Courtney: Beyond the Cake

What started as a way to catalog her family’s recipes while she worked on her master’s degree in broadcast television, turned into an online destination visited by millions of people a month. Kelly Senyei is a professionally trained chef, TV and podcast host, cookbook author and entrepreneur behind Just a Taste. Her love of food and gathering in the kitchen started long before she went to culinary school with the influence of her grandmother and mom. With that love of food instilled in her from a long age, by the time Kelly was telling stories as a journalist, she knew she wanted the stories to be about food.

Thirteen years after starting her blog, Kelly continues to share stories of over a 1,000 recipes, including over a 100 in her new cookbook, The Secret Ingredient.

Today, we’re talking all things food, why a secret ingredient makes a meal magical and how to involve your kids in the kitchen, without too much chaos.

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From creating makeup colors in his apartment kitchen to running one of the biggest makeup brands in the world, Too Faced Co-Founder Jerrod Blandino’s vision for changing the beauty industry has never changed. He set out to disrupt the norm of formulaic colors and styles and introduce fun and excitement to the beauty industry, all while focusing on the mission to make this world a better place through how we feel about ourselves and in turn, how we interact with the world around us.

Jerrod is passionate about helping women find the joy in beauty and being the best version of themselves. He’s spent over two decades pushing past the no’s and turning them into yes’s to create a brand that has helped redefine beauty.

And now, he’s getting back in the kitchen, but instead of mixing up eye shadow colors, he’s mixing up all things sweet and savory in his new weekly Instagram show, Bakeup with Jerrod.

Today on Courtney, Beyond the Cake, Jerrod and I are chatting all things beauty and baking… two of my favorite topics! I’m excited for you to get to know Jerrod and feel of his light and goodness. I have no doubt today’s episode will leave you with an extra pep in your step.

And as always, thanks for being so understanding when there’s a little audio glitch here and there. I so wish I could do all of these interviews in person, but so many are done on zoom and as amazing as technology is… it sometimes isn’t amazing.

You guys are the best. Hope you enjoy today’s episode.

Sponsor:

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After graduating with a degree in Communications, Shea McGee realized her heart wasn’t in media - it was in design. She made a huge leap and switched careers, with her own home remodel as her first design portfolio project. As she documented the results and started taking on clients in the Southern California area, Shea’s aesthetic started to catch attention and she became one of the first design influencers on Instagram. A few years into design, Shea finally convinced her husband Syd to join her and Studio McGee was officially launched. Since then, the firm’s design and fan base grew, paving the way for the launch of their own brand of products, McGee & Co, as well as a multi-year partnership with Target for Threshold, a book “Make Life Beautiful,” and most recently, a Netflix series, “Dream Home Makeover.”
Shea is also the mother of two girls, with one on the way and in today’s episode, shares with us how she works to manage her business and family, why asking for help is okay, what’s next for Studio McGee, and how we can make life beautiful.

Sponsor:

Go to magicspoon.com/Beyondcake to grab a variety pack and try it today, and use the promo code BEYONDCAKE at checkout to save five dollars off your order

What started out as a way to share some of her favorite recipes with friends and family, quickly turned into a saving grace for Carrian Cheney and her family. It wasn’t long after she launched her blog, Oh Sweet Basil, nearly 13 years ago, that her husband Cade was out of work and Carrian was facing one of the biggest physical, mental and spiritual challenges of her life during her second pregnancy. She spent months in the hospital - often alone, scared, and in pain, but she knew she was meant to have that child, even if it meant risking her own life. During that time, and after, Carrian’s blog not only became a source of income for their family, it became a place of community and connection.

In today’s episode of “Courtney, Beyond the Cake,” Carrian opens up about the many miracles she experienced during two pregnancies that took great sacrifice from not only her, but also her family, as well as how sharing these experiences, along with a love of gathering families in the kitchen, has impacted thousands.

She grew up on the basketball court, following her dad’s career as a college men’s basketball coach. She knew the game like the back of her hand. Still does. Learning from her dad as they watched his players, went on recruiting trips and just spent time together at the dinner table, were some of Lee Anne Pope’s fondest memories with her dad, Lynn Archibald.

It was years of moving from state to state, years of wins, and years of losses that taught Lee Anne and her family what it really means to be part of a team, on and off the court. What she didn’t know in her youth, however, was that her experiences as the coach’s daughter would be preparing her for a future as a coach’s wife.

