Olga Watkins Bio Page

My Bio

Photo by Bill Boyd http://www.pittsburghphotosource.com

Thanks for visiting my website. I appreciate your consideration and support. I'd like to share a little about myself, so here goes...

My Story...so far...

I grew up in Wheeling, WV, in the church where my father was the minister for 45 years.
My first gig was as a 2 year old soloist at the church. I sang "Put Your Hand in the Hand" and "Jesus Loves Me" with my skirt pulled up to my chin. I haven't sung in a church for a long time, but I still do that skirt thing every once in a while

I started studying piano at age 5. Then violin at 7. I enjoyed both and was a better violinist than pianist but changed my focus when, at age 12, I realized that I could sing a little better than the average 6th grader.

Apparently there are some genetics involved. My brother, Reg Watkins, a very talented and accomplished composer, arranger and trombonist, is currently traveling with The Maynard Ferguson Band as the musical director. He just recently released a slammin' CD of original material that is definitely worth going out of your way for.

Hear clips and buy Reggie's CD, A-List at http://www.kpasta.com/jazz-watkins.aspx

I started classical voice training at 13. From age 13 to 18, I took acting classes, some dance classes and did a lot of community and high school theater as well as a variety of other types of performing. My first role was as a Harem Girl in the Oglebay Park Players production of Kismet. I also had lead and chorus roles in West Side Story, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, Company, The Crucible, Mornings at Seven, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey, of course, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as the Narrator and a whole truck load of one act plays that I can't remember. During my senior year at school, I delivered singing telegrams as a part time job. I was the resident Diva at Wheeling Park High and sang the National Anthem for just about everything in the Wheeling area. I also did all of the usual speech and theater stuff and held state championship titles in Dramatic Interpretation, Original Oratory, Prose and Poetry Interpretation and Dramatic Duo. Always the over-achieving, A-type, personality, I was co-captain of our speech team, vice president of our Thespian group and president of Park Players. And somehow, I still found plenty of time to hold a couple of jobs and party like a rock star. Not much has changed.

I was accepted to many colleges, some well known for performing arts, but went to Chatham College in Pittsburgh on a full scholarship for music. I was "discovered" by someone in the music department while she was judging a vocal competition. Chatham did everything short of pack my bags and pick me up at my door to procure a commitment from me. I wasn't playing hard to get, I just wasn't very excited about Chatham. As it turns out, the music program was not really their strongest department and not at all what I needed. I left in the second semester of my first year to sing at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago with a bunch opera singers from a local group. I did find a great voice coach there, but as my heart was never really in opera, I was still unfulfilled and restless, searching for my niche and not having too much fun as the youngest chick on the block. Imagine being a pretty, vivacious and sexy nineteen year old chick from West Virginia, of all places, and walking into an extremely competitive work environment that consists mostly of women who are, at least 10 years older than you. It was almost as much fun as sewing your head to the carpet. What I learned about myself was that I was not quite as worldly as I thought. What I learned in general is that all opera singers are evil. Except for Kathryn Hargrove and Jane Burgess. I'm sort of kidding, about the opera singers that is. I don't know too many anymore.

It was more of a beating than my little, nineteen year old ego could handle. I came back to Pittsburgh a year later and after a few, half-assed attempts at gigs with my brother Reggie, I stopped singing entirely. Stopped singing, writing, listening, playing piano and even trying to have a hand in any of it. Over the last 13 or so years, I have sung a gig or two, a few weddings for friends, done some voice over work and a little screen acting, but without much resolve.

During that time I worked in a lot of restaurants, attended a community college culinary arts program and learned a lot about the food service industry. At a time when I was having difficulty finding a restaurant management job, I became a McDonalds manager for a few years. Ross, the owner of my McD's, was very smart and a good guy to work for. Fast food was definitely not my style. But, Ross was tough and someone I could relate to and the management training program at McDonald's was, without a doubt, the best food-service management education one could ever hope for. They should sell it to all those kids who emerge deluded and relatively useless from their twenty thousand dollar culinary arts programs.

