When I first reached out to Chef Kia for an interview, I thought I was meeting a chef starting a new business. But she is much more than just an entrepreneur.

We met downtown on a warm September afternoon. There was an unmistakable energy about her—the kind that comes from someone who’s found their calling and is ready to share it with the world.

We started talking, and within minutes, I realized I was not interviewing just a chef; I was talking to a chef. I was talking to a philanthropist who is giving back to the community.

The Foundation: Military Roots and Culinary Dreams

Chef Kia’s journey to opening Onsite Cooking Academy is anything but conventional. Born in Texas to military parents, she moved around before landing at Westside High School in Augusta, where she graduated. After high school, she served in the Army.

“Me and my husband are both veterans,” she tells me. “We met in Texas, in the military.”

As a veteran myself, I know well that after the military, people struggle to figure out what comes next. To find themselves and who they are without the uniform. Not Chef Kia. She already knew.

“I actually started cooking when I was like 11,” she says. “That’s just all I’ve done. When I was in high school, culinary school was like the only thing I got accepted into, so I was like, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing.”

She had started her culinary degree before enlisting, and when she got out, she was just five classes away from graduating. “I was like, I might as well just finish it.”

Building a Business: Five Years as a Private Chef

For the past five years, Chef Kia has been operating a successful private chef business, catering to clients’ homes for dinner parties, cooking for corporate events, and establishing a reputation in the Augusta area. But Onsite Cooking Academy wasn’t just a recent idea—it’s been brewing since culinary school.

“My capstone project, when I was in culinary school, was me opening up a cooking school,” she explains. “So now, five years later, I’m bringing that to fruition.”

The timing feels right. She and her husband moved back to Augusta three years ago, drawn by their roots here. They settled in Harlem, where they live with their children.

The Mission: Teaching Essential Life Skills

What sets Onsite Cooking Academy apart isn’t just about teaching people to cook—it’s about making culinary education accessible.

“It’s not something that you have to get a formal degree for,” Chef Kia explains. “It’s more so just teaching you those basic things that people need to know and want to learn how to cook. And you can go and use those same things that you learn at home.”

Her philosophy is simple but powerful: cooking shouldn’t be intimidating or exclusive. It should be a life skill everyone can master.

A Unique Approach: AI-Powered Menu Creation

When I asked about her specialty, Chef Kia gave me an answer I wasn’t expecting.

“I like to say I’m pretty versatile, because I like to do anything,” she says. “I really create a lot of my menus with AI, so it gets me out of my comfort zone, so I can cook whatever anybody might want.”

Using AI to generate menu ideas? That’s forward-thinking for a chef. But it makes sense—it pushes her to explore new cuisines and techniques while keeping her clients’ experiences fresh and exciting.

“My spin is like Southern comfort food with a fine dining experience,” she adds. “That’s my motto.”

Being in the South, it’s the perfect niche. And the food I like, too.

Giving Back: Mentoring the Next Generation

Chef Kia isn’t waiting for her cooking school to fully launch before making an impact. She’s already deeply involved in culinary education throughout Richmond County.

For the past two years, she’s been going back to Westside High School—her alma mater—to teach cooking labs with students. “I go back and do a cooking lab with them, how to cook and stuff,” she says.

Two weeks before our interview, she participated in an event where the director of Richmond County asked her to mentor culinary programs around the area. “To show people like life as a chef and the business side of it, other than just cooking,” she explains.

The recognition keeps coming. She was just asked to be the culinary instructor for charter schools, where she’ll lead a weekly cooking club.

“I’m excited,” she says, and you can hear it in her voice. “Cooking is such a great skill to have, and a lot of people don’t know how to cook, unfortunately.”

The Location: Perfectly Positioned

Onsite Cooking Academy will be located at 210 Hudson Trace, right off Stevens Creek and Washington Road—essentially between River Watch Parkway on one end and Washington Road on the other.

It’s the kind of central spot that makes sense for a business that wants to serve the entire Augusta area. Easy to get to from Evans, Martinez, Grovetown, or downtown.

The response to Onsite Cooking Academy has already been overwhelmingly positive, even before the doors officially open.

“The Augusta Press did an interview on me, and that thing had so many hits, I wasn’t even expecting,” Chef Kia says. “I didn’t even know they posted it. Somebody tagged me in it, and I was like, ‘Dang, they’ve been rolling me through.’ It got very—like, it was a lot of positive feedback that people showed.”

The social media engagement has been strong, and she’s confident that momentum will only build once the school officially launches.

“Once I really get the ball rolling with the school, it’s going to be big,” she predicts.

I agree. The concept is solid: accessible cooking classes for people who want to learn practical skills. Date nights where couples can cook together. Hands-on lessons that you can actually use at home.

The Vision for Onsite Cooking Academy

Chef Kia isn’t just opening a cooking school. She’s creating a space where people can learn, grow, and discover confidence in the kitchen.

Her military background shows in her discipline and work ethic. Her culinary training shows in her attention to quality and technique. But what really comes through is her passion for teaching and her belief that everyone deserves to know how to cook good food.

In a city that’s growing and changing, where new businesses open and close with alarming frequency, Onsite Cooking Academy feels like something different. It’s not trying to be flashy or trendy. It’s trying to be useful. Essential, even.

And in a world where people increasingly rely on processed foods and takeout, maybe that’s exactly what Augusta needs.

Looking Forward

At the end of our conversation, Chef Kia mentioned she was still waiting on a few final inspections and permits—the usual bureaucratic hurdles that come with opening any new business. But she was optimistic.

For those of us who love food and believe in the power of a home-cooked meal, Onsite Cooking Academy represents something important: a place where the next generation can learn skills that previous generations took for granted. A place where busy professionals can learn to feed themselves and their families with confidence. A place where date nights can become culinary adventures.

Chef Kia is bringing something Augusta didn’t know it needed. And I, for one, can’t wait to see what she creates.

Onsite Cooking Academy is located at 210 Hudson Trace, Augusta, GA. For class schedules and more information, follow them on social media or visit their website once it launches.