What Happens in the Kitchen: Meet Cameron Williams

Managing a kitchen takes organization, skill, effort, and no small amount of passion, especially here at WPSBC. Our kitchen prepares three meals a day for our students—three meals that must adhere to each student’s dietary restrictions and texture requirements while trying to keep things as varied and delicious as possible. It’s a daunting task, but luckily Cameron Williams, our Manager of Therapeutic Nutrition and Food Services, is up to the challenge. Cameron followed his passion by pursuing his special interest right out of high school, and it led him to this life-changing profession.

 

Cameron came to us with a wealth of experience from all over the culinary field. From country clubs to the Steelers and Pitt Football training facilities, Cameron has truly been lucky enough to explore every avenue of his field. Once Cameron started his career in earnest, he quickly realized that he needed to focus his own personal expectations to find a realistic path for himself to help him realize some of his dreams. Through exploration, Cameron was able to pursue his passion and create amazing learning and employment opportunities for himself right here. “I was able to fulfill a few dreams by working with a sports team, traveling, and learning from the best,” Cameron continued.

 

Cameron eventually transitioned to the school district scene as a Food Service Director, really bonding with the students at those districts to create meals they were excited to eat. Those opportunities are what eventually led him to become the Manager of Therapeutic Nutrition and Food Services at our School.

 

Cameron is responsible for creating multiple menus each week. These menus feature different textures and dietary requirements based on each student's needs. He has a great deal of experience and knowledge, but the job still provides him with interesting challenges each day. He goes on to say, “I admit that we're still working on improving things, but I do not want students to feel like their food is an afterthought. I'm always thinking about how we can make things better and how we can add more flavor.” Which is exactly what Cameron aims to do with his unique and innovative cooking skills. “I absolutely love being creative and trying different things. I love doing that for the students, too! This year (when we were a little more staffed), we tried making different things from scratch for the students; some went well, and we got plenty of calls complaining about others. But I just love taking a chance, seeing what people enjoy, and hearing about it one way or another.” Receiving that kind of feedback is what inspires Cameron to try new things and formulate new recipes.

 

Staying motivated while performing such a demanding job is crucial in any role, and Cameron has the perfect way to do that. Being creative and innovative in his everyday work is one of the key motivating factors, he explained. While that is important, Cameron has another way to keep that motivation going. He keeps a photo frame on his desk full of photos of his daughter. “On really hard days, I glance at it and smile. I love looking at how tiny and squishy she used to be and thinking about all the memories we've made. Work can be extremely stressful, but looking at pictures reminds me to stop, breathe, and move forward.” Through Cameron’s career at WPSBC, he hopes to inspire people to take chances, be creative, and continue to learn, which are all things he has done over the 5 years he has worked here, and will continue to do for the rest of his career.