Vallery Lomas traded in her career as a lawyer for a life centered around food, culture and creativity, a journey that began with an Instagram side hustle and eventually led to a cookbook, a baking competition victory and a new career in the culinary world.

The lawyer-turned-entrepreneur and cookbook author recently joined the ESSENCE Festival of Culture 2026 festivities, participating in a gumbo and crawfish étouffée cook-off on the ESSENCE Food & Wine stage.

Watch our full interview with Vallery Lomas here:

For Lomas, being part of the festival was about more than the food and entertainment. She described ESSENCE Festival as a celebration of Black excellence and a space where people can connect, learn and explore.

“It’s everything. It’s a beautiful celebration of Black excellence,” she said. “There are so many people out here and everyone is just here to learn, to explore. The vibes are high, the vibrations are high.”

She added that the experience left her feeling recharged, saying, “I just feel like it’s filling my cup to go back out into the world after this weekend.”

That idea of being filled and nourished also connects to Lomas’ own career journey. Before becoming known for her culinary work, she was working full time as a lawyer while building a food-focused presence on Instagram.

“I was actually working full time as a lawyer and I had a side hustle on Instagram cooking recipes and showing the process of my recipes,” she said.

That side hustle eventually led to an opportunity that would change the trajectory of her life. Lomas was contacted by a talent booker and went on to compete on “The Great American Baking Show,” where she won.

After the competition, Lomas decided it was time for a career change. Writing a cookbook became one of her first major steps into her new professional chapter.

“I ended up getting reached out to by a talent booker. I went on a competition show, ‘The Great American Baking Show.’ I won and then decided I wanted a career change,” Lomas said. “Writing a cookbook was the first big step I made into that new career.”

The transition from law to food may seem like a dramatic shift, but Lomas sees a clear connection between food and the larger world around us, stating that “food is political.”

For Lomas, cooking is also a deeply personal and intimate way to share culture. She believes recipes can create connections between people who may otherwise be encouraged to see their differences as barriers.