We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sue Snape a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sue, appreciate you joining us today. One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

My business was built to educate children of all ages, but specifically I was teaching an after school program, IN elementary schools, four days a week. I had one day of Personal Chef Clients and I did catering on the weekends. I opened a space called The Food Studio six months before Covid shut the world down.

Unexpected problem: COVID. I know I was not alone with this unexpected problem.

I was given the gift of breaking my lease for my space at The Food Studio, and did not have to pay rent on a space I was not able to use. Who knew how long it was going to be to before kids would be back in my space? Who knew….

I had been looking and working towards a space of my own for years. Nine years. And I had to close it down. It was everything I wanted it to be and business in that space was gaining visibility, traction and lots of happy clients.

Schools were closed. I had to stop my classes in schools.

However, here’s is where the sunshine comes in.

People were not going out to eat and after a few months of this chaos, I decided to start taking on more Personal Chef clients. Business picked up and ended up being such a great move for a one woman show… I found that I LOVED this work, the meditative spaces I was preparing healthy and nutritious food in, and I started teaching my kid’s classes online.

Online kid’s classes? Turns out there’s more sunshine! When I was teaching IN schools I had to be very diligent about all of the food allergies and sensitivities of all of my 100+ students every semester. I taught in classrooms with a folding table and brought in whatever cooking/preparation tools I needed. By teaching virtually, my students were in their kitchens, THEIR kitchens, learning how to use THEIR tools and allergies were not an issue because they were at home. It was a whole new freedom for me as a teacher!

MORE SUNSHINE.
Business has been really great, I’ve had a wait list for Personal Chef Clients for months and I’m starting to go back to teach in person at CHOA in their diabetes teaching kitchen and I also record classes for the Cancer Wellness Center at Piedmont.

COVID OFFERED ME A LOT OF GIFTS.

Sue, 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?

My Story
After 16 years in the Medical Illustration/Animation industry, I decided it was time for a change, so I quit my job and went to culinary school at 40. It’s never too late.

I was the Chef and Kitchen Manager for a fantastic little Cafe for five amazing years. Then it became time to work for myself and Leaf and Loaf was born. In 2015 I created a program called Fun with Food to educate, motivate and inspire children of all ages to eat real food. And my world of nutritious food exploration began.

My days are full and filled with my excitement carrying out my mission, watching my teens flourish into responsible and fun members of our community, laughing uncontrollably with my husband, kayaking on a quiet lake really early in the morning and breathing fresh air on a walk.

I LOVE MY LIFE.

Mission Statement

Leaf and Loaf, llc creates a variety of food related experiences that involve educating, creating, tasting and enjoying healthy and nutritious food with many different audiences. Our team consists of warm and compassionate people who aim to support our clients, our farmers, our families and our communities.

When we enjoy how we spend our time, we do our jobs well and in turn, our community, our team and everyone else we come in contact with is better off because of what we do. Working with food is enjoyable and becomes an emotionally and financially rewarding way to make a living.

Healthy, nutritious and beautiful food has the ability to positively change our bodies, our minds, our wellness and our life experiences.
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I am most proud of the successful business I have created and my ability to switch gears, multiple times, to focus on keeping my interested, engagement and keeping my business growing and booming. I made it through a Pandemic.

One of the gifts I bring to my clients is my ability to work with their health issues, food allergies and preferences and create amazingly delicious and nutritious menus for them every week. Every client has their own custom menu every week.

www.leafandloaf.com

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I do not believe in borrowing money. I know this sounds strange as a business owner, but listen to this……

When getting started I always had clients pay me 50% up front for catering jobs (which I did a lot of) and that payment paid for the food I needed to purchase for the job. I never put out my own money for that. Once the job was complete, they paid the balance, Everything went back into the business account, which paid for my salary, taxes, an accountant, supplies, memberships, etc. If I didn’t have the money in the account, I didn’t buy it. That financial buffer continued to grow and I was always in the black. My business is still comfortably working and I never borrowed money.

As I was getting ready to open The Food Studio, I did start a GoFundMe account, and that money was used to purchase a refrigerator and tables and prep sinks. My promise to the funders was that any extra money would be used to offer scholarships to my students. I offer scholarships today, as I never want budget to be a reason a child cannot take my classes.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I have built my business one client at a time. I often ask my clients to write me a testimonial so that people can see I’m real, reliable, honest and hard working, and that my food makes them feel great. (It’s also beautiful.) Because I had a large audience of parents whose children were in my Fun with Food classes, I created a MailChimp account and sent out newsletters to hundreds of local parents. They knew about me because I was teaching their children and they saw what we did in class every week. They shared my name as a caterer and then word of mouth on local neighborhood facebook pages and Instagram and my business Facebook page kept getting spread. I am always so very grateful for people who refer me and my small business. When a new potential client reaches out to me, the first thing I ask them is “How did you find out about me? I like to Thank those that refer my small business.” It’s the least I can do!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.leafandloaf.com
• Instagram: sue.snape.leaf.and.loaf
• Facebook: Leaf and Loaf & Fun with Food