“I became aware of the power of Ayurveda in 2005 while I was studying holistic nutrition at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Something that has always resonated with me about Ayurveda is how it takes a rather gentle and very personalized approach. The goal is to find individual balance rather than to reach some sort of standardized goal based on appearances.”
Lisa Chatham, Cookma
Client Feature
Lisa created Cookma based on a deep interest in Ayurvedic medicine sparked during a transformative trip to Kottayam, India. In a Western culture that rarely recognizes the importance of caring for birth-parents after childbirth, Lisa created a brand to bridge a crucial gap in the parenting experience.
Landscape worked closely with Lisa to develop a warm, uplifting and highly differentiated brand identity and experience that captures her desire to provide holistic nutrition to families during this foundational time in life.
See the full case study here
What first piqued your interest in Ayurvedic medicine and your fateful trip to Kottayam, India?
I became aware of the power of Ayurveda in 2005 while I was studying holistic nutrition at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Something that has always resonated with me about Ayurveda is how it takes a rather gentle and very personalized approach. The goal is to find individual balance rather than to reach some sort of standardized goal based on appearances. I also appreciate how holistic Ayurveda is. Rather than being focused strictly on the body, it takes into account the wellbeing of the mind and spirit and has techniques for keeping the whole person in balance, day by day. Additionally, It was such a revelation to understand the benefits and healing potential of ghee. It was quite liberating actually after growing up in the “fat free” craze of the 80s and 90s.
Later down the road, I was preparing for pregnancy, which hadn’t come easy up to that point. I decided to skip my annual trip to the Amazon, which often left me skinny and depleted and instead opted for a month in India to dive deeply into Ayurveda. I spent a month basically steeped in Ayurvedic herbs, ghee, and receiving nourishing body treatments to fill my cup for the road ahead of pregnancy and parenthood. I returned from that trip and got pregnant right away! Since then, I have been devoted to studying how Ayurveda can support the path of parenthood and wellbeing.
Are there any books, pieces of literature, artworks, or journals that you have been deeply inspired by?
I began Cookma when my last business “died of Covid” in early 2020. It was a time of great perspective shifting for me. I became aware of the work of Charles Eisenstein, Vandana Shiva, Zach Bush, and Helena Norberg-Hodge. These great thinkers have helped me find my orientation personally so that I could be clear on exactly what kind of business I want Cookma to be. I’ve spent the past few years working on building the business (product, design, operations, etc.), but I’ve also put a considerable amount of focus and time on reshaping my understanding of the world so that I can offer something that I truly believe can contribute to the wellbeing of the collective.
More practically, I have deep respect for Heng Ou who wrote First Forty Days, a cookbook and postpartum guide. That book is waking so many of us up to the importance of postpartum care and I believe she is making a big contribution to the revolution we need. Jenny Alison and Julia Jones are both excellent writers and thinkers on the topic of traditional practices for mothers.
I think it’s important to say that I make no claims to be an expert on Ayurveda, postpartum care or wellness. I share the wisdom that inspires me. I offer a listing of our “heroes” on the Cookma website under Resources and invite others to dive deeper there.
I became aware of the power of Ayurveda in 2005 while I was studying holistic nutrition at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Something that has always resonated with me about Ayurveda is how it takes a rather gentle and very personalized approach. The goal is to find individual balance rather than to reach some sort of standardized goal based on appearances. I also appreciate how holistic Ayurveda is. Rather than being focused strictly on the body, it takes into account the wellbeing of the mind and spirit and has techniques for keeping the whole person in balance, day by day. Additionally, It was such a revelation to understand the benefits and healing potential of ghee. It was quite liberating actually after growing up in the “fat free” craze of the 80s and 90s.
Later down the road, I was preparing for pregnancy, which hadn’t come easy up to that point. I decided to skip my annual trip to the Amazon, which often left me skinny and depleted and instead opted for a month in India to dive deeply into Ayurveda. I spent a month basically steeped in Ayurvedic herbs, ghee, and receiving nourishing body treatments to fill my cup for the road ahead of pregnancy and parenthood. I returned from that trip and got pregnant right away! Since then, I have been devoted to studying how Ayurveda can support the path of parenthood and wellbeing.
Are there any books, pieces of literature, artworks, or journals that you have been deeply inspired by?
