Kirsty-Lee Griffiths, aka Klee

Richmond RFC and Founder of Macro Food

I was pretty late to rugby. I hadn’t even heard of the game, or even understood the rules until my mid 20s (and some would say I still don’t). But once I joined a club, my life genuinely changed. It taught me more than just the skill of the game, it taught me teamwork, discipline, respect, accountability, and most importantly, it was the inspiration for starting my own business!

So where did it all begin? I’ve always been a very sporty person. I played everything at school from hockey, netball, swimming, and rounders, but football was always my favourite, and I even trained with Aston Villa ladies for a while. When I ventured off to university, I played for a further 4 years, but something never quite clicked; I enjoyed the community more than the game itself.

After university and having lost my mojo with football, my best friend Igz persuaded me to try (no pun intended) rugby at our local club Eccles. I came to the first session and instantly fell in love with the sport, the comradery, and it was the first time I felt at home in a club after university. Nothing could quite prepare me for the first tackle though (that made me reconsider my choices), and the injuries (I broke my leg 2 months into my first season). After the injury friends and family thought I would quit, but injury made me more determined than ever. 

I spent 2 years playing at Eccles RFC, and for Lancashire county. In my second year at Lancashire we got to the County Final at Twickenham Stoop. That was an incredible memory for me. This was the first time I’d been to London to play rugby, and to be playing at such a prestigious stadium was incredible! We also got awarded our medals at Twickenham during half time of an England match,

it was truly an incredible experience. We lost that day, but I have memories that will last forever. 

In 2016 I decided I wanted to challenge myself further, I had got a taste for playing rugby competitively at Twickenham and felt inspired to move down to London. I wasn’t sure what club to join, but in a 7s tournament that summer, a group of girls from Richmond told me I should join them, and the rest is history. 

I’ve been at Richmond since 2016 and it’s the club I now call home. I’m so honored to have been part of the Premier15 setup for 3 years, the amount of support and development we had as elite athletes was amazing, it was a massive step up from anything I had ever experienced. My fondest memories include receiving a black eye live on Sky Sports, my family watching me play at Worcester (bless them they still don’t understand the rules), our club trip to Poland to play the Polish National Team, and playing for Surrey at Twickenham in the County Finals.  

However things were about to change. In Jan 2019 I made the difficult decision to take a pause playing rugby competitively. Until this point, rugby was always my first commitment. I was at every training session, every gym session, and I made my career work around my rugby schedule. But things were different now, I had a responsibility and commitment bigger than anything I’d ever taken on in my life, I was starting my own company. 

I founded Macro Food based on my own needs.

I worked long hours in the city and trained every evening, and in doing so found it hard to find good quality, healthy food that could support my vigorous training routine. I discovered that most healthy eateries were focused on low calories, and not enough protein to keep their costs low. That’s where Macro Food was born. We believe everyone's version of healthy is different, and wanted to give our customers the flexibility to customise their meal to suit them, and having the macros and calories clearly displayed. Also, our business is purely delivery-only, so you can place your order with us, and your food is delivered within 30 minutes or less, allowing you to choose what you want, when you need it. 

I started the company with no experience in the food industry (I was in Tech Sales previously), but myself, my teammates and friends were the ideal customer, so I figured as long as I know what our customers need, I can learn the rest along the way. I started with a loan of £15,000 from the Start Up Loans company, rented a dark kitchen in Battersea in the evenings, hired some chefs (then fired some chefs - a dramatic story for another day), but eventually found our Head Chef Kyle, and went on our merry way. I worked all day, everyday for the first year, spending every day in the kitchen helping to cook, clean and build the business. I should note, I’m not the most amazing chef (I don’t even like cooking), but I learnt along the way thanks to our amazing Head Chef. It was an incredibly hard grind in the beginning (it still is!), and it was heartbreaking to not be part of rugby. 

Rugby is a place of sanctuary for me, a time when I can switch off from the rest of life because if you’re not fully focused on the game, you’re going to get a ball or body smashing into you. 

For the 19/20 season, I was able to come back to rugby, I had enough staff that I could take Tuesdays and Thursday evenings off for training. It felt so good to come back home, and find a way to balance both, playing rugby gave me that mental space I needed to perform better in business. I still play rugby for Richmond now and you won’t see me retiring any time soon. The girls are also incredibly supportive of the business, they always ask how things are going, celebrate my successes with me and are still taste testers too! I’m quite fortunate now to be completely flexible with my time, so I can be at training and games. However, I still always have to be on call when things go wrong. Getting a call from our kitchens just before we played Sarries to hear the oven had broken was my personal favourite. 

Although it can be tough to make time for it, I wouldn’t be where I am today without rugby, and I can’t perform at my peak in other areas of my life, such as my business, without rugby. I’m thankful for everything the sport has given me, the skills, the knowledge, the network, the support, and I‘m excited to see what the future holds for myself and the rest of the Richmond squad in the Championship next season.