2 chefs share how generative AI helps them manage menu changes and event logistics on their own
FEATURED IN BUSINESS INSIDER
By Erin Greenawald • April 29, 2026
Business Insider featured Melanie Underwood of Nourish & Gather in its AI-Powered Solopreneur series, looking at how two chef-entrepreneurs use generative AI to reduce operational workload while keeping the judgment, creativity and teaching itself firmly human.
AI for the work around the work
For Melanie, one of the most useful applications is workshop planning. She can upload recipes, specify the number of participants and use AI to scale ingredient quantities and organize equipment needs. That removes repetitive administrative work and leaves more room for the parts of the business that require her experience and creativity.
“That is so helpful for scalability…”
Adapting programs without giving up expertise
The article also highlights how Melanie uses AI to adapt established program material for different audiences. For a corporate nutrition program with eight men, she used Claude to help reframe the material with a more data-driven lens.
But she draws a clear line between assistance and authority: when AI cites studies, Melanie independently checks the research before using it in her teaching.
Turning an idea into a program
Business Insider also traced how Melanie used AI as a thinking partner after an Instagram Reel generated 30 direct messages in a single day. She already understood the problem she wanted to solve; AI helped her organize the ideas into a framework she could act on.
“It helped me very strategically…”
That process contributed to the development of Family Table Reset, a six-month virtual program for parents that became an important part of Nourish & Gather’s business.
What AI does—and what it doesn’t
Scale recipes and consolidate equipment lists for workshops.
Help reframe existing educational material for a specific audience.
Organize complex ideas and turn them into an actionable framework.
Reduce administrative and mental load in a solo business.
Support decision-making without replacing professional judgment, fact-checking, tasting, teaching or human connection.
The larger point
The story captures a distinction that matters in Melanie’s work: AI is most valuable when it creates more room for the distinctly human parts of teaching and entrepreneurship. The technology can help organize, scale and structure. The expertise still comes from knowing what is true, what works, what tastes good and what the people in front of you actually need.
BUSINESS INSIDER • THE AI-POWERED SOLOPRENEUR • AI, operations and small business
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