We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dara Lyubinsky a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dara, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I’ve developed my self-esteem over the years by saying “yes” to things I didn’t know how to do and then figuring out how to do them. And then do them again and again until all of a sudden, they are things I DO know how to do. One of the most important parts of our work is the perspective we have about how fortunate we are to do the work we do. To have the strength of body and mind and spirit to offer something that people want and need and deliver a service that they incorporate into their lives and share with their loved ones. It’ such a privilege to be welcomed into our clients homes and that open invitation to feed people food that nourishes and sustains them is incredibly confidence boosting. Constantly reaching outside of my comfort zone to learn a new skill or have a new experience, even if they aren’t all “successful” right away, builds me up and makes me feel limitless.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Nourish provides personal chef and catering services throughout the DC area. Our team of incredibly talented and knowledgeable chefs specialize in creating custom menus tailored to the unique preferences of each of our clients. We work with doctors, nutritionists, trainers, event planners and more to become the final piece to our clients’ puzzle of getting delicious, nourishing meals onto their tables week after week or for their life’s special events. We take great pride in the beautiful food we create and the way that our services improve our clients’ lives by giving them more time with the people they love, more balance in their life, and more peace of mind that their family is eating well.
We’re excited about our new partnership as the personal chef service of record with Equinox Bethesda. Their coaches have been able to refer their members to us to prepare healthful, clean, organic meals to support the hard work that they are doing in the gym so they can achieve their health and wellness goals holistically.
We’re very grateful to be partnering with the Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial hospital where we have donated meals to families of children receiving radiation treatment. Those families, more than anyone, deserve a delicious, homemade meal while they navigate a difficult time. It has been a huge privilege to provide that small bit of comfort for those families.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think there is so much power in the relationships you form with people. I take every meeting, every introduction, every opportunity possible to meet someone new. Even if it isn’t clear right away how our paths crossing will impact my journey or theirs, I’m always amazed by the incredible things that happen when you meet new people, learn about what their goals are, share resources and information and network. I think having a generosity of spirit and being a very open book has been incredibly formative for my journey. Having a little bit of fearlessness has been helpful, too – not being worried about asking for help or taking a chance, or admitting to not know or understand something. People are very disarmed by humility and being real and honest about what you can offer at any given moment is very freeing. I’ve had three children during the time that I’ve been building my business, so that automatically puts restrictions on my time and bandwidth. Being able to say “no” to certain things so that I don’t feel over-committed or stretched too thin has taken a long time to learn how to do, but as I learn to do it with more and more ease, I become more comfortable accepting something that I may “miss out on” by saying no when I need to.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
We are always excited to partner and collaborate with other local businesses. It’s been especially rewarding to partner with other female founders/business owners who are mothers of young (or not young) children. There is an unspoken understanding that I have with those people who know what it’s like to juggle a business or career and growing a family. We’d love to become a more widely shared resource with OBGYN practices so that when new parents bring a baby home, they know they can outsource meals for themselves for a while. We’d like to be a more widely shared resource for other Gastro-Intestinal doctors’ practices who often advise patients to make huge changes in their diet and eating lifestyle and then send them on their way without any real plan for putting those changes into practice especially if the patients don’t cook! We accommodate all different types of diets and love to work with all people who place a great value on healthful, carefully prepared food.
We’re always interested in meeting new chefs who would like to join our team – whether they are restaurant chefs looking for some additional income or another outlet for creativity or individuals from other areas of the industry.
Anyone interested in collaborating with us can email info@nourishculinary.com or DM us @nourishculinary.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nourishculinary.com
- Instagram: @nourishculinary
- Facebook: @nourishculinary
- Linkedin: Dara Lyubinsky
- Twitter: N/A
- Youtube: N/A
- Yelp: N/A
- SoundCloud: N/A
Image Credits
Deb Lindsey
