Menu Drives Your Business: Inside Health-e Pro's Mission to Save Menu Planners Time

What happens when a retired school nutrition director decides to build the software she always wished she had? You get Health-e Pro — a USDA-approved menu planning platform with over 5,000 recipes, 20,000 products, and a team of dietitians and food service professionals building technology from the inside out.In this episode, Marlon Gordon sits down with Kadon Simmons (Head of Growth) and Kim Coleman (Head of Product) at Health-e Pro to break down how their founder Meg Chesley turned a consulting side hustle into a 30-person company that school districts refuse to leave. They dive into how menu planning drives the entire school nutrition business, why their software is designed for you to spend LESS time in it, how AI is about to change compliance and recipe suggestions, the role manufacturers and commodities play in K-12 food service, and why the best people in this industry are lifers.Whether you're a food service director, a menu planner, a school nutrition professional, or a manufacturer trying to better serve K-12, this conversation is packed with insights on technology, innovation, scratch cooking, USDA compliance, and the future of feeding kids.===========================Connect with our guests! ===========================Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/healtheproInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthe_pro/?hl=enLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/15218019X: https://twitter.com/healthe_proYouTube: @healthepro ===========================Connect with us! ===========================Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtgen_network/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtgenmarlon/ https://www.facebook.com/NxtGenNetworkAgencyLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nxtgen-network/ ===========================================Subscribe and Listen to the Next Up Podcast HERE:📱 ===========================================➡︎ YT: https://www.youtube.com/@nxtgennetwork/podcasts➡︎ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-up-podcast/id1598968019➡︎ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ex3Oj7aodeUe48EJGy9Dz ⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️00:00 Passion Meets Purpose: The Journey Begins07:21 From Sports to School Nutrition: Kaden's Transition14:51 Kim's Path: A Lifelong Commitment to School Nutrition21:56 Healthy Pro's Origin Story: A Vision for Menu Planning28:50 Innovating School Nutrition: Technology and Equipment31:11 Changing Perceptions: The Future of School Meals32:29 Creating Engaging Recipe Experiences34:04 Streamlining Menu Planning with Technology36:23 Understanding the Business of School Nutrition38:43 Incorporating AI into Menu Planning42:09 The Future of Menu Planning Software44:12 Connecting the School Nutrition Community48:08 Innovative Practices in Small School Districts51:47 The Road Ahead for Healthy Pro54:34 Engaging with the School Nutrition Industry01:00:13 Maximizing Commodity Processing in Schools