Episode 686: Thriving After 50 – How To Build a Food Business with Multiple Streams of Income With Christine Van Bloem

EBT686 – Christine Van Bloem

Intro 00:00

Food bloggers. Hi, how are you today? Thank you so much for tuning in to the Eat Blog Talk podcast. This is the place for food bloggers to get information and inspiration to accelerate your blog’s growth, and ultimately help you to achieve your freedom. Whether that’s financial, personal, or professional. I’m Megan Porta. I have been a food blogger for 13 years, so I understand how isolating food blogging can be. I’m on a mission to motivate, inspire, and most importantly, let each and every food blogger, including you, know that you are heard and supported. 

[00:00:37] Megan Porta  

I know that diversifying your business is really important right now and it’s something that we’re all talking about and thinking about. It’s on all of our radars at the moment. You will be so inspired by this interview with Christine Van Bloom. She is the blogger at Empty Nest Kitchen and she has just done so much to diversify her amazing food business that I know you’re gonna be inspired by. She teaches cooking classes in many forms and in many places and she’s so filled up with passion about it.

[00:01:13]   

 She also has a successful membership and meal plan service that she provides to her people and she has an awesome niche and I really want you to listen through to the end because she tells a very heartfelt story about some hardships that she and her husband have gone through in the past handful of years, including a broken ankle, a heart attack, and more things that just brought her to a place where she is inspired and filled with passion and joy with what she does.

[00:01:45]   

 Hardship can turn into awesomeness and her story is definitely proof of that. You are going to be so inspired and encouraged by Christine’s words in this episode. It is amazing. I want her to be my new best friend. This is episode number 686. I hope you absolutely love it. 

[00:02:08] Sponsor

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[00:02:50]

Christine Van Bloom is the owner and head cook in the Empty Nest Kitchen, where she teaches empty nesters how to cook for one or two while finding the fun in cooking with a healthyish vibe. She is also the creator of Menopause Meal Plans, providing tasty weekly menus utilizing the Mediterranean diet for perimenopausal, menopausal, and postmenopausal women. Christine completed her culinary medicine medical provider certification and also hosts popular monthly online classes through AARP and the Empty Nest Kitchen podcast. Christine, hello. Welcome. How are you today?

[00:03:26]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Hello. Thank you so much for having me.

[00:03:29]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, it’s so good to see such a smiley face today. I love that. To start my day, I’m so excited for our chat. We’re going to talk about some really awesome stuff today. You are bringing a lot of value to the table and just talking about diversifying our food businesses and how important that is and different ways to do it.

[00:03:46]   

 But we need to hear your fun fact first. Of course, Christine.

[00:03:51]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Okay. My fun fact is, a thousand years ago, I was a movie extra in the movie the 80s cult hit Mannequin.

[00:04:02]  Megan Porta 

 I loved that movie.

[00:04:04]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I know. And I think you can see me for, like, a hundredth of a second, maybe, but it was an absolutely dreadful experience. But it was, you know, it’s one of those things you can look back on and go, oh, my gosh, I can’t believe I did that. But it was. It was so silly.

[00:04:23]   

 And every time I see the movie. Come on. I record it so I can look and see if I can find myself again.

[00:04:29]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, my God. Okay. Why was it dreadful?

[00:04:31]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Oh, it was, you know, 80s, man. It was the 80s.

[00:04:35]  Megan Porta 

 It was.

[00:04:36]  Christine Van Bloem 

 We were there for, like, 12 hours or something. It was a March day. It was cold. It was rainy. We were in an unfinished mall. So picture, like, all of the, you know, concrete and steel, and it was freezing, and they were. They were filming it. The bad department store was the department store that my best friend’s dad was the store manager of, and I worked there when I wasn’t at college.

[00:05:07]   

 And it was. That’s where it was. And it was just. I mean, being an extra is the least glamorous thing in the world, right? I think I made $35. But back in, like, 1987, that was a lot of money. And it was. I mean, it was just. I’m so glad we did it, but it was crazy.

[00:05:27]  Megan Porta 

 That is so awesome, that movie. Oh, my gosh, I loved it. I think I watched that movie so many times as an 80s child.

[00:05:36]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I know.

[00:05:37]  Megan Porta 

 It was so good. Now I want to go watch it. Again, I wonder if it aged well. It did not. Yeah, no 80s movie really aged very well. But I’ll keep an eye out for you. What minute are you at, Christine?

[00:05:48]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Oh, my gosh. I don’t even know.

[00:05:51]  Megan Porta 

 Just look.

[00:05:52]  Christine Van Bloem 

 The bad department store scenes and, like, that’s where I worked every summer, every Christmas, every spring break, every everything. And that is where I worked.

