6 Ways Lexi’s Clean Kitchen Has Changed in 6 Years

My little corner of the internet is officially SIX years old! In this half of a decade of blogging, I’ve learned, I’ve grown, I’ve met the most amazing readers, I’ve gained amazing friends, I’ve changed careers, I’ve written a book, I’ve built a team that loves LCK like I do, and so much more. Let’s dive into 6 Ways Lexi’s Clean Kitchen Has Changed in 6 Years!

6 Ways Lexi’s Clean Kitchen Has Changed in 6 Years

This blog started as a hobby, but then became a business!

I started Lexi’s Clean Kitchen back in 2013 as a hobby. I was sharing my journey of healing my gut and my health through real food and documenting it online as I went. In a way I originally needed Lexi’s Clean Kitchen more than anyone else reading it, as I needed it for my health journey. But then I started to get such positive response that it was helping others too.

When I began, I wasn’t thinking that this was actually going to turn into a business. I was simply making our breakfasts, lunches, and dinners and sharing them for inspiration. I wasn’t thinking about what my photos looked like, if a recipe I created would be popular for Google or Pinterest, or even if my recipe itself was in any standard format. And the photography, that was interesting, too! I was simply just sharing what was working for me, in hopes that it might resonate with a few people.

And then, as it grew, and as my book deal came into fruition, I decided to take the the leap and calculated risk to leave my teaching career behind! I very quickly had to figure out how to make a hobby blog turn into a full-fledged business that thrived both by way of happy readers who wanted to be a part of this community we’ve built, but also in making sure I was able to be financially solvent and successful with time.

Every article and recipe that is published is fully thought out from start to finish, and the processed has changed dramatically. My own writing has evolved, recipe development has become professional (I learned a lot about this when writing my first cookbook) and of course the photography (oh man, the photography!) has changed so much! And really every aspect of the website has changed considering when it started in 2013 I built it from scratch, and now we have a whole behind-the-scenes tech team helping make it all possible (hint: stay tuned for a brand new website coming your way)!

It’s been pretty neat seeing it unfold (in all honesty I don’t often step back and do this), and also feeling how I’ve personally grown in the process. By far the toughest thing I had to be comfortable with as I built this business was Iearning how to say no! It’s been not only helpful in my personal life, but growing to be comfortable to say NO to someone that wants to partner with me or LCK and isn’t a 110% perfect fit for YOU ALL, was harder than I expected at times. I mean, who wants so pass up on significant financial opportunities? But I learned quickly that while this is a business, I’m here first and foremost for all the readers who put their trust in me, and I want to honor that by always thinking about them when I say yes, or no to any opportunity.

There is now a team behind Lexi’s Clean Kitchen

For so long I was was a one woman show, and at times, in the beginning, scrambling to get it all done while also having another job! As the business progressed I realized I could bring so much more to my community if I brought on a team that both myself and the LCK community could benefit from. Over time I brought on some extra sets of hands with different tasks and the team began to take shape: Kelli (Food Editor), Gabby (In-House Nutritionist), Alli (Associate Editor), and a handful of other ladies who help make our social media run smoothly. They are here because they bring expertise to the table that will benefit the LCK readers (looking at you all!), in a way that will add to their lives!

I am so grateful to be able to have such a dedicated, strong team working hard to enrich your lives with delicious recipes, guides, products and useful information every single day. It’s made my heart full to say the least, and I hope you know that any team member I bring on is just as dedicated to the mission of LCK as I am. I trust them with my heart, and I am excited for you to get to know them in various capacities and roles!

My own diet has evolved, as have the recipes on the site!

I wrote this post in 2017, and it really still holds true to today. I used to share and create recipes for only what I could eat, and back when I started, that meant super strict paleo. At the time I was healing a leaky gut, Candida overgrowth, and more. Now that I’ve healed a lot of that, I have more flexibility in my own diet and I’ve dropped a lot of labels surrounding the way I eat for various reasons.

And just as my diet has changed, so have the type of recipes you see here on the blog. As the site has evolved from being more of a scene from my own life and into a service for my readers, we create recipe for YOU! My first thought when planning future content and recipes is: will this be useful for the LCK community? We TEST AND TEST AND TEST until we get right what you’ve asked for and that has grown well beyond just the diet of only Paleo recipes and inclusive to recipes that help you create a cleaner, happier life for yourself.

