I don't do it for a living, but I come from an Italian family and always loved food, so my Grandparents taught me to cook ever since I could reach the stove to stir the gravy standing on a chair... and eventually my Sundays were spent helping them prepare the weekly "Sunday Dinner" feast. I always thought I was going to end up a chef, but somewhere along the line someone convinced me that, being good at math and sciences, I should go into Engineering... so I ended up in school for Civil Engineering (materials) and Astrophysics.
I ended up living in a fraternity while on campus where we had a professional kitchen, but our cook was only there for 4 days out of the week (Mon-Thurs). Missing the "Sunday Dinners" of my childhood and being used to cooking for groups of people, I started making dinners every Sunday for those who were interested while the cook wasn't there. Started small, mostly just pasta and other inexpensive food, and my friends would just chip in what they could afford. Eventually, word spread and it turned into where I was making dinner for 25-40 people fairly regularly (usually with a helping hand or two, haha)... which provided some supplementary income to fund my craft beer habit. Thus, I guess you could say I did swing a knife for a certain kind of "living"
Though, I'd have done it for free, but I enjoyed not being a "broke college student" anymore.
These days, I don't have as much time as I'd like to cook anymore... but I've funneled my passion for food elsewhere. My girlfriend works as a chef, and my income allows me to go to those fancy places where people cook for you
As for making kitchen knives... I always loved knives and I always loved making things... so I started making knives, and naturally swayed towards kitchen knives. Only just recently getting to the point where I feel confident in my knifemaking skills to make kitchen knives that are up to caliber, but it's satisfying finally being able to meld the two hobbies I love.
