A lifelong entrepreneur, Chef Chrissy is no stranger to hard work and perseverance. In 2015, when tragedy struck her family, this single mom had to redesign herself. After losing everything and finding herself literally homeless and sleeping in her car with 2 dogs, she felt hopeless and lost. And old friend reached out and offered her a room to rent. In exchange, she started cooking meals for the family. As the weeks went by, she found cooking to be very healing. She started to fall in love with it and realized she had a gift. It was bringing her joy again and ignited something inside her she had never felt before. So at 47, she went back to school to get a Culinary degree. Graduating with a 4.0 and perfect attendance she was on a mission to find her place in the Culinary world. It was not easy as she quickly learned, it was a man's world and women weren’t always welcome. But she never gave up, she was determined to prove she could succeed.  Chrissy diligently worked her way through the ranks of the kitchen in four different restaurants, earning the well-deserved title of Chef at The Plum Island Grille. Chef Chrissy has had many of her dishes featured on Newburyport VIP’s social media sites and is now a favorite Chef of local Plum Islanders and Salisbury residents.  

Things were going well for a while and then Covid hit. Chef Chrissy lost her job and restaurants shut down. So she had to pivot yet again. She began catering for friends and family and offering Personal Chef Services to make ends meet. And out of all of that, Baddass Brands was created. Word spread fast and business was booming, things were going so great.  

But in December of 2022, Chef Chrissy was rushed to the hospital for an emergency surgery to save her life. She hadn’t been feeling well for months but never thought it was something so serious. 2 days later she was rushed to another hospital. She had become septic and it took a ten-hour surgery to save her life once again. Unfortunately there were so many complications that it resulted in her staying in the hospital for almost a year. During that time they found colon cancer and other issues that required 6 more surgeries and 2 years of a very difficult recovery. She fractured her spine in 3 places, then fractured her shoulder and spent 6 months in a wheelchair. There were many days she just wanted God to take her, she couldn’t bear it anymore. But God had other plans. She dug in with all of her badass self and fought the fight of her life. Her community rallied around her and helped keep her business alive. She spent all of 2025 rebuilding and she is now back, better and stronger than ever, with new dreams and new goals. Chef Chrissy has combined her previous background in education as a teacher for 20 years and her passion for all things food, to open a culinary school in Salisbury. Her dream is to share her love for food and show others how cooking and meals can change lives, just like it did for her, one recipe at a time. We are happy to say Chef Chrissy is Cancer free. She still has a road to full recovery ahead of her but is determined to get there and show others that anything is possible if you just believe that it is. In 2024, Chef Chrissy traveled to Greece in a wheelchair to hold her first culinary retreat. While it was the hardest thing she ever did alone, it was the experience of a lifetime and there will be many more to come! So check us out and join us on a Culinary Adventure!