Today we’d like to introduce you to Mara Norris.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
During my first career as a voice teacher, I began filming cooking videos with dreams of auditioning for Next Food Network Star. Not long after, I enrolled in culinary school and turned my passion for cooking into a second career. I never envisioned myself working quietly behind the scenes in a restaurant kitchen—instead, I found a way to combine my loves of cooking, performing, and teaching into one career path.
After culinary school, I began teaching cooking classes at Whole Foods in Greensboro, NC, before moving to Charlotte to become the director of their cooking school, Salud. During my time there, I built a loyal following through a wide variety of hands-on classes and launched our wildly popular Sliced live cooking competition featuring local chefs.
In 2020, Whole Foods made the decision to close all Salud locations. I spent that summer learning how to start a business from the ground up, and in September of that year, I opened The Foodie School. After navigating the challenges of opening during the pandemic—including many nights of teaching classes with only two students—we slowly rebuilt and grew the community we had worked so hard to create.
Now, on the eve of our sixth year, The Foodie School is busier than ever, continuing to expand with new classes, new experiences, and an even larger community of food lovers.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, especially in the beginning. Opening a business during the aftermath of the pandemic came with a lot of uncertainty. There were nights early on where only two students showed up for class, and I remember wondering if we were going to make it. Rebuilding a customer base after the shutdowns and convincing people to come back out for in-person experiences was a huge challenge.
One of the biggest personal adjustments was going from the stability of a regular paycheck and a fairly structured 40-hour work week to the reality of entrepreneurship, where the work truly never stops. In the early years especially, I was doing everything—teaching classes, recipe testing, marketing, scheduling, shopping, cleaning, bookkeeping, and answering emails at all hours of the day and night. There’s a level of risk and pressure that comes with owning a business that you simply don’t fully understand until you’re living it.
Beyond that, learning how to run a business from scratch was an entirely different skill set from teaching or cooking. Suddenly I had to figure out everything from staffing and budgeting to systems and long-term growth. As The Foodie School has expanded, there have also been growing pains in maintaining the same quality, creativity, and sense of community while serving more people and adding more programs.
But every challenge has helped shape what The Foodie School is today. The struggles forced us to adapt, become more creative, and really focus on creating an experience people wanted to come back to. Seeing how much the community has embraced us over the past six years has made all of those difficult moments worth it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about The Foodie School, LLC?
The Foodie School is a recreational cooking school focused on creating hands-on culinary experiences that are equal parts educational, social, and fun. We offer cooking, baking, and decorating classes, along with private events, team-building experiences, summer camps, and specialty workshops for all skill levels.
What sets us apart is that we combine real culinary education with entertainment and community. Our classes are designed to feel welcoming, interactive, and high-energy rather than intimidating or overly technical. We’re especially known for our creative themed classes, lively date nights, and our Sliced live cooking competitions featuring local chefs.
More than anything, I’m most proud of the community we’ve built. Many of our guests have been with us since the early days, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see The Foodie School become a place where people gather to learn, celebrate, and make memories together.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can support The Foodie School in many ways — by attending classes, sharing their experiences on social media, bringing friends and family, or booking private events and team-building experiences with us.
As a small business built heavily through word of mouth and community support, every recommendation, share, and returning guest truly makes a difference. We’re incredibly grateful for the community that has helped us grow over the past six years, and we love continuing to create new experiences that bring people together through food.
Pricing:
- 75-105
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thefoodieschool.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefoodieschoolclt/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFoodieSchoolCLT/
