We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cate Marchand. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cate below.
Cate, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
My parents really taught me the value of hard work and treating those around you with kindness and respect. I was fortunate to watch my Dad build his small business from the ground up. I witnessed the struggles and the triumphs and that has stuck with me as I’ve gone through my own journey of building a small business. When it was tough and he was told “no,” he worked even harder, persevered and ultimately became one of the best dog boarding facilities in the St. Louis area. Through him, I learned to take risks, believe in myself and push through the hard times. Whatever you believe will become your reality, so truly believe that you will be success and you will be!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I fell in love with the fitness industry many years ago when I was going along my own health journey. Through fitness, I became more confident and truly found myself. Along the way, I also found out that I really enjoyed being in the kitchen and learning new recipes. I learned that meal prepping not only helped me hit my goals in the gym, but also saved me a lot of time throughout the week. While working in the gym, I realized that this could benefit everyone – the busy business professional, the parent balancing school and sports schedules, really anyone! I wanted to help people eat better while gaining time back in their days to focus on other important things. I started with a few clients and it steadily grew from there.
I’m proud of taking the risk to become my own boss and follow my heart. I am truly grateful to do something I love every day, while also having the freedom to be with my husband and kids and manage my own time. Through this business, I have meet some amazing people and we have the most wonderful clients. Hearing that I’ve helped them along their fitness journey, or simply saved them the stress of planning dinner on a busy night, is so rewarding to me.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
Meal prepping for clients started off as a very small venture for me. I had a couple of clients that were personal training clients that would try my meals and give me feedback. While I truly wanted to turn this into a full time gig, I didn’t quite believe in myself just yet. My husband and those couple of clients gave me the push I needed and their belief in me finally got the gears turning. Through word of mouth, my order numbers slowly but steadily started growing, and I knew I had something special. I set a goal to meet a certain number of orders consistently and if I met that, I would make this my full time focus, and to my surprise, I succeeded that quickly. I am grateful that we’ve been growing ever since.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
100% word of mouth. I’m thankful for our awesome clients who help spread the word of what we do. I have a very active Facebook page for business, and it really helps when friends and clients share our content.
Contact Info:
- Website: facebook.com/catesfitkitchen
- Instagram: catesfitkitchen
- Facebook: catesfitkitchen
Image Credits
Pamela Schniepp Photography