Finding Yourself Through Loss| with Chef Mark Noguchi
Pain and loss have a way of stripping life down to its rawest form, revealing truths we often ignore in the hustle of daily life. For Mark Noguchi—better known as Chef Gooch—career success came at a cost.
His journey through personal and professional struggles, the loss of his mother, and the breaking point of his marriage ultimately led him to a deeper understanding of himself and his purpose in the world.
The Illusion of Success
By all external measures, Chef Gooch had made it. He was a renowned chef, leading multiple restaurants, raising a family, and building a brand that people admired. From the outside, everything looked perfect. But beneath the surface, he was crumbling.
Like many chefs, he had poured everything into his work, leaving little for himself or his family. The demands of running multiple restaurants took a toll—not just on his personal life but on his own sense of well-being.
The Breaking Point
The cracks in his world deepened in 2016. His team at the restaurant fell apart—he lost 80% of his restaurant staff. Friends doubted whether his marriage would survive the year. And then came a phone call from his mother, asking him to visit.
“I knew exactly what she was going to tell me,” he recalls. “She had stage four pancreatic cancer.”
At that moment, his world seemed to collapse. He was on the verge of losing everything—his business, his family, his mother. He was forced to face a reality he could no longer outrun.
Chef Gooch with his mother
The Leap of Faith
Instead of continuing down the path of burnout and despair, Gooch did something unexpected—he asked for help. He took a leap of faith and started therapy.
Change didn’t happen overnight, but his staff saw the difference before he even noticed it himself. Slowly, things shifted.
In 2017, another leap of faith came—he and his wife Amanda decided to close all their restaurants. They pivoted to catering, a move that allowed them to find balance, reclaim their lives, and focus on what truly mattered: family and community.
Finding Purpose Through Loss
Looking back, Gooch sees his mother’s passing as a turning point.
“My mother died to save our lives,” he reflects.
Had they not made the difficult decision to close their restaurants, they would still be struggling, trapped in a cycle of exhaustion. Instead, they found the space to create something more meaningful—Project Chef Hui, a movement dedicated to serving Hawaiʻi’s community through the culinary world.
Gooch and other members of Chef Hui tend to kalo.
The Truth About Leadership and Self-Discovery
Leadership isn’t about being at the top—it’s about being at the bottom, lifting others up. And in that role, it’s easy to forget that leaders, too, need support.
Finding yourself through pain isn’t about avoiding struggle. It’s about embracing it, working through the confusion, and allowing yourself to lean on those who uplift you.
“You’re going to find yourself through pain and loss and loneliness and confusion.”
The Journey Forward
Pain forces us to reevaluate what truly matters. For Gooch, that meant shifting his focus from external success to internal fulfillment. It meant understanding that struggle isn’t a sign of failure—it’s a necessary part of growth.
His story is a reminder that loss isn’t the end—it’s often the beginning of something greater. Through the hardest moments, we uncover our true purpose. And sometimes, it takes losing everything to finally find ourselves.
Chef Gooch’s story is featured in RiseHI’s Make IT Happen curriculum, under the Perseverance to See It Through module. Learn more about Make IT Happen and how you can implement it in your school or organization today by visiting our ‘Oihana Career Explorations or Frameworks page.
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