Live and learn. When I became pregnant with my daughter, quite the little performer herself, in considering everything it means to be someone's primary role model and how important it is to be very aware of what messages you send to children, I felt that I had no choice but to get my shit together once and for all. I couldn't be someone who was willing to become bitter and rest on the laurels of my youth; always talking about what I "used to" do. No way.

It's very important to me to expose Diva, Jr.to all types of music and musical instruments and to encourage her to express her bad little self musically. I had a vision of, after year music lessons, her realization that her Mama could sing "for real" and had avoided doing so for more than half her life. I could just see the look on her face and imagine the overall loss of credibility in here eyes.What kind of message would that send? At any rate, I had to do better. I had to show her that you can do anything and everything you want to in life. And, that it is essential to make the best use of your time on this planet by using all of the talents that God has given you to improve yourself and to do whatever good you can in the lives of those around you. I spent a lot of time and effort avoiding the person I really am. The real Olga, the Diva within. Well, that was enough of that. Miss O Diva is here to stay. Hear me roar, honey.

I learned to cook before I learned to read, loved it, was already comfortable in front of people and was an adrenaline junky; a natural for the restaurant business. From age 13 to present I've worked in every position in restaurants. I've discovered that I'm good at all of it. If I do say so myself. (And, of course, I do.) My preference has certainly become the back of the house. I recognize that my temperment is not always conduicive to hospitality. I know enough to stay in the kitchen, get through the rush, take a stroll around the dining room, shake a few hands, kiss a few cheeks and get my ass back in the kitchen; where I can swear like longshoreman and throw grill lighters and saute pans against the wall. Currently I own Elite Catering, have a personal chef service, work on a very part time basis for a food service management company based in Alpharetta Georgia, Service Care of America, Inc. Jim Long, president and CEO of Service Care, was my full-time employer for almost five years. A record amount of time with one company,in my book. Jim, who has become a great friend of mine, is wonderful to work for. I'm not sure if that's because he's the type of boss that jumps in and washes dishes when it's neccessary, or if it's because the distance between Georgia and PA were exactly what I needed in a boss.

The past four years have been quite a challenge. And that's great. I'm very easily bored anyway and wouldn't know what to do with myself if life were easy for more than ten minutes at a time. I'm so fortunate to have such a healthy, smart and beautiful little girl, wonderful and supportive friends, awesome women around me all the time, especially my Mom, my sister Joan, Sally Haas, Ida Joiner, Kay Wolfe, Sophia Barrett, Katie Schmidt, Susan Reifenrath, Vicki and Jessica Ruffo, Noreen Fitpatrick, Jessica Faessel, Mary Hill and Judi Harbaugh; just to name a few. I'm also blessed with the ability and opportunity to work, simultaneously, in the two fields about which I am most passionate. Despite the trials and tribulations, life is pretty damn good. Anton Chekov said "Any idiot can handle a crisis. It's this day-to-day living that wears you out." Amen, Anton. But I'm loving every minute of it. As to the men in my life, I have not exactly been swept off my feet. Or even all that impressed. There are a few who have managed to keep me entertained for about twenty minutes. We'll see what unfolds in that arena.

And here we are. I started practicing singing again while I was pregnant and haven't stopped. Through my friend, the talented, crazy and cynical virtuoso, pianist Craig Davis, I started to get my confidence back and was subsequently introduced to the talented and eternally youthful-looking guitarist, Micah Burgess, http://www.micahburgess.com a WV native. Micah needed a vocalist, I needed someone to rehearse with me and it was a good partnership. Micah is working on his Masters now at NYU and I wish him and Jane only the best.

