Hey! It’s ME,

Chef Jojo!

Okay, so writing about yourself is literally the most awkward thing ever. Like, what do you even say? "Hi, I'm awesome"? But here goes nothing...

So hi, I'm Joanna Mercado, but everyone calls me Chef Jojo (thank goodness, because Joanna sounds so formal, right?). My life has been one wild ride filled with family traditions, unexpected turns, and a whole lot of faith. But somehow it all led me to exactly where I'm supposed to be – creating incredible meals and meaningful moments as a private chef who gets to cook with love every single day.

Where It All Started: Family, Food, and Farming

Picture this: December 18, 1989, Lansing, Michigan – aka farmer central. I'm talking cornfields for DAYS, strawberry patches, apple orchards, and farmers markets that would make your Instagram feed weep with envy. But it wasn't just the landscape that shaped me – it was my family.

My dad was this incredible cook who could make magic happen in our kitchen, and both my grandmothers? Total kitchen goddesses. I spent my childhood perched on counters, watching them work, learning that cooking isn't just about following recipes – it's about love, tradition, and bringing people together. They taught me that food is the thread that weaves families together, that every dish tells a story

Growing up, our dinner table was the heart of our home. We'd gather around steaming bowls of whatever Dad had whipped up, sharing stories about our day, our dreams, our silly childhood dramas. My grandmothers would slip me little tastes of whatever they were working on, teaching me about seasoning, timing, and that magical moment when all the flavors come together perfectly.

That's where my palate got its real education – not from textbooks, but from generations of family recipes, from hands that had been cooking with love for decades before I was even born. Every technique I learned, every flavor combination that made my eyes light up, every moment I spent absorbing their kitchen wisdom – it all started right there in those Michigan kitchens, surrounded by the people who loved me most.

The Southern Chapter: New Flavors, Same Family Love

Fast forward to 1998 – we packed up our Michigan lives and moved to Gulfport, Mississippi. Talk about culture shock! But in the BEST way. Suddenly I'm in this incredible melting pot of Southern flavors, and hello, seafood everywhere! Plus, we're practically neighbors with Louisiana, so Chef Emeril Lagasse was basically a household deity. BAM!

But more than the amazing food scene, it was watching how my family adapted that taught me everything. We brought our Michigan traditions with us but embraced this new Southern culture with open arms. Family dinners became these beautiful fusion experiences – Dad would cook up fresh Gulf shrimp with the same love and technique he used for those Michigan farm vegetables. My grandmothers started experimenting with Southern spices, blending them with their time-tested recipes.

Our kitchen became this amazing laboratory where Midwest comfort met Southern soul, and somehow it all just worked. That's when I really learned that good cooking isn't about sticking to one tradition – it's about taking the love and techniques passed down through your family and letting them evolve with wherever life takes you.

The Real Life Happens Part

Then Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and changed everything. We evacuated to the Florida Panhandle, where I finished high school and... well, life got real, real fast. At 19, I became a mom to my beautiful daughter Olivia, and at 21, I had my son Jaydon.

Even as a young mom trying to figure out my own path, family remained everything to me. I wanted to give my kids the same foundation I'd had – that sense of home being wherever we gathered around a table together. I kept working in restaurants – front of house, back of house, wherever they'd have me. I had no master plan, just faith that God would show me the way, and the knowledge that no matter what, we'd always have each other and good food to bring us together.

At 23, I made the leap and moved to Orlando with both kids to attend culinary school, chasing this dream of something better for all of us.

The Heartbreak That Changed Everything

Here's where my story takes the hardest turn. On October 25, 2013, I lost my baby boy Jaydon. He was just 18 months old. Less than two months later, on December 14, 2013, I walked across that stage and graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Program.

I made a promise that Jaydon's passing wouldn't be in vain. So I kept cooking, kept learning, kept growing. I worked everywhere – catering companies, fine dining establishments, helped open countless restaurants. Every job taught me something new about this crazy, beautiful, exhausting industry I'd fallen in love with. But more than that, cooking became my way of honoring my son's memory and keeping my family close, even when everything felt broken.

The Phoenix Moment

In 2017, my son Elias came into the world, and for a minute, everything felt right again. Having him reminded me why family and creating a loving home through food mattered so much. But I was still carrying so much – physical pain, emotional pain, all of it. Finally, in 2020, I had life-changing surgery that literally altered my trajectory. For years I'd been living with pain that held me back, and suddenly I was free.

That's when I said, "You know what? I'm done playing it safe." I quit my highest-paying salary jobs (yes, plural – I was hustling HARD), risked everything including my mortgage, and went all-in on my dream of becoming a private chef. I wanted to build something that honored everything my family had taught me about cooking with love.

The Now Part (The Good Stuff!)

Today, after 22+ years in professional kitchens and a lifetime of learning from the best teachers I ever had – my family – I get to do what I love every single day. I create menus that blend Mediterranean and Caribbean influences with healthy twists on Southern classics, always remembering those lessons learned around our family table.

Every dish I create comes from a place of love – love for the craft, love for my clients, and love for those meaningful moments that happen when people gather around a table. Whether I'm preparing an intimate dinner for two or catering a massive celebration, I bring that same family-centered approach to every single meal. It's been a rollercoaster building this business, learning as I go, but I wouldn't trade a single moment.

This is just part of my story, and honestly? I can't wait to see what comes next. After everything life has thrown at me, I know I've got more than a few angels looking out for me, and I'm covered in blessings.

So that's me – Chef Jojo. Still that little girl who fell in love with cooking in her family's kitchen, just with a few more stories to tell and a whole lot more heart in my repertoire. And yes, writing about yourself is still super awkward, but when your story is really about the people who made you who you are, it gets a little easier.

Always with love, Chef Jojo 🍳💋