Mompreneur – A Success Phenomenon
“My goal for Natasha’s Kitchen is for it to become a household name; a trusted source of recipes for home cooks and a resource for re-discovering and falling in love with Russian and Ukrainian cooking”.
Natasha Kravchuk
I like to think of success as an iceberg. Above the water is the success that you have achieved; the accomplishments that are visible to others. Whereas underneath the water, is the rest of the iceberg. The parts that are hidden from everyone except you. Under the water lie all the obstacles that you had to overcome trying to reach success, including all the hard work, dedication, sacrifices and even failures that you had to go through to achieve what you have today. People of success aren’t the ones that never failed; they are the ones that never quit. The same could be said about Natasha Kravchuk – owner of the popular and nationally recognized food blog – Natasha’s Kitchen.
Much the same as many of us, Natasha was searching for something that she could fall in love with. Not just a standard day-to-day job, but rather something that could ignite a fire within her and that she could look forward to every day. This was when she discovered the joy of blogging.
Originally, Natasha started a cooking blog in 2009 for the purpose to share recipes and events with close family and friends, “we wanted to document and explore our Slavic cooking heritage and there really weren’t any good trusted recipe sources in 2009, so we started our own.” It turned out that many other people and fellow bloggers were interested in exploring the art of Ukrainian and Russian cuisine and Natasha’s Kitchen started swiftly gaining popularity.
Eventually, blogging became Natasha’s full-time career and her husband, Vadim, was able to quit his job and help his wife with the blog. Presently, Natasha’s Kitchen attracts an average of 1.5 million visitors a month and features over 600 different Slavic recipes. Many of these Slavic recipes are particularly popular and even land a space on the first page of Google and get featured in acclaimed media. Be that as it may, the journey to becoming the owner of a nationally recognized food blog was definitely not a simple one. Before starting her blog, Natasha worked as a realtor for four years and acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in Business as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing several years later, “I was a realtor to get me through business school (because I’ve always wanted to have a business), and while I was a realtor I learned about blogging. I graduated from business school when the economy crumbled, so I took the practical route and got my Bachelor’s degree in nursing. I’m not one to sit still.”
Working as a nurse, as well as taking care of a family, definitely had its challenging moments; however, this did not erode Natasha’s spirit, “My role as a nurse taught me that I could do anything that I put my mind and heart to. I think back on my night shifts on one of the most difficult floors of the hospital and realized that if I can do that, anything else that comes my way is cake!”
Even after discovering a passion for cooking and blogging, there were still many challenges ahead. One of the most challenging moments in Natasha’s history of blogging was “trying to juggle everything and finding the balance between being a good Mom and wife while running a business.” Every day in food blogging can be considered a hassle, “we work really hard to make it look easy.”
Nevertheless, after a long day of blogging, hearing comments from the readers is what really makes it all worth it, “the picky 3-year-old that LOVED the chicken soup, the wife who overheard her husband saying that she was an amazing cook, or the in-laws who that were incredibly impressed by a new brides kitchen skills, the list goes on and on.”
In the end, there really is no specific formula for achieving your dreams and to being successful. However, there are pieces of advice that you can tell yourself to stay motivated and on-track towards your definition of success. A piece of advice that Natasha likes to remind herself and her blog readers of is “don’t be so hard on yourself, and don’t compare your own God-given talents and abilities with anyone else’s.” Ergo, don’t be pushed by your problems, but instead be led by your dreams. Maybe you too can create a wondrous cooking blog.
Natasha Kravchuk is a young woman of Ukrainian heritage that immigrated to the United States at the age of four. Following the footsteps of many other Slavic women before her, Natasha obtained her education, got married, had children and worked several jobs all while taking care of her family.
FEATURED IN:
Acclaimed website: MSN, Better Homes & Gardens, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, Huffington Post Canada, Chow.com, Yummly
Blogs: Top Inspired, The 11 best, Delish, Tasty Kitchen, Epicurious, Daily Burn, Chef in Training, AFarmGirlDabbles.com, TheKitchn, Blogher Food Network
Magazines: Country Living Magazine, Canada Running Magazine, Fitness Magazine, Low Sugar Living Magazine, Healthy Living Magazine, Yum for Kids Magazine, Dish & Done Magazine, Stylist Magazine, Bake it Magazine, Self Magazine
TV: ABC Family’s Young & Hungry, The Dr. Oz Show
