My Story

Welcome to Lyke Minded! My name is Ali and I was born and raised in sunny Orange County. What started out as a place for inspiration slowly transformed into a place for food lovers. 

Let’s get one thing straight—I’m not a professional chef and I don’t have any culinary experience. But what I DO have is a knack for learning, trying and exploring new dishes! What stemmed from creating artful charcuterie boards, living mindfully and having an adoration for California cuisine has led me to this—the Lyke Minded Cookbook. 

So, how did I get here? One day, I started posting and curating recipes I was making or inspired by. I simply wanted to share and encourage others to look at at-home living as an opportunity to be artful. My followers started to create my recipes and made them their own, posting lifestyle photos of their creations. It has made me more happy than I could have ever imagined. Little did I know, a Lyke Minded community was being built from the ground up. 

Once this took off, I partnered with some big name brands and influencers in the lifestyle marketplace and created step by step recipes and cooking takeovers.

It wasn’t until stay at home orders were enforced that my love for cooking went from a passion to a safe haven. Creating vibrant meals with my husband and furnishing our plates with intention became a ritual. It didn’t matter if I was hosting for two or ten—I wanted aesthetically pleasing homestyle recipes that looked just as good, if not better, than a plate at a restaurant. It only felt right to turn Instagram content into something physical that can be treasured, gifted, and used as a resource for all...a cookbook! 

And no, I’m not talking about your run-of-the-mill, outdated cookbook. My vision was to create something that belongs sprawled open on your kitchen island...not in your pantry. A book that is an escape to aspirational tablescapes and layered courses. A book that is relatable, yet inspirational. 

By now you’re probably wondering what my “real job” is. Well, that’s a loaded question with a rather complicated answer! I’m a renaissance woman with a degree in visual communications. Culinary Curator, prop stylist, interior designer, graphic artist, sales, social media aficionado and sourcing guru are just a few of the titles I own. 

However, I consider myself to be a curator first and foremost. To me, a curator is a purveyor, treasure hunter and someone who collects or sees items in a different light than most. 

I curate items everyday—whether it’s sourcing vintage goods or artisans for interior design projects, hunting bespoke fonts and typefaces for graphic clients, pulling recipes together to make fruitful plates or curating images to reflect a brand’s identity on social media, I do it all. No matter what beautiful space I’m in, things always look different on camera and need zhushing, which is where I come in. I style homes, food, provisions, goods, merchandise and more. 

Thanks for stopping by Lyke Minded! Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all the latest...I promise not to overwhelm your inbox!