Life and Work with Marci Dunkin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marci Dunkin.

Marci, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Aloha!

DaKine Grindz started after I used my background in holistic nutrition to prepare meals for myself while going through a fitness transformation and sharing it on social media. I suddenly had a large following of family and friends desiring my food and noticed that there was a market for the type of meals I was making. I have a lot of fun taking somewhat “unhealthy” meals and making them healthy which makes them desirable to most people seeking a healthier lifestyle but aren’t ready to give up their favorite home-cooked meals.

The name came to me when I was searching for something that embodied the type of food I was making, most of it was home-cooked Hawaiian and Asian style infused dishes with a Southern California twist since we are so close to the border. With such a variety of dishes, I was offering it was hard to come up with a specific word. DaKine is a Hawaiian Pidgin word that can mean ‘the kind’ and Grindz can mean ‘delicious food’, when I was describing my meals to a friend the name popped up in one simple sentence “ya these are da kine grindz I like to eat” and from that sentence formed DaKine Grindz. The opportunity to create meals that not only taste good but make you feel good has become my passion. Over the past four years, DaKine Grindz has grown into a membership-based meal prep company serving all of East County. I know most of my customers on a personal level and am so honored to be able to feed and nourish my surrounding community and their families with meals that restore balance and relieve the stress and thought of having to plan and create meals that not only taste good but are calculated, weighted out, and created to restore natural balance and wellbeing in the body.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Taking the leap to start your own business is an incredible experience. I believe the only way to grow is to experience contrast. Otherwise, you would stay in the same space forever. It’s not always easy and when you create something with passion on your own sometimes relinquishing control and asking for help and trusting that whoever is going to help you is capable of bringing forth even more incredible creative ideas and solutions that will only better you and your company is vital.

Please tell us about DaKine Grindz Meal Prep.
I am the owner and operator of DaKine Grindz. I have a background in holistic health and specialize in holistic nutrition. I ‘am the friend that everyone goes to for natural medicine advice when they’re sick. I preach the benefits of Bone Broth and am a firm believer that what we eat dictates our mood. I specialize in taking whats sometimes considered soul food what might not be made with the best ingredients and turning them into healthy macro balanced meals that don’t lack flavor and replicate moms home-cooked meals. I seek out the best quality ingredients for my meals, with my knowledge and experience of choosing produce that is free from pesticides and choosing meats that are raised without hormones and antibiotics I am able to create meals that not only taste good but are also affordable.

Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well-positioned for?
I think that women have been giving such an incredible gift to speak gracefully and powerfully and because of that, we have come so far. We are the mothers, sisters, daughters of women who didn’t feel they had a voice to speak up and be all that they felt they could be. In this time, I feel we have been given such a profound platform to express ourselves and feel safe to be ourselves. Which has created enormous opportunities for us as a collective. I feel that because of that, I’m able to have a business in what used to be a male-driven market.

Contact Info:

• Website: dakine-grindz.com
• Phone: 619-786-7081
• Email: order@dakine-grindz.com
• Instagram: @dakinegrindzmealprep
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dakinegrindzsd/

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