But it was certainly not planned or expected. Lee Anne actually graduated with a Broadcast Journalism degree from Brigham Young University and landed a job at ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut right out of college. The job of her dreams, or so she thought.

It wasn’t long after she started at ESPN that a friend encouraged her to move down to Manhattan and take a job with her as David Letterman’s assistant - a job that would change her life forever and actually help get her back on the basketball court.

Lee Anne Pope is the wife of BYU Men’s Basketball Head Coach, Mark Pope, she’s a mother of four girls, and she’s helping to build the best locker room in America! (I’m only a little biased - wink wink).

Today, Lee Anne shares with us the lessons she learned from her parents during the ups and downs of her dad’s career, as well as how her childhood experience shaped her and prepared her for her career, for marriage and for motherhood.

If you head over to Perk Energy on Instagram and other social platforms, Rena Doman is the bright-eyed, energetic, friendly face you’ll likely see in the company’s Instagram stories, posts and reels. She’s one of the three co-founders of the company best known for their warm, “hug-in-a-mug,” energy pick-me-up. In just five short years, Rena has helped grow the Perk brand and the loyal Perk community.

But what many people and loyal Perk followers don’t know about Rena is the journey she’s been on that has landed her alongside her husband and co-founder, Gary Brown.

In today’s episode of “Courtney, Beyond the Cake,” Rena dives deep into her story of love and loss, and how choosing to see the light in the midst of pain and darkness has helped her find happiness and love - again.

Rena is a dear friend and someone I look up to so much. I’m so grateful for her honesty and insight today. By the end of the episode, I found myself wanting to look at life through her eyes. She sees so much beauty in the day-to-day and I’m so thankful for the reminder in today’s conversation to slow down, to find gratitude, and to look for the many opportunities we really do have to choose light and love.

Links:
perkenergy.com

What started out as a blog to share her New York newlywed adventures with family and friends, has since turned into a journey shared with millions of readers all over the world. For nearly 14 years, Naomi Davis has celebrated motherhood, family, travel, good food and life’s simple joys on her blog, Love Taza. Now, as the mother of 5 and after a huge move across the country, Naomi opens up even more about marriage, motherhood, friendship and family in her new book, “A Coat of Yellow Paint: Moving Through the Noise to Love the Life You Live,” showing readers how to ignore the noise distracting you from living with purpose, to seek out the silver lining, and focus on building a life you love.

I’ve been a huge fan of Naomi for years now and I’m so thrilled to have her on the show today. She’s opening up about life as a Juilliard dancer, what caused her to change her relationship with her body, how her family blog turned into a business, lessons of motherhood and family, and some valuable life lessons that have taught her how to slow down and focus on what matters most.

Links:

LoveTaza.com

A Coat of Yellow Paint: https://www.amazon.com/Coat-Yellow-Paint-Moving-Through/dp/0785238689/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=coat+of+yellow+paint&qid=1617150341&sr=8-1

If you’re like me and listen to the podcast, How I Built This, you know many successful entrepreneurs start a business because they need to solve a problem they've encountered. It’s no different for today’s guest, Vanessa Quigley. As her youngest child was getting older, Vanessa realized she was struggling to keep up memory books, something she loved but found little time for. So, while her husband, Nate Quigley, was working on a start up of another nature, Vanessa went to him with a new idea - “Nate, I need you to turn my Instagram into a scrapbook.”

The next day, Nate shifted his focus and the two of them founded Chatbooks, an app that enables people to create subscription based automated photo books.

Today on Courtney, Beyond the Cake, Vanessa takes us through the journey of entrepreneurship, as well as motherhood and what it’s been like managing a team at work and a team at home.

Vanessa Quigley is the mother of seven children. She holds a degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Brigham Young University and worked as a professional singer and actress before becoming an entrepreneur. She was named Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017, authored Real Moms, Real Hacks, and hosts The MomForce Podcast.

You might know her as the fitness and transformation expert from ABC’s Extreme Weight Loss, but Heidi Powell is so much more than that. Heidi is a mother of four, an entrepreneur, a published author and an incredibly strong woman who believes in working up a sweat, working hard every day and finding joy in the journey.

In today’s episode of Courtney, Beyond the Cake, Heidi opens up about years of battling eating disorders, what it was like working on a hit network primetime show, starting a company, co-parenting, divorce, dating and motherhood. We’re talking about it all!

https://heidipowell.net
@realheidipowell