Jane Olivia didn’t build her recipe platform to become the next tech giant. She simply wanted her millions of social media followers to have access to the meals she prepared daily for her clients. 

Olivia’s subscription-only app, Food Friends, shares recipes and gives users the feeling of being in the kitchen with her. Each recipe includes notes, and tips and advice. The charge is $18 per month; $150 per year.

“It’s about the whole day’s experience of a private chef,” she said. “This is another way that people can not only support me but see my real passions.”

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Olivia’s personal‑chef career didn’t begin with dinner parties or high‑end clients. Armed with a nutrition degree from ASU, she started to cook food for patients in the throes of chemotherapy — people with lengthy lists of eating practices that they couldn’t eat and no energy to analyze. 

“They had enough on their plate already, and the food and research were the last things they wanted to handle,” said Olivia, who moved to Arizona from Pittsburgh to attend ASU. 

She soon became the go-to chef for people with celiac disease, severe allergies and doctor‑directed diets. She advises every client to get a blood panel before collaborating. 

“I don’t think that blood tests are 100% accurate, but I think that it’s good information that we have,” she said. 

Now, her roster includes clients who are chronically ill, as well as busy families who simply want to eat better. Many of them eat gluten‑ and dairy‑free foods, and/or have kids in sports. There’s one common denominator: They all want meals that feel fresh, vibrant and doable. 

“It’s pretty obvious in my content that I’ve enjoyed cooking with bright‑colored foods and whole‑food ingredients,” she said. 

Olivia learned to bake with her grandmother. After becoming vegan at age 15, she wanted to help others who wanted to eat healthily. She launched a small online bakery in high school and sold her products at farmers markets. 

In college, she put the business on hold, taking on two jobs and personal‑training clients — yet these clients became her initial nutrition‑centered meal‑prep customers. Once she began sharing her food online, it accelerated. Her most-requested dishes now include buffalo cauliflower and her date Snickers. Her hit menu is Mexican food: fajitas, guacamole and dairy‑free queso. 

“It’s an excellent menu,” she said. 

Cooking and baking don’t necessarily come easy. Pie crusts, for example, are her nemesis. 

“I have to say I really struggle with them, especially in Arizona,” she said. “The butter doesn’t melt as quickly in Pennsylvania.” 

Olivia’s clients are confident she can handle their health, their constraints and aspirations. 

“It makes me feel like a very, very much-needed person,” she said. “What I think is a good feeling for everyone.” 

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