Exploring Life and Business with Mackenzie Burgess of Cheerful Choices

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mackenzie Burgess.

Hi Mackenzie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always loved cooking, helping others, and entrepreneurship ever since I was a young girl. Today, I’ve combined these passions to create my own blog and business called “Cheerful Choices”. Here, I provide healthy recipes with customizable ingredients “of your choice”. This allows recipes to fit to different dietary preferences and use up ingredients already on hand. As a dietitian, I also provide virtual nutrition coaching and virtual cooking classes.

I first started my website, CheerfulChoices.com, back in college at Colorado State University. I was always creating new, healthy recipes and my friends encouraged me to publish them online. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I figured the most important thing was to just start. From there, I wrapped up my studies, completed my dietetic internship, and passed my exam to become a credentialed Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN).

Many dietitians work in hospital or community health settings, but I knew I wanted to continue helping people in the culinary space. This sparked the idea for my “Coaching + Cooking” program–virtual nutrition coaching and hands-on cooking. This program allows individuals to learn personalized recipes made specifically for them and their nutrition goals. These sessions are all virtual and one-on-one with myself, the nutrition expert.

My goal is to support people along their health journey and give them more kitchen confidence. Sometimes tips like how to meal prep breakfast or the best way to cut a bell pepper seem like it should be easy. However, it may be something brand new to a client. I find it so rewarding to share these small learning opportunities and really have a positive impact on people’s health and cooking abilities.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It was extremely difficult first starting my blog–I had little to no views. I really had to self-teach myself everything there was to know about food photography, website creation, graphic design, and SEO– but it has been so worth it. I have built up my website to reach over 70,000 people every month from all over the world. It’s so rewarding to see people trying and loving my recipes. I’ve also had the opportunity to regularly appear on live TV segments and get quoted in hundreds of top media outlets like Prevention, Eat This, and Oprah Magazine.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Cheerful Choices, LLC?
Cheerful Choices is all about personalizing health to you. Whether that’s through viewing my customizable recipes or taking it a step further to work 1:1. I’ve also started offering custom meal plans where we work together to create a week of eating that feels realistic and delicious for you. I always love connecting over free discovery calls to learn more about individuals’ goals and see if working together is a good fit.

Discovery call link: https://my.practicebetter.io/#/5e5c7f132a832611f8f31db8/bookings=6037cae42a9c240728e943e1&step=date

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I am extremely grateful for my mom, dad, and closest loved ones in my life. They have always been my #1 supporters along my journey to becoming a dietitian and starting my own business. On days when I am discouraged, they remind me of my goals and the positive impact I am making. They have also been my ultimate recipe taste testers!

Pricing:

• $150 – Custom Meal Planning Session
• $300 – Coaching + Cooking Mini Offering (1 coaching + 1 cooking session)

Contact Info:

• Website: cheerfulchoices.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheerfulchoices/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cheerfulchoicesblog/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CChoicesBlog
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWJxrAdbh_InNI7RPWrO84A
• Other: https://cheerfulchoices.com/coaching-and-cooking/