You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

How This 'Chopped' Champion Chef Beat Cancer and Drug Addiction to Find Success An inspiring interview with author and chef Eric LeVine.

By Diana Falzone

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Chef Eric LeVine is a restauranteur, best-selling author and a winner of Food Network's highest-rated show Chopped. But success hasn't been an easy road for him. Over the course of his life, Eric has had to overcome drug addiction and beat cancer an astounding five times.

In this sit-down interview at his New Jersey seafood restaurant and sports bar, Mr. Crabby's Craft Kitchen + Bar, LeVine opened up about the challenges he's faced, and how he has used them as motivation to rise up in the culinary world.

Related: The Food Industry Is a 'Gold Rush' for Entrepreneurs

After attending The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, LeVine worked with David Burke at the acclaimed River Cafe. From there, he went on to work under several celebrity chefs until he himself was named one of the top ten new chefs by USA Today.

Related: How Guy Fieri's Empire Almost Burned to the Ground

Despite the great critical reviews and awards for his food, Chef Eric never lost sight of the struggles that made him the man he is today. The cancer survivor lives by the adage to pay it forward. He is a cancer awareness advocate working with the American Cancer Society and was given their prestigious Heart and Soul Award.

We hope you are inspired as LeVine offers his hard-earned wisdom to aspiring and veteran entrepreneurs alike.

Diana Falzone

Journalist

Diana Falzone is a journalist. She is an anchor for Bold TV. Previously, she was a reporter for Fox News Channel and a talk show host for SiriusXM Radio.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

More from Entrepreneur Exclusives

3 Simple Ways to Boost E-Commerce Sales

Why Your First 1,000 Customers Are Your Most Important

How to Grow Your Business By Finding New Customers

3 Stress-Busting Relaxation Exercises You Can Do Anywhere (60-Second Video)

Editor's Pick

Business News

Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Multibillion-Dollar Crypto Fraud

Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan said that the loss amount to the victims of Bankman-Fried's crimes surpassed $550 million.

Side Hustle

This Mom Started a Side Hustle After a 'Shocking' Realization in the Toy Aisle. Her Product Was in Macy's Within the Year — Seeing Nearly $350,000 in Sales.

Elenor Mak, now founder of Jilly Bing, didn't plan to start a business — but the search for a doll that looked like her daughter inspired her to do just that.

Growing a Business

To Achieve Sustainable Success, You Need to Stop Focusing on Disruption. Here's Why — and What You Must Focus on Instead.

Instead of zeroing in solely on disruptive innovation, embrace a pragmatic approach to innovation, recognizing and leveraging the potential within ongoing industry shifts.

Marketing

5 Ways to Get on the Media's Good Side (and Stay There)

When you're trying to make a name and a mark for yourself and your business, it's really important to get on the media's good side — and stay there.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Told Meta Engineers to 'Figure Out' Snapchat's Privacy Protections: 'We Have No Analytics on Them'

Recently unsealed court documents detail "Project Ghostbusters," Meta's project to work around Snapchat's end-to-end encryption to intercept data.