I began Cookma when my last business “died of Covid” in early 2020. It was a time of great perspective shifting for me. I became aware of the work of Charles Eisenstein, Vandana Shiva, Zach Bush, and Helena Norberg-Hodge. These great thinkers have helped me find my orientation personally so that I could be clear on exactly what kind of business I want Cookma to be. I’ve spent the past few years working on building the business (product, design, operations, etc.), but I’ve also put a considerable amount of focus and time on reshaping my understanding of the world so that I can offer something that I truly believe can contribute to the wellbeing of the collective.
More practically, I have deep respect for Heng Ou who wrote First Forty Days, a cookbook and postpartum guide. That book is waking so many of us up to the importance of postpartum care and I believe she is making a big contribution to the revolution we need. Jenny Alison and Julia Jones are both excellent writers and thinkers on the topic of traditional practices for mothers.
I think it’s important to say that I make no claims to be an expert on Ayurveda, postpartum care or wellness. I share the wisdom that inspires me. I offer a listing of our “heroes” on the Cookma website under Resources and invite others to dive deeper there.
What are some lessons or advice you’d share for women who are pursuing the parenting journey alone?
Wow – that’s a question without an easy answer. Let me first say that it is not my desire or design to pursue the parenting journey alone. I want all children, including mine, to have a strong family unit. I think a strong family unit can happen with a solo parent, but I’m not going to give any indication that it’s easy or that I’ve got it figured out! Let’s be honest, parenting as a pair is tough. Solo parenting is bananas.
Here are the gems that keep me going:
CLEAR PRIORITIES: Because solo parenting is so involved (as is all parenting, of course) and because I only have so much time and energy, I have to be very clear with myself of what my priorities are. At this point, I can devote myself to three – my daughter, Cookma, and my self care. There are times that I grieve for what I don’t have the time or bandwidth for, but to me, it’s more important to be clear and steady on what really matters to me rather than depleting my energy and time in other places. It lets me take some of the pressure off of myself when I start to think that I should be doing more.
COMMUNITY: My daughter and I live in community and share our home with one of our close friends. It makes a huge difference to live with another adult so I can have an adult conversation from time to time at home and so that my daughter hears the modeling of healthy dialogue in our home as opposed to just our parent/child dialogue. It’s also quite fun to live with a friend!
FUTURE SELF THINKING: A mantra I hold in my mind often is “think of your future self”. For me, that means that if I think of my future self (the “me” at a later moment) and do small preparations, my future self will feel the support. For example, every night before bed, I set up my supplements, tea, and morning needs. That way, when I wake up in the morning, I feel supported in some way. It helps. The hardest part of solo parenting is that I don’t have the support I want/need, and doing these little things along the way helps me cultivate the feeling of support.
SELF CARE: It’s a priority for all parents. For a single parent, this is crucial. I book time for myself to have two days of “being nothing to no one” every two months. For the first half day, I usually spin around like a top, not knowing what the heck to do with myself and unable to relax, but then I slow and I melt, and I recover. Cookma products are super helpful at this time because I can nourish myself very easily and the food is so comforting. It’s been vital for me to get over the idea of this time as lazy or unproductive and to accept and honor this need for myself.
Does Cookma have plans to collaborate with chefs, culinary experts, or other brands to develop new products or enhance its offerings?
We collaborated with our friends at Leaves & Flowers teas for our lactation support tea. I so admire what they’re doing. We got the chance to test the efficacy of the tea since one of the founders was a new mom so it was a really special collaboration.
I’d love to collaborate more in the future. I truly believe in a collective leaning toward collaboration over competition.
Wow – that’s a question without an easy answer. Let me first say that it is not my desire or design to pursue the parenting journey alone. I want all children, including mine, to have a strong family unit. I think a strong family unit can happen with a solo parent, but I’m not going to give any indication that it’s easy or that I’ve got it figured out! Let’s be honest, parenting as a pair is tough. Solo parenting is bananas.
Here are the gems that keep me going:
CLEAR PRIORITIES: Because solo parenting is so involved (as is all parenting, of course) and because I only have so much time and energy, I have to be very clear with myself of what my priorities are. At this point, I can devote myself to three – my daughter, Cookma, and my self care. There are times that I grieve for what I don’t have the time or bandwidth for, but to me, it’s more important to be clear and steady on what really matters to me rather than depleting my energy and time in other places. It lets me take some of the pressure off of myself when I start to think that I should be doing more.
