Name: Devin Alexander
Age: 35
Location: Los Angeles
Education: B.A. in Theatre from Smith College in Northampton, Mass., Professional Chef Certification from Westlake Culinary Institute in Westlake Village, Calif.
Job title: Chef and spokesperson for healthy cooking.
What She Does: This culinarian extraordinaire writes cookbooks (she’s the author of The Biggest Loser Cookbook), hosts Healthy Decadence With Devin Alexander on the Discovery Health Channel, runs a catering business, and has appeared on The View, Fox & Friends, and The Biggest Loser to discuss the importance of healthy eating. She also recently signed a deal to become the SpokeChef for Smart Ones, Weight Watcher’s frozen-food line. In all of her projects, Devin says she tries to “make healthy food hip and fun.”
Cooking Herself Thin: Once an overweight teen, Devin says she managed to “cook myself thin” and keep off the weight for 15 years. Devin’s grandmother taught her how to cook, so she started experimenting with healthy recipes. “I heard that if you just cut 100 calories from your day, you’ll lose, on average, 10 pounds in a year,” Devin says. “I decided to stop dieting and just try that and it worked.”
How She Got Her Gig: Thanks to a paid internship in the TV industry, Devin moved to Los Angeles right out of college without knowing anyone. “I was a bit lonely when I first arrived,” she says, “so I volunteered for a number of charity events. A lot of celebrities [she’s catered parties for Reba McEntire, among others] wanted to hire me to cook for them since I made yummy, healthy food.” That led Devin to start her own catering business, although lugging grocery bags for a living was less than glamorous. In 2004, a senior producer on Good Morning America who was familiar with Devin’s work asked her to be on the show. Before long, she was booking regular TV spots on a number of morning shows. And to think, Devin originally thought she’d become a sitcom writer!
Following Food Trends: Devin says she mainly reads and watches TV to keep up with new foods and trends. Her secret weapon? TiVo! According to Devin, “I Tivo all of the national morning shows and a number of talk shows to stay on top of what is going on in the healthy-food, fitness, and medical worlds. I watch the intros, then fast-forward to anything relevant. It really only takes about 20 minutes per night to watch them all.”
Recipe for Success: “I think that many people think they can’t change careers or can’t follow their dreams, especially if their ‘dream job’ is very competitive. I’m living proof that even a girl who was picked last in gym class for everything, who was brutally teased and knew no one in her chosen industry, can use her biggest obstacle in her favor to create a fulfilling, exciting existence.”
This Job’s For You If: You have a knack for cooking and a willingness to “network, network, network. Many of the jobs I get today come from years of meeting people. I get hired over and over because I’m always prepared, make it a point to remember everyone’s names, and go with the punches.”
