We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tamika Gilchrist . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tamika below.

Tamika, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My passion for giving is what sparked this endeavor. The evolution of Eats With Mik started early by enhancing notable recipes and dishes with a slightly different flavor profile and lowering the amounts of sodium. This concept stemmed from family history and factual data about black culture and preventable health conditions and diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes. The idea behind enhancing notable recipes allowed Eats With Mik to dive into the culinary realm and research the history behind many cultural cuisines and traditions. Our all-time favorite is African American and Caribbean dishes. The fresh ingredients, herbs, and spices marry so well in these dishes.

As far as meal prep services, Eats With Mik started meal prep services with a focus on the art of customization. Although we know research studies have linked meal prepping to weight loss and obesity prevention, we focus on meeting our clients where they are and supporting their goals. Therefore, this service allows clients to fully customize a plan that works specifically for their goals and needs as opposed to setting a menu with little to no modifications. The latest addition to our meal prep services include weekly menu options which were highly recommended and became popular as many clients just needed help with the convenience aspect of meal prepping. We believe in variety and collaboration so we allow ingredient swaps and submission ideas for upcoming menus.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Tamika Gilchrist. I am the Founder and Owner of Eats With Mik, LLC (EWM). I am from Jacksonville, North Carolina, and believe my passion for cooking started with tradition. Holidays were my favorite as a little girl and still to this day remain the same. I always looked forward to the menu at every gathering and was curious to know the ingredients in every dish. Who knew these experiences would later spark my interest and drive to build my brand from scratch with a focus on bringing it to various communities?

Eats With Mik is a black-owned, small business, dedicated to providing exceptional value, service, and flavor to each client. Over the past 4.5 years, we have worked with many clients across the state of North Carolina to provide catering, private chef experiences, meal prep, and occasional pop-up kitchens. We also enjoy sharing recipes and hosting intimate cooking classes with family and friends across the nation. We take pride in our name, brand, and what we stand for.

As a teenager, I started my first job in the restaurant industry back home. I learned almost every position as a team member but the kitchen was always my favorite. Growing and working in leadership positions has helped create a gold standard for Eats With Mik and our operations. I learned the key core values and principles of service at a young age and that has remained an important value to me as a business owner. My love language is acts of service and that has played a major role in how I got started – through cooking meals for family and friends and providing quick recipes.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

the most effective strategy for growing Eats With Mik was to simply connect with people through videos of our craft. We utilize social media to our advantage by posting reels, fun challenges, polls, and questions to connect with our followers. We also find that our supporters enjoy opportunities to experience EWM. This can be through collaborative input on upcoming pop-up kitchen and meal prep menu ideas, or curating user-friendly content and recipes. We also honor our supporters by providing random challenges with the opportunity to receive vouchers for our services at no cost.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for us has been through word-of-mouth and referrals. We appreciate our supporters wholeheartedly and strive to ensure that each opportunity to provide services is not taken for granted. Therefore, the services provided are exceptional with tons of flavor each time. As a result, we believe the referrals happen naturally. We find that this strategy leverages trusted relationships and builds credibility while organically expanding the business.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: _eatswithmik
• Facebook: Eats With Mik