COMMUNITY: My daughter and I live in community and share our home with one of our close friends. It makes a huge difference to live with another adult so I can have an adult conversation from time to time at home and so that my daughter hears the modeling of healthy dialogue in our home as opposed to just our parent/child dialogue. It’s also quite fun to live with a friend!
FUTURE SELF THINKING: A mantra I hold in my mind often is “think of your future self”. For me, that means that if I think of my future self (the “me” at a later moment) and do small preparations, my future self will feel the support. For example, every night before bed, I set up my supplements, tea, and morning needs. That way, when I wake up in the morning, I feel supported in some way. It helps. The hardest part of solo parenting is that I don’t have the support I want/need, and doing these little things along the way helps me cultivate the feeling of support.
SELF CARE: It’s a priority for all parents. For a single parent, this is crucial. I book time for myself to have two days of “being nothing to no one” every two months. For the first half day, I usually spin around like a top, not knowing what the heck to do with myself and unable to relax, but then I slow and I melt, and I recover. Cookma products are super helpful at this time because I can nourish myself very easily and the food is so comforting. It’s been vital for me to get over the idea of this time as lazy or unproductive and to accept and honor this need for myself.
Does Cookma have plans to collaborate with chefs, culinary experts, or other brands to develop new products or enhance its offerings?
We collaborated with our friends at Leaves & Flowers teas for our lactation support tea. I so admire what they’re doing. We got the chance to test the efficacy of the tea since one of the founders was a new mom so it was a really special collaboration.
I’d love to collaborate more in the future. I truly believe in a collective leaning toward collaboration over competition.
How does Cookma ensure the quality of its ingredients and the sourcing of its products?
From everything from turmeric to tape, Cookma works with very few, thoroughly-vetted vendors. It’s been so important for me to have collaborative, mutually respectful relationships in order to bring that sense of integrity to every aspect of our products. I’ve been able to create a network of local vendors so that we can actually meet face-to-face which feels very refreshing to me. Everything that comes through our kitchen doors is inspected by me to maintain our quality standards and if something isn’t right, I have good vendor relationships to get things back on track.
What are some of your long-term goals or milestones you’d like to reach in the next 1-5 years?
I’d love to see Cookma grow to be in service to the people who need it. I’m imagining that will be through relationships with birth workers and other holistic practitioners across the US. I’d like Cookma to be an easy thing for practitioners to refer their clients to when healing food is needed. Food is the central ingredient for health and so many people need clearer, more simple tools to feed themselves and their families.
I imagine that Cookma will always be in the “small business” category. I am doing everything I can to build a strong food business that is outside of “big food”, i.e not working with big distributors or mainstream grocery. Small businesses tend to get gobbled up by big food and bought out by conglomerates that depreciate the quality and integrity of the product. I’m totally happy with Cookma being a thriving small business through online sales and a few retail partners, and avoiding the mentality of endless growth and market domination.
From everything from turmeric to tape, Cookma works with very few, thoroughly-vetted vendors. It’s been so important for me to have collaborative, mutually respectful relationships in order to bring that sense of integrity to every aspect of our products. I’ve been able to create a network of local vendors so that we can actually meet face-to-face which feels very refreshing to me. Everything that comes through our kitchen doors is inspected by me to maintain our quality standards and if something isn’t right, I have good vendor relationships to get things back on track.
What are some of your long-term goals or milestones you’d like to reach in the next 1-5 years?
I’d love to see Cookma grow to be in service to the people who need it. I’m imagining that will be through relationships with birth workers and other holistic practitioners across the US. I’d like Cookma to be an easy thing for practitioners to refer their clients to when healing food is needed. Food is the central ingredient for health and so many people need clearer, more simple tools to feed themselves and their families.
I imagine that Cookma will always be in the “small business” category. I am doing everything I can to build a strong food business that is outside of “big food”, i.e not working with big distributors or mainstream grocery. Small businesses tend to get gobbled up by big food and bought out by conglomerates that depreciate the quality and integrity of the product. I’m totally happy with Cookma being a thriving small business through online sales and a few retail partners, and avoiding the mentality of endless growth and market domination.