When you first walk into the warm, natural space of The Lucky Gut in Simsbury, you know there is something special about it. As you take a few more steps, you notice the grab-and-go market filled with bowls and sausages, dips and sauces for fresh vegetables, locally produced chips and snacks. To the side is a smoothie bar, inviting you to taste the seasonal goodness concocted from the mixers and blenders in view. It doesn’t take long to realize that everything is locally sourced, healthy, made in the scratch kitchen in-store and seems to be delicious. It is a nirvana for the health conscious.
Life brings healthy solutions
The genesis of The Lucky Gut Collective (LGC) came from life experiences and struggles and evolved into a collective place for those seeking healthy eating.
When Michelle Mullin’s son was around three years old, he developed a number of health conditions that forced him into a restrictive, carefully planned diet. Not wanting him to feel left out, Michelle joined him on this food journey, sharing these new strange, fermented meals with him and making sure he wasn’t alone. As his allergies disappeared and his overall health improved, Michelle found her migraines receding and joint pain fading in ways she never expected. This experience, along with her studies into herbalism and gut health, led her to a new mission: making healthy foods, and information about how food affects your health, more accessible to her community.
A decade ago, Lori Segar was in a car accident. After dealing with months of physical therapy, she refused to accept her constant pain as the new normal. She nearly ran away from her bootcamp-like gym but persisted, to eventually becoming a prize-winning power lifter. With a new focus on her physical health, she was eager to join Michelle’s new healthy food mission.
Working together wasn’t new for them, having already owned two successful childcare centers, but this was a new course for both. Lori’s daughter, Samantha Norman, with a background in world travel and health studies and a keenly organized mind, was the natural choice of business partner and co-creator. Together, the three of them formed The Lucky Gut Collective to support the health journeys of others and provide a community.
They wanted to provide a trustworthy place for busy residents to come for healthy nutritional foods knowing many people don’t have time, energy, or possibly even cooking skills to meet the needs of their families. They understood the struggle of maintaining a healthy diet, raising a family, and limited time.
“It’s a space where I could send my daughter in and she could pick anything and I wouldn’t be like, ‘Ew that’s too processed,’” Sam says. “We’ve done the hard part for you,” Michelle adds.
Building Community
LGC doesn’t just want to share food with the community, they want to share knowledge and resources on healthy eating. LGC offers classes to help instill confidence in the kitchen by developing basic skills and building blocks for a healthier lifestyle. They encourage families to bring their children to classes, to get them involved early so that cooking and eating become part of their lives. For adults, their kitchen gets to be a learning playground where you can make a mess without fear. As Lori says, “We just want people cooking with real ingredients, making real food.”
Once you have made your food, you are encouraged to stay and eat with your fellow chefs. LGC is a third space – somewhere outside a home and job where you can spend time without external pressures. Eat, work, or just relax and enjoy the ambiance between workshops and classes. Food is a community builder, and having a place to break bread with friends and family is just as important as knowing how to prepare it. The full mission of LGC goes even further beyond the market and the kitchen; they want to incubate young businesses and support local entrepreneurs. They are now building a network of artists, farms, nonprofits, and others. A seasonal vendor fair and in-house consignment gives locals a space to sell their products; their workshop space is available for artists and instructors to teach classes and share their skills; even their incredible scratch kitchen is rented out after hours to those who need a professional kitchen space for their business but can’t afford to buy their own.
The women of The Lucky Gut want to make their space into a community hub for as many people as they can reach. Michelle spoke of how isolated she felt while helping her son through his medical issues. She and Lori have seen the rise in allergies and health issues in the children that enter their care, and believe parents should have access to information, resources, and, most importantly, community as they help their children.
The Lucky Gut is a space for people open to learning. Learning about their own health, learning about what they’re capable of, and learning about what their community has to offer. Their mission is broad because their focus on holistic wellness covers a broad scope. From art classes to making sauces from vegetables grown locally, learning can actually make you feel healthier. The Lucky Gut is bringing the kitchen back to the community and helping everyone be their healthiest selves.
Lucky Gut Collective doesn’t just want to share food with the community, they want to share knowledge and resources on healthy eating.