Community Highlights: Meet Emily Fortney

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Emily Fortney.

Hi Emily, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My background is in music. I am a former recording artist. My sisters and I had a band and were signed to Toby Keith’s record label, Showdog Universal. After pursuing an artist career full-time for 8 years, I took a break to start a family. I got married and had two amazing boys.

Although music is my first love, health, fitness and food is definitely a close second. I’ve always loved to cook and work out and have been pretty health-conscious my whole life. After several years of being a stay-at-home mom and after my kids started school, I knew I was ready to start working again. I had some ideas for Fit, Fresh, and Bubbly, but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to take them. Then Covid hit, and my vision became more clear.

It hit me how important it is to make our health a top priority in our lives, especially moms, as we tend to put ourselves on the back burner and make sure everyone else is taken care of. I decided to get my Nutrition and Health Coach certification through Precision Nutrition and started coaching clients on forming healthier habits and what to eat. I noticed that I would give a client all this info on food and a personalized meal plan, but then it was still up to them to go get the food and make it.

Not everybody has time for that, and not everybody likes to cook. I saw a need, and I jumped in. I started food-prepping healthy staples for clients, much like I already did for my family and coached them on how to make balanced and delicious meals. Over the last year, I’ve prepared hundreds of meals for people, making their weeks easier and healthier.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t necessarily been a bumpy road, but it’s been long. I’ve had a lot of trial and error when it came to figuring out what the actual consumer’s demands and needs are. I’ve also changed business models since I started as a subscription-based company. I am now set up to allow people to order week to week, which I find is much better for the client.

It’s also been a learning curve in figuring out my new normal when going from being a full-time stay-at-home mom to now working again. There’s been a bit of adjustment with my kids and husband because I now have obligations outside of just them.

They’re super supportive, and it’s been nice to show my kids that I can do other things than just mom stuff, although being a mom is still my number one priority.

As you know, we’re big fans of Fit, Fresh, and Bubbly. What can you tell our readers who might not be as familiar with the brand?
Fit, Fresh, and Bubbly is a food prep business located right here in Franklin, TN, servicing people in Franklin, Brentwood, and Nashville.

I specialize in creating nutritious, balanced, and delicious meals that use whole ingredients and are free from sugar and inflammatory oils. I can accommodate many diets, including gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian. All meat I cook is organic, eggs are pasture-raised, and all beef is grass-fed and sourced from the local Franklin farm, Lockwood Ranch. I currently offer two different packages:

The first one is my weekly Pick Up Package. This package provides convenient, healthy food staples that can be eaten as prepared but also serve as delicious base items to combine with other foods to make a variety of meals. The STANDARD comes with 2 lbs of a cooked protein of your choice, roasted veggies, a large salad, egg bites, and muffins.

There’s also a JUST DINNERS option that comes with 3 lbs of protein, extra veggies, a large salad, and one side item of either rice, quinoa, potatoes, or pasta – no egg bites or muffins. Just order off my website during the week and pick it up every Monday at one of my four locations:

Free Flow Yoga in Berry Farms at 9:45 AM
Pure Sweat and Float Cool Springs between 5 PM-5:45 PM
Pure Sweat and Float Brentwood at 6:15 PM
Collaborate Offices in Berry Hill at 6:45 PM

My second package is a Full Week Package with customized meals. This is a more personalized experience than my Pick Up Packages. It is for one person, and it comes with 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 5 dinners, and 5 snacks for a MON-FRI work week. These are complete meals/recipes, not just bulk food items like the Pick Up Package.

We start with a health assessment/session where we talk about current health, future goals, allergies, medical issues, habits, concerns, etc. From there, I create a personalized macro-based meal plan and then prepare your meals to be portioned out accordingly. I deliver your package every Sunday afternoon/evening, so you have it for the week.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I am not a huge self-promoter, so networking has made me stretch out of my comfort zone a bit, but I can tell you it has been super important and beneficial for me to do so. I joined a couple of small, local marketing/networking groups and have met so many like-minded women entrepreneurs who want to help build me up and spread the word about FFB.

I have also cold-called and cold-walked into many other businesses, including gyms and fitness studios, to introduce myself and open the door to any kind of collaboration. People are more willing and excited to work with you than you might think! Having an Instagram presence and following like-minded accounts is also super helpful.

Pricing:

• Pick Up Package $150
• Full Week Package Assessment with personalized meal plan $150
• Full Week Package $500

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fitfreshandbubbly.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fitfreshandbubbly/