Meet Usha Sathappan CEO of Junior Chef Box

Meet Usha Sathappan, CEO of Junior Chef Box  Hello everyone, I hope you are well  Intoday’ss post, I would like to introduce you to Usha Sathappan from JuniorChefBox  I was very excited when Usha responded to my interview request via Facebook  Usha is a wife and mom from New Jersey  She runs a business teaching children and their parents to cook their favourite fun & healthy food  I cannot wait for you to get to know her.

Meet Usha Sathappan, CEO of Junior Chef Box

Hello Usha, it is a pleasure to interview you. Tell me about you and your business.

My name is Usha Sathappan. I live in New Jersey and have three kids: a 14-year-old boy and a twin ten-year-old girl. While raising my three kids, I learned to face many challenges, I got a pro at Multitasking:) My husband was supportive, but he works in New York and only returns late in the evening. When my girls were 4, I decided to go to work or start a business.

Icouldn’tt work a traditional 9-to-5 job becauseI’mm a creative person who enjoys meeting new people  Additionally, Ididn’tt want to send my kids to daycare  I wanted to challenge myself every day, manage my time wisely, and spend more time with my family  After extensive research, I discovered the industry I loved the most: a kids-oriented business  Seven years ago, I started a robotics enrichment program for children with my best friend.

Each year, 3000-3500 kids join our program.

I was very accomplished in significantly impacting the community with enrichment programs.

Four years ago, I started aafterschoolol cooking program since I loved cooking  Everyone liked our program and our kids-friendly recipe sheets  I enjoyed every process of designing my new business  Everything went smooth  When the pandemic began, everything went downhill, no schools, nafterschoolol activities, no camps, only virtual sessions but more work than regular  I decided to start my third business  My husband, Sathappan Lakshmanan, is a software engineer and incredibly supportive of some of thework’ss initiative  We formed a small technical team from New Jersey, London, Texas and India  Everyone worked so hard, and we were very patient,. It took almost one year to build the website.

Finally, we launched a new e-commerce Kids Subscription website called JuniorChefBox, a unique way to teach cooking to the kids  It is a monthly subscription box + animated recipe videos by a cartoon character named Chefy that we designed and digitalised on our own  Our primary goal is to make kids learn cooking in a fun way  I learned animation during the pandemic period  I started loving our character Chefy and animation  We will be introducing Spatchy and Spoony character later. They will join Chef in the future. Please check our website, www.JuniorChefBox.com. The JuniorChefBox became more popular when we sent the box home to those who enrolled in our virtual after-school and camp programs.

What type of recipes do you teach kids?

Our team always prefers to choose a fun and healthy recipe for kids to make, and we try to balance both. Our classes and curriculum always reflect that. We create the recipe sheets with step-by-step illustrated images; each recipe will have videos. It is pretty simple for the kids to follow.

You also have an Online Cooking Class for children. Please share what the class is about and what you hope to achieve.

Junior Chef Box: Cooking is a life skill, and Junio Chef Box helps kids learn that simply It’s a great family time as well  The interactive class is all about cooking a variety of recipes  Kids learn cooking along with some fun science experiments that are mainly based on food  We also send home a Junior Chef Box with recipe sheets, science experiments, food worksheets and some baking utensils  I love to see kids smiling and their confidence while they are cooking  After class ends, our foremost goal is to make the recipes independently using our picturised recipe sheets.

How to Measure Wet Ingredients – Cook with Chefy

What are your challenges as a Mom, a Wife, and running a successful business?

Mommie’s guilt never ends. Balancing family and business is not an easy task. I always try to satisfy everyone. I want to give 100% to the business and 100% to the family. Still, it’s just not possible  I must admit  There are too many things on my plate every day- household work, cooking, homework, family time, Clients, Classes, students, etc  The biggest challenge is Time management  There are no holidays for a successful business as it is our responsibility  There are good business days and bad business days. Still, at some point, we need to step back and focus on what is essential.

How do you stay motivated in your business?

Smiles on kids’ faces during the class and their confidence in the kitchen is one of the biggest motivations for me  I always have a vision of doing something I love during challenging times, taking issues as a puzzle, and trying to solve them and constantly keep learning  Customer satisfaction is another main driving force and adds up when I see the same child registering for multiple sessions.

What do you do for self-care?

Honestly, I do not do anything, particularly for self-care, and I usually do not get the time. I will watch a movie with my family and take a walk. I like to chat with my friends and would like to invite them over for dinner. Always trying new recipes with my kids. I would love to play with my twin girls, listen to music, and sing along while driving, which is one way I relax, mostly while driving.

Can you advise the audience on supporting each other during the Global Pandemic?

Pandemic time is an excellent opportunity for business owners to think differently. Do not slow down. Think of new options to run the business. Once the pandemic is over, we will be stronger than ever. Support each other on their social media pages and buy services or products from small/women-owned businesses.

Last but not least, do you have any questions for me?

Your blog isexcellent. How would you become a blogger?

My Response

Thank you for the compliment and the question, Usha. I started blogging back in 2018, and I discovered it when I was in college. I had a project to work on. The lecturer told me to publish the project in any form of my choice, with my web design experience. I enjoy writing. I decided to post my project on a website. I created it with Wix, and I enjoyed the process. My project was a success. I felt this was something I would love to do at home. So, I did some research and took things from there. I’m still learning, and I love the journey.

I want to thank Usha for this excellent interview and wish her all the best in her business. I think this is a great activity to get our kids involved with. Please get in touch if you are interested.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Talk soon.

Here are Junior Chef BBox’ssocial media details

Visit us at www.JuniorChefBox.com

Instagram #JuniorChefBoxes

Facebook @JuniorChefBoxes

YouTube @JuniorChefBox 

Join our Facebook Group, Kids Cooking – JuniorChefBox Family Time, for free recipe sheets, fun tips, and tricks videos.