FRANCHISE INFORMATION

We decided to take a leap of faith and joined the Chef It Up Family in May 2020.  We had been in talks with Lisa for a few months prior and immediately fell in love with her energy and passion for the business.  She eased all our fears and was very patient in answering all our questions!  We initially started with a Chef It Up 2 Go team, during Covid nonetheless, and at times we both thought we were crazy!  Lisa continued to assure us and came up with creative ways for us to still launch our business including virtual classes, take home kits, and fundraisers for schools.   Eventually we were able to get back into schools and we haven’t looked back since!   We are proud to say that we’ve had programs in the same schools/recreation centers since we started, and the interest has only increased!  

In January 2022, we had the opportunity to purchase Chef It Up Mount Olive.   Again, we thought we were crazy and were nervous about being able to manage both franchises successfully.  Lisa, once again, was there to ease our fears, help us transition smoothly, and even ran a few parties for us in the early days!  She is very responsive in answering any questions/concerns and checks in to make sure everything is running smoothly but also gives us the freedom to run our own business.  Our biggest challenge right now is being able to say yes to everyone! 

We love the positive feedback from our community and love being a part of the Chef It Up family!  We are excited to continue to grow the business and see what the future holds. 

Christie Jago & Lynda Pepe 

Chef It Up 2 Go Sussex and Chef It Up Mount Olive

My name is Michelle Fernando-Noguera. | joined the Chef It Up 2 Go family in March 2016. With both a sense of excitement and shaking hands, I signed, sealed and mailed my Franchise Agreement back to Lisa. I was about to embark on a new exciting business that I knew very little about. I am a seasoned business owner and run my own restaurant and catering business as well as another After School Program. The idea and concept of embarking on a Chef It Up 2 Go posed to be both interesting and challenging to me.

I met with Lisa initially via phone and completely fell in love with her energy, hands-on style, and professionalism. It was hard not to get even more excited about her Franchise. I introduced myself, my business experience and was very honest about my fears on embarking on a new venture. Would I have the time? Would I be successful? Would I be able to solicit the program? These were just a few of the many fears I had. She immediately reassured me that I had nothing to worry about. After a few short weeks, I was officially a Chef It Up 2 Go owner. Lisa made the long trip to California to train me and together she eliminated all the fears I had about making sure I purchased the right ingredients for my future "Nut Free" classes. All it took was a one hour trip to my local grocery store and a few calls to manufacturers and I was hooked. I was determined to be an expert on what food we could or could not use for the classes.

Fast forward to today, less than one year into my journey, and I couldn't be happier. I've outgrown the many challenges which would love to share. My first and biggest challenge was none of the schools I solicited had ovens. Many of the schools only offered me a basic classroom or kitchen area with just a sink to use. This was the biggest problem I knew I would face. How do you solicit and offer a cooking class without access to everything needed in the kitchen. I immediately contacted Lisa and expressed my need to have more and more "NO BAKE" recipes. She understood my concerns and sent me as many recipes she had to get me started.

I decided to ignore that fact that I would never have a kitchen to bake cookies, cupcakes or pizza. Instead, I made sure the I built up the excitement that we can still prepare delicious recipes using what was at our disposal.

To date, I am proud to say I have managed to get the Chef It Up 2 Go program in at least 15 Elementary Schools, 2 preschools for workshops, and am booking Summer Camps. My new challenges to date are quite amusing. I need more teachers, more time to solicit more schools, more recipes, and a bigger car to haul all my materials.

Thank you to Lisa for all her support and for being available to me whenever I need a question answered. I'm sure that there are many more challenges for me in the future. Here is my "recipe for success":

• Don't let any challenge discourage you
• Do look for solutions instead of dwelling on the problems
• Do believe and sell your program because the excitement can be contagious
• Don't stop wanting to grow
• Don't take "no" for an answer. It just means they aren't ready
• 
  

Hope this information is helpful to anyone looking to franchise a business and become their own boss. Lisa & her amazing company Chef It Up & Chef it Up 2 Go really have all the right ingredients to make it happen and she assists you all the way. And one of these days I'lI get around to finally responding to all of the initial emails Lisa's team sent on my behalf to solicit business in my territory! I've gotten so busy so fast I actually haven't even needed to! Good luck and here's hoping you join our growing family!

Michelle Fernando-Noguera

Chef It Up 2 Go - San Francisco Bay Area Travel Team