Drawing on interviews with private and personal chefs, this study highlights the interplay between internal and external forces shaping boundary work. Private and personal chefs’ social and professional position is ambiguous, and their employment is precarious. In order to navigate their uncertain standing and assert self-worth, some drew boundaries between themselves and clients. They disliked clients who were wasteful, lacked the ‘right’ motivations for hiring a chef, or lacked the ‘right’ taste or approach to food. But rather than simply seeking to establish superiority, the chefs distanced themselves from and disregarded clients who seemed not to see them as they saw themselves – as skilled and valuable workers. This article argues that a desire for self-verification – to have one’s self-views verified by others – can activate boundaries. It suggests that an uncertain standing might foster this desire, and that workers’ views of themselves vis-à-vis other workers can drive their evaluations of clients.