[00:06:03]  Megan Porta 

 That’s funny. Okay, I’m going to keep my eyes peeled. I love it. Never had that fun fact before. Thank you for bringing that to the table.

[00:06:11]  Christine Van Bloem 

 You’re welcome.

[00:06:13]  Megan Porta 

 All right, let’s get to the meat of our chat. So I would love to hear a little bit about your site, Empty Nest Kitchen. Tell us all about that, and I think that will frame the rest of our chat really well.

[00:06:25]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Oh, okay. So I run the Empty Nest Kitchen, which is a site devoted to finding the fun in the kitchen again, when you’re learning, relearning how to cook for one and two. And I, of course, came up with it as my own kids flew the coop, right. So I’ve realized that everything is geared toward, I don’t know, I guess that middle stage when your kids are elementary, middle, high school, but once you’re on your own, everybody tends to ignore you.

[00:07:00]   

 And, you know that whole trope about how women become invisible and all of that? We. I mean, really. Oh, my gosh. And I was like, heck, no, I’m not doing that. So I started refiguring out how to cook for, you know, one and two people because it’s not as easy as cutting a recipe in half, and you don’t really want to spend.

[00:07:24]   

 I mean, I’m a professional cook. I’ve been a Pro for nearly 30 years now. It’s my whole business. I love to cook, and even I was like, I’m so tired of it. So I just wanted to make it fun again, and I wanted to create connection. And I think connection in the kitchen is such a big thing, because emotionally, I know I get.

[00:07:45]   

 I get all tied up in emotions, too, but emotionally, we’re in such a different place once your kids have grown, you know, and it’s so important to maintain and create and develop connections so that you are continuing to lead a really fulfilling life. I mean, I. My parents, bless their hearts, they’re both gone now, but it was a lot of sitting around and watching TV and that kind of stuff, and. And I’m not going out like that.

[00:08:16]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. Yeah. Wow. You almost made me tear up. That’s. That it’s something that you don’t think about too. As you’re a younger woman, you think that someday you might get there. But like, I’m never. It’s never really going to happen to me. But then it comes and then you have to go through this phase, right?

[00:08:37]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Yeah. And you don’t think, you just don’t think about it until. I mean, it’s really hard to think about any stage until you’re in it. Sure. When you’re, when you’re getting ready to have kids, you can picture that and you can think about it. But I have to say, I think there’s a hard line for once they go.

[00:08:58]   

 And I want to make this time more fun, more interesting, more exciting for the people around me.

[00:09:06]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, I feel that same way. Our boys are not out of the house, but they’re getting close and yeah, I think about that too. I love my parents, but I don’t. I don’t want to carry on the way that they.

[00:09:19]  Christine Van Bloem 

 It’s really different now, right? It’s really different. And health becomes part of it. Right. Because I mean, my mom was disabled and so was my dad. So they’re become limitations on what you can do. But I want to seize that. That time right. Before that, hopefully avoid that. But yeah, it’s. It’s a big focus for me.

[00:09:43]  Megan Porta 

 Okay, wonderful. So that was kind of. That’s what you focus on in your business, right? It. Cooking for empty nesters and just helping people navigate. Helping women mainly. Correct. Navigate this time in their lives. Yeah, yeah. This is really important. So talk about the recipes a little bit that you focus on and how. Yeah, just like what are your main top recipes, would you say?

[00:10:14]  Christine Van Bloem 

 So last summer. I’m always looking to learn things. Right. I’m. I’m always trying to suck in as much knowledge as I can. And there’s a new program that was being offered here where I live locally and it’s tied through George Washington University. And it is for food professionals to become. What’s our official title?

[00:10:38]   

 Certified Culinary Medicine Providers. Providers. Professionals. Providers sounds very medicine y. And I always say I am not a doctor and I do not Play 1 on TV, but the whole vibe of the course was for professional cooks and professional chefs to learn about special diets and to learn about, you know, cooking for health and that sort of thing.

[00:11:04]   

 But I was trained on butter and cream, baby, so it’s a. It’s a happy medium for me. But it is what made me kind of really delve into the Mediterranean diet. So I’m doing. I’m doing smaller recipes. I’m really focused more on the teaching sort of deal. That is really where my love is.

[00:11:28]   

 And I had some health challenges myself that kind of pointed me in this direction.

[00:11:35]  Megan Porta 

 Okay, amazing. So Mediterranean diet, focus.

[00:11:38]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Yep.

[00:11:39]  Megan Porta 

 I’ve heard so many good things about the Mediterranean diet for our bodies. It’s just like low inflammation. Such a good diet, especially as we’re aging, right?

[00:11:48]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Yes. It is the only. Okay. It is the only diet that’s not like a wackadoodle diet, Right?

[00:11:54]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah.

[00:11:55]  Christine Van Bloem 

 That shows consistent long term results. No diet. And I’m going to use the dreaded air quotes. Right. The diet. Because I am not about losing weight at all. I am really about trying to fuel the tank the right way now as much as I can.

[00:12:13]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. I absolutely love your niche, who you’re focused on, so important. And the food that you’re focused on as well. So this is so cool. Do you feel good about your niche? Do you love it?

[00:12:25]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I do. I do love it. I do. It’s, you know, it’s. First of all, I meet the coolest people.

[00:12:32]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah.

[00:12:33]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I get to work with the coolest people because women my age have been through stuff. Right. We’ve all accomplished things, gone through things. Lots of us no longer have. Our parents, some of us are going through that caregiving stage. I just love it. I love sucking in everything I can from them, you know?

[00:12:54]   

 So it’s a wonderful niche with really wonderful people.

[00:12:58]  Megan Porta 

 Well, your passion comes through, and that’s so important right now. Something else that is very important is something that you are doing really well, which is diversifying your brand. Talk about the importance of doing that now.

[00:13:15]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Well, you know, I owned my own cooking school for 15 years.

[00:13:20]  Megan Porta 

 Wow.

[00:13:21]  Christine Van Bloem 

 And it was when I went to culinary school 30 years ago. Holy bananas. When I went to culinary school, my very first class, I was in New York City. And my very first class, I came home and said to my husband, I want to teach. It’s what I want to do. I absolutely want to teach.

[00:13:40]   

 And back then, you had to go work in a restaurant to do it. And I was newly married and I really loved my husband. Still do. And I knew that him as a teacher and me working in a restaurant was not going to be good for our marriage. Right. So I knew, like, teaching was where it would be, but you couldn’t do it back then in a professional capacity.

[00:14:07]   

 So I waited a couple of years and then I started doing the teaching and I fell in love with it, opened my own place, but then with COVID had to close it. So I had to really look at what were the other options available to me? Right. And I just started. The diversification just naturally came about.

[00:14:31]   

 So I teach classes at the local community college, which I’m in love with. It’s such an incredible program. I teach classes. I have a monthly class that I teach for AARP. I just had one this weekend. We had over 1100 people register for the class. Yeah, yeah. It’s so good. I have a meal plan membership that I offer called Menopause Meal Plans and it’s focused on recipes from the Mediterranean diet that feed one and two people.

[00:15:04]   

 It’s fantastic. Incredible members. I do some freelance writing here and there. I will still on occasion, if they’re awesome, I’ll go and do an in person class in someone’s home. And then I’ll also teach online classes to folks that are interested in my niche. And I even have an online course that I’m launching right when this comes out. So I’m so excited. Lots of, lots of places doing the same sort of thing but in lots.

[00:15:35]  Megan Porta 

 Of different locations and serving different people and different types of people too, a little bit. So I love your AARP thing. How did you get into that? That’s interesting.

[00:15:46]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Isn’t that so funny? And I will tell you, AARP is doing this huge push right now on the cooking classes. And they have cooking classes all over the country that are all virtual and you don’t even have to be a member and you don’t even have to be over 50 to take them.

[00:16:04]   

 And different classes do different things. With 1100 people registered for a class, I, I’m not going to be able to give as much individual attention for one. Right. But with the other classes they’ll have, they’ll have. It’ll be like on a Tuesday at noon or something. Mine are always the first Saturday of the month with the exception of January and July.

[00:16:27]   

 And then it’s. It just came about because the location of my cooking school was beside an insurance agency and the fellow that owned the agency, his wife works for AARP, Maryland. She’s pretty high up there. And they were looking for something. And then when the pandemic hit, they were really, you know, all of us kind of turtled down into our locations into where we were.

[00:16:53]   

 But for seniors or for people that were living alone, it was really hard. So they focused on bringing online classes and that’s just how it came. I mean, I think this is my fourth or fifth year doing it for them and it’s. They’re just getting more and more popular. But they’re so much fun.

[00:17:13]   

 And I just have to shout out my people at aarp, Maryland, because they are so incredible to work with. They’re just, they’re fantastic. It’s a, it’s a great thing. It’s something I really get a kick out of doing.

[00:17:26]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, that’s so great. And I love that you found that just by literally being next door. It was literally the wife of the owner. Like, what?

[00:17:34]  Christine Van Bloem 

 That’s.

[00:17:35]  Megan Porta 

 That’s so crazy. So diversifying, I think right now is just so important, and you are doing such a fabulous job of finding things within your niche that add value to people’s lives. And that is what we need to be doing. There’s a lot of commotion going on in the food blogging space, the food creator space, just with Google updates and all of that.

[00:17:57]   

 So this is such a good way to just future proof your business, don’t you think?

[00:18:02]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Yeah, absolutely. And I’m, you know, I am remarkably stunted on all of the analytics and the, the Googles. Right. The Google that feels so stereotypical for my age, but it’s just, I’m not counting on the blog as much as a revenue generator as the other things.

[00:18:24]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah.

[00:18:25]  Christine Van Bloem 

 So that’s. So I’m looking at it from a little different angle and I think that’s.

[00:18:29]  Megan Porta 

 Good because I know a lot of people who are relying on the blog solely and they’re kind of freaking out right now. So I, I just love this idea of looking a little bit like broadening your lens a little bit and seeing what else you can do to serve people outside of literally Google and ads.

[00:18:48]   

 So thank you for bringing all of this to the table.

[00:18:50]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Sure.

[00:18:51]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. So if somebody like, they’re listening and they’re like, yeah, this sounds good, I just don’t know how to do it. I’m completely relying on ads right now for my blog for income. How do they go about making a plan? Do they look inside their niche? And, you know, I don’t know, how do they pick one thing to monetize, the next thing to focus on?

[00:19:15]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Okay. So I think you have to be really true to who you are. Right. So I think if, first of all, I think you 100% want to look within your own niche and who you are and what you’re doing and what, what’s your special sauce? Right. Like, what is it that makes people come to your website, to your blog?

[00:19:36]   

 What is it that gets people turned on and then try it? I think we, we have that whole, was it perfection is the enemy of action or Something like that. I think we get hung up on that now. And I do love that social media is becoming less polished and more authentic to who you are.

[00:19:59]   

 I’ll tell you what, that’s the one thing I’m really good at because half the time when I’m doing an Instagram story or something like that, I am super authentic. And perhaps I should brush my hair and put a bra on occasionally. But it’s like I just get out there and spit something out and just do it.

[00:20:17]   

 And it’s like, just do it. With all of the platforms that are out there that are reasonably priced for people to try things, I use a platform called Moments that is used. It’s great for classes, like for putting all the information out. And I will put out the link. It’ll all go through that.

[00:20:37]   

 I think it uses stripe. I’m not 100%, but when I throw a class out that I want to teach, I can do it all through Moments, and it works really well. It’s great for sending an email out, you know, an hour before class, hey, class is starting. Just do it. Just stop being afraid.

[00:20:59]   

 And I will say, when you’re closing in on 60, the fear part starts to melt away a little bit and just go for it. If you like teaching. And I think a lot of times recipe bloggers especially are built in teachers, right? Because that’s what writing a recipe is. Writing a really good recipe is really teaching someone how to do it.

[00:21:23]   

 So I love teaching. I mean, teaching is my thing and it’s. It’s just such a great way to take that first step. So if you want to offer a meal plan, you should be doing some kind of meal plan for yourself, maybe, and figuring out that niche. Do I think that’s a little.

[00:21:44]   

 I think it’s becoming a little oversaturated, so you have to really hone in on where you are. But if you’re doing a mom food blog, how awesome would that be? How great would that be to do three meals a week that you’re going to be able to pack for your lunch when you go to work the next day and give them the shopping list and give them the recipes and do a couple of lives and little videos?

[00:22:11]   

 I think we just have to stop being so afraid and we have to just go for it a little bit.

[00:22:18]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, that’s great advice. There is a lot of fear, I think, just in putting ourselves out there, putting our faces behind in front of the camera. And yeah, once that melts away, like you said, everything feels easier. It’s just like, who cares? This is me.

[00:22:35]  Christine Van Bloem 

 That’s it.

[00:22:36]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. I want to ask you a little bit more about your membership in meal plan, because I think. I think what you were saying was that the meal plan situation is a little bit oversaturated. Right. Like, people are doing that a lot. So how do. How do we create something like that that’s a little bit different?

[00:22:51]   

 And how have you done that?

[00:22:53]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Niche, niche, niche, baby. So when I did my culinary medicine thing last summer, they told us we had to do a capstone. And I graduated from college in 1989. Thank you very much. I never had to do a capstone. I was like, I have to do what? And of course, you also had to do a PowerPoint, which I’ve never worked with PowerPoint.

[00:23:15]   

 It was, you know, they said, you can do anything you like. And some people, you know, diabetes hit close to home and all this other stuff. Close to home. And I had looked at all of the materials that we had been given, all of the stuff we’ve been working on. Not one time, not once was menopause listed.

[00:23:34]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, wow.

[00:23:35]  Christine Van Bloem 

 And I was perhaps a bit menopausal in my reaction, and I was hot about, because I’m like, what the heck do you mean by 20, 31.2 billion people in the world will be post menopausal. Right. That’s a lot of darn people. Of course, now I really feel like maybe it’s just if you say, look for a yellow car, now all of a sudden, you’ll see yellow cars everywhere.

[00:24:02]   

 It could be that, but nobody was talking about menopause last summer, and then in the fall, it started coming out. So the Mediterranean diet really helps with managing symptoms of menopause. Listen, I have said, and I will continue to say, and I even said earlier, I am not a doctor. I cannot talk about that.

[00:24:24]   

 But I can talk about how to make the food delicious. That’s going to help you feel better and help you manage your symptoms. So I did my whole capstone on that, and it really just opened my eyes to a whole new thing. And I’ll tell you what, by the time I was done with the course, I already had things in motion to launch in less than a month.

[00:24:48]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, wow.

[00:24:49]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Because I just. Listen, we can do all the. We can do all the analysis, we can do all that stuff, but let’s be realistic here. A lot of this stuff that we’re doing doesn’t take a huge investment, right?

[00:25:01]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah.

[00:25:01]  Christine Van Bloem 

 We have the ability to be incredibly quick on our feet, and it’s the best part, right? Isn’t that so cool? And I think you have to really think about your niche and where you are and seize the moment and then be prepared to adapt and change if you need to.

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[00:25:48]   

 Such great advice. And for your membership, how do you have that set up? So is it like, do you do monthly calls? Do you have ongoing support? What do you provide?

[00:25:56]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Yeah, so I’m getting ready right now I have a Facebook group, but I just hate Facebook. I mean.

[00:26:02]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, I miss you.

[00:26:04]  Christine Van Bloem 

 So I’m getting ready to switch over to Heartbeat, which is something that’s been recommended by a couple of people. I was in a group that used Heartbeat and it was a great group and it seemed very manageable. So I’m getting ready to switch over to that. But I send out a weekly meal plan that has three nights of meals because let me tell you, nobody wants seven nights of meals.

[00:26:27]   

 Nobody wants to get to meals. You think they do, but it’s that whole, it’s that whole vibe of you’re going to give them too much, you’re going to overwhelm them.

[00:26:37]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah.

[00:26:38]  Christine Van Bloem 

 And with my membership, once you join, you have access to all the past meal plans. So if you’re saying, yeah, I, if you’re saying, yeah, I want six nights of meals, you can pull, you can pull different plans and go from them. So I will send out the links, I will post it in the Facebook group, soon to be Heartbeat.

[00:26:57]   

 And then once a month I do a live online cooking class just for members.

[00:27:03]  Megan Porta 

 Okay.

[00:27:04]  Christine Van Bloem 

 And that’s, I think that’s where like my value add comes in. And then I’m starting to do like little lives as I go through and I’ll do a Q&A or people can ask questions in the group whenever they want. They don’t do a ton of that. I’ve had some members that are starting to post pictures of food they make and that just makes my heart swell three times.

[00:27:28]   

 You know, I love that. But that is pretty much how it’s working right now. And then I’m launching the online class and that’s going to be incorporating the Mediterranean diet six week course. Incorporating the Mediterranean diet for when you’re cooking for one and two. And I’m breaking it down into all the different components each week.

[00:27:48]   

 And that’ll have a live class. And all of my members, I’m gonna offer it to them as a beta test if they want to be beta testers.

[00:27:57]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, that’s great.

[00:27:58]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Yeah. So that I can get the feedback. Because I just want everything to be really great for them. Right. I want it to be serving them. But I’m sure you’ve heard of Stu McLaren. I started his course and never finished it because that’s who I am. But I remember one of the things that he says at the beginning is you don’t want to overwhelm them.

[00:28:20]   

 Like we have this thing where we want to just give and give and give. And I know all of our knowledge. Right. And you can’t because it just, it, it overburdens people.

[00:28:32]  Megan Porta 

 Less is more.

[00:28:34]  Christine Van Bloem 

 And it’s weird. I hate doing that. But less is more.

[00:28:38]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, I know. That’s something I have to remind myself of. I get caught up in the. If I give them more, it’s more valuable. Give, give, give, give, provide more, more. But you have to sometimes take away to be more valuable.

[00:28:51]  Christine Van Bloem 

 You really do. And I do think the niching down helps you a lot with that.

[00:28:56]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, absolutely. Okay. I love your membership idea. And then do you. So do you go in and chat with people daily? How often do you keep in touch with your.

[00:29:06]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I check it every day, maybe every two and just see what’s going on. But I’m trying not to overwhelm. You know, it’s that fine line. Right. Because I do email them every week.

[00:29:18]  Megan Porta 

 Okay.

[00:29:19]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I do send an email every week to let them know your plan is live. I posted on Thursdays for the following week. I find that works pretty well. People I’ve gotten now. So people will email me directly, which, truthfully I love. My membership isn’t huge, so it’s manageable at this point. I hope for it to get wildly unmanageable, but I do, I love that.I love when they send me an email and I can answer their question and I don’t see not being able to do that.

[00:29:50]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. And you also do in person classes, you mentioned within the community. Talk about those a little bit.

[00:29:56]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Yeah. So I ended up going over to the local community college. I’m actually going to teach not for professionals, but for laypeople. The course that I took last summer, they’re offering that again. They do that virtually as well. But I’m going to teach one like a Four week class on culinary medicine at the local community college. And I do love getting into the kitchen. It’s, I mean, it’s a gorgeous facility and it’s so well run. It’s really fun. And you get so much psychic reward, I think, from being in front of people.

[00:30:34]  Megan Porta 

 So true.

[00:30:35]  Christine Van Bloem 

 You do. And you can tell I’m an enthusiastic person. I lead an enthusiastic life. So teaching in person is the exact same thing. And I really get a charge out of it.

[00:30:45]  Megan Porta 

 There is nothing like meeting people in person and interacting in person. Nothing. You can be on a million zoom calls and it doesn’t ever live up to one in person meeting.

[00:30:57]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Well, I mean, that’s just our personalities, right? Because so many people are like, oh my gosh, that would be the worst thing ever.

[00:31:04]  Megan Porta 

 True.

[00:31:04]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Like, to me, getting up and speaking in front of a large group makes me want to vomit. But then I also completely love it. It’s just, I love that reward in return. And when you make people laugh and it’s. I’m with you.

[00:31:20]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, I know. There’s so much value there. Do you have recommendations for people who do want to get out into their communities and maybe do something similar? Where do they find these opportunities?

[00:31:30]  Christine Van Bloem 

 You just gotta look and you gotta, you gotta approach people. You can’t be, you can’t be afraid. I mean, the whole reason I ended up teaching at the community college is because I took the course. And then I saw something on Facebook that said, oh, are you interested in being an adjunct? And I was like, no, not really, but.

[00:31:51]   

 And I reached out to the woman who runs the program and she said, oh, we just have that up all the time. We’re not actually looking for people. And then I think it was the next day she called me and said, oh, would you be interested in being like a substitute teacher for us?

[00:32:07]   

 And I said, yeah, totally. And then I think two or three days later she said, would you be interested in teaching a baking one class if we added it? I’m like, yeah, totally. And I got to teach in the brand new baking kitchen and.

[00:32:23]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, fun.

[00:32:23]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Now I’m gonna taught last semester. I’m teaching this semester. I’m gonna teach two classes next semester. I’m gonna do some over the summer. It’s, I mean, it just. You just have to go for it. You just, gosh, you just have to reach out to people. You have to look and see who’s doing what you want to do.

[00:32:44]   

 Right? So if you want to teach classes, if you want to teach kids classes, okay, reach out to some summer Camps and see if you can come in for a day. Because I’m telling you, that is a market right there. Summer camp money used to make me get through the back end of August and all of September, which was like the quietest time for me, class wise.

[00:33:09]   

 And it would help support me through that because there’s so much money to be made when you’re teaching for kids. And I weathered the recession in 2008, 2009. And I will tell you this, parents will spend money on their children before or they’ll spend it on themselves. So finding a way to do that now, if you can’t stand kids, don’t try to teach kids camp.

[00:33:33]  Megan Porta 

 Don’t go that route. Yeah, don’t go that route.

[00:33:35]  Christine Van Bloem 

 But there’s, you know, if you can make it a really great experience, you will. I mean, I had kids that came from the time they were eight until they graduated high school. So if you build a really good program, it’s a way for you to go. So think about what it is that really floats your boat and then look for those people, see how they’re doing it.

[00:33:59]   

 If you are a member of a church, church kitchens are typically licensed and you have a little leeway there. Don’t approach a church if you’re not a member of the church unless you know for sure that they’re renting out their facility. But could you do something during vacation Bible school? Right. There are so many things.

[00:34:21]   

 You just have to get a little.

[00:34:22]  Megan Porta 

 Creative in your thinking and keeping your eyes open. I hear that that is something that you do. You just keep an eye out for those opportunities and people.

[00:34:31]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I am a hustler, baby. So I am always, like, I am always looking for opportunities.

[00:34:38]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, that’s great. And that’s why you have all of these amazing, fun things in your repertoire. I never use that word. I don’t know where that came from.

[00:34:48]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I love it. I love it. I do have a repertoire. I do indeed.

[00:34:52]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, that’s funny. I don’t know. Okay, let’s see. I wanted to ask you. Oh, about the corporate team building. Yeah, tell me about that. I’m so intrigued by it.

[00:35:02]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Okay, so when I owned the Kitchen studio, we would do corporate team building where it was all in person and a group would come in and we had all sorts of options. Right. Were they looking for just something to do? Were they looking for, you know, a deep, meaningful team building? What, like, what was their goal?

[00:35:24]   

 Did they just need an activity on a Tuesday night when everybody’s in town for a meeting? Wednesday and then they would call us and we would adapt and figure out what was going on. Could we do a mystery basket? Those were always hilarious and expensive. So we could charge really well for those.

[00:35:40]   

 And I would always bring in lots of. Of staff. But now I don’t have a facility anymore. But lots of people are still working from home, and I know that’s in flux. But you have lots of companies that have people spread out all over the place. I have done. I guess we can call it multinational, because I’ve done it where I’ve had people from Canada.

[00:36:03]   

 I’ve had people from. Oh, I can’t remember. It’s not Sri Lanka. Thailand. Thailand. I think in the class, like, they were like 15 hours ahead or something crazy. But it’s a great way to bring people together. They’re doing a shared activity, and it’s more than just getting online and being like, okay, now we take the sushi rice.

[00:36:28]   

 So we’ve done one. I did one where we did a scavenger hunt in their own kitchens. So when something was in the oven, I’m like, okay, first person to show me this. And of course, I have all sorts of cool tools. So I’d pull something out and then everybody would scramble and find it.

[00:36:46]   

 And the host had, like, $25 gift cards to send to them as a reward. Who wore the best apron. Right. And we had this very masculine dude wearing very frilly apron because it’s the only one he could find. And he was kind of like, I’m just going for it. And then he won a prize, and he was so into it.

[00:37:09]   

 I mean, it was fantastic. So it was coming up with things and keeping it budget friendly, which you can do because it’s online. But don’t undervalue yourself. Right? Corporations have money to spend, so it’s really giving them an activity they can talk about. I try to be as full service as I possibly can.

[00:37:30]   

 I let them keep their mics up. I let them keep. You know, I encourage them to put their cameras on. And when you’re doing a corporate team building, having folks put cameras on is really easy because nobody wants to look like the jerk who kept their camera.

[00:37:44]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah.

[00:37:45]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I mean, it’s an hour and a half. Get over yourself. Right? It’s easy. And it’s really fun when the volume is down and you see somebody, like, running across their frame with, like, a bot, you know, it’s hilarious. I’ve done things where it’s like, show me your pet and people pull up and then it’s all I mean, I’m a sucker for anything furry, right?

[00:38:06]   

 So they’ll pull up their dog and they’ll, you know, it’s Munchie the wonder Puggle, and we’re all, ooh, in and on. But there’s, there’s a lot of fun to be had there, and that’s to find those. You know, I have an advantage because I owned a cooking school for so long and people still know me, but I’ll put something out about it and somebody will say, you know, there’s a woman a couple of towns over who just reached out to me and she’s lovely and said, hey, I know you do this. My team is all spread out, so we make it work.

[00:38:36]  Megan Porta 

 So again, keeping your eyes open. Keep your eyes open, ears open. Those sound so cool. And you’re right, corporations do have money to spend. They have budgets. Right? So do. That’s something to lean into if cooking or classes are your thing.

[00:38:50]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Yeah, why not?

[00:38:52]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. Okay. What have we missed? Christine, is there anything that you wanted to touch on any encouragement, insights, or other avenues to explore before we start saying goodbye?

[00:39:06]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Yes. Okay, so one thing. In 2020, when the world was ending in a two month time span from the middle of July to the middle of September, I had broken my ankle playing pickleball. My husband had a stroke. I was forced to close my cooking school. And then I had a heart attack.

[00:39:30]   

 And I had a heart attack known as a widowmaker, which I got really lucky because I had the heart attack in the hospital. And that is why I survived. And I spent probably a year and a half laying on my couch and scrolling social media and feeling horrifically guilty because, like I said, I’m a hustler.

[00:39:55]   

 Like, I love to hustle. I love to hustle. And I couldn’t do anything. I was in such a deep well of depression and angst and losing my cooking school. This can sound awful because I want, you know, my husband is great. Totally great. He’s totally great. My ankle, really good, though. I am not playing pickleball anymore.

[00:40:18]   

 But losing the cooking school was probably the hardest part of it. Even harder than having a heart attack because I just didn’t feel like I was worth going on anymore. And I felt like I didn’t have any value, right? Because everybody, I live in a town. I’m in Frederick, Maryland, and my husband, I joke around and we say, we’re Frederick famous because he’s a teacher and because I owned the school and I was on local cable in the day and, you know, I’ve done lots of stuff.

[00:40:51]   

 And losing the school just devastated me in ways I. I didn’t comprehend for a really long time. And I could have let that go, and I could have just wallowed into it. I mean, I took a job with a local nonprofit for a while, and they were absolutely wonderful people. But it did not take me very long to realize that that’s not where I wanted to be.

[00:41:18]   

 And I really had to figure it out for myself. And I figured it out with a lot of help from some trained professionals, and, you know, with the most incredible supportive family ever. It was so good. And then, you know, my mom had Alzheimer’s, and she was dying very quickly, and it was just a lot of stuff.

[00:41:40]   

 And I know that seems very Debbie Downer, but I tell you this because I went through all of that stuff, and you cannot meet a woman my age or your age who has not gone through stuff. And I just decided I couldn’t let it all defeat me. And it made me really look at what I was doing and what I could do and what I could offer and how I could contribute and how I could avoid that cloak of invisibility that women over 50 or 55 get.

[00:42:16]   

 And younger women will say, oh, that won’t be me. And it’s like, it doesn’t have anything to do with you. The cloak of invisibility is not one you put on yourself. So I just kind of stopped caring about that. And this is going to sound so silly, but last year I went and got second holds pierced in my ears, and I pierced my cartilage, and oh, my gosh, that hurts so much. How much? Like, for. For, like, six months. It hurts.

[00:42:46]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, my.

[00:42:47]  Christine Van Bloem 

 No, forever.

[00:42:47]  Megan Porta 

 It hurts.

[00:42:48]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Hurts forever. I was like, calling my nieces, going, how long will this hurt? No, it’s gonna hurt a while. I’m like, ah. But I just started to go for it more. And I just started, you know, my classes with AARP, because I was still offering those, but they became more fun and more interesting, and I created deeper connections with the people there.

[00:43:10]   

 And the classes I started offering and deciding to go take the culinary medicine certification, it. It’s all like, you have to save yourself as you go through all of your stuff, and you have to be open to the opportunities. And I just. I don’t know. I just think it’s so important to realize that you’ll be going through it all, but you still have the power.

[00:43:35]   

 And if something doesn’t work, okay, adjust. Try it again. I mean, I launched a cookie line, and then I realized I hated baking cookies all the time. You know, I’ve done. I launched lunches, and I hated doing lunches. It just wasn’t where I am. So figure out where you are by throwing a lot of stuff at the wall and seeing what works, and just try not to be afraid.

[00:43:59]  Megan Porta 

 Christine, that was so inspiring. I feel like I could replay that every day for myself for the next couple of years and be just great. That was beautiful.

[00:44:08]  Christine Van Bloem 

Thank you.

[00:44:11]  Megan Porta 

 Seriously, thank you for that and for this interview and for sharing so vulnerably about what you’ve been through as well. I know that’s not easy for everyone to talk about, so we really appreciate that. Yeah. Just a pleasure to talk to you today, and we all appreciate you taking the time for us.

[00:44:29]  Christine Van Bloem 

 Oh, my gosh. Thank you so, so much. I’m such a fan. I’m just so thrilled. So thank you so much. Yay.

[00:44:37]  Megan Porta 

 It was awesome. Well, you just delivered, like, the best words of inspiration on the planet. But do you have a favorite quote that you would want to share with us?

[00:44:45]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I actually do, only part of it, but Emily Dickinson had written, I’m married to an English teacher. Emily Dickinson had written, I dwell in possibility as part of one of her things. And that is kind of my. Like, if I ever get the tattoo, that’s what the tattoo is gonna say. Because I think that that sums. That sums it up for me.

[00:45:10]  Megan Porta 

 That does sum you up. Just from the little time that I’ve known you. That sums you up perfectly. I love it. You should get that, like, straight across your back, right?

[00:45:19]  Christine Van Bloem 

 I want to see it. I want to see it. And I heard they hurt less if you do it, like, right on your forearm. So I go for it.

[00:45:27]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, send me a picture when you get it. Amazing. Such a great chat today. We’re going to put together a show notes page for you, Christine. If you want to go peek at Those, head to eatblogtalk.com/emptynestkitchen. Tell everyone where they can find you and what’s the best place to go if they want to get in touch.

[00:45:45]  Christine Van Bloem 

 So of course, you can go to the website, which is emptynestkitchen.com and then Facebook, Instagram. Facebook is Empty Nest Kitchen. Instagram is the Empty Nest Kitchen. I would love to see you there. And I try to always respond to all of the comments and messages, and you can message me through the website, and I’d be happy to answer any questions that anyone has, particularly about teaching, because that’s really my wheelhouse.

[00:46:17]  Megan Porta 

 Awesome. Well, thank you again, Christine, and thank you food bloggers for listening. I will see you next time. 

[00:46:26]  Outro

If you enjoyed this topic, you’ll also love the episode I recommend in the show notes. Click on the episode description to find the link. Thank you and I will see you next time.