THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Derise Rehm says her part-time role as a salesperson - more a hobby than work - revolves around cooking.

Derise Rehm of Fort Smith sells spices and cookware from the B.C.-based company Victorian Epicure Selections. - Paull Bickford/NNSL photo

She is a home-based sales consultant for the B.C. company Victorian Epicure Selections, and sells gourmet spices and cookware to people in Fort Smith.

"You know how they say that when you do something that you love it doesn't feel like work. I love cooking," said Rehm.

"I do it every night, every weekend, any time I can. So it's not really work."

She experiments with new recipes, plus she reads cookbooks for hours.

Rehm sells the products of Victorian Epicure Selections not really for the money, but to help support her own "addiction" to cooking.

She believes spices help a person become a better cook.

"It helped me refine my skills," she said, explaining it allowed her to experiment with different kinds of cultural food, like Moroccan and Thai dishes. "I wasn't really too familiar with it. So I had to do my research and read up on it."

Rehm has been a sales consultant for four years.

"I actually fell into it," she explained, noting a woman she knows in Fort Smith previously sold the spices and cookware, and she starting using the products after attending a sales party.

"And then she wanted to retire out of it, and she asked me one year if I would sell it. I was not comfortable with it at the time.

"So I took another year and then finally I said, 'You know, I think I'll try and just see how it goes.' And I fell in love with the product."

The 36-year-old said she spends anywhere from two to 10 hours a month selling the products from Victorian Epicure Selections.

"I would say it's a hobby," she said.

Rehm, who is a member of the well-known Evans family in Fort Smith, grew up in Saskatchewan, but has lived in Fort Smith for almost 10 years.

For nine years, she worked full-time with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, including the last three years as a lands officer. On April 1, she became part of the GNWT's new Department of Lands.

At her home, Rehm has a display of about 50 different spices, plus cookware, from Victorian Epicure Selections, and people can visit to see what is for sale.

She has hosted sales parties and open houses, plus attended fall fairs and the annual trade shows in Fort Smith.

She also has her own Facebook page and website where people can place orders.

"I enjoy sales in the sense that, if I love something, I want everybody else to have a piece of it," she said of the spices and cookware. "So I enjoy it that way."

Rehm said she also enjoys the social aspect of selling, whether it be hosting a sales party or meeting people at a trade show.

She previously worked in the hospitality sector for 15 years in Saskatoon, where she opened a restaurant at the Radisson Hotel in her early 20s after earning a college diploma in hotel and restaurant management.

Rehm may eventually do even more to share her love of cooking.

"I'm hoping, actually, in the next couple of years to start my own YouTube cooking show," she said, explaining it would feature her in the kitchen talking about food.

She noted there are currently such shows on YouTube, including one called The Aimless Cook featuring her brother-in-law in Calgary.

Her brother-in-law is encouraging her to start her own show, Rehm said.

"I think I would love that."

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