Meet Kirsten Sandoval

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kirsten Sandoval a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kirsten, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I’ve been through a lot in my life – my kids and I started our lives over with the help of a domestic violence shelter, I donated my kidney to a family member, and both of my kids have a rare genetic cancer syndrome, discovered when they were in their teens. I think my resilience in business comes from my past and knowing that if you just keep moving forward and taking one more step, you’ll find yourself on the other side. Sometimes its days, sometimes it takes years, and sometimes it may feel like it will never get better, but I believe there is always something good to look forward to.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My name is Chef Kirsten Sandoval, so nice to meet you! I am a driven entrepreneur with a diverse culinary and professional skill set. Chef/Mother/Living Kidney Donor/Founder & currently C(hef)EO behind Mesa de Vida. The inspiration for Mesa de Vida’s healthy meal starter sauces formed by way of my career as a personal chef and nutrition consultant to professional athletes in the NFL, NBA and WNBA, as well as my commitment to creating a healthy new family legacy several years ago (which led to me turning my health around). I owned and operated my own personal chef and nutrition consulting business for over 12 years, served as a chef spokesperson for nutritious food brands and health nonprofits, have a wide variety of nutrition education, combined with my life experiences of overcoming obstacles (health transformation, single mother to two kids with a rare genetic disease, food addiction, domestic violence, poverty), in addition to a healthy dose of grit. My journey to living the most delicious, vibrant life – and helping others do the same – has led to the honor of having been on Food Network and the covers of Womans Day and Womans World magazines, and more. My kids and I are also domestic violence survivors. After receiving help from a domestic violence shelter we rebuilt a life of happiness, respect, and big dreams. This passion has forged a life, business, and career devoted to making it easier for people to live more healthier, more delicious lives, and shaping the type of products I want to bring into the world, and company I want to create.
Mesa de Vida’s globally inspired cooking sauces and future products exist to share elevated, innovative, inclusive, healthy, convenient chef-crafted pantry staples so you can celebrate flavor and enjoy more delicious moments at your Mesa de Vida (Table of Life)! We currently have 5 flavors – Caribbean, Creole, Latin, Mediterranean and Moroccan – and they’re available at several Whole Foods Markets, Raley’s supermarkets, several Safeway and Albertsons stores, and more. We share recipes, inspiration and more at our website, mesadevida.com

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

At 25 I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and pre-diabetes. I knew I was heading towards heart disease, and I had always been on a diet. I had to set out to learn what healthy REALLY meant, and that led to me turning my health around and it sparked a passion for cooking. That led to my studies on nutrition, working the geneticists and doctors. Then, learning more with the geneticists and doctors on my children’s health teams. Looking back I had no idea I’d be starting a food brand some day to help make an impact in the world. We have no idea how the things we go through shape us for what’s ahead. I think people should always keep an open mind and open heart, and I believe we are led to where we are supposed to go, and are put through experiences to shape us for what’s ahead.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

What I thought was a huge challenge actually led to our biggest growth and improvement over the last 12 months. It’s funny how you look back and see how that happens! A challenge led to me finding a fantastic broker partner that has completely changed the trajectory of our business and amount of growth. It taught me that relationships mean so much in business, and finding people that align with that is key.

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Image Credits

Photo of Chef Kirsten by Audra Mulkern

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