Day In The Life: Catherine Lesselin of The New Luncher

What does your daily routine look like, mamas? Tell us, we want to know!

In this series called “A day in the life“, mamas submit snapshots of regular moments that occur throughout their daily routine. The idea is to show the wide variety of lives mamas lead in Singapore, whether you’re in the office, staying at home, or something in between.

This month we look at a day in the life of Catherine Lesselin,  founder of The New Luncher – a start up that aims to cook and deliver healthy lunch boxes to children at their school (from as little as $7.90!). Catherine works with Michelin-starred Chefs to make heathy asian, western and vegetarian lunchboxes for kids so mamas like us know their kids are eating a wholesome, unprocessed meal at school. Catherine has two kids, Raphael (11) and Gaspard (8), and she started The New Luncher with them in mind. So how does she balance a start up and mama life?

If you’d like to be featured in this series, mama, drop us a line at [email protected] with “Day in the Life” in the subject line!

Read more Day in the Life stories here:
Run Coach Holly Kuzmiak-Ngiam
Michelle Ma, Independent Artist

I wake up naturally at 6 o’clock. I’m quite an early riser but I always have an alarm as a safety and because I wake the children up at 6:30, which gives me 20 minutes to get myself ready. It doesn’t take me long to get dressed – I’m quick.

Morning time has always been my favourite time of the day as it is still dark outside and seeing the sunrise always makes me feel the optimism of “a new day begins”. A double espresso on my balcony for 10 minutes helps me to appreciate this peaceful moment before the inevitable morning rush as soon as I wake my boys up.

Waking my boys up is a special moment for me. Being the first thing they see to start their day is something important to me especially because in my previous professional life, I had to travel a lot so I just want to catch up as much as I can. The apartment at this time is very quiet and believe me, that is pretty rare when you have two very active boys!

We try to sit together for breakfast but sometimes the morning rush is just how it is. I just nibble while giving the kids their breakfast with fresh fruit juice, cereals and a slice of bread with butter and jam.

It’s time to leave the house and I drop my kids on the school bus before I head to work. At The New Luncher, we start cooking very early in the morning and when I reach the kitchen, “La Maison”, my cooking team is already there making noise in the kitchen as they have to start much earlier. The menu itself is designed by Michelin starred Chef Emmanuel Stroobant to make healthy Asian and western lunch boxes for kids. 

The first thing I do when I arrive at work is to say a warm hello to my team, then I check in with my emails, WhatsApp and news that has come in overnight. I have an espresso or two; it’s very European… I’ve got to be super focused. We are incredibly busy at the moment with our new website and schools opening. One of the things I love about my job is that there’s never a typical day. There’s always something different happening.

For lunch, we usually have a working lunch with the team, and we’ll typically get our lunch boxes. We eat and work at the same time. After lunch, I’ll normally pop down to meetings throughout the afternoon.

If my kids have no after school activities, they come to the kitchen right after school. They have their snack there and do their homework. I feel lucky to spend so much time with my kids and to be able to reconcile my personal and professional life. Running a company is very exciting but it could also be exhausting if you do not find the right balance, and my balance is my family.

Three times a week, we have our famous tasting sessions where we welcome children and parents at La Maison to taste our food and decide what will be next on the menu! We cook for children so their opinion matters! Check out what’s on their menu now here.

Afterwards we leave the kitchen together with kids and go home. We have dinner at 7pm, I give them their dinner and then we can relax a little bit before I put the children to bed at 8pm.

I can start working again on the social media side with my friend, Fabienne, who helps me a lot for our communication and events. I am very lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful people.

It’s time to relax so it depends. I either watch a movie on Netflix or I read. Occasionally, I have a glass of wine with one of my friends who drops by my place to say hello… I have no nightly routine. No two days are ever the same. That’s why I love it. the way you’re doing things makes each day different from the last.

I go to bed around midnight. I’m very quick to pass out once I get into bed –  I like to get as much sleep as I can. But when you’re a mummy and entrepreneur, well, something has to give!