Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Anne Rhodes.
Hi Julie Anne, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My burgeoning culinary passions began with “concoction days” in my mother’s kitchen as a four-year-old girl growing up in Des Moines, Iowa. My palate grew considerably more sophisticated over the course of my (perennially hungry) modeling career – often dining in the world’s finest Michelin-star restaurants yet forced to savor just a few bites while constantly keeping check on my weight. I couldn’t wait to try to recreate those flavor profiles when I would return home to my own kitchen – but with a focus on using organic ingredients and eliminating as much of the saturated fats, sugar, and salt as possible without sacrificing the integrity and sublime flavors of the recipes.
The advent of Food Network coinciding with an autoimmune illness that rendered me homebound for several years gave me the perfect opportunity to hone those cooking skills further while entertaining often for companionship. Encouraged by my food-savvy friends, I decided to take a career in the culinary arts seriously.
I joined Personal Chefs Network, a national organization for Personal Chefs who mentored me through setting up my business, passed my food safety certification and opened The Roving Stove in June 2002. I was introduced to my first clients, a couple of A-list actors, through a mutual friend. They were so pleased with my food that they ensured all their friends knew about the service and I found myself fully booked within weeks and never looked back.
This empty-nester, Midwestern gal at heart loves being able to nurture other people’s families. Another particularly rewarding aspect has been helping some of my clients with serious health issues regain their vitality through dietary adjustments.
Over twenty years in business later, I still love what I do. I have been honored with several awards including an exciting full-circle moment when I won “Best Poultry Burger in America” on Food Networks Ultimate Recipe Showdown in addition to various Guest Chef television appearances.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
As a high-risk individual, I have to take pandemic precautions seriously. With the understanding and support of my wonderful clients, I was able to adapt relatively easily to offering contact-free weekly meal service and drop-off dinner parties with complete heat-to-eat instructions that have the added benefit of letting my clients shine as stars of their own dinner and holiday celebrations. What initially felt like a hindrance has actually been a win-win for all concerned!
A great deal of staying passionate about what I do has been through always trying to innovate and rise to new challenges that make me step outside of my comfort zone. That was certainly the case when the casting director for Ultimate Recipe Showdown pursued me to submit a recipe for the show (I had never written an original recipe before and the thought of doing a competition on television terrified me), and the same was true when I decided to explore how I might scale my business.
I knew the convenience and time-saving benefits that I provide my upscale clients would be of immense value across a much wider demographic if I could figure out how to provide the tools and teach home cooks how to cook multiple meals for the week ahead at a significantly more affordable price point. That’s when I founded a Tech Startup called The Personal Chef Approach.
The concept was strong enough to attract strategic investors and our membership began to take-off… until we hit technical issue after technical issue with the website itself. I learned a hard but valuable lesson. It’s very difficult to achieve success through those bootstrapping startup days unless you either have the technical skills yourself or have a Tech Cofounder on board – it just wasn’t viable working with freelance web developers.
However, failure is not the same as defeat. I know there is still a huge market for this concept, and I’ve recently discovered a platform I’m testing out to start offering some of those benefits again, so please do keep an eye out on my social media platforms and website for news of a launch soon.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
People always ask me “What is your signature dish?” Restaurants are often known for signature dishes, but a personal chef is cooking weekly meals, so I believe the secret to my success has been the variety of cuisines I can offer thanks to having traveled and lived all over the world throughout my youth. The menu on my website is just to whet one’s appetite – I’m always developing and testing new recipes so the repertoire of meals I offer is continually expanding.
What sets The Roving Stove apart from the multitude of meal delivery services these days is that my service is highly customized to each individual client’s specific requirements. I always start with a complimentary in-depth consultation to assess a potential client’s personal likes, dislikes, and any food allergies or health issues they wish to address through diet. This can mean anything from simply knowing how to make kid-friendly meals that work for the whole family, to making a few substitutions where necessary, to working closely with a client’s doctor and/or nutritionist to implementing the special diet required to heal.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I despise sitting in traffic and the taxes here make the cost of living very expensive, so I do sometimes daydream about moving elsewhere, but I’m addicted to the sunshine (especially after being based out of London for so many years). Plus, where else can one enjoy all the cultural benefits of such a diverse metropolis and still make an easy escape to the natural serenity of the ocean, desert, or mountains for the weekend – all within a couple hours’ drive at most? I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather live.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.therovingstove.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julieannerhodesofficial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therovingstove
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/therovingstove
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRovingStove
Image Credits
GoDaddy Social on my behalf, and my own photos
