By: Azhar H
In an industry that often demands composure, perfection, and an unrelenting pace, Lorraine Le is choosing a different path: truth.
A chef, mental health advocate, and founder of the Break It Till You Make It movement, Lorraine is reshaping the way we think about food, healing, and leadership. Her work isn’t about curated wellness or polished hospitality — it’s about raw emotion, radical honesty, and challenging the rules we’ve been taught to live by.
“For a long time, I thought success meant holding it all together,” she says. “But real growth came when I let it unfold naturally — and started building from the pieces.”
The Kitchen as a Mirror — and a Catalyst for Change
Lorraine’s journey through the corporate and culinary world mirrors the experience of many high-performing women: ambition fueled her rise, but the pressure to appear composed nearly broke her. Lack of professional and personal boundaries, toxic cultures, and emotional suppression were commonly accepted norms.
Eventually, after years of maintaining a composed facade, Lorraine found herself opening up.
“I didn’t just want to accept the status quo of what society or our culture tells us we need to be in order to be seen as worthy or successful,” she says. “I wanted to feel something again. And food — the very thing I once used to punish and numb myself — became the thing that helped me reconnect to myself and to others.”
Her recovery from an eating disorder and the impact of unprocessed trauma led her to reclaim food not just as a battleground, but as a bridge — to herself, and to others.
Today, she uses her platform to spark difficult but necessary conversations around mental health in high-pressure industries, especially hospitality, where vulnerability is often underappreciated.
From Survival to Strategy: Food as a Framework for Emotional Wellness
Through her Break It Till You Make It project, Lorraine invites individuals and organizations to rethink their relationship with food and emotion.
Her approach fuses mindful cooking, intentional dining, and emotionally-informed leadership into a holistic view of wellness — one that centers truth over trend.
Here’s how she brings that philosophy to life:
1. Mindful Cooking as Grounding Practice
Lorraine teaches that cooking doesn’t need to be perfect — it needs to be present. By engaging the senses and slowing down, even the most routine meal can become a moment of meditation, a pause in a world that rarely offers one.
2. Food as a Mood Regulator
From fermented foods to leafy greens, Lorraine emphasizes the link between nutrition and mood, helping people build meals that can support not just physical health, but emotional resilience.
3. Meals as Rituals of Self-Worth
“Don’t just cook to impress — cook to care,” she says. Her work encourages the challenge of the cultural script that says we should save the ‘nice meals’ for others. Instead, she teaches clients to cook for themselves like they matter — because they deserve it.
4. Shared Tables as Community Medicine
Loneliness is a mental health crisis in itself. Lorraine’s curated Chef’s Table experiences bring people together around food to connect, reflect, and, sometimes, cry. She believes communal eating is not a luxury, but rather, an essential need.
5. Cooking as Emotional Expression
Food is art. It’s ancestry. It’s an autobiography. Lorraine empowers people to tell their stories through ingredients — to express grief through spice, joy through texture, and memory through flavor.
Leading With Vulnerability: Breaking the Industry Mold
In a time when leadership is being redefined, Lorraine is one of the voices making sure emotional truth is part of the conversation.
Her Break It Till You Make It ethos encourages CEOs, creatives, and professionals alike to stop chasing polished perfection and start embracing what’s real — discomfort, mistakes, and setbacks — as vital parts of evolution.
“I don’t believe in failure anymore,” she says. “Only feedback. Only data. Only direction.”
Through keynotes, chef-led experiences, and wellness retreats, Lorraine is helping leaders create cultures where people can show up as their authentic selves — not just as high-performing professionals.
What’s Next: Building A Table Where Everyone Belongs
Lorraine’s vision is clear: a world where food isn’t a symbol of control or consumption, but of care, community, and emotional fluency.
She’s currently expanding Break It Till You Make It into new spaces — including corporate wellness initiatives, hospitality consulting, and culinary therapy events — that bring her message to teams, founders, and changemakers.
Because healing isn’t a side dish. It’s the main course. And it starts with the courage to break what no longer serves — and create something new.
Disclaimer: The content provided is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. For personalized guidance on mental health or wellness, please consult a qualified professional.
Published by Joseph T.
