We’re looking forward to introducing you to Elizabeth Willard. Check out our conversation below.
Elizabeth, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What is a normal day like for you right now?
I spend most of my time in meetings. I gather with my marketing/PR team to provide direction and plan our promotional efforts; I meet with various financial advisors to review, analyze, and forecast our numbers; I collaborate with local businesses on shared opportunities; and I huddle with my team to discuss the day’s events and plans.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am the founder of The Pickled Beet – South Florida’s award-winning gourmet chef and culinary services company, that helps clients focus on what’s most important in life through tailored weekly personal chef services that deliver freshly prepared 100% organic meals right to their home or office. We also offer personalized services through luxury private chef events and holiday catering, in-flight private aviation catering, and semi-private chef experiences.
Inspired by my Italian great grandmother’s home-cooked meals, I founded The Pickled Beet in May 2006, to help clients heal through food, accommodating even the most severe food allergies and medical maladies with delicious customized meals in a Celiac-safe kitchen.
Today, we are still the only culinary business in South Florida that uses food as medicine.
Our company’s mission is to help our clients live their best lives through meals tailored to their exact personal needs. We understand how difficult life can be when individuals are faced with the challenges of severe food allergies or sensitivities and medical conditions that require strict protocols.
We create 100% personalized meals to accommodate any diet or lifestyle, such as: Celiac disease, Anti-Inflammatory, Alkaline, Autoimmune Protocol, Low FODMAP, and more. We even develop unique recipes for clients with so many food restrictions that none of our 5,000+ recipes are suitable.
We’ve won multiple awards, but what we are most proud of is the number of lives we have impacted through our meals. There are so many clients who we’ve supported during cancer battles, surgical recoveries, pro athlete injuries, difficult pregnancies, debilitating IBS, autoimmune struggles, and a multitude of other health challenges.
Food is the common denominator. We all eat. But, we all have unique needs. In recent years, the food–health connection has been more widely recognized. Which is why 50 percent of the people we cook for are perfectly healthy. They want delicious, restaurant-quality, organic meals that are individually prepared for everyone in their family. They recognize that eating healthy doesn’t require sacrificing flavor and they are investing in their health.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
That’s an interesting question. I guess I would have to say that if the world has been telling me who I have to be, I wasn’t listening. I’ve always paved my own path. As a teenager, I was interested in journalism, so I went to Boston University for a degree in communications. I had a very successful corporate career in communications for about 20 years, before I started looking for new challenges. That led me to opening my company and pursuing my passion of cooking healthful meals that taste fantastic.
When you grow up in an Italian household, everyone cooks – the men, the women, the children – and you develop a healthy relationship with food. You learn to appreciate real, whole, unprocessed foods that are cooked from scratch. You know what the smell of a just-picked, vine-ripened tomato is. You learn to use every part of an ingredient, to compost, to garden, to appreciate the value of food for its nourishment as well as its ability to gather us around a table.
That early foundation helped me realize my life’s purpose: to help people heal through food. Whether they are struggling to reclaim their health or working to maintain the health they currently enjoy, everyone can benefit from eating well.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Trust your instincts. It’s important to gather and analyze data, but at the end of the day, trust your gut. Some of the best decisions I have ever made were those dictated by my instincts and not necessarily by rational left brain.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
There are a number of issues that I am passionate about, but these few are at the top of my list:
-I think fairness and equity are extremely important. All people are equal and should be treated as such.
-Clean food. It’s unfortunate that our country allows the use of pesticides and additives that have been b
anned in other countries.
-Food inequity and insecurity. Millions of Americans face hunger every day, including one in five children.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
If I only had 10 years left to live, I would spend less time working and more time with my loved ones making memories.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thepickledbeet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepickledbeetchef/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-pickled-beet/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Pickled-Beet-Chef/100085545817746/
