Laureen Asseo, a 27-year-old entrepreneur, is the founder and Co-CEO of Fresh n’ Lean, a healthy meal delivery service offering 100% organic dishes free from preservatives, additives, dairy, gluten, GMOs, hormones, added sugar, and soy. With her company having sold five million meals to date, Laureen’s journey to success is truly inspiring.
Laureen’s venture began in her own home, where she started preparing vegan meals for friends and family. As demand grew, she saw an opportunity to expand and promote nutrition education while providing access to wholesome ingredients on a national scale.
The catalyst for her entrepreneurial path was a health scare her father experienced in 2009 due to being overweight and consuming fast and processed foods. This prompted Laureen to create food plans to help her father recover. She guided him towards a diet of whole grains and vegetables, all homemade from scratch, while cutting out animal protein. The remarkable results inspired her to turn her food plan into a business idea.
In 2010, she founded Fresh n’ Lean, aiming to offer affordable, healthy, and delicious ready-to-eat meals to people nationwide. What started from her one-bedroom apartment in Redondo Beach, CA, has now grown into a thriving business. To meet the growing demand, she recently designed a custom kitchen and manufacturing facility in Anaheim, CA, allowing the company to produce 80,000 meals per week and expanding their capacity to 500,000 meals per week.
Laureen’s journey has been filled with challenges, from adapting to different commercial kitchens to learning about construction during the creation of her new facility. Despite the obstacles, she persisted and reached a significant milestone for her company.
Being a young, female entrepreneur posed unique challenges. To gain respect in business meetings, Laureen sometimes had to hide her age. Yet, these experiences taught her resilience, self-belief, and the importance of never giving up on her dreams.
Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: “Never give up and know what you are capable of. Just really believe in what you are doing and don’t let anyone take that passion away from you.”
Looking ahead, Laureen aims to make Fresh n’ Lean a household name and expand into traditional retail distribution. The company recently opened its first brick-and-mortar retail store in Santa Monica and plans to open more in the future.
In her journey, Laureen recommends the book “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less” and relies on tools like podcast apps, ClassPass for staying fit, and Google Apps for productivity. She can’t live without her family, her animals, and a good cup of coffee or tea, and her legacy goal is to leave a positive impact on people’s lives.
