Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruth Anne Millen Bigley
Hi Ruth Anne Millen , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and was fortunate to live on several acres surrounded by many farms. Growing up I had a small garden of my own and one of my favorite things to do was make recipes with fresh ingredients from my garden. My mother taught me how to cook and bake and my grandmother taught me how to can and preserve. I was also homeschooled for a lot of my childhood and grew up cooking and baking many meals for my family of 8. From a young age I loved creating food for friends and family and found joy in sharing what I made with those I loved. I also enjoyed watching Food Network cooking and baking shows and even had a Food Network themed 13th birthday party! As the years went on, I learned to adapt my recipes to fit the allergies and health needs of friends and family, as well as my own. In high school I feel in love with health and nutrition and loved learning about the healing properties of food. I began to create more nutritious recipes and loved the challenge of making something nutritious taste delicious. In college I studied Psychology and had planned to pursue Psychology as a profession, but after graduating decided to get a certification in Holistic Health Coaching. I practiced health coaching for a while, but found I preferred creating recipes and online heath and wellness content over health coaching. I transitioned to full time food blogging and content creation in 2020 and have been doing it ever since! While I love what I do and love sharing my recipes, I am planing a slight rebrand soon and hope to incorporate more holistic health and wellness content into my business. While I will always love creating delicious, nutritious food, I am deeply passionate about holistic health and wellness – health of the mind, body, and soul – and am planning to begin sharing more on those topics very soon!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road, but I am currently learning that everything along the way has played a role in shaping me into the person I am today and I honestly wouldn’t trade the struggles of the past for what I have learned and for who I am becoming. In 2019 I moved into a house that had black mold in the entire ventilation system of the house. I lived there for several years before discovering the mold, and it took a serious toll on my health. I went from having just a few food allergies and occasional gut issues to dealing with autoimmune issues, much more serious gut issues, systemic candida overgrowth, liver issues, chronic fatigue, increased food allergies/sensitivities, and MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity). I worked with many different kinds of doctors between 2020 and 2023 trying to heal my body, but didn’t make much progress. In the fall of 2023 I realized I was dealing primarily with Mold Illness and I knew I needed more help. I did some research and eventually discovered Deeper Healing Medical Wellness Center, located on Daniel Island in South Carolina. Early in 2024 I made the decision to leave Lancaster, Pennsylvania and move to South Carolina to work with the doctors there. Deeper Healing Medical Wellness Center was my home away from home and has played an instrumental role in my healing journey, but I have also had the privilege of working with some other heath and wellness professionals here in Charleston, SC whose work has truly been life changing. I have experienced so much healing over the last year and have gotten to experiment with new kinds of healing modalities and therapies that I never even knew existed. I have learned so much about the importance of nourishing our bodies with good food and how to deal with and even treat food allergies and sensitivities. I have also learned about the role that our environment plays in our overall health, as well as how important our mental, emotional ,and spiritual health is . As I turn the corner on my healing journey and finally begin to feel like myself again, I am so thankful for all I have learned over the past 6 years. My personal health struggles have informed the content I create and have always inspired me to continue creating content for others who are struggling, even when I don’t feel like it. I plan to begin sharing even more of I have learned on my social channels soon and hope to help others who are dealing with the same things I have dealt with.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a recipe developer and content creator, as well as a food photographer and videographer. I specialize in creating simple, wholesome, allergy friendly recipes and share these recipes on my blog (thebigleybasics.com) and social channels (@thebigleybasics). I mainly create recipes for my blog and social channels, but I also work with other companies to create recipes for them! I always shoot recipe photos or tutorials style videos to go along with the recipes I create, both for my recipes and for the recipes I create for other companies. I love creating simple, allergy friendly recipes that anyone can re-create and love finding ways to make my recipes as adaptable as possible. I try to make all of my recipes gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free, and most are naturally vegan as well! My main goal is to make healthy eating simple and sustainable, and I love sharing allergy friendly swaps, kitchen hacks, and simple kitchen DIYS with my audience. I plan to incorporate more healthy living tips and tricks into my content soon, as well as lifestyle and wellness content!
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I am not sure I can choose just one quality that I feel is important to the success of my business, as several come to mind as having a big impact. These qualities would be consistency, simplicity, and novelty. I have been sharing recipes consistently on my blog and social channels for 4-5 years now, and this has allowed me to slowly cultivate a community of people who anticipate and look forward to my posts. They know what to expect and know they can come to my blog and social channels to find delicious, allergy friendly recipes. I also try to keep things simple! I want my recipes to feel approachable and easy to re-create, so anyone can make them. I find my followers want really simple recipes, and it just so happens that my most popular recipes are super simple recipes – I’m talking 2-3 ingredients.! I also try to include an element of novelty to my recipes from time to time. I like to keep things interesting and surprise my followers with recipe ideas they haven’t heard of before or share new ways of doing things. I find this keeps my audience engaged and I know that my followers love seeing new recipe ideas and learning new, easier ways of making things that traditionally required much more time and effort.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thebigleybasics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebigleybasics
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebigleybasics
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebigleybasics
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/thebigleybasics/
