A Seat at the Table: Kristin & LeeLee on Building Village

Village began with a pretty simple idea: taking care of someone through food.

It started when Kristin cooked meals for a close friend preparing to welcome her second baby. She saw firsthand how meaningful it was to have good food already in the fridge — one part of the day that didn’t need to be planned, shopped for or thought about.

A few Sundays later, LeeLee found her way into the Village kitchen. She was a fellow mom who loved good food and immediately understood the vision. Before long, working alongside each other turned into growing the business alongside each other.

Today, Kristin and LeeLee shape Village together — the food, the experience, the relationships and the bigger ideas for where it can go. We sat down with them to talk about how it started, what they’ve learned along the way and what they want Village to become.

Kristin, take us back to the beginning. What do you remember about that first delivery?

Kristin: I remember leaving her house and thinking, everyone should have this. There are so many ways people show up for someone having a baby, but food is so tangible. You have to eat every day, multiple times a day, no matter how full or chaotic life feels. Having that part handled gives you so much life back.

Did you already know you wanted to turn it into something?

Kristin: Pretty much immediately. And it evolved naturally into more than just postpartum nourishment. The idea was simply good food showing up at the exact point in your week when you don't have the time or energy to make it yourself.

LeeLee, how did you find your way to Village?

LeeLee: I originally came into the kitchen to work with the team. I was a mom, I loved good food, and I just got what Village was trying to do. Once I was actually in it every week, I started seeing all of these possibilities for what it could become — not just the meals, but the whole experience around them.

How do your roles look today?

Kristin: I'm a Registered Dietitian, so naturally a lot of my focus is on the food. I lead our menus and a lot of the creative direction — how Village looks, feels and shows up. I'm always thinking about the person opening the fridge and choosing one of our meals. It has to be something they actually want to eat.

LeeLee: I tend to be in the pieces that connect everything — how we actually make Village happen every week, how a recipe becomes hundreds of meals, our client experience, our relationships and partnerships, and where we can grow from here.

Kristin: But we overlap constantly. There are things each of us naturally gravitates toward, but anything big is something we're talking through together.

Village has grown considerably from that first meal. What has stayed the same?

Kristin: The food, or at least our standard for it. Being a dietitian obviously shapes how I think about every menu, but I never want Village to feel like "health food." We're not building meals around a macro sheet or trying to make something last forever on a shelf. We're cooking with really good ingredients and making food that happens to be really good for you, too.

LeeLee: And I think the level of care is the same. We want to grow — we have really big ideas for Village — but we never want growth to make it feel impersonal. The goal is to keep getting better as we get bigger.

Why does the idea of a “village” still feel so relevant?

Kristin: Because everyone needs one. It started in motherhood, where that need is probably impossible to ignore, but it didn't take long to realize how universal it is. Everyone has weeks where there's just too much going on. Eating well shouldn't have to become another project.

LeeLee: And I love that we're helping in a way that's actually useful. We're not adding something else to someone's routine. We're taking something away. They don't have to plan it, shop for it, cook it or clean up after it. They open the fridge and it's there.

What do you hope Village becomes?

Kristin: Bigger, but still Village. More people we get to feed, more ways we can make someone's week easier. And eventually, we'd love a place of our own — somewhere people can actually walk into Village instead of only having it arrive at their doorstep.

LeeLee: We talk about that a lot. A space, a gathering place, different ways to feed people and be part of their everyday lives. We dream pretty big about what Village can become.

Kristin: But however much it grows, I think we'll always come back to why it started. Someone needed to be taken care of, and food was a really good way to do it.

Village is dietitian-designed, chef-prepared and made for real life — really good food, thoughtfully made, with one less thing for you to handle.