Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate & Jason McClearen. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Jason has always been into food. Ever since he was little, he was watching cooking shows and playing with an easy bake oven. Once he graduated culinary school and had a quite a few years of working in restaurants and country clubs around Grand Rapids, we knew a regular chef life wasn’t for us. We decided to make a sustainable life, doing something we love, while also being able to enjoy having a family. Jason started The Everyday Chef as a personal chef service where he would come into people’s homes and prepare meals for them where they could easily warm up and enjoy real food, made from scratch, around the dinner table with their family. The business quickly grew into a full-fledge catering service. Kate stepped in to help with the marketing, website design, photography and became the baker for the company.
3 years later we built a mobile kitchen so we could pull up to *almost* any venue/location and be able to prepare food that hadn’t been hotboxed for hours. We want people to be able to taste and experience our love of food, and how we believe food should be produced- as freshest as possible.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Any business has its ups and downs. If it’s too smooth, it probably means you’re not pushing yourself. We’ve ran into countless issues with how to grow our business correctly, whether with staff, what kitchen/brick & mortar/ mobile kitchen service style would be best for us, how to balance life vs. work, or just building our business sustainably. There’s always a bit of a guessing game, which comes with a lot of nerves. You learn mistakes as you go. You have to know how to pivot or adjust quickly. Obviously, 2020 hit everyone hard, and we had to learn how to work with the “new normal”. It ended up being one of our best years, with 2021 being even better still. I’m not saying that to pat ourselves on the back, but we were able to think outside the box of what we usually did and find the gaps that people needed to fit ourselves in however we could.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Everyday Chef and Wife?
We’re a full-service catering, personal chef, and food truck business. Our mission is to bring people back around the dinner table focusing on organic, handmade, local cuisine. We’re known for having familiar foods, with an elevated twist. We try to make as much as we can by hand. If we can’t, we look for local businesses to partner with or at least a brand that we know has a great product. The Everyday Chef and Wife is meant to be a sustainable model for more than just us, but our clients, and also who we partner with, like local farmers, bakeries, butchers, etc. When we are asked to provide food for an event, we want the guests to walk away with an incredible food experience that hopefully allows them to look at food differently. It is truly an honor to be a part of an event, and we take that responsibility seriously. We’re always looking for innovative ways to stand apart from the regular caterer. Food is meant to break down barriers and build communities. Having that be a major part of our service is a highlight for us. It’s also important to be able to teach people about food as much as possible. If onlookers aren’t booking our services, they’ll still find value to our business with our online platforms.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
One of the most important lessons we’ve learned is we’re never going to know it all. We’re never going to reach perfection. We’re constantly striving for perfection, which means changing our practices, processes, and products constantly. Mistakes are completely fine and normal. Also, to know how to take your pride in your work and how to value yourself, and learning to say no is just as important as saying yes.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: theeverydaychefandwife.com
- Instagram: @thechefandwife
- Facebook: facebook.come/thechefandwife
- Twitter: @thechefandwife
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjHBsuZ4N1JioNd5QuUIwng
- Other: pinterest.com/thechefandwife
Image Credits
Don’t Blink Wedding Photography
Beka Eagle
Kate McClearen
