It’s A Woman’s World: Sara Oberhammer of Soulber Health + Healing

Connecticut is full of trailblazing women, particularly in the culinary world. Our ongoing column, “It’s A Woman’s World” is devoted to CT female influencers who’ve forged their own paths, often in food-related fields long dominated by men.

Whether farming the land, bringing healthy food to the masses, feeding an entrepreneurial spirit, or injecting feminism with food, these groundbreaking ladies have set a new definition of women’s work, creating new paths, and setting examples for those who follow.

Sara Oberhammer is someone I’ve personally wanted to feature for a while. Many of you might know her as a bartender at various restaurants around Fairfield County—and if you’ve had one (or several) of those mango margaritas with the spicy, salty rim at either location of The Blind Rhino, that was Sara’s award-winning creation.

While you still might catch her mixing cocktails at your favorite haunt, Sara has paved her own path in wellness, offering health coaching, personal training, and meal prepping colorful, nutritious bowls that are vegan, gluten-free, and even the dressings are homemade.

Here’s more about Sara and her new venture, soulber health + healing:

Why are you a pioneer in the industry?

I wanted to find a fun way to help people eat healthy and feel great without the hassle. I know that the average person is probably not getting enough fruits and vegetables each day, so I combined everything I have learned over the years working in the industry with my nutrition background and came up with this concept!

How have you navigated what is typically known to be a male-dominated industry?

Hard work over everything! I am always down to work really hard and am not afraid to get my hands dirty. Also, I have been very lucky to become friends with many of the talented guys in this industry. I have learned so much from them, and I ask a lot of questions!

You’ve worked at a lot of restaurants and bars in Connecticut. Tell us about the transition from that to soulber health + healing.

I knew I wanted to transition into the health and wellness world, but I wasn’t exactly sure where I wanted to go with it. My degree is in nutrition, but I also love the restaurant industry so much and didn’t want to leave it completely. I did want to leave the late nights behind, though! It was also really hard for me to leave my jobs bartending because I loved the places I worked so much! I did personal training while still bartending and started meal prepping privately on the side. I would post pictures of the food I was making and had so many people messaging me asking if I could prep for them. That’s when I had my “Aha!” moment! I knew I could bring both industries together into a business.

What do you offer and how do we order?

I offer vegan and gluten-free meal prep that is delivered weekly on Monday nights! I release the menu every Thursday afternoon and ordering opens from then until midnight on Saturday. We make fresh juices in-house and offer local kombucha from Cross Culture Kombucha on the menu as well. You can visit livesoulber.com to order. You can also sign up for my mailing list and the menu will be sent directly to you with details, instructions, and you can order right from there. We deliver anywhere in Fairfield County!

What’s coming up for you and your business? I know you mentioned opening a storefront!

Yes! I do have my own kitchen space in downtown Bethel! Right now it’s used as a ghost kitchen for all of the prep and deliveries. I really want to start collaborating with friends in the industry and do fun pop-up shops there combining what we offer. We ran a cleanse over New Years that was a big hit, so I’m definitely going to be doing more of those in the future! To be honest, it all still feels kind of new to me. I have a million ideas running through my head at all times. I’m just going to go with what feels right as it comes and I’m so excited for all of it.

Follow Sara’s Instagram @livesoulber and visit soulber health + healing online.

Stay tuned to see who’s next! And feel free to send suggestions for your candidates to steph@ctbites.com.