My journey to growing a personal chef business

I graduated from Taylor University in 2020 with an undergraduate degree in Sustainable Development, and I never expected to spend my years post-college as a personal chef. My initial plan was to move across the country and find a job in my field of study. However, COVID changed those plans. I decided to shift my focus to another passion of mine, cooking. I have always had a passion for creating healthy, delicious and nourishing meals. So, I decided to reach out to some families I knew and see if they would be interested in ordering from me. What started as a small idea 4 years ago has now turned into an incredibly awesome community of people around the Indianapolis area enjoying my meal prep on a weekly basis.

Cooking isn't my ONLY passion...

For many years of my life, I had an extremely unhealthy relationship with food. I hated my body. I was constantly thinking about how I could change what I looked like, and it felt like food and exercise were the only things I could actually control. This led to me losing my period for 6+ years, constantly thinking about food, feeling extremely anxious about my weight, not being able to fully enjoy eating out with friends or family and so much more. I thought I was taking charge of my health by micromanaging everything I ate, restricting tons of food groups and exercising insane amounts. However, the reality of the situation was that I was actually losing all control. Food, body image and exercise were controlling my life and taking away from my ability to put energy, love and time into things that truly matter.

Then, the breakthrough came. After I graduated from college, I had so many realizations about how all of these years I thought I was taking charge of my health, when in reality I was the one imprisoned. For the next year and a half I decided it was time to break these habits, attack the lies I had been believing about food and my body, and begin replacing my disordered tendencies for life giving practices. I began delving into how my body ACTUALLY works and what food ACTUALLY does for us. I replaced lies I was believing with truths I began living by. Some people I learned a lot from during this time were Mallory Page, Natacha Oceane, and reading through the book "No Period. Now What?" by Nicola Sykes. Over this period of time, I grew so much in my appreciation for myself, my body and food. I found so much freedom.

After I had found freedom for myself, all I could think about were all the other people struggling with the same things as me. Confused by diet culture, unsure how to properly fuel their body, believing lies social media feeds us, and feeling out of control around food. This is when I knew I wanted to go back to school to become a Registered Dietitian.

So... I went back to school.

I graduated with my Masters in Dietetics from the University of Alabama Birmingham in December of 2024. I ultimately went back to school to become a dietitian because my true passion is to help people JUST LIKE YOU gain the knowledge and confidence necessary to gain a healthy, happy, sustainable relationship with food.

Whether you’ve spent the past 30 years of your life dieting, have been on every diet imaginable, just got diagnosed with a new condition and have no idea what to do, feel uncontrollable around food or are simply desiring to gain more knowledge on how your body and food work … you deserve to feel comfortable around food.

I’m so passionate about walking alongside of you on your journey, wherever you may be at. I want to help you reach your goals, get out of the cycle of dieting, truly learn how to fuel your body and ultimately gain knowledge, empowerment and freedom around food. I want to teach you how to get back in touch with YOURSELF and to learn how to identify what YOU need (not what anyone else tells you that you need).

Thank you so much for being here. I can’t wait to walk alongside of you on your journey.