Meet Nicole Smith of Eatwelle in Culver City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Smith.

Nicole, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As long as I can remember food has been a huge part of my life. Whether it be cooking or eating, it’s always been the gateway to creativity and connection for me. I create food to connect and that has transformed my life. I was never shy growing up, always the loud awkward girl, but I masked insecurity with my boisterous behavior.

I’ve always held a bit of dominance and I think the kitchen was the natural place for me to be. After some attempts at traditional college, I decided that Culinary School and my hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia were what my heart really desired. It was in Vancouver that my gritty kitchen and restaurant experience began, alcohol-fueled late nights lasted until coming back to California, as many chefs can attest to. It was back in California and moving to Santa Monica that changed my lifestyle. My work ethic and drive has never faltered but my health sure did and when I decided to clear my mind and focus on healthy living, that’s when my world really exploded.

Six years ago, along with my classic culinary training, I decided to wholeheartedly focus on healthy eating and living. For me, it started with the obvious change in diet, activity, and mindset. I began to create, cook, and connect more and more through my home kitchen. Making food for loved ones, sharing my recipes on my blog This Healthy LIFE: Love, Fuel, Integrity, Exercise, and eventually making product for a few local shops. My career in management and customer service always kept me in the front of house, as the face and guiding force but my heart really wanted to create. Eatwelle was started in my home kitchen, my small yet loyal following of Los Angeles based trainers, health advocates, friends and family all took notice of This Healthy LIFE, and my personal healthy, meal prepping and planning turned into my female run, all organic, sustainable meal delivery service. We create healthy meals for clients out of our commercial kitchen in Culver City and continue to grow, maintaining our focus.

What sets eatwelle apart from the hundreds of other meal delivery companies out there? ME, my passion, my boisterous voice on health and my drive to create a footprint in sustainability in meal delivery. I am so excited for the future of my business and look forward to creating and connecting with healthy likeminded people in Los Angeles and beyond.

Has it been a smooth road?
Nothing in life is a smooth road. I’ve definitely had my fair share of trials and tribulations in business and in life. Each one has strengthened my ability to adapt and ultimately be strong enough emotionally and physically to start my own business. Working in kitchens is not an easy job, long hours, holidays, manual labor are all taxing on the mind and body but I’ve found balance in my personal life through proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle so it makes the struggles easier to manage when they do arise. I really do believe that with a healthy relationship with food, anyone can thrive. I want to help people realize that through my food.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Eatwelle story. Tell us more about the business.
Eatwelle is a female-owned and operated business that specializes in providing healthy, organic, sustainably packaged and ready to eat meals. We source our ingredients from local vendors and shop seasonally to provide our customers with the highest quality ingredients possible. We work hard to maintain our vision of sustainability in meal delivery by serving all our meals in glass recyclable containers. With the use of the glass containers we cut down on the amount waste that accumulates from all of the other meal delivery companies out there. Along with sustainability my personal passion for creating delicious and healthy meals for my customers is the focus, I am constantly menu planning and creating new items for our clients to enjoy.

The basis for our meals is structured around the elimination of three foods that contribute to inflammation and disease, those three things are dairy, gluten, and sugar, at eatwelle our meals are prepared free of all three food categories, allowing our customers to consume organic, whole foods that are healthy for everybody. As with any small business the focus inevitably is on the creator, I am passionate and proud of what I’ve created here in my community of West Los Angeles and look forward to expanding to greater Los Angeles and beyond within the year.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Meal delivery is huge and estimated to only continue to grow. With the popularity of food delivery the market is saturated but if you set yourself apart, you’ve got a shot. I intend to grow with the demand and believe that sustainability is only going to become more and more popular as the topic of climate change becomes bigger.

Pricing:

• Our meals are around $18 each
• Packages available in $100-225 range for full weekly meal delivery ( breakfast, lunch, dinner)
• Delivery fee is $10

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eatwelle.com
• Phone: (310)494-6884
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eat.welle/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatwelle/notifications/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/eatwelle-santa-monica?osq=eatwelle
• Other: https://www.thishealthylife.org

Image Credit:
Sean Hadlock – Photographer

Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.