We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Keyes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

This fall I partnered with a local high school to pilot a new course. The students go off campus to my teaching kitchen in The Woodlands Texas, where we have a two-hour class once a week. The first hour focuses on nutrition education, specifically, the truth about our food. The second hour is spent preparing and cooking meals for children in active cancer treatment. The best part about piloting a program is that we get to explore, experiment, and pick what works. We invite our pediatric cancer patients to come and cook with us during class. It turns out, this collaboration is a hit. The young children healing from cancer, hang with the big kids who see firsthand why I am so passionate about the ingredients that go into our meals. It is a win-win and truly warms my heart.
We continue to teach this program, and although they say “one person can’t change the world” …we have certainly been changing the world one family at a time.

Michelle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The Keyes Ingredients began as a simple play on words in my own kitchen, as my child was healing from cancer. Our three-year-old son, Carson was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer in 2007. After Carson received conventional treatment and survived both the cancer and the treatment, my husband and I decided to dig deep and prevent this from ever happening again. I began with questions like: What builds the immune system up? And, what tears the immune system down? We modified family recipes to strengthen our immune systems. We continue to write them down and share them with whoever is interested. In June 2021 we opened our teaching kitchen in The Woodlands, Texas and established The Keyes Ingredients as a tax deductible, 501 (c)3 nonprofit. This organization has the mission to, in a nutshell, feed a community in need, while educating them on the most important part- the “WHY”.
Our teaching is based on the Socratic method where we ask questions to motivate people to dig deep, find truth, and make the best decisions to optimize their health. We become the “HOW” in the process by using hands on culinary techniques. We teach shortcuts, and quick tips to make a whole food, anti-inflammatory way of eating doable.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your firm or practice?

A funny story… After releasing our everyday cookbook “What’s on Your Plate?” my passion for helping others was to share it with everyone I knew. My husband refers to this cookbook as my “very large (& expensive) business card.” He says, “If you know Michelle, you probably have it. And the chances that you paid for it are quite slim.” Having given you that story, the route to establish a nonprofit was a perfect fit. My materials are sought out by people who want to change their health. Unfortunately, these people have usually sat knee to knee with an oncologist or have been diagnosed with a serious health issue. They have a strong WHY to motivate change.

Our nonprofit provides ways for others to sponsor our materials and get them into the hands of those who need them. When I started fundraising for our teaching kitchen, my hope was that community members would rally to support our cause to educate and feed our cancer community.
What has actually happened, however, is astounding and makes quite a statement. A large percentage of our donors are cancer patients themselves, immediate family of cancer patients, or families directly affected by cancer. A specific example is a family who continues to generously give after they lost their 10-year-old son.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Something I had to unlearn was my tendency to act out of fear. The extreme changes that I was making at a rapid rate were because of my fearfulness. I believe that we should not eat packaged foods. I believe that not eating refined sugar is non-negotiable. I believe that we should approach nutrition with an open mind. But now, I act out of faith.

People are their own worst critics. Of our daily habits, eating is one we engage in several times a day. Consider these times as opportunities to make changes. We encourage a good, better, and best approach. Extreme measures often squander our chance to succeed. I have modified not only the way I do things, but the way that I think. I have learned to understand and respect people for where they are in their journey. In my teachings I’ve been known to say, “I can’t change what you eat, my job is to change the way you think about what you eat.” From there, the decision is yours, and the next meal you eat is an opportunity to begin your journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thekeyesingredients.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgh5RoOO9E3/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thekeyesingredients
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thekeyesingredients

Image Credits
Stephanie, Jane photography Spy, art photography