For eight years, Ryan Powell's work in front of the camera as a live sports anchor was her passion and something she excelled at... so much so that she won an Emmy Award for her coverage of the Women's World Cup in France.
But he had other talents off camera, though Powell didn't fully realize it until his wife, Brittany, brought him up.
Powell had enjoyed cooking since he was a teenager and Brittany was amazed by his cooking skills.
"I make him dinner and he says, 'Oh my God, that's great.'" You can sell it. "Whatever..." Powell recalled.
The conversation didn't get more serious until they tried different food delivery services. Britney repeatedly reminded her husband that she could do better. After a while she indicated enough.
"One day he said, 'That's it. We're going to start a food processing company,'" Powell said.
And in 2018, a food delivery company, Eat Clean Phx, was born out of the home kitchen of a Scottsdale couple.
It was the first time they had run their own business, and when Powell decided to pursue his new venture full-time, he arrived with trepidation. Nevertheless, Brittany's faith in her husband's abilities remained strong.
"I made it through my TV career and I had this safety net. It was a risk... But he believed in us being able to start a business and in my ability to cook, so we stuck around," Powell said.
They know how to prepare tasty and healthy food and also know how to treat people well. This combination is what they need to launch Eat Clean Phx. First they cook for friends and family, then five customers receive regular meals from them.
Three months later, their customer list had grown to 20. They bought a second refrigerator and put it in the garage. They soon realized this wasn't working, so they moved into a commercial space with a professional kitchen equipped with all the bells and whistles to handle the high volumes. They obtain all the appropriate licenses and permits and conduct undisclosed health checks that their peers in the food industry undergo. Their in-house company is entering the next level.
It required learning to work with their commercial equipment and adjusting ingredients so Powell could cook more while maintaining consistency.
“By word of mouth, the business is growing insanely. It continues to grow,” Powell said.
Besides moderation, control is an important part of Powell's personal theory of maintaining a balanced diet. By sticking to proper portion sizes, she can make a varied and delicious menu that includes foods that many people trying to drop a few pounds say they can't eat.
"It's not just broccoli and chicken breast. We have enchiladas and burritos and Asian food...the best selling is real food," Powell said. "We have clients who lose weight when eating pasta. Well, it's portion control."
Healthy preparation is also part of the equation. For example, for his famous Chicken Parmesan, Powell cooks the breaded chicken without adding oil or butter. Rather than having a cup of cheese on top, it's enough to bring out the rich flavor and sticky texture that people love about this dish. The goal is to be full without feeling full and going into food coma mode.
Powell's strategy worked. At the end of the first year, he said, Eat Clean Phx had served 27 repeat customers. By the end of 2022, they've delivered more than 1,200 across the valley.
According to the company's research firm, Eat Clean Phx is part of the global prepared food delivery market and is expected to reach $19.64 billion by 2026. It also has a willing audience, with 81 percent of Americans believing ready-to-eat meals are delivered at home. are healthier than restaurant meals, according to the Harris poll.
Some customers have followed the program since its inception, when Powell cooked all the meals himself starting at 2 am that day. Watch kids grow up after college meals.
And there are clients whose successful health and wellness journeys have incorporated food into their routine.
"Seeing people go through that transition and seeing their lives get better, and we're playing a direct part in that," Powell said.
Mike Hill, an Eat Clean PHX customer since May 2021, is one of them.
Hill searched for fast food and tried several before finding Powell. Proximity to his home in Scottsdale is a plus. But what sets Hill apart is the quality and taste of his food, which he says is much better than the others.
Tenderloin, grilled chicken breast, baked sweet potato and jasmine rice are some of Hale's favorite foods to accompany her fitness routine. Hill's Eat Clean PHX groups 12 to 14 meals a week in the Go District.
"There are so many flavors and spices and the food is not bland at all. They mix it up so you don't have the same menu item every week," Hill says.
The commercial realtor is a former strength coach who lost 60 pounds in eight months on Powell's diet with his own workouts and training.
"It radically changed my body composition," says Hill. "Instead of eating on the go, I choose this one. Like Ryan and Brittany, I need quality service."
Born in Colorado, Powell moved to the Valley when he was three years old and grew up in Mesa. He had never had any professional cooking experience before, but the trade had always been easy for him for as long as he could remember.
Making enchiladas as a teenager was one meal that opened Powell's eyes to possibilities. He loves tortillas and can make a completely different dish by switching up the proteins and sauces. The same goes for grilled chicken breasts that are seasoned differently or served with different sauces or marinades.
"As long as you're creative and trying new things, you can always come up with new recipes," she says.
His career as a sportswriter has seen him travel the world doing what he loves. But she kept him away from Brittany and their children Grayson, now 8, and Grant, now 4. Even when he was home, most sporting events took place at night, which prevented him from having dinner with his family or taking the boys to bed. .
While Promising, Eat Clean Phx is a change that Powell welcomes.
“(Traveling) was great when I was single, but once I had a family, I wasn't happy. I turned my passion for cooking into a job,” says Powell. “Running a business is not easy and takes time, but I stay home every night to stuff that interest us.”
The charitable side of Eat Clean Phx has also become a family business. It carries toys, buys equipment for youth sports groups, and serves menu items that benefit the United Food Bank.
Each year, the Phoenix Children's Hospital Toy Drive donates items to sick children. Powell explained to her children where the toys had gone and why, and that the last thing on parents' minds was buying gifts when their child was in the hospital.
Paul can be contacted. When Grant was young, he spent some time there.
It is a successful business leadership that the Powell family is very pleased with.
"My kids get to see it and be a part of it...they come with us while we cater to first responders and essential workers," Powell said. “To be able to give back in any way, you have to be number one.”
What: Eat Phx clean
Where: 13901 N. 73rd St., Suite 209, Scottsdale
Staff: 12
Interesting stats: According to Business Research Company, the global prepared food delivery market is expected to grow to $19.64 billion by 2026.
Details: 602-284-2091, eatcleanphx.com
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