Today we’d like to introduce you to Leny Thomas, Julio Tavarez, and Andrea Valentine.
Leny, Julio, and Andrea, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Julio and Leny met at a restaurant called “Stonewood Tavern” in Peabody, Ma. Julio who had already been on a fitness course, meal prepping for himself, losing over 120 pounds & well on his way to losing more encouraged Leny to become more serious about fitness. Since Leny was going through some personal issues. The mental fortitude it gave Julio in his few years already on his journey inspired Leny! So, he joined Julio for a session at the gym, where from there Leny fell in love with the ability to allow fitness to be a therapy! While working at Stonewood, Julio would witness Leny’s Glazed Donut Sandwiches with scrambled eggs, peppers, onions & cheese! Leny would say ” Gainz” & Julio would say ” Yes, with a heart attack as well!” Julio began to teach Leny about the benefits of eating clean & healthy & that you could still acquire said “GAINZ” by doing so! Amongst the other superpowers, it seemed like Julio had since it literally was scary how nothing ever bothered him, he was always in a great mood and even in the midst of bad moments always found a way to see a positive! Leny would always say “this guy is crazy” but later realized that it was his mental fortitude acquired by his fitness journey and mission of eating clean healthy food!
After Leny departed from Stonewood and returned to Gaslight in Lynnfield, he embedded fitness and clean eating into his life. He began hitting the gym three-four days a week and meal prepping for himself more. This had continued for a while and both had obtained a few clients that they meal prepped for. After months of calls & texts, either looking for recipe ideas or what containers are used, what’s the best way to package things just constantly bouncing ideas off each other they decided to team up & Preps By Chefs was born! Several months of rental kitchens later, they decided on jumping into a kitchen of there own. They met me, Andrea a short time after, I helped with business development and outreach They took it a step further and opened an A La Carte service on a daily basis serving healthy options, while still continuing to meal prep and also offer catering.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road at all. Of course, like any other new business starting up is always a challenge. It’s been a roller coaster ride, to say the least, but we made it past the first year and that is all that matters. We look forward to many more to come.
Please tell us about Preps by Chefs.
We make eating healthy simple affordable and enjoyable. We specialize in healthy options, with years of experience in the actual restaurant industry. We are most proud of the ability to start a business that we have our heart and souls invested into. We are also very proud of the people we have been able to help and guide through their lifestyle change. Along with the years of experience in the restaurant industry, we also offer specialized fitness programs through personal training for an overall healthy lifestyle.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We would be smarter about our budgeting plan if we had to do this all over.
Contact Info:
- Address: 83 marion st
Lynn, MA 01905 - Website: www.prepsbychefs.com
- Phone: 781 534 1100 or 781 570 1317
- Email: prepsbychefs@gmail.com
- Instagram: prepsbychefs
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