Iconic Concierge Fall 2022

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CHANGING LIVESFROM SCRATCHIN & OUTOF THE KITCHENBRIAN CURINCO-FOUNDER/ CO-CEO & PRESIDENTLITTLE KITCHEN ACADEMYBY DR. OLIVER FINLAYIC: In fifteen words or less, who are you and what do you do?BC: Brian Curin, husband, proud dad, and Co-Founder/Co-CEO& President of Little Kitchen Academy.IC: Tell us about Little Kitchen Academy and what is theguiding purpose behind the organization that you have builtwith your wife, Felicity, over the last 5 years.BC: LKA is the first-of-its-kind Montessori-inspired cookingacademy for children ages 3 through 18, based on the belief thatby empowering children with practical life skills and food literacy,we will create more educated, mindful, and healthy communitiesglobally. Based in Vancouver, the concept was co-founded by myself,my wife, a Montessori-trained, culinary expert, and visionary,Felicity Curin, and social impact investor and entrepreneurPraveen Varshney. Part of our mission includes empowering studentsto learn how they can make the world a better place through:How Can I Help? by Little Kitchen Academy, LKA’s signaturephilanthropic program and supporting Crisis Text Line, The GlobalFoodBanking Network, Kids Help Phone, and One Tree Planted.In addition to charitable partnerships, we have forged strategicglobal brand partnerships with Iron Chef Cat Cora, AeroGarden,72 ICONIC CONCIERGE
BIRKENSTOCK, ChefWorks, Emeco,ChopValue, Welcome Industries, and PRISEInc.Little Kitchen Academy’s flagship venuesare located in Vancouver, B.C., and LosAngeles, California. We have nine locationsopen across Canada, Los Angeles, and Portland,and have recently inked developmentdeals to open over 240 locations in Colorado,Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, Washington,and Canada. Additionally, we recentlylaunched our Meet Me in The Kitchen podcast,to share intimate, unexpected storiesthat explore the common threads of humanityand illuminate what brings us together,which can be found on Apple Music, Spotifyand at LittleKitchenAcademy.com.IC: You launched Little Kitchen Academyafter many years of success growingbusinesses in the food and beverageand retail sectors through a franchisingmodel. Please can you tell us what youlike about that model and what are thechallenges with it?BC: Much like as a family we approachlife, with care of self, care of others and careof environment, franchising enables likemindedpeople to come together and makean impact at an accelerated pace. For us, weget to share the gift of LKA globally, withpartners that have the same purpose-drivenmission that we do and that believe in ourvision. Franchising allows for people to bepart of our vision by getting into business forthemselves with best-in-class systems, support,and guidance, so that they are confidentin the fact that they are not on their own. Thechallenge is to find the right people who wantto be partners in our business for the rightreasons and who can execute in their localcommunities delivering our brand promiseand experience.IC: What unique challenges have youencountered in growing Little KitchenAcademy, that were different to any ofthe other businesses you’ve previouslybuilt and what lessons have you learnt inovercoming them?BC: LKA is a purpose-driven company andwith that comes a lot of passion, stubbornness,and education. Every decision madecomes from the heart and is very personal.We have forced a new business category intothe market, and this takes repetitive conversations,educating our community as to whythis is essential, and finding the right peopleto join us.IC: Both Felicity and you are huge advocatesfor creating environments thatpromote diversity, equity, and inclusion.In cities such as Vancouver where theeconomic and social pressures contributeto significant inequality of access toresources between and within communities,how is Little Kitchen Academyworking to provide opportunities forchildren from all socio-economicbackgrounds to accesssuch valuable education?BC: We know that LKA is forEVERY child, but not everyfamily has the means to enroll.We connect with many organizationsto open the opportunity upto those children but simply providingthe classes isn’t enough.We need to educate the familiestoo on the choices they need tomake to pay for nutrient denseingredients and develop the understandingof how to make greatdecisions. It’s vital that they havethe CHOICE to make but manyfamilies in our communities don’thave a choice.IC: The COVID pandemiccreated new factors and exacerbatedthe prevalence ofexisting factors in our societythat contribute to mentalhealth problems, whichhave effectively precipitateda subsequent mental healthpandemic. How have you seen that presenton the ground with young people atLittle Kitchen Academy and can youexplain how the work you do is helpingaddress some of these issues?BC: During the first few weeks of re-openingafter the government lockdown we saw thechanges in our students. Young children whodidn’t feel safe outside of their parents’ arms,curious ones feeling nervous to touch things,and the older, more social students desperatefor face-to-face connection. Having an environmentthat is free of judgement like LKA,we are going to meet every child where theyare at and that is very necessary in supportingtheir personal development. A beautifulMontessori term is “Follow the Child”, andwe understand that to mean ‘step back, observewith love and let the child show youwhat they need.’ We practice it daily and ourstudents can feel it.IC: Food plays such an integral role informing and developing our social relationships.I often feel that European culturesembrace this aspect far more readilythan in North America, where eatingis often seen as a very functional activity.Have you seen the children that come toLittle Kitchen Academy improve theirability to socialize as well as just developtheir understanding of the nutritionalbenefits of creating healthy meals?BC: The LKA food philosophy is very simple.We follow the oldest, wisest woman onthe planet - Mother Nature. Our job is to discoverwhat is in season, what is local, createwonder as to where it came from, add scienceto change it so it tastes delicious, and simplycelebrate a child when they CONSIDERthese aspects. When we empower children tomake these choices, they build confidence,connection, and curiosity. Learning the sciencebehind food substitutions required toaccommodate food intolerances, cultures orsimply taste preferences is powerful. Youcan’t eat eggs? What do eggs do in the recipe?What can we use instead? This thinkingcan remove biases that are formed throughlack of understanding.IC: How do you feel social media contributesto our relationship with food inthe current day and age. What impactdoes this have and how can we leveragethe benefits of social media, whilst mitigatingthe negative influences, to createpositive change in this area?BC: LKA has decided to embrace social mediaas a power tool. We can’t beat it, so let’sfind the opportunity that it creates. We areall constantly barraged with advice on whatwe should and shouldn’t be eating, what weshould or shouldn’t look like. Let’s take thisopportunity to talk about taking care of ourselvesby making choices that are importantto us! There are as many food philosophiesas there are types of apples and it certainlyisn’t a one-size-fits-all. We also love to takeon the fun TikTok food trends and in learninghow to make dishes that are all over our socialmedia gives some of our older students a‘social currency’, so to speak. They may notbe on the winning team, the student councilleader, or the coolest dresser in school, butthey can talk about the latest food trend andhow they have learned to master it!IC: Over the next five years, what wouldsuccess for Little Kitchen Academy looklike to Felicity and you?ICONIC CONCIERGE73
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