Nurture Life

Imaide Steverango, Director of Product Development at Nurture Life, has built her career around a simple belief: children’s meals should be both nutritious and meaningful. A Culinary Nutrition graduate from Johnson & Wales University, she joined the company in 2018 after leading culinary nutrition programs in San Francisco. 

A Passion Born at the Family Table

My relationship with food began at home. Growing up, dinner was a family ritual, and my parents encouraged me to cook from a young age. What started as curiosity eventually became a passion. 

Although I initially pursued a pre-medical path, I ultimately enrolled at Johnson & Wales University, earning a degree in Culinary Nutrition with a concentration in Clinical Dietetics. The program provided a foundation in nutrition, culinary arts, and business that continues to shape my approach to product development. 

After graduation, I became Food Service Director and Executive Chef at a childcare center in San Francisco, overseeing meals for approximately 500 children each day. Given the freedom to build my own menus, I introduced children to a wide range of cuisines and flavors. Watching young children embrace unfamiliar foods taught me that food can help shape lifelong habits and positive relationships with eating. That realization ultimately led me to Nurture Life. 

Complexities of Scaling a Food Product

After relocating to Chicago, I discovered Nurture Life and was drawn to the energy and complexity of a growing startup. I initially applied for a production role, but during the interview process one of the founders suggested I would be a better fit for Research & Development. That conversation changed the trajectory of my career. 

Food manufacturing is like an orchestra, where every section has to play in sync for the performance to work.

Today, I serve as Director of Product Development, and during my time with the company we have grown from producing fewer than 5,000 meals per week to nearly 120,000.  

Scaling food products presents challenges that are often invisible to consumers. A recipe that performs perfectly in a test kitchen frequently requires significant adjustments for commercial manufacturing. Equipment capabilities, production throughput, ingredient variability, and food safety requirements all influence the final result.

Food manufacturing is much like conducting an orchestra. Every department, process, and ingredient must work together in harmony for the final product to succeed. 

What makes the industry rewarding is that there is always a new challenge to solve. Supply chains shift, ingredients become unavailable, and equipment rarely behaves exactly as expected. Success requires adaptability while remaining focused on the ultimate goal: delivering a meal that children enjoy and parents trust. 

Behind every meal is a family balancing nutrition, convenience, budget, and the realities of everyday life. Creating products that solve those needs is what makes the work meaningful.  

Navigating Information Overload with Transparency

One of the biggest challenges facing parents today is navigating an overwhelming amount of information. Between conflicting nutritional advice, evolving dietary trends, and debates around ingredients, making informed decisions can feel unnecessarily complicated. 

At Nurture Life, we focus on transparency. Every ingredient is listed on our packaging, and every meal is developed within strict nutritional parameters established alongside our registered dietitian. We hold ourselves to a simple standard: if we would not serve a product to our own families, it does not belong on our menu. 

Nutrition only matters if children are willing to eat the food. A meal can meet every benchmark on paper, but if it fails the taste test, its value is limited. That is why balancing nutrition, flavor, and consistency remains central to our development process.  

Ultimately, our goal is not simply to create nutritious meals. It is to earn parents' confidence by delivering food that is transparent, dependable, and enjoyable. 

The Road Ahead for Product Development

Over the next several years, dietary fiber, gut health, prebiotics, and probiotics will continue to shape innovation in children's nutrition. Hidden vegetables, clean labels, and the absence of artificial ingredients and colors are quickly becoming baseline expectations rather than differentiators. 

Data also plays a critical role in product development. As a direct-to-consumer business, we receive constant feedback from families. Our Oaties line emerged directly from parents who wanted a convenient, trustworthy breakfast option for busy mornings and has since become one of our strongest-performing product lines.  

Understanding your consumer is essential. Some meals are designed for children who prefer familiar flavors and formats, while others cater to more adventurous eaters. Successful innovation requires meeting families where they are while continuing to expand what is possible.

At its core, our mission remains simple: delivering the feeling of a home-cooked meal in a format that fits modern family life. 

What Product Leadership Actually Requires

If I could offer one piece of advice to emerging leaders, it would be to never underestimate the relationship between product development and operations. A formulation that cannot be produced consistently, efficiently, and profitably at scale is not truly a product. Operational realities are not constraints to work around; they are essential components of successful product development. 

Equally important is developing fluency across functions. The strongest product leaders understand not only formulation and innovation, but also procurement, manufacturing, finance, marketing, and consumer insights. Great products are rarely the result of a single department. They are the outcome of teams working toward a shared objective. 

One of the most rewarding aspects of my career is watching an idea evolve from concept to a product that families welcome into their homes. The process often takes months of testing, refinement, and collaboration, but the impact extends far beyond the meal itself. 

At its core, this work is not about selling food. It is about solving real problems for real families. Every meal we create is an opportunity to make a parent's day a little easier and help children build positive relationships with food. Knowing our products can play a small role in those everyday moments is what continues to make this work so meaningful.