Meet Allyssa Phillip | Mother, Small Business Owner & Recipe Curator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allyssa Phillip and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Allyssa, as a parent, what have you done for you children that you feel has had the most significant impact?
I think its most parent’s hope to be a great example in terms of drive and being a good person, but I think what trumps that is how much I want to be a safe space for my son. My BIGGEST prayer/wish for him, is that he knows how truly unconditional our love for him is. I don’t want him to ever feel like he has to earn it, or that it’s dependent on certain behaviors. Being a mother to me means cultivating an environment where he feels overwhelming love, security, and where he can grow into an amazing tiny human that in turn gives that same love in the world he grows up in.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I would say that at the root of my business is my love for food, curating recipes, and having friends and family feel welcome in my home. I have always been someone who shows my love through cooking/catering to those closest to me when they are in my home. Whether it was my 2 bedroom dorm in college that the whole building was coming to Sunday night for my “famous” Mac N’ Cheese, or hosting dinner and game night for our friends in my and Joey’s first apartment.

I started curating recipes at 9 years old when my family gifted me my first hand held mixer and food processor for Christmas! Mind you, I always had a brain for business and would take my easy bake oven cookies to church every week to sell them. Thankfully, as I got older, and smarter, the recipes became a lot better as well.

I feel like transitioning into a boutique business that is mainly focused around kitchen and hosting items was a pretty natural next step for me. For years I had researched, planned, and made 1000’s of to-do lists before taking the leap of faith and putting my savings into launching Kitch & Co. It was honestly the hardest thing I have ever done. I did not grow up with a lot, so the fact that I was even blessed with being able to save $30,000 I could invest into something that was fully mine was the scariest thing for me. I know that may not seem like a lot to others, but for me, that was quite literally everything. Not to mention, I had just given birth to our beautiful son a few short months before. I have been blessed with such an amazing support system in my partner and family. Without them, none of this would be able to scale to where it is now.

It will sound completely cliche, but nothing in life worth doing is easy. It’s never easy, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I have made sacrifices I otherwise would not have had to make…. I’m not talking about only skipping out on Starbucks and Doordash every week… But downsizing to one car payment, and sharing a car for over a year. Missing out on weekends with our son and my partner because I am working markets all day. Spending late nights counting inventory, prepping for markets, and missing bedtime baths. Waking up and leaving the house before either of them are awake so that I can get to markets in time to setup. This doesn’t include the backend of website building, sending out shipments….. doing the laundry, cleaning, the house, and making breakfast lunch and dinner at 4am so that you leave one less thing for your spouse to have to worry about throughout the day with our child. I go this in depth, because I feel like at times people don’t fully describe the little things you are sacrificing temporarily to build something bigger than yourself.

For us, the sacrifice right now is worth having a legacy our family can look up to later. The great thing is that its not forever, and the sense of accomplishment and pride is.

What I want most of all for people to take away from this is DO NOT GIVE UP, and INVEST IN YOURSELF! Only you can see YOUR dream through to fruition. It is SOOOOOOOO hard, but if you take the little wins everyday, and live off of that positive energy, it will come back to you tenfold. I am so far from where I know I want to be, but 9 year old Allyssa is beaming from ear to ear right now because this road has taken me down paths I didn’t even know I would ever be capable of.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Ok, os obviously since I am obsessed with food, 90% of this is gonna be recommendations for places to eat…. after that, I am at a loss for what other people do for fun? Eating is mine and Joey’s “fun” haha!

Ohhh hands down the first breakfast spot we are hitting is Chestnut! My favorite breakfast dish is the avocado toast that has the bacon jam…. literally drooling right now thinking about it. Next up I would definitely grab tacos at Taco Chelo in Downtown Phoenix. The fish tacos and Horchata are my go-tos, but you literally cannot go wrong with anything there! If we are staying downtown for dinner, there are 3 places we are probably going; Blue Hound, Hanny’s, or Pizzeria Bianco. All very different menus and very different vibes, but insanely amazing in their own right.

In between all of this are some awesome daytime markets with talented local vendors that we like to go to! There is Sidewalk Saturday In downtown Phoenix, Uptown Market off Central & Bethany Home, Phoenix Flea is twice a year, and a ton more that are soooo worth stopping by!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Wow… I don’t even know where to begin with this one. The Phoenix community has been so warm, welcoming, and OPEN to truly helping anyone who is willing to ask! I would have to start with my very good friend Kirsten Steele over at Chestnut AZ. Since my first time meeting her, she has introduced me to equally as genuine humans that are TRULY invested in your growth, for example, my now good friend Sarah Benken over at KNOW Women. Kirsten has always been someone I can reach out to and bounce ideas off of. She will literally stop her day to sit down with me and help me walk through pros vs. cons of business decisions I need to make. Without her encouragement, and guidance throughout the years, I don’t know that I would have had the guts to put myself out there in ways that I have. She helped me to realize that everyone has started where I am, so it made me less intimidated by people that I may have otherwise been too starstruck to reach out to.

Website: www.kitchandco.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/shopkitchandco

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allyssa-phillip-8ab050a7

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopkitchandco

Other: www.instagram.com/shopkitchandcokids www.simplyallyssa.com (for recipes) www.instagram.com/simplyallyssa

Image Credits
Alyssa Ryan Photography