Meet Klaire Maranto

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Klaire Maranto. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Klaire below.

Klaire , thank you so much for making time for us today. We’re excited to discuss a handful of topics with you, but perhaps the most important one is around decision making. The ability to make decisions is a key requirement for anyone who wants to make a difference and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your decision-making skills.

There’s a lot of decision making that happens when being a business owner. In fact, every thing you do is based upon a decision you had to make. For me, I am a huge fan of pros and cons lists. Whenever I have a decision whether big or small, I will write down everything that’s going on in my brain and categorize it as a “this is the positive” and “this is the negative” to this current situation. I like to see my options weighed out for me on a piece of paper.

I also will gather information from my customers and collect revenant data through social media polling to see what the general consensus is. I love keeping my customers at the forefront and allowing them to voice their opinions and feedback within my business.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Growing up, I never knew what I wanted to do or be. The only thing I did know, was that sitting at a desk for 9 hours wasn’t going to cut it.

I have always been an energetic, strong willed, determined person. I was always looking for the “what’s next” and graduating during the pandemic in 2020 really put a holt on my graduation & future career. During that time when the world was shut down, I decided to get some nutrition certifications and started online coaching. I LOVED it ! It felt like a fire in my soul and helping people to reach their goals was my main drive. I helped hundreds of people get healthier, learn the basics of nutrition, and the how to jumpstart their new lifestyle!

Shortly after, when the world started opening up again, I moved back to VA and got a job at a local gym- which was the only place hiring at the time. I started to heavily focus of my Instagram account and post my meal prep or my workout of the day- whatever seemed relevant.

Not long after that, many people in the gym picked up on my Instagram account and asked me one day if they could pay me to make them food. I thought that was a no brainer! If I’m already doing it for myself, might as well make theirs and make money from it! From then, I had about 5-6 people from the gym who would order meals for the week from me. I did this for a few months until I accepted a job as a nutrition coach at a local weight loss clinic.

Without getting into too much detail, it was not the right fit and came to be a very toxic work environment and their way of helping people did not align with my morals or values. Several months I went back and forth with the thought of quitting my job and doing meal prep full time. It was a huge risk because my husband was in law school and there was no guarantee this business would survive, but I had a strong gut feeling it would. Soon after, I took that leap of faith, quit my full time job, and launched Klaire’s Kitchen, LLC! There has not been one moment where I’ve looked back. The word of a meal prep business in my area spread like wildfire and we grew exponentially from month to month.

We sit now, 2 years later, a full staff and so thankful to be serving our community! The outpour of support is unmatched and being able to help people reach their goals is something that I’ll never get sick of!

We help hundreds of people a week by taking the pressure of meal time off their shoulders. We make healthy meals not be bland or boring, and allow people to still enjoy the foods they love, just in the correct portions!

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

Starting and running a meal prep business requires a combination of skills, business knowledge and personal qualities. I think the 3 most important are:
1. Operation efficiency and organization.
2. Marking and customer engagement.
3. Nutrition

I have always been someone who multitasks. Multitasking mixed with time management is HUGE in establishing an efficient flow in business production.. We operate in a time- sensitive environment. Customers except high quality, fresh meals to be plated and packed on time, so efficiency is key to meeting those expectations. Not only that, but staying organized is HUGE. There is so much that goes into running a food business and staying organized is a must. You have to have a detailed system to make sure inventory is stocked, stay up on expiration dates, make sure all sales tax and any other food costs are paid… the lists go on and on!

I also give props to my communications degree that prepared me for my marketing and customer engagement. Being able to talk in front of people without fear, or quickly come up with an elevator pitch when asked what I do has definitely played a roll. With this day and age, social media is the most effective way to reach and engage with customers. Being able to use a free app to communicate to my targeted audience on how the process of ordering works, or what that weeks menu is, or the process on how we make the meal. Social media is powerful and useful and I take full advantage of it !

Lastly, having a background in nutrition is vital in recipe development. I target the gyms heavily and almost majority of my clients are looking for balanced, high protein, full of nutrients meals. Understanding the macro and micronutrient and how to design meals to meet the clients’ health and fitness goals is extremely important.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Being a business owner is hard. There’s days you feel completely alone, and that no one else knows the level of stress you’re under.. Theres days when it feels like the whole world is weighing on your shoulders and there’s no way out from under it .

What I like to do is take a step back. To look at what’s going on, and in my case, it’s growth. Growth is amazing, but it’s also hard and comes with its challenges. I have to remind myself that these are GOOD problems to have! Some people would love to be in the position I’m in and have issues with not having a big enough space, or having to cut ordering off because you’ve reached your max capacity.

So, I’ll turn that negative into a positive and first position myself into gratitude. Then, I’ll dissect the situation and do one thing at a time. I’ll remind myself to stop thinking ahead and just do what is necessary for today. A lot of time I’m stressing or feeling overwhelmed for things that haven’t even happened or may never happen.

Once I get to that point of a todays to-do list, I’ll get dressed- make up and hair and a cute outfit always makes me feel better- and then I’ll tackle the list. Many times I’ll need to continue to reposition myself into gratitude throughout the day, but that’s okay!

I also love to go on walks! It’s one of my favorite stress-relieving things to do. I’ll put my headphones on and listen to a podcast, or worship music, and just walk and soak up the fresh air and vitamin D!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Klaireskitchen.com
• Instagram: Klaireskitchenllc
• Facebook: Klaire’s Kitchen, LLC

Image Credits

RNB Photography