Nicholas Angel grew up a long way from Life University ’ s campus in Marietta , Georgia , but he found a home in the Culinary Nutrition program .
“ What led me here to Life University is that I ’ ve always had this passion for food , and food has always saved my life , in every point of my life ,” Angel said .
A native of Colombia , Angel emigrated to the U . S . after his family ’ s fortunes took a downturn .
“ Food is created to connect people .”
“ We used to go to nice , fancy restaurants and stuff like that ,” he recalled during a conversation this summer . “ There was a time that we lost everything , and then I remember — I was in a private school , really expensive , and I started selling McDonald ’ s burgers at school . I used to make money doing it .”
From there , the young entrepreneur advanced to selling frozen pizzas to help the family make ends meet . Angel and his mother eventually moved to the Atlanta area , where relatives already lived . Angel brought less than $ 4,000 on the journey , and after buying a car , only $ 70 was left . At first , LIFE wasn ’ t on his radar .
“ People were talking about LIFE , and I always liked this holistic mentality ,” he said . “ I couldn ’ t afford LIFE at the beginning , so I started at Chattahoochee Tech , and I started working as a server and bartender until I had enough money to pay for school .”
LIFE ’ s mission , the philosophy of Vitalism and its 110-acre campus were among the reasons Angel decided to transfer .
“ Have you ever seen Harry Potter ? When Harry goes to Hogwarts , everybody ’ s a magician , right ? Here I feel the same ,” Angel said . “ I see the lake , the Treehouse , everything ’ s green . I love studying in those places — the green part of LIFE . It ’ s my Hogwarts .”
Angel originally enrolled in the Dietetics program , but soon discovered that Culinary Nutrition was a better fit .
“ Dietetics is an awesome career , but it ’ s more clinical ,” he explained . “ I also like the artistic part — I want to create with my hands , create food and joy . And I feel like , in Culinary Nutrition , I don ’ t have to be in an office every day . I can be outside , everywhere .”
Now preparing to graduate , Angel is still a businessperson . He teamed up with a cousin , Lucas Angel — an established restauranteur in metro Atlanta — earlier this year to open D ’ Cuban Café Market at the Marietta Square Market . The dining and shopping venue , located in a reclaimed warehouse alongside the city ’ s railroad tracks and historic Marietta Square , opened its doors in March 2019 .
Angel said he risked it all — including the money he had saved for tuition — to launch D ’ Cuban Café Market . In addition , he imports coffee directly from a small village in Colombia and distributes it to local restaurants .
“ There are like 95 families there ,” he said , describing the mountain village where the coffee beans are grown and harvested . “ There ’ s a little school . There ’ s 30 , 25 kids that go there . Sometimes they don ’ t have money to buy shoes , pencils or anything , so I send money to the school .”
Three other Life University students work for Angel and his cousin at D ’ Cuban Café Market .
“ If we win , they win — that type of mentality ,” he said . “ And one of them told me that the job was really helping him because he was paying to his loan .” Angel struggled to describe his reaction . “ I ’ ve never felt that way — satisfied , I don ’ t know . Like I was doing something meaningful . It ’ s more than getting money ; it ’ s creating something .”
12 Alumni . LIFE . edu | 2019