Today we’d like to introduce you to Chrissy Weir.
Chrissy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve always had a passion for cooking, baking and all things food. Growing up in a big family, there was plenty of opportunity to help in the kitchen. When it was time to choose college, I had a desire to attend culinary school over 4-year university, but I’ll never forget the words from a chef at the restaurant where I was a server at for a couple years; he told me if wanted go to culinary school to become a chef I would most likely have to give up my future nights & weekends, and time with my future family. I opted out. I didn’t want that kind of life.
So I went with choosing US San Diego, and fell in love with the San Diego culture, community, beaches and food scene.
When I graduated with a psychology degree in 2010, at the worst time possible to find a job, I went with an office job at UC San Diego School of Medicine. I worked there throughout college part-time, and they graciously created a position for me to step into as a college grad. Having no idea what I wanted to do, or who I wanted to be, or where my future would take me, I knew it was time to get creative. My best friend and I, roommates throughout college, decided to start a food blog, at a time when they were just starting to catch attention. So we started making up recipes with healthier ingredients, taking okay photos of the process (they were terrible at first), and writing about whatever we wanted. I’ll never forget the first thing we posted about: brussels sprouts with pomegranate seeds.
We built up the blog and our following along the years, with tens of thousands visiting our blog and trying out our recipes. We were on local new stations doing cooking shows, we were invited to restaurants and foodie events to taste and review food, and we were sent products to try out in our recipes. It was exhilarating, knowing our creations were being replicated and served in homes other than our own. We were also educating others on how to find healthier substitutions, swapping ingredients for better ones, or trying something totally new. This is the part that really stuck with me. I realized that I wanted to help educate others on health and wellness, and guide them into a better way of living, eating, and enjoying food and life around them. It was time to take steps toward my passion and calling.
I needed guidance and direction, so I stepped out and joined a business group called Pathfinders through my church. The caliber of marketplace influencers and business men and women was just what I needed to push me to take action. At this time, I took a side job prepping some food and juicing for a CEO downtown, and it was then that I met the person he got his meals from, Lori. She was a friend of his who started making meals for a handful of people – the beginning of Food Made Fresh. I had the food blog and she had this small service, and I wanted to get in on the action. I offered to help her a few times in the kitchen and soon after we met, she offered me the business – to take everything over as she was ready to move on to something else. Scared, uncertain but ready for the unknown, Food Made Fresh became my own. I transitioned out of my day job and into the world of cooking, baking, meal prepping, running a business, handling delivery routes, and figuring it all out as I went.
Although I loved all things food, nutrition and health, I really had no background in it. I did plenty of reading and learning on my own terms, but nothing that I felt was substantial, as clients would ask me more in depth questions about their health and wellbeing. I took another step and enrolled for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a health coach and to learn more about nutrition, all the various diets and how to help guide and support people through their health journey. This helped me feel confident about helping and educating clients on nutrition, as well as preparing their meals.
As Food Made Fresh is growing like crazy, I am starting to focus on growing my team, adding nutritional value to my clients, and opening up a future health coaching online program to help more people access true and lasting wellness, rather than living on yo-yo diet trends.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s been a bumpy ride to get to where I am now, and but I’m so grateful for the many opportunities for learning and growing, both in business and as an individual. Work ethic, problem solving, integrity, passion and faith have been my greatest allies. I felt so under-equipped to run a business, even as a college graduate. The best way that I learned how to mitigate issues, fine-tune systems and create something that worked, was by learning in any way that I could. Reading good books, researching online, finding mentors and asking them for guidance, and just doing what needed to be done, even though I felt like a total fraud. Getting my health coaching and nutrition certification was also a great way to take more authority over my business and operate with more confidence.
Honestly, every day there is a new challenge. From scaling, to figuring out better packaging, to becoming more efficient in the kitchen and with the delivery routes, to creating the perfect menu every week that will make everyone happy, there will always be a challenge. If you aren’t facing new challenges everyday, then you aren’t growing and creating.
