Hi everyone! Super excited to share my conversation with Laura Lea: a 32-year-old certified holistic chef and food expert based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Laura went to UVA for college and then moved to NYC where she lived for 4 years. In NYC, she had good-paying jobs in the law and financial industry, but they left her feeling unfulfilled. Not only was Laura unhappy with her job but she also was struggling with her personal life as well.

She was not leading a healthy lifestyle, which caused her struggles with anxiety and depression. Laura became quickly tired of this lifestyle and began to focus on ways to improve her health. One major change she made was learning to eat healthily.

Laura became so passionate about food and nutrition that in 2013, she took a leap of faith, quit her corporate job, and applied to the National Gourmet Institute of NYC—a yearlong cooking school where she became a certified chef. After graduating from the school in 2013, Laura moved back to Nashville and launched LL Balanced, a website where she is able to share all of her amazing recipes. It wasn’t all easy though—she started from the bottom and had to slowly build a following.

She said yes to any opportunity that came her way, such as teaching a free cooking class, lecturing classes at school, being a food consultant for restaurants, and creating meal plans for clients. Slowly but surely she began to obtain tremendous credibility. Today, 5 years later, she has built an incredible following and business. She launched her very first cookbook called LL Balanced in 2017 which includes over 120 delicious and nutritious recipes! And she has a second cookbook on the way!

Can’t wait for you all to listen to Laura Lea’s inspirational journey—her positive energy is contagious!