Lifestyle as medicine
- Natalie Pollock
- Jun 27
- 5 min read
The Lucky Gut Collective offers healthy food and guidance
Written and Photographed by Natalie K. Pollock
Staff Writer
Michelle Mullin and Lori Segar, the two founding owners of the Lucky Gut Collective in Simsbury, have been business partners in The Children’s Clubhouse daycare centers for almost 30 years. The long-time friends also share an interest in helping families to enjoy the benefits of healthy living. They have opened a multi-use, food-centered concept in the Fiddler’s Green building, where they offer a local artisan market, workshops and classes on healthy eating, and events for the whole family.
Cozy areas beckon to drop-in visitors who just want to sit and sip or meet new friends. Their restaurant-size kitchen is also available for local entrepreneurs who are learning how to create their own food-based businesses. With 30 years of business experience, Mullin and Segar have a lot of advice to give.
“Education is at the root of all we want to learn and understand about our bodies,” said Mullin.
She earned a degree from UConn in Human Development and Family Relations and is experienced in Early Childhood Education. Mullin is also certified in Sustainable Health and Nutrition, and 10 years ago became licensed to teach Infant Massage.
“My parents had health challenges, and as my careers continued, I had dietary issues and so did my kids. When my daughter was born, I had no concept of healthy food and lifestyle. Claire had heart surgery at five days old and then had side effects. I was told breast milk was important for her because it’s clean and that I should eat properly. That was my ah-ha moment,” she said.
Her son Shawn is allergic to wheat gluten and eggs, and he has had eczema.
“I was learning in herbalism classes about the protocol that heals the gut to relieve the symptoms of eczema. Physical touch for healing has been important, and herbs and food. The GAPS protocol is a restricted diet that helps the body absorb certain nutrients to heal itself. Then you can add more items and experiment with what works,” said Mullin.
At the same time that she was learning how to help her children thrive, she decided to join them in their way of eating.
“I couldn’t go anywhere without thermoses with food to eat. It was isolating. In 2018 when I started on the diet my debilitating migraines were resolved. Shawn’s skin healed, and when he had joint surgeries in college athletics, they were also resolved,” she said.
Mullin began teaching how to ferment vegetables to parents at her childcare center after classes.
Segar has her own story to tell about self-healing.
“In 2011 I was in a car accident and hurt my knee badly. I had physical therapy until they said that’s all they could do for me. Then my back began hurting and I could get no sleep in addition to my bad knee. My therapist said I could try building muscle, so I started going to a gym. I was a divorced mother with four children going to a boot-camp type of gym. I freaked out at first but talked myself into continuing,” she said.
Segar employed a regular babysitter and began eating well and training three to four times a week. And worked her way up to competing as a prize-winning weightlifter.
Three years later Mullins suggested that the two business partners open a kitchen to the public where they could teach fermenting and healthy food preparation, but she thought they should do more. On June 1, 2025, they opened the Lucky Gut Collective.
“We have so many ideas. We added small business support and then thought about how to entice people to come in regularly. So, we added the market and classes,” said Mullin.
The Lucky Gut hired a chef to prepare grab and go food items, including the Lucky Gut bowl, parfaits, bento boxes and salads with changing ingredients. The vegetables come from the Holcomb and Hall Farms who are known for health-conscious growing, as well as other local farms. They buy raw milk from the Baldwin farm and locally made kombucha from East Coast Kitchen. They also make their own tea blends.
“We did several programs for kids ages 3 to 7. One day they made French toast cubes and mango chia seed pudding for Mother’s Day breakfast, and they colored their own cards to go with it. The next class will be Knife Skills for toddlers when they will “cut” up a rainbow of fruits to eat,” said Mullin.
Q. How would you describe the cuisine at The Lucky Gut?
A. We offer whole foods with no preservatives and no food coloring.
Q. What is the most popular food there?
A. Peanut butter parfait and the Blood Moon, a mocktail with blood orange juice, tart cherry juice, rosemary maple simple syrup and coconut water.
Q. What is your personal favorite?
A. Mullins especially enjoys the Shrub Sodas in either coconut, jalapeno, strawberry goji, or blueberry. Mashed cauliflower Mediterranean salad is Segar’s pick.
Q. What is your “secret weapon”ingredient?
A. Authenticity
Q. What is the cooking technique that everyone should know?
A. Chopping and knife skills. We will be offering a knife skills class for adults and separately for children.
Q. If you could take any celebrity chef out to dinner, who would you choose and where would you go?
A. Segar would enjoy dining with Gordon Ramsay because of his business acumen, and she would bring him to the Lucky Gut. Mullins would choose to sit over dinner with herbalist Rosemary Gladstar.
Q. Do you have a favorite show you like to watch?
A. I watch kids’ shows with my children, especially “Nailed It” and “Is It Cake”?
Q. What herb or spice best describes each of your personalities?
A. Mullins would describe Segar as cilantro, “which softens into coriander.” She feels her partner is “discerning. And if you like her, you love her.”
Segar thinks of Mullins as “lavender” because she finds her “reassuring, peaceful and kind. And she is beautiful.”
Q. What do you like to cook when having guests to your home?
A. Chicken, rice and vegetables are the go-to for both women. VL
The Lucky Gut Collective, 10 Wilcox Street,Simsbury, 860-217-1259.