At first, and still sometimes now, time management has been a huge challenge. When no one tells you what needs to be done, you have to identify priorities in work and take action. Then, when things get busier, you have to figure out what you should handle yourself, and what work you can outsource. At first, I did every piece of work, and ran every part of my business, as a 1-man operation. Now, I am always looking for quality and passionate people to bring on board, and outsource as many parts as I can, to keep things efficient and sane.
Another challenge at first, was figuring out how to deal with difficult people. I have always gone above and beyond to ensure my clients are elated with my service. However, you realize quickly that it’s impossible to please everyone. There will just always be those difficult clients, and you have to ask yourself if the juice is worth the squeeze. Are they your target market/ideal client? If not, then it’s ok to move on and provide your service or product to those who would greatly benefit!
I’ll let you all in on a little secret – more than 4 years into business, I still feel like a fake. Doubt always finds a way to sneak in and try to undo the authority and expertise that I have in my field and in my company. I just say, screw it. Keep going, keep making it happen, even if you are scared and doubting yourself the whole way. If you keep at it, the voice of doubt grows more faint and less scary.
Please tell us about Food Made Fresh.
At Food Made Fresh, our vision is to make things as simple as possible for our clients. We believe in eating real, whole foods to get the proper nutrients that your body needs to thrive. The most important thing about Food Made Fresh is that our clients develop a healthy and enjoyable relationship with food and begin to see the benefits of well sourced, well thought out nutrition. When eating real food, our clients tend to “crowd out” the highly processed junk. As our clients cut out the processed, refined foods that normally make up their diets, they begin to cultivate power to choose what their body needs most at any given time, according to what it is telling them.
Our goal is to help you discover what’s really most important; loving the life you have and sharing it with the people who you love most. By eating whole, real foods, you are setting yourself up for success. Your body will feel and look its best, and you will be able to do the things you love most. We provide you with a healthy foundation, so you can dream bigger, love greater, approach challenges with courage and push yourself to achieve the greatest successes.
The real, whole foods that we source and prepare are packed with all the right type of nutrients to fuel your body. We believe that when you are putting the right things into your body in the right amounts, your body responds in amazing ways.
Each week, the team at Food Made Fresh digs deep to come up with a delicious, healthy, and well balanced menu to provide you with the fuel you need to tackle your dreams. We specialize in preparing a wide variety of
unique meal options. Our fully prepared, healthy meals are delivered to your door every Monday, so that you have meal options you can trust, for a busy lifestyle.
We soar above our competitors (both local and national), because we have so much heart behind the product. We truly want to see our clients get healthier, and be able to take more time with family, friends or doing what the love most, and let us handle the nutrition. We take great care of what we do every step of the process. From dedicated customer service and support, to creating every meal with love, flavor and care, to delivering with a friendly smile. We go above and beyond, in every way that we can.
Chrissy Weir, owner and chef, is also a Holistic Integrative Health Coach, specializing in whole-foods based nutrition, gut health and hormone balance, and offers health coaching for groups and 1 on 1.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Can I be real here for a moment? I loved college, but I don’t think it prepared me for taking on a booming meal delivery company. I would have taken more classes on business development, culinary arts, holistic health and nutrition, and then looked to apprentice with or learn from others in my field for hands-on experience.
I don’t regret or wish my path to here was any different, I just think there would have been a lot less chaos and a little more strategy.
Another thing I would have done differently had I the chance to start over — definitely get a good bookkeeper at the beginning so my first few rounds of taxes weren’t such a terrible nightmare. I guess you have to learn your lesson somehow, and all those nights staying up late trying to sort through thousands of receipts was my somehow.
Pricing:
- Meals range from $8-13
- Health Coaching $150/session or inquire for packages
Contact Info:
- Address: 2790 Loker Ave W., #115
Carlsbad, CA 92010 - Website: www.foodmadefresh.com
- Phone: (619) 354-0149
- Email: chrissy@foodmadefresh.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foodmadefresh/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foodmadefresh/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/food-made-fresh-carlsbad
Image Credit:
Jodee Debes Photography (headshot)
Connor Pruett Photography (salad)
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