Chef Terrie Kohl is the owner of Country Club Market in Clive, Iowa, and author of “Bringing Friends and Family Back Around the Table.” Country Club Market fills a unique niche in central Iowa, offering culinary arts classes, customized catering and bake to order, along with private chef services.

Please tell us about your background (where you grew up, where you went to school, etc.).

I am a native Nebraskan, but I grew up in Cedar Rapids. I took a risk and moved to West Des Moines to begin my culinary career as a food service food broker and then a national foodservice buyer.

I attended The New England Culinary Institute in Essex Junction, Vermont, in 1996. Then, I interned in kitchens at the Mantauk Yacht Club and in South Hampton on Long Island before returning to Des Moines. In Des Moines, I worked with the Downtown Des Moines Marriott Hotel, as Sous Chef at the Embassy Club Capital Square, as Catering Chef at Aramark/Pioneer Hi-Bred and Catering Chef at Drake University in Des Moines.

I have a collection of more than 4,500 cookbooks, and I am especially fond of regional Junior League cookbooks and those found on vacation destinations. I also have a passion for judging food competition entries at the Iowa State Fair, where I’ve been a judge for the past 21 years.

Please tell us about your business.

I established Country Club Market in 2003. I am a solopreneur and provide custom catering, bake to order, private chef services, cooking classes and food consulting. I am also a cook book author. I was voted one of “The Iowa Restaurant Association’s 40 Women to Watch in the Hospitality Industry” in November 2019.

I have been featured in several publications in Central Iowa, and I did many segments with KCCI news. I am currently working with Iowa Ingredient on IPTV. One of my claims to fame is having met and received a culinary scholarship from Dame Julia Child!

Why did you join NAWBO Iowa and what do you appreciate about it?

Its openness to other like-minded businesswomen to share our craft.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?

I love what I get to do! I enjoy everything from menu writing to grocery shopping to food prep to baking. I also enjoy the creativity of food, be it seasonal or ethnic. But most of all, I am privileged to share in people making memories through their celebrations and food. Clients become friends.

What are you most looking forward to in 2022?

Reaching out to more clients to empower and serve as is my faith. The one thing that drives me is this passage from Matthew 17:20: "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed ... nothing will be impossible for you."