Chef DeSousa’s ambitious and fast-track career has taken her around the world – obtaining a Le Cordon Bleu Paris Certificate, competing at the World Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany, and working in Koln, Germany at Taku Restaurant under Chef Sven Feldman.

In 2005, she opened the Mobil 5-Star St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco. Chef DeSousa was given the opportunity to train and stage at many award-winning restaurants, including Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Michelin 3-Star restaurant, Jean Georges, in New York City, and Chef Michael Tusk's Quince Restaurant in San Francisco.

Shortly before opening CHARCUT, Chef DeSousa had been working at Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in California. This experience has had a tremendous influence on Chef DeSousa’s style of cuisine, evidenced for the nation in her role on “Top Chef Canada.”