In the Sakara Spotlight series, we’re turning the tables on some of the amazing and accomplished souls that have chosen the Sakara Life program to enrich and fulfill their lives. Without further adieu, meet the Sakaralites!
Hey guys!
My name is Michelle Muller. I was born and raised in the great state of Texas, but I’ve been in NYC for 13 years now. I guess that makes me a real deal New Yorker! When I was growing up, my curiosity always led me to the kitchen. I spent a lot of weekends at my grandparents’ house, so my grandma and I always ended up baking in the kitchen. My fondest childhood memories are with her in a kitchen covered in flour, butter and sugar.
Fast forward to New York. When I moved to the city, my love of food continued and I started to explore the Union Square farmers market. It’s one of the coolest things we have going on here in NYC – farmers from New Jersey and the Hudson Valley drive into the city to sell their goods direct to New Yorkers. They have the freshest veggies, fruits, confections, cheeses, breads and meats there. The cool thing is you can have a direct conversation with the farmer. I started to get really into the idea of knowing where my food was coming from, how it was grown or raised and what was added (or more importantly NOT added) to the food as it grew. It was quite the shift for this Southern-comfort-food-lovin girl! Raw veggies and fresh, crisp salads became my jam.
A few years later, I became a mom to my first of three sons. When it came time to introduce solids to him, I dove in head first with making everything from scratch. After all, the options on store shelves were highly processed, had almost no flavor and could last up to 2 years. How crazy is that?! Why would I feed my most prized possession food that’s older than he is? No way! Long story short, making your own baby food is crazy time consuming – shopping, chopping, pureeing, researching the right nutritional balance all take time… something you don’t have much of as a new mom. I ended up launching a fresh, additive and preservative free baby food meal delivery service called Little Spoon with my partners this past year. It has been a total whirlwind but we now deliver across the US and are helping parents everywhere. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job!
As I mentioned, I am a proud mama to three insanely awesome boys. Their names are Pearce, Rylan and Brandt and they are 10, 8 and 6 years old. They are far and away my best accomplishment. The four of us live together on the Upper East Side and adore our neighborhood.
I’m super jazzed to have you tag along with me for a day in the life!
Cheers!
Michelle
5:45 AM
My alarm goes off. I swipe through my phone to make sure there’s nothing going on that’s urgent with my customer care team (I see every single message that comes in from our customers by alerts). Once that’s squared away, I hop out of bed and throw on workout clothes, my running shoes and headphones to run. I try to hit the Central Park loop or run the reservoir but always make somewhere between 4 – 7 miles. Secret: I have a weird obsession with teen pop music and have to listen to it when I run. My jam of the moment is My My My! By Troye Sivan. After my run, I swing back home and jump in the shower.
7:00 AM
I put water on to boil for my Sakara Detox Tea (so obsessed with starting my day with tea) and then begin the wake up process for my boys. I usually throw on something like WHAM! or Madonna on Google Home to wake the boys up. They then retaliate by overriding my song for the Star Wars theme song. The next hour is filled with making breakfast, packing lunches and getting the apartment straightened up before we walk out the door together.
8:00 AM
My boys’ school is about 6 blocks away from our apartment, so I walk them over. On our walk, we do our daily check in. We go around the four of us and share one thing we are grateful for, one thing that is a brag or a breakthrough and one goal or intention. I find it is a great way to help my boys focus on what they have and set an intention for their day. We never miss a check in, even when we travel!
9:00 AM
I meet another boss mom for a morning tea – Kyle Godfrey-Ryan of Tune Studio. If you haven’t tried tuning yet, you absolutely must. Her company is awesome for busy New Yorkers who need more balance on a cellular level.
10:30 AM
I roll into the Little Spoon office and start to clear emails, then sit down with my partner Lisa Barnett (who is also our CMO) to jam out on strategy.
12:00 PM
Time to eat! I practice intermittent fasting Monday to Friday so I don’t eat from 8:00 PM to noon the next day. I absolutely LOVE my Sakara lunch – not only is lunch such an amazing meal because I’m breaking my fast, but Sakara takes it to a whole new level. Today’s lunch is the Pear Blossom Salad. I just adore Sakara salads – they have the most fresh ingredients with vibrant colors and leave me feeling super satisfied!
12:30 PM
My customer care team and I have our weekly huddle. I love doing as many team calls as possible on video chat. Since most of my team are moms working remotely across the US, it’s important to me to feel connected.
2:30 PM
I usually get a little sweet tooth in the afternoon, so I nosh on the Paradise Parfait (normally served as breakfast) and a couple of the beauty chocolates. So delish!
5:00 PM
After wrapping up loose ends at work, I head out to meet my boyfriend Jason for happy hour. I’m all about balance – I workout, I eat clean, meditate and I also enjoy a grown up drink from time to time. My boyfriend is my cornerstone in life and our time together is super important to me.
6:15 PM
I’m always home to eat dinner with my boys – sitting around the dinner table together is a routine I find super important. I also love making homemade meals from scratch for my boys. Tonight it’s roast tomato and feta soup with charred broccoli on the side. My dinner is the Baked Veggie and Black Cumin Moussaka. What a delight! So flavorful, warm and comforting. I love the feeling of satisfaction after eating… especially when I know how good it is for my body! After dinner, we tackle homework, read together and catch up on the day.
8:30 PM
Bedtime for my boys is always a bit of a challenge. Have you ever met kids who actually want to go to bed? Everyone gets into their beds around 8:30PM and usually fall asleep by 9:00PM. Once they're in bed, I practice a light yoga routine to help me slow down. After yoga, I take a salt bath with a few drops of lavender oil and wind down even further. The one thing I can’t live without is my Vintner’s Daughter bio oil. I swear by how it makes my skin radiate.
10:30 PM
I’m always in bed by 10:00PM with the intention of sleeping by 10:30PM to make sure I can get a solid 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Sweet dreams!
P.S. We're giving all Sakaralites a code to use for their little ones at Little Spoon, so you both can be nourished in the most healing way possible. Enter "SAKARA15" at checkout to receive 15% on your first order (expires 8/30/2018).