Sophie Teixeira de Abreu shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Sophie, 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 do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I am a strong believer in morning routines that set the tone for your energy level and mood for the rest of the day.
Your circadian rhythm, your sleep/wake cycle, coordinates your hormone secretion and metabolism amongst others. Waking up with the sun and starting wining down at dusk plays a huge role in your vitality and health.
On weekdays I wake up at 6.30am and am in bed by 10pm (weekends normally shift by 2 hours).
I like to use my tongue scraper and wash my face with cold water straight out of bed. Then I wake up my children for school and spend 10minutes for myself in the bathroom. I put on gym clothes, do a quick skincare routine and off to the kitchen. There we meet for breakfast. The first thing I do is start the kettle while I drink a glass of warm lemon water (with a pinch of sea salt). If we have time, the boys like to prepare scrambled eggs and my teenaged girl likes avocado toast on sourdough bread. If in a rush, we just pick a banana and dip it in peanut butter or grab a few red berries off the fridge (I like to toss them in a bowl with tahini!). I wish I could say we are sitting down for breakfast during the week but I’d be lying. We are often eating on the go (unfortunate choice for our digestion…). I always make myself a mug of “mushroom coffee” for the road and at 7.15am I drop them off to the bus stop and I go straight to either the nearest Jetset pilates or Pure barre studio for a 50min workout before my work day, mostly spent between my kitchen and my desk.
At least twice a week, I will play a Padel game in the morning for more outdoor exercise and endorphin release!
In 2018, replacing caffeine by adaptogen mushrooms or green tea (toasted rice matcha being my absolute favorite!) has significantly improved my sleep quality.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Sophie Teixeira de Abreu, a French mother of three living in South Miami. After graduating from culinary school in 2023, I began working as a private HealthChef, specializing in nutritious and flavorful meals. I have been a certified integrative nutrition and health coach since 2018—the same year I founded ROOT Mindful Nutrition, a coaching platform dedicated to helping women enhance their eating habits for increased vitality and better overall health. Most of my professional time is spent in the kitchen, preparing RESET Meals for clients in South Miami, teaching cooking classes, catering private events, and offering nutrition coaching sessions over Zoom.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
This is an insightful question. In my experience, betrayal is something that can profoundly damage the connection between people. It highlights an essential value: courage. Recently, while driving with my children, we discussed why people lie and the motivation behind “small lies.” Often, these stem from a lack of courage—the courage to speak honestly, to defend others, or to admit mistakes. Avoiding uncomfortable truths is frequently a matter of avoiding discomfort.
Betrayal, whether through words or actions, disrupts trust and can occur in marriage, friendships, or business relationships. Repairing that trust usually requires time and consistent effort from both parties to overcome the resulting shame and remorse.
As a child, I experienced betrayal from a friend, which left me feeling insecure throughout my teenage years. Later, in my twenties, a close friend wrote to me, encouraging me to reflect on my own loyalty at a time when I was too focused on social approval. In my thirties, I learned the value of being loyal and authentic. Now, in my forties, I see true relationships as a cornerstone of my life. Life is too short for filters, though I always try to act with kindness. Living in alignment with these values has brought me greater happiness and fulfillment.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
I would say it was the fear of “not being good enough”. Throughout my childhood, I constantly strived to be good enough—earning good grades and gaining admission to a top university in Paris. Reassuring my parents. I grew up with a people-pleasing personality, which I am gradually freeing myself from.
Looking back, even in my marriage, I feared I wasn’t good enough for my husband and always pushed myself to be my best. Do you know how exhausting that is? It leads you to become someone who isn’t truly yourself—and it drains your energy. Ultimately, we divorced, and while the process was painful, we remain on good terms and are both healing from that chapter.
That suffering was necessary for me to rediscover who I am without this man by my side, to recognize the mistakes I never want to repeat, and to prioritize living truthfully—being at peace with who I am, without fear or the need to prove my worth. I have learnt to let go of control in some areas of my life and the constant pursuit of perfection, and now I feel far more aligned with myself than ever before.
Now in my forties, I can honestly say I am healed from this fear, and it has truly set me free.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
A cultural value I protect at all costs is kindness. Growing up with three siblings in a middle-class family near Paris, kindness was woven into the fabric of our upbringing, alongside a form of simplicity in relationships, attentiveness to others, a sense of effort, resilience, and a deep respect for money. These values reflect my Catholic French heritage and have shaped who I am. No matter where life has taken me—whether London, Barbados, or now Miami—I have carried this commitment to kindness with me, standing firmly for it in every community I join. To me, kindness is more than a courtesy; it is a way of living that honors goodwill and respect for others, and it is something I try to embody every day, and hopefully gradually infuse in my children too.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What will you regret not doing?
I often reflect on this question, and I’ll share my perspective from a professional standpoint. As a single mother of three, I have had to carefully adapt my work and my passion for coaching and preparing healthy food to fit around my children’s school schedules. After completing two years of culinary school, I realized that working in a restaurant, with its endless hours and high stress, wasn’t the right path for me. Nearly three years ago, I almost signed an agreement to open a healthy café in South Miami, but when that didn’t materialize, I understood it simply wasn’t my time.
With ROOT Mindful Nutrition, I have built a small but profitable business. Still, I sometimes find myself yearning for more. I dream of scaling this venture—hiring a team and expanding to offer health-promoting meals to a wide audience of busy people who truly believe in food as medicine but don’t have time to cook every day. I’m confident that one day, I will connect with the right partner to turn that dream into reality. Missing the chance to grow this vision is something I would deeply regret.
Contact Info:
- Website: root-mindful nutrition.com
- Instagram: @root_mindfulnutrition
- Linkedin: Sophie Teixeira de Abreu
- Facebook: Sophie teixeira de Abreu
Image Credits
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