Chef Lauren Von Der Pool

Eat yourself, ladies! Chef Lauren Von Der Pool aka The Queen of Green (@queenofgreen) was born in Washington D.C., and describes herself in her early life as a "bad girl" and "gangster." When a stab wound to the head at the age of sixteen proved almost fatal, Von Der Pool decided to make a new life for herself with a complete lifestyle change. She began to transform her relationship with food, and she experimented with raw and vegan cooking. With the advice from a mentor, Von Der Pool enrolled at the Le Cordon Bleu Los Angeles and Paris Culinary School. Upon graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, Von Der Pool worked with many notable chefs, including Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters. Von Der Pool has also worked as a personal chef for many prominent celebrities, like Patti Labelle, Common, Stevie Wonder, Venus and Serena Williams (Venus Williams wrote the foreword for her cookbook Eat Yourself Sexy.) For three years, Von Der Pool worked exclusively for the sisters, teasingly claiming, "I ate, drank, and slept Serena and Venus" during her Miami New Times interview in 2015. One of the most significant highlights of her career occurred in 2009 when First Lady Michelle Obama invited Von Der Pool to serve as an executive chef for "Let's Move!"—the First Lady's childhood obesity prevention campaign.

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