From Our Chefs
College Food Service: Revolutionizing the Game with Jordan Wigton
Packaged Ramen, frozen chicken nuggets and cardboard pizza? That’s so early 2000’s! The typical college student is much more informed in health and wellness today than they have been before. College Chefs embodies the term balance and strives to set the example in the industry by prioritizing wellbeing.
For Jordan Wigton, Vice President of Business Development, wellness is a personal passion. To him, a balanced lifestyle means peace of mind. It goes beyond the physical and encompasses mental and spiritual wellbeing.
By checking in and being mindful of where he’s at on the spectrum of emotions, he’s able maintain a positive attitude. Through experience, he’s learned that heathy eating habits and regular exercise make it easier to stay positive, no matter what curveball life throws at him.
A balanced lifestyle and healthy habits are crucial components to maintain a healthy mind, body and spirit for Jordan in his personal day to day. This sentiment is reflected in the work he does.
By promoting a Health and Wellness Program within the company, including smoking cessation strategies and digital meditation sessions, he’s brought the conversation to the forefront. The ability to provide chefs with a venue to work towards their own wellness and happiness drives his passion.
Why are you passionate about food?
My passion for food comes from eating. I love to eat delicious food. I’m pretty simple too. I like fried chicken, burgers, tacos, etc over anything too fancy.
How would you describe the evolution of College Chefs?
In the beginning, our entire focus was on food. We did a great job with that. But, we realized was that great food comes from happy chefs. We put a lot of our time into cultivating happy chefs that create awesome food which means happy eaters. We now look for chefs that fit well into our culture and that’s where the “heavy lifting” is done. It was a fun pivot to make.
How has your own college experience impacted your approach to working with a college demographic?
When I was in college we had to pay bail money to get our chef over to the house to cook (literally). We put nacho cheese on all of the food to make it taste good (true story). This was an industry that was way outdated. Students these days are a lot smarter and more educated about food and what they put into their bodies. Their needs have changed and College Chefs has been there to accommodate them.
Biggest “learning moment” during your time at College Chefs:
“Hoping is not a successful business strategy.” Time and time again I see that one come true. When my team wants to accomplish something we have to have a plan and execute. We need to be agile within that plan but simply hoping something will happen always fails.
Proudest moment at College Chefs:
When I got Jared Bost (Vice President of Operations) to do relaxation breathing exercises over Zoom with our whole company. I literally cried.
One thing people would never guess about you:
I’m really into international films. I love movies and I feel like Hollywood has gotten all action hero so I branched out. South Korea has been pumping out some great films.
Any work from home tips for the people out there adjusting to a new lifestyle?
STAY ACTIVE!!! If I don’t get a workout in I’ll go bonkers. Quick, great WFH workout- 10 air squats, 10 pushups, 10 lunges, 10 crunches. Then rounds of 9, 8, 7, all the way down to 1. It’s a lot of up downs but it burns fat and gets blood rushing to your brain.
