Rising Stars: Meet Jess Marra

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jess Marra.

Hi Jess, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Originally from New York, I moved to Los Angeles in 2018. I’ve worked as a digital marketer in the beauty industry for ten years at leading corporations including L’Oréal and Unilever. Around the time the pandemic hit, I was craving creativity and like many people, found myself in the kitchen. I had always cared deeply for food and the culinary world. From an early age, I was encouraged to experiment in the kitchen and my parents enrolled me in numerous cooking courses. By the time I was 13, I had a cooking segment on local TV and in high school, I taught classes. I never considered this path professionally, and any interest I had in cooking was put on hold when I turned 18 and went to college to study business.

Throughout my 20s I went through short-lived spells of cooking, but with a busy New York lifestyle, it was not something I prioritized. So instead of quality time in my kitchen, I found pleasure through food in my weekend bagel, Chinese takeout, and irresponsibly overpriced dinners out with friends.

Fast forward, and I moved to Los Angeles. I found myself in a new city, new routine, and navigating a new phase of life. I intuitively fell back into the kitchen and began documenting much of my culinary escapades on social media. In addition to my self-taught skills over the years, I have taken courses at the ICA in New York and Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. My mom is a holistic nutritionist so over the course of my life, I have come to really absorb and value a wealth of knowledge related to nutrition and health, food sourcing, supporting local and organic, and above all, living and eating a balanced life!

In 2020, Kitschenista was born as a way to bring my passion to life — I turn *kitsch* ingredients into food meal dreams. I help educate and elevate the every day and provide delicious food inspiration to everyone. I make healthy-ish eating fun, exciting, and accessible. In addition to my own recipe development, I offer private in-person and virtual cooking classes, grocery shopping expertise, and food media consulting. My community reach is global, while my clients are predominantly LA-based.

And later this year, my husband and I are excited to launch our very own CPG snack product. You can expect it to be nutritious, flavorful, and delicious. I’ll be able to share much more on this in the coming months.

I also still work full-time in the beauty industry as the Director of Lifecycle Marketing for an incredible clean, affordable DTC skincare brand, Versed. You can find all the products on VersedSkin.com in addition to Target, Walmart, and Amazon.

P.S. Wondering where the word KITSCH in Kitschenista comes from? Kitsch is a Yiddish word to describe something in poor taste, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic way. For me, that translates to my kitchen persona. I’ll take something ‘kitschy’ like a can of tuna or chickpeas and elevate it into something you didn’t think possible!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Everyone’s journey is unique. I’ve been fortunate to be supported by my family and friends. My close circle are my biggest fan in life and helps give me the confidence to continue and put myself out there. Like many, I’ve dealt with Imposter Syndrome, toxic work environments, and the effects of social media on mental health. I’ve gone through various times of difficulty and uncertainty, which ultimately has led to periods of reflection and growth.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a people person and a connector. In my career in beauty, I have always excelled through my eagerness to learn, seek mentorship, and put myself out there. I’m not afraid to ask questions and learn through trial and error. I’m grateful to have had the guidance of incredible leaders who have pushed me to excel further within the digital and e-commerce space. My corporate role may seem far removed from Kitschenista but it’s really just an extension of my professional skill set and excitement to connect with the community, consumers, and brands. I am proud of myself for what I’ve been able to achieve in such a short time, the relationships I’ve cultivated and how much more there is to come.

As a recipe developer and content creator, I spend a lot of my time at the farmer’s market, supermarket, and literally any kitchen I can sneak my way into. I spend about 15 hours per week on recipe testing and filming. I have some very lucky taste testers, sous-chefs, and critics around that help me to perfect most dishes I am working on. I host quarterly dinner parties that are so fun and delicious. Most recently was a Galentine’s Fête, previously was a pizza-making party.

In my offerings with clients, I focus on helping them achieve their personal goals – whether it is a fun semi-private cooking class with their children or friends or more structured like healthy swap grocery shopping and meal planning. I specialize in helping my clients find their favorite grocery items, but without the harmful additives. We visit the Farmer’s Market for seasonal product inspiration as well as your everyday supermarkets. Healthy food is possible at any price point and needs to be further democratized. There’s a stigma that eating organic is only attainable at a high or unaffordable price. And most importantly, balance is key. When you look at the lifestyle I’ve created around food, it is rooted in balance. I am against diets, always have been thanks to my mom! Eating intuitively is beneficial but can also be a thin line before forming harmful habits. Enjoy the pasta, and enjoy the produce. Maybe you could say I loosely adhere to an 80/20 approach. There’s a lot of people I look to for more pointed and science-backed nutrition information like Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, and Jessie Inchauspé to just name three of many.

Now that my husband and I are focused on launching our brand, I am spending increasingly more time as an entrepreneur for the first time ever which is pretty cool and also scary. With my background in marketing, I have a solid foundation to guide me – my husband is a mathematician with an MBA. By day he works as a Data Scientist at a leading ad-tech firm and by night, we are troubleshooting the world of CPG together. There is a LOT to learn. Mistakes happen and will continue to happen but they are all learning experiences in the long term. For years we’ve always wanted to build something together and it is really exciting that it is finally happening. A lot needed to happen for us to get to where we are now.

I am definitely known for being candid and honest – but with humor. I don’t hold back and am very quick to call out industry trends that are deceitful, overrated, or just gross. I have a lot of “hot takes” that I love to chat through on Instagram and TikTok that are conversation starters but also relate to the much larger picture of consumerism, marketing, and how our society manipulates consumers. I seek to bring awareness to my community while also simply connecting with my community. Food brings us together in the most unique, intimate, and special way and it’s what I value most within this realm.

What were you like growing up?
If only we could find the video recordings from my tween cooking show you could see for yourself!

I wasn’t very athletic growing up but I did play tennis. I somehow conned my way onto the Varsity team although I don’t think I ever won a match. I still love to play tennis but it is definitely more of a casual hobby these days. I also loved to read as a kid and still do! I can read a book in a day.

I am the oldest of three siblings and I’ve heard that I live up to the stereotype of most eldest daughters. My sister lives in LA, just a few blocks away from me and is in the wellness space. Our “little” brother lives in NYC and is in the culinary world and has worked as a cook at some pretty incredible restaurants. He and I love to chat food – he is my biggest critic in the best way. Always on me to hone my technique, season with more salt, stuff like that. My parents are also still in NY. My mom will call to tell me she’s driving an hour to go to an upstate farmer’s market just for one thing – so I definitely can say I inherited a lot from her!! It’s very fun when the whole family is together. We’re always in the kitchen! Everyone has their role. My brother and I fight for head chef, our mom is sous-chef, dad is the designated dishwasher, all while our sister is (im)patiently waiting for what feels like hours for dinner to be served. A fun fact is that our family has made it to the final round (TWICE!) to be featured in a family food TV show. We have a pretty lovable, hectic, chaotic, relatable dynamic.

Pricing:

• Semi Private Cooking Classes ($150+)
• Meal Planning Intro Session ($99)
• Foodie Field Trip ($75+)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kitschenista.co/
• Instagram: @kitschenista
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicamarra/
• Other: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFMD62uQR0/0EfyDPRLOh3OKkLUv9AZ-Q/view?utm_content=DAFMD62uQR0&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink