Today we’d like to introduce you to Serena Varghese
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
The girl that sat in front of me in my English class had just returned from a 6-month international study-abroad program during our junior year of high school. As she beamed with excitement and shared her experiences of a whole different world, I couldn’t help but wonder what that would be like. That wonder continued.
During my freshman year college at Baylor University in Waco, I took my first true leap of faith and applied to medical school… in India. The 6-month program that sparked my interest a few years prior became a 6+ year voyage on what would soon be the beginning of a completely different life and one that would change me forever in what was a familiar, yet very foreign country.
Before long, my medical education was only a part of the experiences I had gained during my time away. I taught myself to read the language and speak it fluently. I took weekly acting classes, began weight-lifting every morning before clinical rotations, emceed for large events, did a little fashion & fitness magazine modeling, and had the opportunity to lead choreography for dance competitions. On the other end of the spectrum, I also learned to wash my clothes with soap, water, and a large stone, to suture wounds and assist deliveries in flip flops, and to use multiple forms of local transport. One particular skill I developed was the ability to make meals that I missed from home with limited resources. To maintain the benefits of my newly discovered hobby at the gym, I learned to make nutritious, high protein meals and due to my packed schedule, I learned how to make them fast.
In 2019 I was now a medical graduate, married to the love of my life, and we’d just had our first child. A sweet little baby boy. The importance of creating nutrient-dense, flavor-packed, and enjoyable meals postpartum in a short amount of time became a much more significant priority than I had ever expected. I began finding joy in creating art through what was originally a daily mundane task. With the use of colors, flavors, and textures, I created my own art in the kitchen during my son’s naps and started taking pictures of it to share with my mom. I decided to save them on Instagram, using it as an online “photo album” for safe-keeping.
Just months later, the world shut down and the word “pandemic” that I had learned only in my community medicine lecture classes soon became a word I heard every single day. Along with this, something else changed. Instagram became a safe place for everyone to share thoughts they had as the world shut down as well as photos of their newly discovered hobbies in the process. We were all separated and yet connected at the same time. My page grew, I developed new skills, and before long, I had very strong views about what types of food I was feeding my family, how it affected our health, where it was sourced, and how it was grown. As my community continued to grow, I also had the opportunity to connect with brands who had stories and values that aligned with what I believed was important. I was introduced to so many methods of protecting our animals, produce, soil, and water that I knew little about and since then, I have been honored to not just promote, but to work with people wanting to make the world a better place through something as simple as food.
Today, I’m proud to say that my journey allowed me to wear many hats and I am sincerely devoted to each one. As a mother in medicine and food content creator, I get to connect each of these hats by promoting health through food and the use of whole, minimally processed ingredients for better health to create easy and delicious recipes that you can make at home!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
When your job requires a significant amount of time in front of screens and social media, drawing boundaries around it can be challenging. For one, social media is a lot of information all at once. It’s addicting. It can be confusing. It can be toxic. I had to find ways to make sure it was healthy for me. I also made it a priority to plan recipe development and filming during the kids’ nap times or when they were away because I never wanted them to grow up with memories of me on my phone. I didn’t want to miss any part of these early years of their childhood that I have the privilege of enjoying. These boundaries allowed me to fully savor the process of growing my business, while balancing priorities to further my medical career and simultaneously being present for my family.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Health. Food. Family.
I’m a recipe developer and food content creator! I work with brands, specifically those that prioritize locally grown, sustainable, organic, high-quality ingredients, to create aesthetically appealing visuals for them. I promote the use of minimally processed ingredients because I believe that almost all illness prevention can be rooted in food alone. As a busy mom in medicine, I also understand the need to feed your family in a limited amount of time, so most of these recipes are as easy as possible.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Memories with my grandparents. My grandmother made the best food and it was our Sunday tradition to go to their house after church to enjoy a whole spread of delicious food with a side of tender love and care. There is so much I’ve learned in the kitchen from her and I hope to pass them down to my children.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thegreatspoonfeed.com
- Instagram: thegreatspoonfeed
