Bringing the joy of plant-based nutrition on to people’s plates is Alex’s mission. She discovered her passion for cooking with whole clean ingredients while attending a culinary education course in Los Angeles and decided to bring this novel style of eating to Switzerland in form of a meal delivery service. Arts and travel are the main inspiration behind her cooking which translates into beautifully vibrant salads, soups and snacks which you can’t get enough of if you try them once, all while based on the latest cutting edge nutrition science to make you feel your best.
Tell me about yourself.
My name is Alexandra Marmaziu but I love when people call me Alex. I was born in Romania almost 36 years ago and I moved to Jura on the French side of Switzerland with my family when I was five years old. I studied business Economics & Finance in Lausanne and did an exchange semester in Los Angeles at UCLA. When I was done with my studies, I got a job in the finance industry in Geneva and finally Zurich, where I still live today. After 10 years in finance, I reoriented my career and started my own company EATbyalex with the dream to empower people to live a sustainable and healthy lifestyle by sharing my love and expertise for plant-based nutrition.
What inspired you to create EATbyalex?
After ten years in finance I didn’t feel inspired anymore. The time felt right for a change, I wanted to learn and grow and I have always had the dream of starting my own business but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. So I took some time off to reflect on what it was that fulfilled me and I realized that food had always been an important component in my life. Still in love with Los Angeles I also knew that I wanted to spend more time there, so I found an amazing plant-based culinary education course with Matthew Kenney in Venice Beach. I was fascinated by the idea because it was something completely different from the traditional French culinary schools. It was focused on plants and it was raw which seemed very futuristic and fascinating. It felt like the perfect thing to do while spending some time in Los Angeles. I got completely immersed in the LA lifestyle and I met so many people who shared my passion for living a healthy life. In this very creative environment, I realized that this was what was missing in Switzerland: a company based around healthy plant-based meals. I wanted to show people that eating plant-based food could be a delicious and joyful experience and that’s how EATbyalex was born. This was three years ago now.
When I got back to Zurich I started doing pop up events where I offered the plant-based food I cooked and it picked up very well. People loved it. I knew I was on to something and I wanted to continue but opening a restaurant didn’t seem like the right thing for me. Juice cleanses were quite popular back then but not sustainable in my opinion, so I thought why not create a real food “cleanse”. I wanted it to be fresh but convenient and to stay true to my mission to show people how amazing it feels to eat real, clean and food you can chew on. It was never about being restrictive or forbidding people something, actually quite the opposite. By adding in more plants, you automatically eat less animal products and processed foods. The key is to show people by not having meat on your plate you’re not missing out. With my offering I want to showcase that eating plants can be exciting and delicious.
What was your journey into entrepreneurship?
I always had the dream of owning a business. But you know, often you have a dream but you don’t necessarily have that one great idea of what you want to do or you just have many small ideas. I think I was able to come up with a vision for my business because I gave myself time to think, explore and define what I’m really good at and what I wanted to do with my life. Despite my parents and friends getting impatient and asking what I was going to do, I gave myself the space to develop my business idea. I was sure I was going to come up with the right thing as long as I didn’t rush anything. And it was exactly that. It took me a year and a half to come up with what I do now. Instead of giving into the outside pressure, I listened to my intuition and let the concept grow organically.
What have been the biggest challenges throughout your journey so far?
As a start-up you face challenges everywhere all the time. There are so many issues to solve which are not necessarily in your skill set but I love that because you learn every day. That was exactly why I left my job in finance. Instead of specializing in just one area you touch so many aspects as an entrepreneur.
I would say the biggest challenge for me overall has been building and leading a team. You have to find the right people who work well together, be able to understand each individual’s character and needs and make sure you translate your vision into the company culture. I started out on my own four years ago and now our company counts five employees, three chefs and someone handling the marketing and logistics.
Another challenge for me is to consciously stop from time to time to give myself the space for creativity. There is so much going on with the business all the time that it is hard to free the mind and make time to read, learn and get inspired. But I’m trying to make a conscious effort to do this more.
Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
Honestly, I don’t know. I like to go with the flow. I just hope that I can continue to build a strong brand, to share my knowledge and to inspire people to eat more plant-based food.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find a lot of inspiration in art. I was always into art and I have taken a lot of painting classes and courses and this translates into the way I cook. I know how to use colors to make a dish look vibrant.
