NO BS BEGINNINGS

THE ROOTS

Hey, I’m McKinley, the brains (and stomach) behind Simplifive.

I grew up in a house where “real food” wasn’t trendy – it was just life. Organic, all-natural, homemade everything. With very health-conscious parents, eating out was a special occasion and fast food was an untapped mystery. Still to this day, I couldn't tell you a single item name on the McDonald's menu. We raised chickens for eggs, experimented with making our own goat cheese, and dabbled in gardening. Back then, I didn’t realize how lucky I was – I just thought cooking was a lot of work and that mom enjoyed depriving us kids of the “fun food” that everyone else had. Oh how wrong I was.

FLIPPING A SWITCH

I had a full-on cooking phase as a kid marked by every single-purpose kitchen gadget and Pioneer Woman cookbook on the market, but fast forward a few years and life got real busy. Athletics, academics, family chaos – cooking from scratch felt like a full-time job I didn’t have. Then college in Arizona flipped a switch: I started cutting out dairy, seed oils, refined sugars – you name it – and became a label-reading, soy-avoiding, macro-tracking machine. This obsession with knowing what went into my body turned me into an expert at knowing which snacks and brands would fuel me without wrecking my diet. And, as you can imagine, being an athlete, hitting my protein goals with clean foods became a daily challenge.

LIFE ON THE GO

Life kept throwing curveballs. Long workdays, moving across the country, shared kitchens, and chaotic schedules made healthy eating feel almost impossible. Between stints running a dairy goat business, coaching soccer, and interning at a high-end resort, I worked sunrise to sundown on shrimp and sailboats in South Carolina – a dream in many ways – but it came with 14-hour days and zero routine. Then came 3 a.m. wakeups in flight operations for an airline, which took a toll on my body. Despite the amazing travel benefits, it wasn’t sustainable. I constantly found myself having to choose between a fun, active, on-the-go lifestyle and limited sleep or good food and meal prepping, workouts, and energy for life – and too often, one came at the expense of the other.

“HEALTH” INDUSTRY? - YEAH RIGHT

Oh, and don’t get me started on the food and “health” industry BS. My mom was right – everywhere I looked I saw highly-processed, chemical-laden, genetically modified, poison-packed “food” marketed deceptively and covered in dyes and seed oils and unpronounceable ingredients. I saw the value in eating food in its raw form and took note that my own energy, mood, and focus completely tanked when I didn’t eat well – and skyrocketed when I did. I wanted something real. Something that actually worked. Something that didn’t take three hours and 20 ingredients to make.

EXPERIMENTING WITH SIMPLICITY

That’s when I started experimenting with simplicity. I wanted meals that were fast, tasty, macro-conscious, budget-friendly, and didn't require a PhD in cooking or an entire afternoon at the grocery store with a multipage shopping list in hand. I began creating recipes with just 5 ingredients or less. Food became fuel again. And the best part? Cooking became creative instead of a chore. Changing one ingredient, swapping a spice, or trying a new combination could make a whole new dish, and I realized that this approach could work for anyone like me: busy, health-conscious, active, and tired of overcomplicated recipes.

PASSION INTO PURPOSE

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak, so it felt natural to transform something I had a passion for – real, nutritious, no-BS food – into something that can simplify life for other people who share the same struggle of balancing zero time and zero patience for the kitchen with a desire to fuel their bodies deliberately. Simplifive grew from years of trial and error, learning what works in the real world and cutting through all the clutter, hype, and overcomplicated advice. My philosophy is simple: real food for real life. Food is fuel – it should be easy, effective, enjoyable, and energizing.

THE VISION

The long-term vision? A holistic lifestyle brand that begins with food and grows into fitness and farming – all tied together by the same no-BS foundation. For now, it starts with meals that work with you, not against you. Fueling your body the right way gives you the freedom to live life fully. Eating well shouldn’t take time or energy away from your life, it should give you more of both. Simplifive makes it simple: 5 ingredients or less, no BS.