Photos: @hai_intensit the long hours of working took a toll on his
Brown wants to continue to be a part of
the community and grow by 30 percent in
the next year. His long-term goal is to open
a physical location with a show kitchen,
classes and a hot bar to take out food.
For now, he said one of his main challenges
are growing pains. The more the
business expands, the more costs there
are, and the more there is to do. Brown
said it was big risk to take this on 100
percent.
“There’s a fear of not being able to
make it,” Brown said. “But helping others
drives me.”
APRI L 2 0 1 8 I BOROMAG.COM 51
health. Eventually, he quit his job, and put his
CrossFit training certification to use, coaching
at a gym in Brooklyn.
Given his background, he was able to offer
nutrition counseling to his clients. At home,
Brown was still cooking. He made creative,
tasty recipes even within the limits of the
paleo diet.
He tested recipes on his fellow coaches,
who started paying him to bring them
home-cooked, paleo lunches. Then members
caught on and wanted to try, too.
From there, the idea behind Paleo With
Love was born.
In August 2016, he gauged interested
from CrossFit members in his network and
decided to start the business. With the help
of a coworker, he created a website, then
sent an email with a menu and started taking
orders in January 2017.
He didn’t have the capital to open a brickand
mortar storefront, so he uses a shared
kitchen at an entrepreneur space in Long Island
City, which also offers counseling and
resources to small businesses. There, he
cooks twice a week with the help of up to
three staff members, and fulfills orders the
same day so the food is fresh. Brown delivers
some meals himself on his way home,
and delivery services take care of the rest.
Brown uses ingredients from local providers
and he uses organic produce and natural,
antibiotic-free, grass-fed meats.
Clients can sign up for 18 meals a month
for $200, and individual meals cost $10 to
$13, around the same price as lunch in Manhattan,
Brown said.
The menu changes twice a week. In
March, some of the options were Tika honey
chicken with red kale and roasted vegetables;
beef chili with cashews and spinach
and sweet potato; and chicken mushroom
cauliflower risotto with pancetta and sundried
tomatoes.
The inspiration for meals comes from ingredients
that are in season, farmers markets
and client feedback, Brown said.
The food is also available in five gyms:
CrossFit Dynamix, CrossFit Bell, CrossFit 718,
CrossFit SoBro and CrossFit Queens. Brown
said the business now has 250 clients, which
is up 50 percent from last year. He said new
customers are joining weekly. At first, most of
his clients came from the gyms, but now half
are home delivery clients.
He said positive client feedback keeps him
going. One woman said she doesn’t have
to cook anymore, and can spend more time
with kids. Another client claimed they tried
to make some of his dishes, but they didn’t
come out as well as Brown’s.
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