Maker's Spotlight: Healthy On You
Have you ever stumbled upon a small business and instantly fell in love? Gotten inspired? Felt the urge to purchase all of the things? Because that’s essentially what happened to me when I discovered Healthy On You, and all of the yummy spice blend offerings.
My husband always jokes that I’m a sucker for branding, and he’s not wrong. Show me bright colors, a good pun, and beautiful glass bottles, and I’m a goner. Add in healthy and delicious ingredients, and I’m a customer for life.
A little backstory: About five years ago, my husband and I were lucky enough to travel to Barcelona, Spain and indulge in all of the delicious food, authentic paella being our absolute favorite. After eating our weight in paella, we headed home and promptly purchased a paella pan, and were dead-set on trying to recreate our new favorite dish. Fast-forward five years later, and that paella pan had never seen the light of day. It was shoved to the back of the cupboard, long since forgotten. Quarantine had pushed us to experiment more in the kitchen, like it did with most people, trying out new dishes, but still the paella pan sat. UNTIL I found the “You’re So Spain” seasoning blend by Healthy On You. This led to us FINALLY making that veggie paella we had been dreaming about for FIVE YEARS! And, oh my goodness…it was AMAZING! Along with “You’re So Spain”, I also purchased “Provence You’ve Been Gone” seasoning blend, which has been a tasty addition to pastas, breakfast scrambles, and grilled veggies.
I’m also a bit of a music junkie, so the punny names and the Edible Playlists, sang straight to my heart.
Anyway, that’s enough about me and my new-found foodie obsession, I just can’t get enough of Healthy On You, and the woman behind the blends, Samantha.
Getting to know more about Samantha, her inspiration behind Healthy On You, and her creative process made me fall even harder in love. So, I wanted to introduce all of you to this incredibly talented woman, and her delicious business!
Meet the Maker
Samantha Binkley founded Healthy On You in 2015. She is a certified health coach and teaches healthy cooking classes in her community. During classes, Samantha would always prepare spice blends for her clients to add flavor when cutting unhealthy fats in the recipes and would send them home with extras. Eventually, they kept coming back asking for more and more and that’s when she decided to start her organic spice blend business.
What inspired you to start your own business?
My passion has always been healthy cooking and my love of music inspired the Edible Playlist which is a trio of spices sold on my website. All spices are a play on a popular song so the brand experience is not only centered around taste and smell but sounds, heritage, and a sense of nostalgia. I grew up in the Bronx and when I was young, I would watch my mom make her own spice blends from scratch pulling from our Indo-Jamaican heritage. She always made her own curries and Jerk spices. She cooked every day for our family of five while holding a full-time job. She taught me the importance of preparing a healthy home-cooked meal and the sense of family it inspires. This is what I've wanted to bring to my clients with my spice line and the cooking classes. After every class, we would all sit at my table and enjoy what we prepared. That is what truly sparked joy for me and kept me going even when the profits were not there.
What sets you apart from everyone else?
My products are hand-blended and USDA Organic. The music theme and the spice names which is a play on actual top 10 songs distinguishes our brand from competitors. But the fresh taste and unique spice combination is a winner. Oh, and did I mention USDA organic with no fillers, preservatives and unhealthy additives?
Where do you gain inspiration from?
My inspiration is from multiple sources, I mentioned before my mom being a huge influence in the way she prepared flavorful meals, but I'm also inspired by music. My husband is a songwriter and I am serenaded by music daily while I cook. It's pretty nice! I love to make an impact on people through good food and recipes so my healthy virtual cooking classes have been a huge inspiration for me during the pandemic. Prior to that my in-person cooking classes did that for me as well.
What has been your biggest success to date?
There have been a few. I landed the Erewhon Markets retail account earlier this year and that was a huge validation of my products. If you sell a healthy organic product, that's the market you want to be acquainted with your brand. The support I received with online sales during the Black Lives Matter movement has also showed me I can have success online too if more people know that businesses like mine exist. So to that I say marketing is everything right now!
What's your favorite part of the creative process?
Developing the spice blends and the naming process. I have a few new spices in the works and it's so much fun (and time-consuming too) finding a thoughtful song pun that everyone will recognize and can relate to. I love it!
What are you most excited for with your business right now?
Put simply, the future. For so long I wondered if this business would work and this year I realized the great potential. I am excited to introduce my business to many this holiday season and beyond. I am excited to be featured in blogs like this one and I am grateful that finally, my business and hard work are being seen. From there, the possibilities are endless.
Who are your 3 favorite small businesses?
Wow, there are so many that I am loving right now! Hella Cocktail is a wonderful small business that has been instrumental in bringing small business owners together with mentors and allies in the food industry. Ivy's Tea Company has amazing loose teas and I just ordered a bunch so I hoping for some chill time to enjoy them. And my skin is loving Pacha Soap Co's Whipped Soap +Scrubs. My favorite is the Honeysuckle Rose and a portion of every purchase goes towards helping to provide soap, clean water, and help for small businesses all over the world.
What's your favorite form of self-care?
Sitting beside a clean body of water (beach or poolside) and reading a good book.
Now that you’ve all fallen in love with Healthy On You, I can’t wait to hear all about your new favorite spice blends and the recipes you create with them! Be sure to visit Healthy On You’s website and follow her on Instagram to follow along with new product drops and drool-worthy meal ideas. You can also join in on a cooking class or get some truly delicious recipes from Sam here.
Drop your favorite spice blends and tunes to cook to in the comments!