I am enjoying interviewing professionals and mom bosses about their line of work or their side hustles. Today I am sharing an interview with Dini of Prep + Rally. They provided me with a subscription to try out their meal system for myself (since I’m always flying by the seat of my pants for dinner). I signed up as an affiliate to share this system with you.
Tell us a little about yourself and Prep + Rally.
My name is Dini Klein, and I am a mama of three and the founder of Prep + Rally, a family meal prep system that thousands of busy moms and families all over the world are absolutely loving!
What inspired you to launch Prep + Rally?
When I started my career as a private chef, I realized that, though I was cooking delicious food for others, I would get home late from work and first start making dinner for my family then. It was so hard to balance working with being a mom and providing food for my family. I started planning out my grocery lists and menus in advance, which made my life so much easier – plus my family was so happy to be enjoying delicious, healthy food. I came up with the idea for the Prep + Rally meal-prep system based on my own experience. I had found a balance that worked for me, and I wanted to share my strategies to help take some of the pressure off for other moms who struggle with similar things.
How does Prep + Rally help reduce the mental load of motherhood?
The mission of Prep + Rally – to help relieve the dinnertime stress – is one that hits close to home. With Prep + Rally, the question of “what’s for dinner?” won’t leave you feeling stressed, since that is all answered in the plan. Additionally, Prep + Rally subscribers get customized grocery lists, weekly menus, access to hundreds of archived recipes, and access to a private Facebook group where they can connect with other subscribers and ask me questions directly. Additionally, with having meals planned out, many Prep + Rally subscribers find that they save money and raise healthy eaters, since their kids are exposed to a wide range of flavors early on. Prep + Rally totally streamlines the dinnertime process – for both moms and kids – and leaves you with so much more time to do things that you actually enjoy! It really clears up headspace and time to focus on things other than dinnertime.
What can new subscribers expect to have to do each week?
Subscribers will get an email alerting them that the meal plan for the following week is ready. After logging in, subscribers will have access to a customizable grocery list, where they can easily add ingredients from that week’s meal-prep to a list. There is also a Sunday Prep section, which walks subscribers through the order of how to prepare all of the recipes for the coming week in a way that is most efficient. Lastly, there’s a Rally section on the site, which provides instructions for how to assemble the food prepared on Sunday into four unique dinners. Every Prep + Rally menu is designed in a way to minimize food waste, your grocery bill, as well as your time in the kitchen.
Check out this example meal week:
How has being a mother helped shape your business?
As a mom, I understand and appreciate the value of time. The Prep + Rally plan is all about being efficient without compromising on taste or nutrition – other things that I am equally passionate about. I placed these values and passions at the center of my business model for Prep + Rally. As a mom myself, I totally understand that in addition to giving our time to our families, we also have to have time to ourselves, and with Prep + Rally, you will be able to have more of it! The newfound time will truly be yours to use however you want.
Share with us your journey to launching this startup.
I was living in New York, freshly graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a degree in fashion merchandising, suddenly feeling like I had chosen the wrong career path. I had always loved the arts and wanted a creative career, but didn’t feel like I was getting that. Watching the Food Network inspired me to embark on a career in food as cooking was always something I loved and felt like a creative outlet for me. Soon I began working as a full-time private chef with some of Manhattan’s most elite families. I loved the job and having the flexibility to get creative and work for myself but the work was always very physically and mentally exhausting. I would come from a long day of work having cooked for my clients with zero energy left to cook for my own growing family. I knew I had to get organized and implement some sort of meal plan that I could prep at the beginning of the week so that my family wouldn’t starve. Turns out the system completely saved me. It allowed for me to work, and be a rock star mom/wife with homemade dinner on the table all week! Not only was I stress-free, and saving time but I was saving tons of money as well! I knew I had to share my system with the world! Prep + Rally was born! It has been the solution helping thousands of busy families around the world allowing them to get through the week stress-free, with homemade dinner on the table!
What are some of your favorite things about running your business?
-Making my own hours
-Being my own boss
-The creative freedom to continuously evolve, and create new offerings for my subscribers, and followers.
-Being able to (somewhat) easily balance work/mom life
What were some challenges you ran into when starting your business?
When we first launched I was too nervous to pour a lot of money into Prep + Rally (I wanted to take it for a test-drive first!) so we launched the business on a shoestring budget. That had its own set of challenges needing to accomplish a lot with very little money. That was after wasting seven months with a potential investor who strung me along and ended up being a complete disaster. I’m so grateful I trusted my gut, and went about it on my own! What I’ve learned from this whole experience is to trust and invest in yourself! It’s the only way you’ll ever accomplish a goal, or make any big move. Listen to your gut, and take calculated risks when necessary. Very often it works out in your favor!
Any advice you want to give fellow moms?
The juggle is so real and you’re not alone! Join support groups or other working moms so you feel less alone in it, and feel more empowered to get through it. You got this!
Use this link to get 20% off an annual subscription to Prep + Rally.
If you would like to be interviewed for my side hustle series, please fill out this form.
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