DALLAS — A teacher turned stay-at-home mom has become an entrepreneur with a business plan so successful, she and her husband moved their family to Texas to help it grow.
For this edition of #UpWithHer, Lisa Wallace is sharing how she went from cooking in her kitchen to a 30,000-square-foot packing facility in two years.
"We have an erupting volcano cake, where kids are learning about chemical reactions while making a cake that they can erupt, and the topic of a volcano or geology is very easy to have when it’s hands on," said co-founder Lisa Wallace.
“I’m the Chef Too!” creates connection in the kitchen.
"We’re not really a cooking company, we are an education company, teaching education through a vessel of cooking," said Wallace.
Wallace began cooking with her oldest son.
"Our first born was diagnosed on the spectrum and he has ADHD and the only time we would be able to really connect would be in the kitchen," said Wallace.
Wallace combined her passion for cooking and love for teaching to create unique recipes. She shared their bonding moments on social media. Before long, her friends and others asked to cook with their kids in Lisa’s kitchen.
The pandemic forced her to close to the public, so she boxed up her cooking experiences and started shipping them – and their popularity skyrocketed!
"We basically went from our kitchen, where we were teaching, to a 30,000-square-foot facility. We didn’t have a choice, there was only one way, and it was up, and it was a big sacrifice," said Wallace.
Sacrifices meant bold moves. Wallace's husband quit his job to manage growth, and they relocated to Texas, for our state’s small business-friendly environment.
"We now our own co-packing facility, which means that we co-pack and manufacture all the dry ingredients – it’s all in house – quality control is very important for us," Wallace told WFAA.
The company’s meteoric rise is both exciting and uncomfortable.
"People think that it gets easier, but it doesn’t. With new milestones is new growth, new problems. It’s about problem-solving. It’s about embracing failure. And learning from the opportunity to grow. It’s an emotional rollercoaster that does not end. You must be ready for the journey because every day is going to be different and it’s never the same," Wallace said.
That rollercoaster can feel lonely, so Wallace encourages entrepreneurs to network and surround yourself with people who have a variety of skills.
"People don’t understand. They see it on social media, they see the face, but they do not know what goes on behind the scenes, to be able to not commiserate but talk to people who are going through the same exact problems makes it so much easier to do your day-to-day job," Wallace said.
And being surrounded by family at work and yummy food in her kitchen, Wallace's future growth looks like a five-star dish.
“I’m the Chef Too!” offers a subscription service or a la carte for kids 4 to 14 years old.
Wallace releases a new cooking curriculum every month that aligns with trends popular with kids and concepts they’re learning in the classroom.
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