We recently connected with Courtney Fuller and have shared our conversation below.
Courtney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I was living in Seattle where I attended an event by the chef and blogger of What’s Gaby Cooking. She hired a personal chef to bake her dessert recipes for the event, so Chef Gaby could meet and greet. After the event, I introduced myself to the hired personal chef, essentially offering that I’m a chef that could help with cooking and events. Later on that week, we met and chatted about opportunities where ultimately she encouraged me to start my own personal chef business. We met a couple more times, where she taught me about the business and how to go about it. I helped with some of her events and worked together. I began to form my own company with ideas, menus, and building my website.
Shortly after, my husband and I moved to Phoenix, Arizona. After we got settled, I started the process of building my company here. Over the past few years I have built many special connections through word of mouth, joining groups, and through social media!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
My passion and background is in culinary and nutrition, focusing on health! I attended Le Cordon Bleu in Sacramento and Seattle Pacific University. I have worked in a multitude of settings- restaurants, bakeries, food production, and senior living, where I always want to explore more. I own a personal chef company, Nutrition Thyme RD, that focuses on nutrition and healthy meals. We provide weekly meals, meal prep, and for special occasions cooking in the client’s home. Everything is customizable in regards to number of meals, food preferences, specialized diets, and allergies. We help clients with prepping and cooking healthy meals using fresh, seasonal ingredients. Meals are then packaged, labeled, and placed into the refrigerator or freezer. After cooking, we leave you with a clean kitchen and happy refrigerator! There are many specialized diets we can build into menus such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, whole 30, keto, dairy free, gluten free, and more. Helping clients achieve a healthy lifestyle is very rewarding, especially when they have several dietary requirements! This allows us to be very creative and collaborate with the clients.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
The most effective strategy for growing my clientele is connecting with the community and through social media. The best way is through Facebook groups; I’ve joined several local community and city groups where I’m able to showcase my business. Engage with people, be friendly, and share photos! Here I have met several great connections and now we collaborate and help each other, typically other business owners. After a while there becomes a strong word of mouth network. Keep in conversation with your local community, events, and on social media.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
I keep in touch with the clients by engaging as much as possible. Mainly communicating through email, over the phone, and through follow ups. Each client gets a personal touch with their menus being 100% customizable! After the cook day, I talk with the client to see how the meals were and if any ingredients should be changed for next time. I love learning about the client and their family so I can create a healthy, nutritious food experience for them.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://nutritionthymerd.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutritionthymerd_personalchef/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/nutritionthymerd
- Other: Phone (623) 826-5252