Spotlight sat down with the TikTok viral couples behind Meals She Eats, Tom and Rachael Sullivan, to hear all about their newest cookbook hitting the market on April 9th!
Check out the exclusive Q&A below.
We love watching your TikTok content! Why did you guys decide to start posting on the platform?
We actually have two very different stories here. Rach has always been a storyteller, she studied creative writing in college and has always been incredibly open and honest about her life. Even when she was a flight attendant, she was blogging and sharing glimpses into her world, from her travels to her personal reflections.
For me (Tom), I didn’t really use social media until we found out Rachael had PCOS. I started cooking meals centered around her cycle and wanted a way to track everything, so I turned to Instagram. I started snapping photos of the meals and writing captions about what phase she was in and how the food supported her body during that phase.
It was meant to be practical, maybe even private, but it resonated with a lot of people and ended up going viral. That’s what sparked the idea for our first book, Meals She Eats.
What was your reaction(s) to going viral on social media? Did you ever expect this response?
We definitely didn’t expect the response we got, but it reminded us that people are craving real, honest storytelling. It was a weird feeling at first when friends and family were sending us screenshots like, “You’re all over my feed!” It was surreal and exciting, and then you post your next video and it gets 100 views and you’re instantly humbled!
Your college meals program is so heartwarming. How did you get started doing this?
It all started with one student: Kevin. He was a freshman at NC State and a family friend’s son. During COVID when the cafeterias shut down, we invited him over for a meal one night, and that turned into a regular thing. At first, he’d just grab a plate and go, but over time he started hanging out, talking with us, and it felt like we’d unofficially “adopted” him.
To keep his mom updated, we started filming videos of Kevin picking up food, and Rachael turned them into a lighthearted TikTok. That video ended up going viral, and suddenly students from all over were commenting things like, “I wish someone would adopt me,” or “How do I sign up?” So we figured, why not open our door a little wider?
We bought more groceries and posted online that any local college student could come by for a meal. Four students showed up that night: Kevin, two friends, and one total stranger who saw the post. From there, it just grew. The next dinner had 15 students, then 30, then 60, and it hasn’t slowed down since.
These meals have become a space for students to feel seen, supported, and fed, both physically and emotionally. It’s one of the most meaningful things we’ve ever been part of.
Your Meals She Eats cookbook made it on the NYT Bestsellers list. How was writing this cookbook a new venture for you both?
Writing Meals She Eats was completely new territory for both of us. What started as me cooking to support Rachael through her PCOS diagnosis turned into this deeply emotional, food-based love story. Putting that onto paper was incredibly vulnerable.
While it’s often referred to as a cookbook, it is so much more. We were telling the story of our fertility journey, our relationship, and all the trial and error we went through to get to where we are. It was raw, honest, and at times hard to revisit. But it also felt powerful to turn our lived experience into something that could help others feel seen and supported.
We had to learn how to co-write, how to let our individual voices shine while still creating something cohesive. Tom brought his heart and creativity into every recipe, and Rachael poured her storytelling into the pages. It stretched us in ways we didn’t expect—but it also brought us closer.
What can you tell us about your new cookbook launching this upcoming April?
Our new cookbook, Honey, What Do We Got?, is a week-by-week pregnancy cookbook that pairs gluten and dair- free recipes with the size of your baby throughout pregnancy. Each week, as your baby grows from something like a poppy seed to a watermelon, you’ll find a recipe that features that fruit or vegetable so you’re literally cooking with your bump in mind! It’s more than just recipes, though. It’s about celebrating the journey, slowing down, and savoring each moment, no matter how messy or magical it may be.
How was writing this second book different from the first one?
Writing this book was a completely different experience from our first. For starters, I (Rachael) was pregnant the entire time and also chasing around a toddler so the process felt a lot more personal, and honestly, a lot more chaotic in the best way. The first book was deeply rooted in our fertility journey and how we used food to support my PCOS. This time around, it was about honoring pregnancy in real time through documenting cravings, energy shifts, and those quiet, reflective moments while also navigating the beautiful mess of motherhood. It felt like writing from the inside out.
What’s next for you guys?
Well, obviously book #2! We can’t wait to get Honey, What Do We Got? out into the world this April. We also recently bought a home and are in the middle of renovating it, so we’re soaking up the chaos and excitement of creating a space that feels like us.
And one of the biggest things on the horizon: we’re launching an app later this year! It’s designed to bring our first book, Meals She Eats, to life in a more interactive and personalized way by helping people on their PCOS and fertility journeys with real-time support, structure, and tools to make the process feel a little less overwhelming.
