Nourished

For this week's Working Girl Wednesday, we turn to a pair of long-time friends and super mamas, Shelly and Hayley, who started up a little business called Nourished (www.nourishedfoods.com). From careers in retail and land development, these girls have found their passion in helping others to "elevate their home cooking" through beautiful compound butters and traditionally made bone broths.

As a foodie of a different breed, these ladies are a true inspiration to me and I know they will be to you as well. Let's learn a bit more about this dynamic duo, shall we?

Tell Us About Your Business:

Shelly: "Nourished LLC, crafts classic European culinary components. Nourished currently offers 6 flavors of artisan, compound butters as well as traditionally made, local, grass-fed beef broth and pastured chicken broth. Seasonally, they also offer bouquet garni, caramelized tomato paste, locally sourced boullion, and a few classic French sauces. "Elevate your home cooking” with JUST the addition of these classic elements to give incredible depth to your meals. Nourished spends hours simmering, roasting, whipping, and preparing, using classic cooking techniques, so that the home cook can just drop them into their meals in minutes. Turn your simple meals - gourmet, easily with the additions of butters, bouillon and broths!"

What did you do in your past life...before you launched your business?:

Shelly: "A pastry chef in the 90's. Land development and land use planning in the 2000's for about 9 years."

Hayley:" Hmmm, what didn't I do? I was an art major, then I did retail management in CO, television production in CA, tried out more retail in NYC, business analyst back in AZ, had a ceramics business with my mother in MN, became a mother and now we are Nourished!"

What made you decide to take the leap into being a business owner?

Hayley: "Being a mother of 2 kids it's so hard to commit to going back to work full time, but it's also hard to not have something to feed your brain and your creativity. Shelly and I have been friends for almost 14 years, we both were ready for this!"  

Shelly: "I became a full-time, stay-at-home mom in 2010, which was a deviation from the original plan to work part-time...but a blessing none the less. I knew then that it'd be tough to re-enter any type of workforce again after staying at home with kids, particularly one that was satisfying to me, creative, and drew upon my skills. I had a feeling that I may have to "invent" a position or a career for myself, and felt that NOW was the best time to start laying the groundwork for that future. My business partner Hayley Ellis is one of my oldest and dearest friends who had recently finished a culinary program. It just made sense to go back to my creative, culinary roots, and to do it alongside of Hayley, was such a comfort and security - her strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. Nourished is currently a part-time business for both of us with the potential to be full-time, all the time, whenever we are ready for that. It feels great to have that kind of flexibility and ownership in a business."

What has been your greatest professional success to date? 

Hayley: "I think our biggest success is how fast we can pull stuff together. Last year we were doing pies in tiny mason jars. They were adorable! Shelly had a baby and I was unsure of the future of Nourished but we decided in August to regroup and we started doing butters and really pulled together the product, the branding, licensing, commercial kitchen access etc in record time."

How about biggest lesson learned?

Shelly:" Grow small, controlled, and organically but dream BIG and wildly! Continuously seek input and guidance from trusted and established similar business owners - you won't believe how willing people are to share their experiences and they can save you time and money. It's often just as much effort and expense to produce twice the amount of product, so do it large scale and save. "

What is next on the horizon for Nourished?

Hayley: "We are hoping to expand to local markets, possibly online sales of our broth, we are just starting sales at Old Town Scottsdale Farmer's Market on Saturdays which we are very excited about!"

When someone asks you to tell a joke, what is your go-to one liner?

Shelly: "The ONLY one asking ME to tell jokes these days is my 2 year old, and so this one's for him; Did you hear the joke about butter? No? Well I butter not tell you then. You might spread it." 

Hayley: "Ugh. I am known for not liking jokes! I love real life humor and I love to laugh and make people laugh, but there's too much pressure in jokes. Ha!"

 If you could go back in time, what would you tell your 18 year old self? 

 Hayley: "Hang tight little lady, you are in for a ride..." 

Shelly: "Wow, so much to tell that girl - but she'll have a hard time listening to even me! You live a charmed life and wont fully realize that until it gets harder. It will get harder, but richer too. Stay FEARLESS, and when you're scarred, just start TRYING things and rule them out one by one. You're smarter and better in school than you give yourself credit for-so KEEP LEARNING. Your sister becomes your best friend believe it or not, and you'll need your mom lots, especially when you're super old like 37! The adults aren't around forever so spend more time with them and make memories. Your girlfriends now will always be your girlfriends so invest in them too. It's never as hard as you think and when it feels like a struggle it always passes eventually. You're awesome and do awesome things so never stop believing it! And P.S. you do end up really happy with a full life and with a Prince (or three) in the end! 

 

 Inspired? Want to learn more about Nourished? Check out their website at

www.nourishedfoods.com