Q&A with Chef Willie Holmes (Stephen F. Austin State)
By Ryan Perry (Southern Mississippi)
Today, on July 25th, the city of Houston, Texas celebrates the second annual Chef Willie Holmes Day. In 2023, Brother Holmes, an alumnus brother of the Mu Upsilon chapter at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA), was recognized for his contributions to the City of Houston’s unique culinary community by Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Brother Holmes describes himself, “as a Texas chef, someone who is very southern, and full of flavor and bold, but also can combine fusion into it as well, being raised here in Houston with so many different cultures around me.” He says, “Falling into that category of Texas-Fusion has become my culinary point of view.”
He attended SFA from 2009 to 2011 and went through his chapter’s candidate process in the spring of his junior year. During his time in the chapter, he served as the Community Service and Philanthropy Chairman.
Recently, Brother Holmes was gracious enough to sit down and talk to the Fraternity about his work, his career journey, and his connection to the Sigma Nu brotherhood.
Just saying that you’re a chef is a bit of a misnomer, so could you explain what an average day in your life might look like?
Chef Willie Holmes (WH): As a private chef, I have clients that I cook for on a daily basis. I have to go grocery shopping for them, go back to their homes, and prep for them and their families. I also might be booked for catering and events that I have to prepare for. On any given day, I might do TV correspondent work, appearing on local news channels to discuss trending topics in the food world, from desserts and pastries to savory dishes. I also do work on TV segments highlighting other bakers and chefs in the city, helping to promote and support them and I dedicate time to working on my nonprofit organization.
Can you talk about what has inspired you to be so involved locally?
WH: I think the reason why I give back so much is because I do not believe that I could have made it to where I am now without the people who helped me along the way. Growing up on the south side of Houston in poverty with so many challenges facing me, it was already so much of a struggle to “escape the hood.” That’s the easiest way I can say it. To escape that lifestyle and enter a new one, to go to college, it took a full village of people helping and pulling me along just to even make it to SFA. Once there, a different community of people helped me through college, with Sigma Nu being a significant part of that. They helped me get over hurdles, discover myself, and realize what I wanted to do in life. That’s why I give back now.
Reflecting on my journey from college through the various trials and tribulations I faced as an adult in the baking world, I realized there are so many other people with dreams and aspirations in this same world of mine who just needed a little bit of help. So that’s why I created my charity organization, to help those up-and-coming chefs. The nonprofit is called The Texas Bakers Guild Foundation. Its mission is to take a group of chefs who tend to go unnoticed and make them seen. We focus on private chefs, pastry chefs, caterers, and home bakers.
Where would you say your love for food started?
WH: I didn’t make the decision to become a chef until I was at SFA, but I've always had an interest in food. Growing up, it always fascinated me to watch the elder ladies in my family baking. They would take these simple ingredients and turn them into wonderful creations. When I was a teenager, I got to get first-hand experience with activities like grilling on the barbecue pit and baking bread from scratch with my grandmother. Those small experiences instilled in me a love for food.
When I went to SFA, I majored in Hospitality Administration with a focus on Restaurant Management because I just thought I was going to own a restaurant. It didn’t occur to me that I wanted to cook at the restaurant until my first internship at SFA. It was in Little Rock, Arkansas, at a place called the Channel Country Club. I actually got to serve President Bill Clinton there for the first time. That was the first celebrity I ever served, though definitely not the last. Being a part of that moment, serving food to him, and seeing his reaction made me realize, "Hey, I want to be part of that, too."
When I returned to SFA from that internship, and it was my last semester there, I just kept saying, “I want to learn how to cook. I want to learn how to cook.” Through my department, I had the opportunity to work in the SFA kitchen with Aramark, the university’s food service partner. One of the ladies in the kitchen, her name was Rosa, I called her Tía Rosa, took me into the bakery and said, “Hey, can you help me put some cakes together?” I had never touched a cake a day in my life. I didn’t know what to do, but she walked me through it. I think an hour later, I caught on so quickly. I was just decorating cakes like I thought I was a pro. In hindsight, I look back on those cakes, and they were hideous. But, in that moment, I felt so proud and so confident of those little cakes. I just knew that this is what I wanted to do.
I believe you said you participated in that internship at the end of your junior year, which was within a year of joining the chapter, correct?
WH: Yes! I was a year into the chapter when I did that internship, and I wouldn’t have even made it to Arkansas if the brothers hadn’t driven me there. That was a big moment because, like I said, I was still coming out of poverty into college, but Sigma Nu was a big help and a big relief for me. We all packed into the car. They turned it into a whole road trip. They took me all the way to Little Rock. And, when I was done, my big Carl was right there at the bus stop, ready to pick me up when it was finished.
That sounds like a lot of change in one period of your life. Can you talk a little bit more about what that season was like for you?
WH: Sigma Nu was a part of a big change in my life. I was in a low place in college because I was still trying to find my identity and purpose. I was studying hospitality and felt confident about my interest in that field, but nothing else felt right, and I was uncertain about my future.
When I joined Sigma Nu in my junior year, I was pushing 300 pounds. I couldn’t see my future. I didn’t know what I wanted. Joining the Fraternity really helped point me in a positive direction. It was a lot of small things, like the brothers taking me under their wings, saying, “Hey, let’s go run,” or “Let’s go to the park.” And I wasn’t conscious that they were getting me to work out or be physical, but the weight just started dropping. I’ll never forget it; I went from almost 300 to 170 lbs.
In the food sense of things, the Fraternity is where I learned how to eat healthier. I started eating things that I had never seen before, veggies and all these different things that I didn’t experience on the south side of Houston. And as a Black man in this fraternity that’s predominantly white guys, I’m like, “What is that on your plate, bro? What are you doing?” So, I picked it up, and it worked. Now I’m eating chicken breast, rice, and broccoli and I thought it was so good. That’s what really helped shape my mindset, learning about healthy foods, learning about being active, learning about fitness in general. This all helped shape my future because those things, and especially my new interest in healthy food, led to the thesis that I wrote for the hospitality class that had the internship program.
Hearing you talk about how meaningful those relationships were in college, I’m curious, what are those relationships like today?
WH: Oh, they are completely different. In college, brotherhood is something you are thrown into. The people you’re active with, like your pledge brothers, and how close you can get is a lot about timing, to be honest with you. As an adult, I found common interests with a few brothers and have developed deeper relationships with them. For example, my chapter brother Kevin was literally at my house last week. I buy eggs from him. That has become a special relationship, for sure.
That’s most of the main questions I have for you, but one more question just to let you show off a little bit. Who was the client you worked for that you were the most excited to work for?
WH: 50 Cent. For sure. Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, oh my goodness. Honestly, I could say it’s a toss-up between him and Beyonce, but with Beyonce I didn’t get to actually meet her.