Healthy Food, Hustle, & Heart

Take a closer look at how one woman turned her passion for food into a small, self-run catering business

Food has a way of bringing people together. Whether it's sharing with family and friends, gathering during the holidays, or celebrating parts of your culture, food is often at the center of all of our important life events. However, there’s something special about knowing exactly who’s behind the dish. Jen Bucher, the founder and heart of her self-run catering business Just Jen, is a perfect example of someone who puts love and care into her work.

In this interview, Jen opens up about how she started her business from a small town in New Jersey, what keeps her grounded during busy seasons, and offers some tips for eating healthy at home—without overcomplicating it. She also sheds light on how to build something from scratch in a creative, service-based industry. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or just someone looking for simple, healthy food tips, this article's for you.

Throughout her life, Jen has worked in so many parts of the food industry. She’s done it all—from serving tables and working in kitchens, to teaching cooking classes at Williams Sonoma, and even working in food distribution sales. It wasn't until the COVID-19 pandemic hit that she found herself at a crossroads. As the industry was no longer up and running, she found herself questioning what to do as her next step. "So instead of sitting back, I thought, I'm going to reinvent my cooking and find a niche for that" she explained.

First, she began catering private picnics, as well as teaching cooking classes over Zoom. Her classes ended up being extremely popular, as she had people participate from all over the country. I was curious on how she found her clients, and managed to reach people as far as California. Her answer? It was as simple as turning her social media accounts like Instagram and Facebook from private to public. Sometimes all it takes to get started is to put yourself out there and connect with others. She explained how it was a natural progression of friends and followers spreading her name out there. A smart move she made in particular was hosting a class reunion. This connected her to previous connections, and started fostering new ones. Between this and her small catering on the side, little by little, her name started to gain traction. Now during this time, the pandemic hit. Due to people not going out in public to eat, private intimate gatherings had more of a demand. She had to think about whether or not this side hustle was worth taking a risk on. Little did she know, it would create a big turning point in her career.

"I decided, I'm going to do this full time. I'm going all in. I had always done it part time on the side in between my full-time 'safety' job, but I wasn't passionate about it. And so I decided to take the risk. I felt confident, prepared and I had set myself up for success."

Social media’s role in business growth is something I’ve been paying close attention to lately, so I was interested to hear Jen’s perspective on it. To my surprise, she explained how she doesn't use a formal website for her business. She has solely been using social media to grow her business and it's certainly working. Platforms like Instagram hugely impacts her engagement. As her dedication has grown overtime, she has found that consistency is key. Even if it's a simple post about what she personally made for dinner that night, it makes an impact. If she forgot to post for a week? She would notice the decline in bookings for the following month. Just like with any business, when people visit your page, they want to see that you're active and involved. If you're showing up, your audience is more likely to engage back.

When it comes to food trends on social media, Jen definitely doesn't seek them out. Rather than straight up copying trends, she focuses on really getting to know each client and understanding the occasion. She takes their vision into account and adds her own creative touch to make it feel personal. Unlike most catering businesses, she doesn’t work off a set menu. Instead, she creates each menu from scratch and shops individually for each event. It's admirable how much she truly cares to connect with her clients on a personal level so that she can do her best job to make their day special. She’s even at a point now where she’ll turn down requests for basic dishes. For instance, a dish like chicken parmesan is in her words, “something you can just get from any Italian restaurant.” That kind of mindset is what makes her stand out and keeps her business feeling fresh and unique. Some of her signature items, like crudité displays or cheese boards, need to be cut and styled just right.

“I don't like thing's to look set up. There are certain things I am known for - whether it’s how the veggies are cut or how the cheese is laid out—I want it to look natural but still intentional.”

Since WithGrace is centered around wellness, I was curious how Jen deals the inevitable stress that comes with it all. I asked her if she experiences burnout during busy seasons and what she does to manage it. She admitted that it's still something she's working on, but the two major points of advice were; time management and proper planning. After every event she does an “after-action report.” She takes notes on what worked, what didn’t, portion sizes, and guest preferences. It's especially helpful if a client books her again in the future. “I’m still learning with every event,” she said. But when someone comes back, she can look at her notes and remember things like, 'Oh yeah, last time we did grilled chicken and no one touched it. So let’s not do that again.’ Jen also limits her menu options to avoid becoming overwhelmed and looks for ways to prep in advanced. For instance, making big batches of toasted breadcrumbs for mac and cheese and freezing them for future events. “When parties are back to back, little things like that save me so much time,” she added.

Along with managing the chaos that comes with events, Jen always keeps a focus on wellness in the kitchen. While she loves to make dishes like 5-cheese queso dip and mac n cheese, Jen does try and prioritize healthy-conscious dishes into her catering and personal life. First things first - she only uses natural oils as cooking methods. Olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, and grass fed butter are the only cooking oils she will use. So many products nowadays contain seed oils and canola oil, which most of us know, are terrible for you. "In order to cook healthy, you have to do it from scratch. You can’t risk hidden ingredients—and the only way to know is to make it yourself.”

Now I was curious to know underrated go-to pantry items that help elevate a healthy dish without overcomplicating it. Her answer was not what I was expecting - white beans and cashews. She mentioned that a lot of her clients are vegan, so she had to figure out ways to create creaminess without using dairy. One of her tricks is soaking cashews overnight, then blending them with clean water, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast. “It tastes like Alfredo,” she said. “You’d swear there was cheese in it.” As for everyday pantry items, Jen swears by dried herbs and seasonings. While she loves working with fresh herbs when possible, dried versions are often more potent, and convenient. Seasonings are such a simple, easy way to elevate a meal.

As we wrapped up our conversation about ingredients, I asked Jen if she had any simple advice for people trying to eat healthier at home. Her tip was straightforward and simple- shop the perimeter of the grocery store. If you notice, the produce, deli, meats, and dairy products all surrounded the grocery store, and the majority of middle isles are filled with processed foods. Of course, you’ll still need to head there for things like grains and rice, but for the most part, sticking to the outer edges makes it a lot easier to make healthier choices.

Jen Bucher’s journey with JustJen is a reminder that with passion and authenticity, you can transform a simple idea into a meaningful business. Through her dedication to personalized catering, wellness-minded cooking, and genuine care for her clients, Jen not only creates delicious meals but also builds lasting relationships with the people she meets. Whether you’re looking to start your own venture or simply want to make healthier food choices, I hope you learned something from her.

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