Lyandra Hobson had tried every diet on the market to get her body in shape before she hit on a combination of fitness and meal prepping to transform her life.
Meal prepping is the latest addition to the LHNet Ordering Services, which has been around for 14 years. The ordering company combines her love of shopping, finding great deals and a knack for computers.
“I have always being driven to leadership and management from a young age, being my own boss type of thing,” Hobson said.
Living on Montserrat, where often it can be difficult to find certain products, she realised her hobby of helping family and neighbors ship in what they needed could be a real business.
Before long, the demand for her ordering services went beyond the island and she expanded her offer to the global market, getting her first overseas client from Grenada in 2011. By 2012, she added a new section called e$ales, selling men’s shoes and women’s clothing. Paying attention to what the market was demanding, she now exclusively orders clothing for plus-sized women.
Just as with her health goals, Lyandra felt her business had hit a plateau. The diet fads weren’t working and she was seeing increased competition in the marketplace.
In early 2019, she signed up to attend Flourish with Nerissa Golden. This she said motivated her to make some changes to her business. “It propelled me to start looking at my various talents and create businesses from them. I then launched a travel planning service, where the aim is to create personalized itineraries, so travellers can explore their travel destination in depth. This came from my love for travel and the fact that I am a planner and love being organised,” she revealed.
Hobson also realised that her health journey with all its various challenges and experiments, offered a service which others needed. She added the meal prep service where her team prepares meals in bulk for clients. “We’re targeting people who want to lose weight or would like to have healthier food choices.”
“When I started my health and fitness journey in 2017, I spent three months researching if this was something I really wanted to do. In December of that year I took the bold step and haven’t looked back. The benefits of eating the right food and exercising is so much more than I could ever imagine – great mood, healthy skin, energy, and a clean bill of health.
“Part of that journey saw me trying lots of different programmes which included prepping meals. This helped me to stick to my diet and also ensured that I consistently ate the right foods. Mostly it was very beneficial in giving me back hours in the day where I could focus on my personal and professional and business development and enjoy activities I loved instead of slaving away in the kitchen daily,” the mom of a three-year-old shared.
With the increase of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure on Montserrat, Hobson is aware that her service can now mean life and death for some people, including young adults between the ages of 25 to 44, who are experiencing increased levels of diabetes and hypertension. According to PAHO, the Caribbean has the top five countries for diabetes in the Americas.*
“If it is to lose or gain weight or if you have a medical issue and need to eat healthy, we would first recommend that clients get a meal plan from a Certified Nutritionist on island. We would then use this to prepare all the meals in one go.
“After we receive the meal plan, we create a shopping list which tells you what foods to buys and how many containers you need. We then go to their homes, prepare the meals, portion them into dishes, label then accordingly and pack them in the fridger/freezer. It is really convenient and saves a lot of time,” said the entrepreneur.
As someone who is very self-motivated, she admits that doing business on Montserrat has its challenges as everywhere else. She said better access to business grants and loans would be helpful but says more workshops and seminars where persons can learn, grow, network are critical. Hobson, who is a director in the local chapter of the Rotary Club, said the upcoming BizCon slated for November 23, 2019 and organised by her club is one such event that can really be impactful for business owners.
Hobson is currently teaming up with RXGYM to offer a discount meal prep/exercise package as she says these two activities go hand in hand in order to see real results.
Contact LHNet Ordering Services at 1.664.493.5020 (also available on Whatsapp). Email – lhnetorders@hotmail.com. The website is www.lhnetorders.com where there is information on the different services offered and the company itself. Orders can also be placed on the website.
Physical location in Davy Hill Montserrat – three houses on the left above Victors Supermarket. You can also send a message through the different social business accounts – Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat,
Twitter and Linkedin.
“I am very approachable and easy to talk to.”
We wish Lyandra and LHNet Ordering Services every success. Are you are young #664preneur and want to be featured on Discover? Get in touch.
Her Secret Sauce
“I have always been someone who set goals because I believe in constantly advancing and evolving. At the start of each year I plan what I wish to achieve for the entire year. In addition, I set five-year goals. Then I plan exactly how I would go about achieving them and ensure I do. I pride myself in doing exactly what I say I am going to do. I also follow a lot of influencers on Instagram and read a lot of self-development books.”
*https://caricom.org/documents/12630-ncds_plan_of_action_2011_2015.pdf
