At Upohar World Kitchen, the name says a lot—’upohar’ means ‘gift’ in Bengali, and that spirit runs through everything we do. For the clients, the gift is the incredible food on their plate, recipes from around the world that give flavor and warmth to their events and celebrations.
But for the people behind the scenes—especially the young people who’ve worked at Upohar during their high school years—the gift has been something more personal: confidence, care, and a sense of belonging in the workplace. That’s the story of four teenagers—and their supervisor—who all found themselves growing in remarkable ways through their employment at Upohar.
When Catering Manager Josiah Coffey first joined the Upohar team, he was looking for a management position. What he found was something more: “I’ve worked plenty of jobs,” he says, “but I don’t think I’ve ever worked somewhere that truly cared about my growth and well-being.” As he stepped into a leadership role, his team included several teenagers, most of them in their first-ever jobs.
“It’s one thing to manage people,” he says. “It’s another thing to learn how to support people who are still figuring out who they are.”
One of those team members, Nyomi, was only a high school senior, but already had three years of experience at Upohar. “She trained me,” Josiah laughs. “Age is nothing in the workplace…She might not know it yet, but she is going to be a boss someday.”
For Nyomi, Upohar offered a safe environment to explore and grow as a young professional. “I was never shut down or made to feel incompetent,” she says. “Everything was a learning opportunity.” Now, as she prepares to graduate and pursue studies in environmental science, sustainability, and conservation, Nyomi looks back at Upohar as something like an extended family.
“It’s just so genuine. There’s an openness and joy here. High schoolers always complain about work, but I’m always in a better mood after a shift.”
Though they might agree today, Noam started their first shift incredibly nervous. “I thought I’d be a burden,” they say. “I’d volunteered before where I wasn’t given anything to do, just left to feel awkward. But here, they helped me right away. I never dreaded going to work.” What helped, they say, were the people—and the moments—that made them feel valued and supported.
Long car rides to far-off events with Josiah, joking and talking about life, created a welcoming environment, while catering events made them more extraverted. “I’ve carried the mindset I learned at Upohar with me,” they say. Now an Art Ambassador at college, Noam helps give tours and represent artistic life on campus. With such a public-facing job, they credit the confidence they gained at Upohar with helping them step out of their shell.
JT, a soft-spoken musician, shares that sentiment. He admits he had a defeatist attitude when he arrived, shaped by discouraging experiences in previous jobs.
“I didn’t think much of my own ability to contribute,” he says. “But this team helped me believe in myself. They let me try, gave me room to grow, and trusted me.” While he’s not planning a career in food, JT has taken those lessons into his creative life. “It helped me show up with more confidence in my music and with people in general.”
But Sawyer is seeking a career in food, and before he came to Upohar, he had not had a good start. A culinary student from Ephrata, he came to Upohar after a deeply damaging experience at a previous catering job. “That place was just unhealthy,” he recalls. “The managers had egos, they were aggressive, they didn’t teach you—they just made you feel small.”
When he quit, the head chef told him he’d never make it in the industry. “I fell into a bit of a depression,” Sawyer says. “It shook me. I didn’t know if I really had a place in kitchens.”
Then he found Upohar.
“Right away, it was different,” he says. “The managers actually talked to me, taught me, showed me how to do things without acting like they were better than me.” For the first time, Sawyer got feedback that lifted him up instead of breaking him down. “They’d reach out and say, ‘Hey, you did really great tonight, we’re lucky to have you.’ I even got a review from a client. That had never happened before. It helped me value myself again.” Now he’s looking ahead to culinary school, dreaming about opening his own restaurant—or maybe traveling the world as a personal chef.
Josiah saw that change happen in real time. “Sawyer’s journey… it just makes you proud. He’s so solid. It’s a collaboration between us, really. I’m learning so much, working with someone who’s about to go to school for this stuff.”
Indeed, as much as he’s a mentor, Josiah’s experience as a supervisor has been no less educational. “It’s made me such a better manager and leader.” he says. “When you lean on people’s strengths—especially when they’re still discovering those strengths themselves—you make everyone better.”
Every one of the students talks about how good the food is, and how rewarding it is to see clients light up, whether it’s at a corporate dinner or the most intimate and important events of their lives. They love that they get to be part of such special and joyous moments for people. But more than that, they all relate how good it feels to be part of something meaningful and enriching to their own lives as well.
At many jobs, teenage staff are treated as disposable labor. The idea that “the staff come first” can be a cliche—often stated, but seldom truly practiced. But for the staff at Upohar, it really means something: it means self-confidence, social and professional skills, and nourishing experiences they can carry into the rest of their lives. And for Josiah, that’s the most important part: “I hope they take something from me and from everyone at Upohar. That they find their passions, and pursue them relentlessly.”
