Thanks to our live classes, you can engage with instructors, ask questions, and receive unscripted answers. It’s great for the whole household.
Brenda is the founder and president of Launch and is on a mission to make a difference in how healthcare is delivered. She likes to work hard and is up for any challenge, which usually means pushing a boulder up a big hill.
Brenda has over 20 years of experience in healthcare leadership and is a registered dietitian, and she believes food is the closest thing to a magic bullet when it comes to our health and wellbeing. She is sick and tired of “sick care” and works tirelessly to help people live happy, healthier lives because they deserve it. She loves being creative and has an endless list of ideas.
When not working at Launch, Brenda enjoys cooking, usually without a recipe, but has chef Jeremy on speed dial for when things go awry (perks that come with working with a chef). She loves being active and can likely be found at the gym way too early in the morning.
Amanda is a part of Launch’s founding team and is often the team’s guinea pig for new ideas. She is on a mission to make our services engaging and easy to use by focusing on each member’s journey. On any given day, you can find her working on i.t., marketing, accounting, or sales – variety is the spice of life!
Amanda has worked in health care for 10+ years, championing wellbeing and innovation. She has her B.A. in Political Science from St. Olaf College and M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas. Amanda also serves on the Minnesota Angel Foundation’s board of directors and the Saint Paul Area Chamber’s foundation board.
When not working to optimize Launch’s newest feature, Amanda can be found at rock concerts with her husband, Jake, planning her next trip abroad, or cooking one of Chef Jeremy’s latest recipes.
Dr. Tina Johnson is a board-certified physician and founder of Pinnacle Medicine, providing direct primary care in addition to being our medical director. She has a passion for preventive care and enjoys working with her patients to understand their health goals and to help them achieve those goals. Dr. Johnson believes in providing her patients the information and support they need to make the most beneficial decisions regarding their care.
Dr. Johnson has practiced internal medicine since 2007, earning her undergraduate and medical degrees from Creighton University. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Minnesota, including a year as a Chief Resident at the Minneapolis VA Hospital.
Minnesota Monthly named her one of the best internal medicine doctors for women in the metro area (2011) and Mpls.St. Paul Magazine named her a Top Doctor “rising star” (2016). The most meaningful honor she receives is when patients refer family or friends to her.
Outside of work, Dr. Johnson enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband stay busy with their three girls. They are all animal lovers with two dogs and three cats. Coming from Nebraska, Dr. Johnson (and her family by default) are Nebraska football fans. Saturdays in the fall are for chili in the crock pot and football on TV!
Chef Jeremy takes a “back to basics” approach to cooking whole fresh foods. He passionately believes whatever you eat should taste delicious, and that preparing food should be fun and relaxing. He wants to take your culinary skills to the next level and improve your health while doing it. As a classically trained chef, Jeremy knows the art of cooking but likes to keep things simple and loves to teach and celebrate his students’ successes.
Chef Jeremy has a broad food background, from Chef Instructor at Le Cordon Bleu to Restaurant Manager to Culinary Education Manager for the largest healthcare provider in Minnesota. In his early days, he worked at Tim McKee’s Solera in Minneapolis and Robert Mondavi and Julia Child’s “COPIA” in Napa Valley.
Chef Jeremy’s students love his sense of humor and engaging teaching style, and he definitely has a fan club. If you take a cooking class, you will be sure to find out what his kitchen pet peeves are.
When not in the kitchen, Jeremy loves being by the water. His favorite spot is at his cabin in Wisconsin or taking his boat out on the local lakes. And, of course, he loves checking out the cuisine at any restaurant.
Megan is our nutrition aficionado and reads nutrition books for fun (for real). Professionally, she is a registered dietitian and has additional training through the Institute for Functional Medicine.
With over seven years of experience as a dietitian, Megan is passionate about helping people achieve optimal health to feel their best through simple changes and a positive mindset around food. She has experience assisting clients in making nutrition changes to eat mindfully, improving their gut health, weight and metabolic conditions, autoimmune disease, and more. Her clients think she is the sweetest person they ever met.
After finishing dietetics school, Megan realized she still did not know how to cook. Since then, she has taken many cooking classes and has found fun in challenging herself to try something new in the kitchen—even when it doesn’t turn out! More recently, Megan has enjoyed learning how to golf and downhill ski.
Maddie is our go-to-gal for all things social media and beyond. With a passion for growth, connection, and engagement, she is driven to create a fun and supportive digital community for our Launch clients. On a typical day, you will find Maddie behind the scenes creating content, scheduling posts, and writing the Launch newsletter.
Maddie is experienced in the health and wellness industry, where she has worked to optimize and create social media and digital marketing strategies. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition from the College of St. Benedict and has a passion for creating in the kitchen and educating others on the importance of food choices. You will also see Maddie in front of the camera teaching cooking classes for the simple home chef.
A travel lover, foodie, and Instagram fanatic, Maddie likes to spend her time cooking and baking, teaching barre, and exploring her temporary home just outside Frankfurt, Germany.