I also get inspired from traveling and other cultures. My family’s background is very diverse, I’m originally from Romania and my husband’s father is from Bangladesh. When I travel I am all about the food and trying new things which inspires me so much.
Take us through a day in your life.
I’m an early bird. I like to do some yoga right after I get up, usually an online class. Then I make coffee and chit chat with my husband for half an hour and we share our goals and intentions for the day. Then I do some work from home on my computer. Over lunchtime I do a workout with my personal trainer and then I go over to the lab to make sure everything runs smoothly there and help out where I can. I try to be home by 6 pm and take the evening for myself to be creative in the kitchen and try new dishes. It relaxes me and I love to take the time to cook for me and my husband at night and to enjoy a nice dinner as during the day I rarely have time to eat in peace.
What does self-care mean to you?
To me, self-care is really finding time to be mindful and relaxed. That’s why I take at least an hour a day to train or yoga because it gets my mind off things. Also eating good food in the evening and listening to music really nurtures me.
What does your morning routine look like?
I have a very simple morning routine. I wake up at 6.30 and I join an online yoga class from 7am to 8am. I only have coffee in the morning and try to fast until lunch because it makes me so much more productive and less likely to snack all morning.
What is your evening routine?
I love to take time to cook dinner or go out to a restaurant and try new things. My favorite places in Zurich are Rosso and Maison Manesse. I’m looking forward to go back to our restaurant dates after the lock down.
I also try to read before going to bed which normally lasts about two pages before I fall asleep. This makes it really hard to ever finish a book (laughs).
What kind of exercise do you do?
I love my yoga in the mornings and at lunchtime I work out with my personal trainer three times a week. We do a lot of body weight exercises and weights to build strength. I love working out with him, he is more of a coach to me. We talk and laugh a lot during our work outs.
What is your approach to nutrition?
I’m plant-based the majority of the time but I really eat everything, just barely any meat. I feel my best when I eat mostly plant-based unprocessed foods. It’s also so much better for the environment. I try to stay really open-minded and I think that has been the success behind EATbyalex because my approach to nutrition is not restrictive at all but about pleasure and enjoyment. My concept has never been to tell people they should become vegan. It’s more like, “Let’s add more plants to your life.”
What is your clean beauty non-negotiable?
I’m really trying to switch most of my cosmetic products to natural with the exception of my BB cream from Estée Lauder that I just love so much. My beauty regime is very minimal, I just use a rose oil from Be Pure on my face at night.
How do you bring mindfulness into your day?
Through moving my body. It’s so hard for me to switch off, but when I do yoga or workout I can’t think of anything else. Cooking brings me mindful moments as well, I try to do it every evening. Those two things are staples in my routine every day because they bring me peace and calm. I also try to just stop and focus on my breath during the day and look at the beautiful nature around me when I’m outside.
What are you grateful for?
I’m grateful for the people around me, the EATbyalex community, my husband, my friends and since this lock down has started I have really learned to appreciate our beautiful nature here in Zurich. I love sitting on my balcony or laying in the grass at a park and soaking up the sun.
What brings you joy?
Listening to music on very high volume, cooking, sports, being with friends, traveling and discovering new things. All these things bring me so much joy.
What little things do you do in your life in order to make a difference in the world in terms of sustainability?
I try to empower people to eat more plant-based and make the more conscious of their food choices which affects our environment in a great way. When I discovered plant-based food, I thought, “It’s great for the body, but it’s also so good for nature.” To me, the environmental aspect has always been very important, because I love nature. It makes so much sense to eat plant-based from a health perspective, but also for our beautiful planet. I have done a lot of research to understand how the environment is changing because of our consumption of animal products. A lot of people haven’t yet understood what the impact of us eating meat, fish and dairy has on nature.
What was the last book you have read?
Steve Job’s biography
Favorite podcast to listen to?
Making Sense with Sam Harris & the Tim Ferriss Show
Favorite app?
Currently Asana to keep organized at EATbyalex with my team members.
Favorite clean beauty product?
Rose Oil by Be Pure
Favorite dish to cook?
I love to experiment with pasta dishes! I use whole wheat pasta and lots of vegetables, always.
Favorite indulgence?
Ice cream and TV shows! I love Homeland and just started re-watching OC California.
Find out more and order your next week’s meals on EATbyalex.com
