befoodsmart
JULY/AUGUST 2019 81 SHAPE.COM
F
ood has always been one of Caroll
Lee’s passions. But when she was
pregnant with her fi rst child, she
began thinking about the quality of
what she was eating and not just
how it tasted. “I started questioning everything
I was putting in my body,” says Lee, 48. “That’s
when I left my e-commerce job in the fashion
world to go back to school to study nutrition.”
That life-changing move in 2010 led to the
creation of Provenance, which delivers organic
meals. What began as a two-person team, with
Lee delivering the food by bicycle, is now a fl our-
ishing enterprise with 2,000 clients. Provenance
Meals serves the New York City area, but Lee is
expanding to New Jersey and Connecticut this
year and plans to take it national.
WOME N
RUN T HE
WORLD
POWERFUL
HEALTH PERKS
“What you put in
your body three
times a day
affects how you
feel, your energy
level, and even
your mental
health,” Lee says.
Caroll
LEE
The inspiration to start a business to encour-
age people to eat better came from Lee’s work as
a health coach after graduating from the Institute
for Integrative Nutrition. As she helped clients
eat more plant-based and whole foods and elim-
inate gluten, sugar, and dairy from their diets,
she began to see dramatic changes. “They would
no longer have an energy slump or bloating,”
she says. “Or they would sleep better or stop getting
migraines.” When clients started asking her to provide
meals for them, Lee saw a business opportunity for
healthy food. In 2012 she teamed with a chef and began
designing menus and cooking. “The company grew
from there—mostly by word of mouth,” she says.
In 2017, when Provenance hit $1 million in revenue,
Lee realized it was a success. “I thought,
Oh my God, this is a real business,” she says.
Today Provenance off ers an array of menu
options. There are plant-based meals, dishes
with extra protein, and a more structured detox
program. “It’s so gratifying to know that we’re
making healthy eating simple and delicious,” Lee
says. “We teach people to think diff erently about
food, and that’s something I’m proud to be part of.”
Realizing that wellness
begins with how we eat, Lee
quit her job and launched a
business to help people
make healthy meal picks.
The risk paid off. By Pam O’Brien
EATING MADE EASY
“We’re not only
nourishing people
but eliminating their
worry about what
to eat,” Lee says.
