My journey as a Chef began in culinary school at the age of 18 but my dreams of creating food products to get out to the masses began long before that in with some of my earliest memories in elementary school…I was always in the kitchen cooking for my family and friends! I remember walking through the grocery isles as a kid looking at those bottles of Aunt Jemima pancake syrups with her face on the bottles, feeling inspired and not knowing how but that id have my own line some day!
Melanie's Mission In the Food Industry
One day my mom surprised me in high school by enrolling in culinary school after i had already accepted that we couldn’t afford it. I was so grateful. In culinary school I always excelled because I was truly doing what I loved, won our mystery basket challenges and cook-offs and was always known for never following a single recipe the Chefs would give us .. I’d always find a way to change it and make it my own way! 😉
I started my own personal chef and party catering business while in culinary school and went door to door to grow in the La Jolla area in my 20s.
I started to develop my niche in healthy catering in 2010 when I saw that healthy great tasting healthy fast food is so hard to find and toxic fast food is so convenient & available everywhere.
I later began running transformation boot camp workout groups and creating weight loss meal plans for my food prep clients and sold my snack bars and gluten-free treats to the groups. Customers always told me I should sell my snack products in stores, but something always kept me from having the courage to take the leap and do it!
Flash forward to age 30 one night out of the blue I was woken in the middle of the night with a voice from God and a vivid vision of my snack products hanging in grocery store shelves. The voice instructed me to open my own shop and provide healthy food products to the masses. I was told to help show people how to step into their passions and make money pursuing their purpose in life.
It was such a vivid and real experience that I was never the same since. From that day I got to work, filed my business license, and got to work!
And that’s how Mel’s Naturals got started just a few years ago!
We are working on opening up our Mel’s Naturals shop in Alpine California.
We deliver and offer pick up, i am now running online transformation groups for people struggling to lose weight, that want something manageable that can actually become a lifestyle and not a diet!
We’ve received SO much excitement and support from our local community that I feel truly blessed and more confident than ever of the need for what I’m doing.
I am passionate about making a difference in the food industry by making healthy living easy and enjoyable.
Thank you for being a part of the Mels Naturals mission.
Mel’s Professional Credentials
- BACHELOR OF SCIENCE CULINARY MANAGEMENT
Art Institute of San Diego, CA - NUTRITION COACH CERTIFIED
NAFC - PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINER CERTIFIED
National Academy of Sports and Medicine - PERMITTED RETAIL PACKAGE & PROCESSED FOOD SELLER
California State Department of Public Health - CERTIFIED FOOD SAFETY MANAGER
Premier Safety Food, Inc.