Episode No. 6
From Restaurant Rookie to Incubator Powerhouse | Natalie Shmulik’s Legacy in Food Innovation
Natalie Shmulik transformed her passion for food into a mission-driven career helping hundreds of founders grow their food and beverage businesses. In this episode of Owning Your Legacy, Natalie takes us behind the scenes of The Hatchery—Chicago’s premier food incubator—and shares her journey from running a franchise restaurant in Canada to building one of the nation’s most impactful entrepreneurial ecosystems.
You’ll hear how she created programs that not only support product innovation but also champion founder mental health, community development, and legacy-building. From navigating burnout to redesigning what it means to lead with heart, Natalie is the kind of change-maker who makes you want to roll up your sleeves and build something real.
🎙 In this episode:
🦋 How Natalie’s restaurant experience led her to build a national food incubator
🦋 Why founder burnout is real—and how to protect your energy as you scale
🦋 The difference between managing and leading (and why it matters)
🦋 Building equity in underserved communities through food entrepreneurship
🦋 What big food brands are learning from local startups
