Today we’d like to introduce you to Len Jefferson-Springer.
Len, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
At the ripe old age of 5, I knew my connection to foods ability to heal while learning to cook alongside my mother and grandmothers was part of my life’s path.
I was fascinated with how specific soups was made to rid us of colds/flu. Food was also a way to gather, connect, reflect and rejoice. Love was made edible.
I had chronic migraines from the age of 9 and my mother would use fresh mint, ginger, lemon, and honey to make tea to ease my nausea. So I understood the healing properties of food.
Over the years, I would make planned meals for my mother and mother in law to support their busy schedules. I always packed my own lunches and soon friends who was into natural bodybuilding offered to pay me to “meal prep” for them. At the time, that term wasn’t even used.
During my own ebbs and flows of life (endometriosis, infertility, school, working long hours, chronic migraines, surgeries), I kind of lost my way with how I poured love into myself.
I sought guidance and only found those offering a “quick fix,” but what I was seeking was support for my whole life not just the parts that others could see solely on the
outside.
I began going back to basics because it literally all I could manage at the time. You know that constant feeling like you can’t catch your breath? I still felt like that everyday. So I started hitting farmer’s markets in my area, subscribed to CSA box (community supported agriculture), started mixing up my own chemical-free spices, and created 30 minutes or less to prepare recipes using simple cooking methods. I developed my version of S.O.U.L. Food (seasonal, organic, unprocessed, and/or local).
Women around me started asking for tips and paid me to meal prep for them too. When I would drop their meals off, I would chat with them about their lives and discovered how much we all had in common.
These women had also endured so much while juggling busy lives and had lost their way of self-love and self-care too.
I saw women just like me needing a deeper conversation beyond the plate and their weight. Like what got them there in the first place? How is their sleeping and water intake? When is the last time they read a book for pure pleasure? Who was authentically holding space for them and
offering support by way of accountability while providing options that they could incorporate into their already busy lives?
I stopped meal prepping and every month I began hosting events and teaching small cooking classes for busy women. This led to me being asked to speak at women’s empowerment events.
While in the thick of all of this, working full time as well, I was also always taking classes and certification programs behind the scenes from natural cooking to food photography.
In 2018, After a dozen years in Arizona, my husband and I made a whirlwind move back to California but to San Diego county in lieu of LA County where I grew up.
Two years prior, I had connected with Shari Hampton, founder of nonprofit Served Up Sober here and the plan was that I would come to SD quarterly to facilitate workshops for the sober living community.
We knew from our very first conversation that how and why I served busy women was also of need for the sober or sober curious. Upon my move here, I was asked to develop curriculum and be their Restorative Eating Coach.
As an Integrative Nutrition Holistic Coach and food wellness advocate, I am witnessing firsthand how when individuals are educated to nourish themselves from the inside, while not being in the kitchen all day, it makes way for them to also make love edible.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road at all. It’s a fight for effective personal change of oneself and for others I serve. I think the biggest struggles comes from limiting beliefs, acceptance of and embracing flaws, an openness to unlearn in order to chart new territory that better serves you.
For other women I would suggest finding a tribe that uplifts and challenges you because life shouldn’t be a solo journey, recognizing that you don’t have to feel guilty for not having it all figured out – no one does, that you’re too special to compare your life’s path with anyone else’s, My mantra…
Know your need.
Speak your need.
Do your footwork.
Wait for the outcome.
Pour love into yourself
What should we know about I Am Len’s Kitchen? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am Restorative Eating Coach, Integrative Nutrition Holistic Coach, Food Wellness facilitator, recipe and spice blend developer.
I offer private and group food, nutrition, and wellness coaching. My mission is to teach, guide, and inspire others to optimize food and nutritional intake, as well as relationship with food.
I am most proud as a service provider that everything I offer is with whole-life health in mind while not taking up lots of time.
What sets me apart from others is that I
know the truth is, we don’t really want to be in the kitchen all day. So I help the everyday busy woman make the best use of the time she has by making quick, flavorful and healing meals as a benchmark for restoring their wellness.
Looking back on your childhood, what experiences do you feel played an important role in shaping the person you grew up to be?
I think one is the most impactful experiences I had growing up that set me up for success later in life was seeing my mother work a full-time job, while also doing hair, making home-cooked meals for us every day and having her home as a safe haven for myself, siblings, and so many others.
She demonstrated to me that true success is finding joy in people not things.
Pricing:
- Spice blends $9.95 use code: BLACK20 at checkout for 20% of at www.iamlenskitchen.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.iamlenskitchen.com
- Phone: 480.274.4790
- Email: len.iamlenskitchenphx@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/iamlenskitchen
- Facebook: facebook.com/iamlenskitchen
Image Credit:
Len Jefferson-Springer
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