By Lindsay Grippo
An ambitious accounting major from Buffalo, NY, Joe Zoyhofksi, GSB ’21, finds himself enthralled with sustainable entrepreneurship.
He is involved with Social Innovation Collaboratory, Fordham Foundry and Social Impact 360, clubs and organizations on campus that center around socially-conscious business and helping society in ways that are greater and more meaningful than profit.
Zoyhofski’s main endeavor on campus so far has been creating What’s Cooking, a company aimed at connecting people through home cooking.
“I wanted to create What’s Cooking both as a way for people to have a home-cooked meal, but also more so as a way for people to come together over something,” Zoyhofski says.
“There is nothing quite like a home-cooked meal that brings people together.”
Individuals can sign up to either host or attend a meal through the company’s website, whatscookingfordham.com.
Zoyhofski began the business with Alex TenBarge, GSB ’21, and Liam Scott, FCRH ‘21; the friends-turned-business partners met through Loyola housing and have been working together since the onset of the project.
Zoyhofski’s idea for the company came from the nostalgia he has for his regular family dinners back in Buffalo. He says, “Honestly, there’s nothing I miss more about Buffalo than home-cooking.
I miss coming home from school at the end of the day and getting around in the kitchen with my family and making paella or making pork-loin or whatever it happened to be, and then just sitting at the table and talking about our day, and that was usually the one time all day that my family would be together.”
His appreciation for these cherished family moments is what inspired him to create an outlet for other students looking to find a similar sense of community at school.
Looking to the future, Zoyhofski plans to continue generating interest in What’s Cooking at Fordham and to expand the platform to other colleges.
Eventually, he hopes the company will become accessible to the general public, citing businesses like AirBnb and Uber as corporations with similar business models.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” says Zoyhofski. “But hopefully, if we stay committed to it, if people can keep showing interest in it and keep wanting to come together over a home-cooked meal, we can continue to expand.”
Outside of What’s Cooking, he aims to stay involved with sustainable business and to find a career in the area.
Zoyhofski is also preparing to be an Urban Plunge assistant this upcoming fall. His own positive experience with the program as an incoming freshman inspired him to help others become acquainted with all that Fordham and the Bronx have to offer.
His first impressions of his new home came from this time: “it was a really cool opportunity, not only to move in early and meet a couple people before orientation chaos but also to get introduced to the city, to get introduced to the Bronx and learn more about this community that I was about to become a part of.”
Fordham has brought Zoyhofski his first tastes of the Big Apple, as well. He describes his initial experiences in Manhattan as overwhelming – in the best ways possible.
“It was intense. I love New York and my favorite part about it, both in Manhattan and in general, but specifically, the entire city is that there is just so much,” Zoyhofski says.
“I still believe this now, having been here for a year, that it is impossible to be bored as a college student in New York.”
Community is important for Zoyhofski; making connections through home-cooked meals is just one way he hopes to further that sense of community for students here on Fordham’s campus.
A motivated individual with enthusiasm and zest, Zoyhofski is breaking into the sustainable entrepreneurial scene and bringing people together, one story and one meal at a time.
