Known throughout the area for his photography and motivational speaking, John Mollura has revealed another talent that he is bringing to Milford. Recently, he announced that he would be working at The Farmacy, a new, fresh food market located in downtown Milford. The Farmacy, jointly owned by the Helmick and Shupe family offers locally grown produce, meats and other unique cooking items.

“When things get put on your heart, do you move? What if they’re not what you would choose to do? What if that situation plays into your long-held fears?” Mollura posted on social media recently. “I’ve learned that when God puts something on my heart, I need to take action.”

Last summer, Mollura decided to put his studio in Penny Square up for availability as his photography business was moving slowly. He began offering his services as a motivational speaker, bringing a voice to Imposter Syndrome, the feeling that even when you should be proud of an accomplishment, you feel as if you do not deserve recognition for it. As Mollura described it, Imposter Syndrome is the feeling of being “fake” and undeserving of accolades, something that affects up to 70 percent of people. However, as he grew the second business he began after leaving a career as a rocket scientist, Mollura realized he would need a part-time job in the meantime, something he didn’t even want to entertain at first.

“About two weeks ago, God whispered in my ear a person I needed to reach out to, and the opportunity I felt was waiting for me, even if it meant swallowing my pride,” Mollura continued on social media. “You might not know this about me, but I am a hella-good cook. It’s actually my hobby. Some people read People Magazine, I read Food Network Magazine.”

According to Mollura, when he has a bad day, he takes the advice of Matthew McConohey in “Failure to Launch.” The character, Trip, says, “Pour yourself a glass of wine and turn on the Food Network; it’ll take the edge right off.” Mollura credits “Alton, Valerie, Eduardo, Emeril (BAM), Ree and Giada for “being there” for him.

“So, what was put on my heart? To reach out to my friend Patrick Helmick to see if he needed help launching his new brick-and-mortar store,” Mollura said. “When I spoke to Patrick, he said that my name had crossed his heart to reach out to and then, a few days later, I messaged him. We don’t believe in coincidences.”

While at the store, Mollura will be doing almost everything that needs to be done.

“With the Farmacy Market being so new, there is no shortage of things to do,” Mollura said. “From assembling shelves, to helping install the phone system, and of course, helping customers. I love having varied tasks. My mentor when I was a test engineer used to refer to it as “other duties as assigned,” so I’m familiar with pitching in with whatever tasks need to be completed.”

Since the Farmacy Market specializes in local and extremely high-quality foods, rooted in the mindset that food is medicine, Mollura is excited to talk to customers about what they enjoy cooking and eating or what the person they are buying a gift for enjoys, then showing them some options that would be perfect to take home. When asked if he would be offering cooking classes or offering demonstrations, he answered that there were some exciting things being discussed for 2024 as the business is operated by “creative and entrepreneurial minded people working together.”

“I was a picky eater when I was younger. My parents both worked when I was growing up and my mom would leave me notes to help get dinner ready. Helping to get the dinner on the table became a source of pride for me, even if it was just a tuna sandwich and some microwave French fries for my dad to scarf down in the minutes he had between coming home from work and then heading to night school. As I got older, and started eating out with friends, I began to enjoy a variety of food and then I would go home and experiment in the kitchen,” Mollura said when asked what got him into cooking. “When I graduated college I moved from my hometown of Johnstown, PA and I immediately began travelling extensively for work. I longed for home cooked meals with family and friends who were hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. When I would have some down-time in my single bedroom apartment in Dover, I didn’t have time to make many friends. That isolation, coupled with an intensely high-pressure job in the space program right out of college caused me to have a tremendous amount of anxiety that would sometimes slip into depression. My safe-haven and “happy place” was to watch Food Network and dream of having dinner parties of delicious creative home cooked food with friends.”

Focusing on cooking techniques of chefs in the 2000’s, like Rachel Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Bobby Flay, Emeril and Alton Brown, Mollura was amazed at how their foundational knowledge of techniques, tastes and textures give them the ability to create complex dishes that are also unique. He calls it “humble ingredients kicked up a notch.”

“As my friend circle in Delaware slowly grew, we held weekly gatherings centered around home cooked food. When Brenda and I got married, we loved to entertain with fun and creative meals whenever I was in town,” Mollura said. “As I traveled across the planet for work, I enjoyed trying different flavors that the locals were always gracious to share with me. Sometimes I didn’t know what I was eating… and sometimes, I knew what I was eating, and I wish that I didn’t.  won’t say what the weirdest thing was as to not make anyone lose their appetite!”

In addition to his role at the Farmacy Market, Mollura continues to accept clients for both his photography and motivational speaking businesses, but finds this new venture to fall in line with his other artistic endeavors.

“The common thread with ALL of my artistic endeavors, whether it is portrait photography, motivational speaking or coaching, or cooking, is that I want people to realize and believe that they have worth and they are loved and cared for. My dear friend Paige has a sign in her kitchen that says, “show people how much you love them; cook them tasty food” and that sums it up for me,” Mollura said. “I love that food engages all of the senses; the tastes (of course), the sight of a beautifully plated dish, the textures, the sound a frying skillet, and all of the wonderful smells!”

For those who love to cook, but simply don’t know how to be adventurous in the kitchen, Mollura offered a few tips.

“I have an option for people looking to try new ingredients and also an idea for people looking to expand the flavors and seasonings they eat. First, If you want to branch out from ingredients you usually cook with, find something new that is “related” to what you currently eat. For example, if you’re used to eating a regular baked potato, buy some fingerling potatoes and prepare them as you usually would, and you can begin to taste the subtle and sometime substantial difference in flavors. If you like broccoli, try some broccoli rabe or broccolini,” Mollura said. “Second, if you are feeling adventurous with trying new the spices and seasonings find an ingredient you’re familiar with, like broccoli, and find a geographic region you’re interested in trying the flavors of, such as India. Do a quick internet search to see if that region uses that ingredient. If so, you can buy any number of prepared sauces and spice mixes to add to your ingredient and prepare as recommended and voila you will know whether the new flavors are for you, or not, but at least you tried!”

In addition to continuing his photography, motivational speaking and work at the Farmacy Market, Mollura also offers private cooking lessons. Anyone interested in scheduling a lesson can reach him at [email protected] to discuss where they are and what they are looking to learn. The Farmacy Market is located at 28 South Walnut Street in Milford.

“Anyone that calls to discuss private lessons, I’d be happy to share what those “too-weird-for-print” meals were,” Mollura joked.