Gemma If you have been to the Family Feed website in the last few weeks you might have spotted a few changes. The most obvious change is our new logo, but if you look a little closer you will see that Family Feed is evolving and we are excited to share the journey with you.
In the beginning…
In 2020, in the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic, and like so many people around the world, we suddenly found ourselves in a season of lockdowns. We had a newborn baby and a two year old. I was on maternity leave and at the time my husband Jim was working around the clock with his team trying to figure out how a global events business could outlast the pandemic.
Somewhere in that mad mix Family Feed was born… As if our hands weren’t full enough! Every week we published a new recipe from the many recipes we cook throughout the year at home. It was a lovely creative adventure and I enjoyed having an outlet for myself.
I grew up in a foodie family, always entertaining and feeding crowds. I learned to cook from the day I was born. I wasn’t handed a speed peeler at 6 months old, instead I was a part of a family culture that lived and experienced the world around the table with my Mum’s homemade food at the centre. It wasn’t even a conscious choice to be a home cook, it was just part of my own family tapestry.
Becoming my own cook
In 2005 I left home to go to university in Manchester. I took those same values with me. I fed housemates and invited friends back to mine to cook lunch and dinners. Feeding people was how I was taught to show up in the world. The same year Jim and I started seeing each other. As a couple we have always held parties and gatherings that centred around bringing people together and feeding them.
18 years later, degrees, careers, three houses, our first mortgage, marriage, grandparents passing, travel, two children, a pandemic, starting Family Feed, training as a coach and Mental Health First Aider, our changing family values, shifting schedules and new goals – like so many people these years are full and busy.
So when we arrived in 2022 we were ready to be intentional about creating family life. It had felt, for a moment, that life was starting to happen to us and our little family. We wanted to invite more joy and creativity in our work and family life. In April 2022 Jim and I started our own business and this opened up a chasm of opportunity to control how, where and when we work. We are now able to mix family and work life in a way that suits us and we continue to enjoy the journey of making a lifestyle that works for our family’s changing needs.
Wavespace Coaching
In 2021 I started a coaching practice. Wavespace Coaching is focused on family/work life balance and parent wellbeing. At the time I hadn’t made the connection between Family Feed and Wavespace Coaching. Then toward the end of 2022 I realised that all my work is connected. I am ever curious about the way we can bring balance to our busy lives as parents and create more joy and intention in the process.
The journey ahead
Family Feed returns with a new purpose: we will bring you a bigger look at family life through the lens of food, work and wellbeing. The stories, articles and recipes we feature are part of an exploration of family life. We want to invite you on a journey to find inspiration for your family, take what works and leave behind anything that doesn’t.
Choose where you put your energy
We also recognise that as Family Feed grows and becomes so much more than a repository of recipes you might want to consider if you want to continue the journey with us. In the same way that we want to speak to our audience we encourage you to be intentional about the content you consume. It can be easy to forget that in this digital age we can choose where we put our energy and we invite you to think about investing your energy with us. If Family Feed and its new vision isn’t the journey for you that’s OK. We are not for everyone.
To our community
Family feed is a community of humans who want more from family and work life. We choose to be intentional and change what isn’t working for us and our families. We encourage one another, we are kind, compassionate and curious. We are interested in hearing one another’s stories and ready for new adventures.
You can join us on this ever changing journey of exploring family life through the lens of food, work and wellbeing – here’s how you can get involved with Family Feed.
1. Join our newsletter – The best way to join us on this journey is to subscribe to our free newsletter. We will continue to write about food, share recipes and stories from the dinner table to our desks but we will also look at the bigger picture of family life including parental wellbeing. We hope you enjoy the next leg of the Family Feed journey.
2. Work with Gemma – If you want to work with Gemma in a 121 coaching session you can get in touch with her to explore the work she does with www.wavespacecoaching.com
3. Group coaching – If you are based in Cheshire and you want to connect with other parents who are ready to take a new journey and invite more joy then you might want to join Gemma’s Listening in group.
To everyone who has championed Family Feed in the last three years, we are ever grateful that you have given us the opportunity to share our food and family culture.
Stay tuned for more,
Gem
