32 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 11-17, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com FACE TO FACE It is probably impossible to squeeze the gist of Rachel Mueller’s life into a few paragraphs. The Southern California native earned degrees in dance at Mills College in Oakland and—naturally— ended up running an investment firm in the Bay Area. After a spell in Wisconsin (where she choreographed local productions), Mueller and her husband eventually landed in Monterey County. She has volunteered with the emergency shelter program I-HELP for 18 years and is the new board president for the local Les Dames d’Escoffier chapter. Best to let her take it from here. Weekly: You’ve done very different things. Mueller: Somewhere along the way I started doing event planning, big time—Sundance, Special Olympics. Then my husband bought a stationery retail store in Beverly Hills. I had to move there. I ran it for 16 years. That was a great business—except for the customers, who were impossible. I quit, came home and got involved in nonprofits. So you never danced? I did, out of college. I joined a troupe in Berkeley. Do you remember what “happenings” were? This troupe did weird stuff. But I found out that artists starve. I had to go get a job. I ran an investment company. From dance to investing? I didn’t know a darn thing about investment. No one in my family had stocks or bonds. It was a shock to me that I was real good at it. I found out that what you need to know is how to get along with people—it really does come down to people skills. My father was Episcopal clergy. We were exposed to all the good and bad in life. You have to be able to deal with conflict. I couldn’t be in a business environment. In newsrooms we’re pretty sarcastic. Sarcasm releases a lot of pressure. It makes people laugh. Now, people are afraid to say anything. It’s not as fun. My husband was a great wit. He became a provocateur. He was a debater in college and at dinner parties, he’d take the opposite side. I’d have to tell people, “He doesn’t really believe that, he’s just starting the conversation.” In those days—I mean the ’80s and ’90s—you could debate things and people didn’t take it personally. My brother was famous for saying inappropriate things, but he could pull it off. One day in Costco there was a woman wearing a shirt that said “Hug Me.” So he hugged her. She screamed and he said, “But your shirt…” She started laughing and hugged him. Where did your interest in food come from? Probably my family. Since my father was a priest, from the time I was in second grade, I was passing out cookies at vestry meetings. There were always food events in the church— potlucks. I was always helping in the kitchen. Even when I was in business, I’d do catering and dinner parties. My father would bring homeless people for dinner. He’d come home and say, “Set two more places.” When I found out about the I-HELP program in Monterey, I joined. All these churches participate. It’s a very, very good program. Now I’m going to brag: What we do at St. Dunstan’s is cook. No frozen lasagna. I plan a menu, we get fresh fruits and vegetables. We have a team. Everything is homemade. The whole point is hospitality. Talk about Les Dames. Our mission is to support women in the culinary arts. Mary [Chamberlain] started it in 2007. She was a force. We want this chapter to represent the best of food, wine and hospitality in Monterey County. We’re very lucky in this community to have such good food and wine. We want to be the face of the community. Last year we started doing receptions at Carmel Bach Festival as a community service. We didn’t charge them anything. You know MEarth Day? We just helped MEarth, cooking all the pizza they sold that day. What attracts you to nonprofits? I grew up poor. [Laughs] You know what’s funny? I thought we were rich. I didn’t learn until college that my father made below the poverty line. But it was never really about money, it was always about helping other people. There are so many people who hurt. It doesn’t take much to change that. So I’m drawn to that. And guess what? I’ve never been at a loss. Even when times were difficult, there were always good things happening. Are you ever going to stop? No. Les Dames d’Escoffier is at lesdamesmonterey.org. Dames Time Food and giving have always been a part of Les Dames d’Escoffier board president Rachel Mueller’s life. By Dave Faries Rachel Mueller wanted to be a dancer. She ended up running business. Now she volunteers with the shelter I-HELP and serves with Les Dames d’Escoffier, which supports women in food service. DANIEL DREIFUSS Gigi Things to love: 10 years old - 10 pounds - female - Chihuahua mix Gigi is a petite sweetheart ready to give her whole heart to someone new. 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