I did my first gig as the new and improved me, with Micah, in October 2003 at a little Italian restaurant in Oakland, Pittsburgh, PA. I have been singing with Micah and his trio regularly in local venues like the New Crawford Grill in Station Square and The James Street on Pittsburgh's north side. I've also appeared with the Glen Quarrie Quartet, The Kevin Howard Trio, Craig Davis, Kenny Blake, Dr. Kevin Clark, Howie Alexander, Tim Jenkins and many other, talented musicians. I try frequently to "sit-in" or freelance as Chismo likes to call it, with The Blues Orphans, one of my favorite bands and families in Pittsburgh, with Chismo Charles and his band and with just about anyone I can when the spirit moves me; which happens more and more all the time. During a recent trip to NYC I sat in with the house band at BB King's club, rocked the place and had an awesome time! It was a moment I couldn't have imagined 5 years ago. Well, no more than belting out a tune for a room full of Scottsmen, kilts and all, at a bachelor party on the south side. Like I said, life is pretty damn good.

My immediate plans include another season as the official National Anthem girl for the Pittsburgh Passion; our women's football team, appearances at the Crawford Grill, the James Street, Vivo, several large, fund raising events for organizations like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Sister's Place and the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce. I am also working on making the most of my new role as the Singing Chef. That has been a blast for me. I plan to take the Singing Chef and a few other concepts in front of a much bigger and more diverse television audience one day.

As for the rest of the future, I have set no limitations for myself. I will continue to work hard at everything I do, strive always to be a better parent and person, sing and cook my ass off, and look for great things to happen in my life as a Mama, Diva, Bombshell, Kitchen Goddess and Vocalist Extraordinaire.

Olga Watkins, Kitchen Goddess

Olga Watkins learned to cook in her Mother’s kitchen before she was old enough to read. Her Mom, Liz, a former Mennonite, grew up on a farm, the oldest of seven children and contributed the best possible cooking fundamentals to Olga’s culinary education. At home she learned how to grow and subsequently choose the best ingredients, baking techniques, basic cheese making principles, how to maximize the use of raw ingredients and how to manage leftovers.

For a time during her childhood, both of Olga’s parents worked as ordained ministers. It was common for her family to host foreign students and sponsor refugee families from around the world and welcome them into the very large parsonage. As everyone shared in the cooking duties, Olga was exposed to foods and cooking techniques from countries such as Malaysia, Uganda, Kenya, Afghanistan, Thailand, Pakistan, Vietnam and Hungary. These experiences sparked her passion for cooking and shaped her understanding of a multitude of ingredients and the principles of cooking.

At age 12, Olga began working in the restaurant business. For over 20 years she has worked as a waitress, bartender, bar manager, hostess, dining room manager, banquet manager, prep cook, line cook, kitchen manager, assistant manager, general manager and food and beverage director in restaurant environments ranging from a mom & pop diner and a MacDonald’s to jazz clubs, the Fairmont Hotel’s Primavera Restaurante and even an Air Force Club. While still working primarily in the front of the house, she took advantage of every opportunity to work in the kitchen and learn whatever she could from the resident chefs. She then made a permanent move into the kitchen. She briefly attended a culinary program at a community college in West Virginia, but left when she did not feel challenged, as she was already working as the private chef of a family in the food distribution business. She currently works as a caterer and personal chef, gives private cooking lessons and has occasionally combined her cooking skills with her other passion, music. She has both catered and appeared as the featured entertainer for several events and performed a “Singing Chef Show” in the window of a specialty cookware store in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. The show, instantly popular, garnered feature stories in USA Today, in the Pittsburgh Tribune review, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, on the cover of the Pittsburgh Downtowner Magazine, in the Ohio based Get a Life Magazine and on Dane Carlson’s business opportunities web site and on the home page of Zbands.com.

Olga is currently scheduled to teach of cooking classes at Whole Foods Market in Pittsburgh and In the Kitchen in Wexford, has been contracted by American Health Care to appear as a demonstration chef for a series of health fairs in the greater Pittsburgh area and is slated to appear as host of an upcoming broadcast TV food show based in Pittsburgh.