Ashley Ondrick

So nice to meet you! First off, what’s your name? Tell our readers a bit about yourself—where you’re from originally and where you live now.

My name is Ashley Ondrick, and I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts. I’m one of five children and have a huge extended family, and all of my best memories are of holidays and other celebrations, where food was at the center of what brought us together. I am sure that laid the foundation for my culinary career. I attended business school outside of Boston, but a semester in Italy changed the trajectory of my life and I fell in love with Italian food and the history and culture surrounding it. Several years later I returned to Italy for culinary school and a restaurant stage, and then found my niche in farm-to-table catering and private dining. I spent several years as sous chef and purchasing manager of a catering company in Cambridge and worked with dozens of local farms and purveyors. We would often set up a field kitchen under pop-up tents cooking gourmet meals off charcoal grills for hundreds of expectant guests. It was extremely satisfying work, but the physically demanding 80-hour weeks took their toll on my body, and I was ready for a change. Right before my 30th birthday, I had the opportunity to move to the Philippines for a year doing humanitarian work with a Christian micro-finance organization I had spent several years volunteering with. And from there, I moved to Saint Petersburg, Florida where I founded A (Mostly) Healthy Chef. I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and was inspired by them to create something of my own. I provide weekly meal prep, private parties, cooking classes and health coaching serving clients throughout Tampa Bay. It’s been an honor and joy to be invited into my clients' homes and provide memorable meals for their celebrations. And I am excited to share that in a few months I will be relocating to the North Bay of California, where I’ll have access to the bounties of wine country and San Francisco.

Tell us one thing you love about where you live now.

Tampa Bay is so vast that almost everywhere I look, I see water. I can watch the sunrise over the Bay, and the sunset over the Gulf, and often take my Papillon, Spritz, for walks along the waterfront of downtown St. Pete.

Tell us a little more about what your company does and how it started. How does it help your customers?

I provide weekly meal prep services where in one day I will stock the fridge with up to a week’s worth of meals. When my clients are eating homemade, nourishing food that they don’t have to take the time preparing, they can focus on what matters to them and are fueled to show up better in all areas of their life. I also teach cooking classes—fresh pasta and sushi are definitely fan favorites. And I cook for parties of all sizes. I’ve cooked multi-course dinners for two guests, and extravagant grazing tables for 200. I work with my clients to custom make each menu, and especially love when there is a theme, favorite dish or food memory to build off of. Soon after founding A (Mostly) Healthy Chef I became a certified health coach and incorporated that into my business. The health coaching piece had been decades in the making, as I had used my own health challenges as a springboard for learning ways of eating to promote vitality. This past April, I published my first book, Speranza: How Pain Became the Path to Hope. It chronicles my adventures as a chef, working in Italian kitchens, a failed dating life and the year I spent in the Philippines and eating my way around Southeast Asia. But in the background all that time, there was another story playing out. A spine injury when I was 18 years old left me living in worsening chronic pain ever since, and a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome led to the further breakdown of my body. By the time I was 40 years old I had undergone 11 surgeries and endured hundreds of spine injections. Concurrently, I’ve spent the past decade dealing with Lyme disease, chronic fatigue, a neuro-immune condition and food and environmental sensitivities. I came to see food as our most powerful medicine, but also saw in the chronic illness community that food often becomes a source of stress and control. Many of my clients have foods they can’t eat, or specific diets they are looking to stick to, and I specialize in making them feel like they are not missing out on anything. I love guiding clients towards eating with intention, finding freedom and confidence in the kitchen, and taking agency of their health.

If someone wants to start a business, what advice would you give them?

No matter how passionate you are about the product or service you’re providing, your first requirement is still to meet the needs of your consumer. There are times when I pinch myself that I get to spend my days in the kitchen, and other times when it’s a challenge—especially clearing plates and doing dishes late at night after a long day on my feet. I have busy seasons when I am overworked and questioning my career choices, but then times of renewal when I know that I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. Passion does not automatically translate to a fulfilling career, so make sure you can tolerate the less than desirable sides of the work you do—because they will always be there, and that you’re able to find that rhythm of work and rest that allows for balance instead of burnout.

What is one piece of feedback from a happy customer or client that you won't forget?

I’ve had clients tell me that I have changed the way they view vegetables, because I cook them with the precision and flavor that one would skillfully cook a piece of protein. There is no boring food on my watch!

Where do you see your company in the future?

I am currently taking a course to become a nervous system practitioner. So many digestive disorders are actually a miscommunication between the brain and the belly via the vagus nerve, and understanding the nervous system can be profoundly helpful for improving one’s quality of life. We live in an over-stimulated world and it is showing up in our health. I am excited to use my knowledge to help clients tap into their body’s brilliance and ability to repair, and to tie this into them finding more freedom around food and nutrition.

What is the biggest misconception about your industry?

Everyone thinks that chefs cook gourmet meals for themselves, when actually most chefs have the diet of a kindergartener. We spend our days cooking for others and then are either too tired to cook for ourselves or have lost all interest in food after being around it all day. I’ve found a balance by having a few quick and healthy go-to dinners that I make for myself during a busy work week, and then I cook the more elaborate foods I want to eat when I have friends and family over to enjoy it with me.

What has been one of your biggest struggles building your business, and how did you deal with it?

It was a challenge learning to scale down from cooking for hundreds to often less than a dozen. I also had to learn how to build menus that were manageable for me to cook alone, as I no longer had a team of chefs cooking with me. It took trial and error—usually erring on the side of making way too much food, which the client was never unhappy about but cut into my bottom line. I also had to learn when to bring in help instead of thinking that I could do everything on my own.

Who was your favorite music artist and athlete growing up?

I have older brothers who drove me to kindergarten blasting 90s rock and grunge. The Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden were and still are some of my favorite bands. But sports? Even though I grew up with three brothers who were all sports fanatics, I could absolutely care less about them. If you ever catch me watching a game, it’s a silent signal that I have been kidnapped. Send help.

Any shoutouts you want to make?

My parents and siblings who have inspired me every step of the way. And God's abiding love which has sustained me even through the very hardest seasons. It is always too soon to lose hope!!

Where can our readers learn more about you and your company?

Connect with me on instagram @amostlyhealthychef to see what I’m cooking, my blog www.amostlyhealthyblog.com for seasonal recipes and stories of hope and my website www.mostlyhealthychef.com for ways of working together.