How we can stay connected

If you’ve been following me from the beginning, the name @AlexisK916 (major LOL) may sound familiar, and it’s how it all started! I started sharing what I was eating and my story on Instagram, before my blog existed — and wow has the social media landscape changed from 6 years ago! Social media used to be less curated (both by users and by the platform itself) and presented chronologically, instead of the very refined feeds, and didn’t even have various different aspects like DMs, stories, videos and private groups! 

There is often so much emphasis put on how many followers or likes you have, and I’m CONSTANTLY asked this question. But for me, those numbers are in many ways not important. While yes, this IS a business and it does matter in that regard, but the truth is I don’t rely on Instagram or really any social media as a way to solely support myself or my team members.

Let me explain… Instead, social media for me is a bonus of running this business. It’s a thing I truly enjoy, most of all because I get to connect with you all so easily! It’s a way to engage one-on-one, share what we are creating, share personal life moments, and so much more. Social media has greatly evolved, but at it’s heart it is still just a way for me to connect with you all! So please keep on following along, commenting, liking, asking questions, DM’ing, and being involved in our social media community because it’s here for you, and it means the world to me. I truly love nothing more than getting to know you all!

Food can be the answer to some problems, but certainly not all.

Eating and cooking real food changed my life. Truly. I still truly believe in the power of food. I believe that food brings us together. I believe food creates a sense of tradition and culture, and it can be a catalyst for healing and for living a full, energized life. In 2013, I needed to make major changes and healed many health issues through food. I then built my whole business around food as a tool to heal because I genuinely had that experience.

But curveball: What if food isn’t everything? It sounds silly now for me since I really thought this in so many ways, but you guys, of course food can’t cure every single thing. I wrote this article over a year ago about acceptance and the things you cannot change, and it was the start of so many things for me, personally, and for LCK. For some length of time I was plagued with the question: what would my community or others think of a healthy food blogger who has a new genetic health issue and it can’t be fixed with food? Through some hard work on my end, I realized that I wouldn’t want you all to have the impression that food heals all. I don’t want to make it sound like if you eat clean and clean up the products in your home to the best of your ability, that you’ll never get sick or have things happen. That’s not the message I want to send. It’s not reality. It took some time to get to, but I feel I have a bigger purpose now and part of that is to continue to have the courage to be vulnerable. I’m hopeful that by sharing my vulnerabilities, just as I did sharing my own journey with food way back in the beginning, it will be a force of good in allowing others to be comfortable with their own struggles as well.

It’s About Cleaner Living, Too!

Now this part is extra exciting. Have you noticed a few changes around here this year? EVEN more recipes every single week? More diverse and inclusive recipes? More lifestyle articles? More of our best tips? Monthly editorial themes? If you noticed all of this, you’ve been paying attention! This platform, which started as a hobby food blog, has over time evolved into a website dedicated to helping our community create cleaner, happier lifestyles for themselves and their families

It only makes perfect sense that this space known as Lexi’s Clean Kitchen has evolved beyond the kitchen and will move on to be Lexi’s Clean Living; a jam-packed resource for making your hectic life a little bit healthier, without added stress! A space to show you that cleaning up your personal environment and what you put in your body does not have to be overwhelming or boring, and that it can in fact be fun and exciting! That you can make cleaner choices while still having balance in living your life. I’m so excited for what is to come for my space on the internet, and I’m so glad you’ll be coming along for the ride.

Want to know what hasn’t changed?

My WHY.

My Intentions.

The CORE Message.

This website began as a place where I was able to not only help myself through dietary and health changes, but help so many others, too. I’m so forever grateful for that, and that is my continued mission today, and always. All of what you see on Lexi’s Clean Kitchen, and soon to be Lexi’s Clean Living, will still continue to be there, you’ll just be getting MORE of it.

I hope you evolve with us and nourish your body with real food, learn about what you’re putting not just in your body but on it, and find a healthier lifestyle — so that you can feel more confident to live life to the absolute fullest, because you deserve that!

All my love. ALWAYS.

Your friend,

Lexi