TEAM

DELLA HEIMAN goldkind

Founder and CEO of della bowls and The Wynwood Yard,
Co-founder of The Doral Yard

Della Heiman's desire to make healthy food affordable and accessible to all was the catalyst for della bowls, a globally-inspired, plant-based, fast-casual concept. After testing the concept in Boston, she moved to Miami in 2014 to open the first store. 

The Wynwood Yard, Miami’s first culinary incubator and community hub, was galvanized by Della’s experience attempting to find a location for della bowls in Miami. She realized that there was a great need for a platform to foster the development of innovative Miami food, culture, design and fitness entrepreneurs.

The Wynwood Yard operated as a thriving community hub from 2015 to 2019, until the leased property was sold. It was a labor of love and sweat that included raking gravel, which Della did herself in the early days, and fending off proverbial locusts of all kinds. della test kitchen was a prototype restaurant within The Yard, designed to gather and adapt to community feedback in real time.

In 2019, she partnered with Joe Furst, one of the driving forces behind Wynwood’s revitalization, to bring the Yard concept to Downtown Doral. The Hub of The Doral Yard, an indoor space with a full bar and a micro food hall, opened in fall 2020. It also offers outdoor seating in an expanded outdoor dining area on Main Street, which was converted to a pop-up arts-and-culture-filled pedestrian activation in the summer of 2020 due to COVID. 

When it is completed later this year, The Doral Yard will be a 20,000-square-foot venue, including a live music stage, six culinary vendors, two bars and Barbakoa by Finka, a full-service restaurant helmed by Chef Eileen Andrade. 

The Doral Yard includes a della bowls location within The Hub.

Della grew up in the Midwest, where her family’s culture and ethos honed her entrepreneurial spirit. Previously, Della worked in the fields of political communications, textile manufacturing, and venture capital in the U.S., the Middle East and Asia. She holds a BA in History and Spanish Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is also a certified yoga instructor with passion for holistic health and wellness. 

Della’s favorite bowl- Build-your-own-bowl with marinated kale, tempeh, sweet potatoes, broccoli, Verde Sauce, hummus, spicy slaw, hearts of palm-avocado salad and pepitas.

Julie Frans

Chef and COO della bowls and The Doral Yard

Julie joined Della about a month before The Wynwood Yard was scheduled to open around October, 2015. She initially jumped aboard to help launch della bowls, and in the following years, her role expanded to include developing and overseeing a diverse array of culinary programs, community-building events, and brand messaging.  


Her “babies” include the field trip and food justice programs, culinary workshop programs, sustainability and community festivals like Earth Day, Young Entrepreneurs Day, Whole and Healthy Wellness Day, and others. She works closely with della bowls as COO and Chef, as well as with all other food and beverage outlets within the Yard brand.

Hailing from California, Julie traveled the globe as a private and charter yacht chef. In 2005 she launched her first business in San Diego, which grew into a full service agency and farm-to-table catering company. 

In 2011, Julie became Signature Chef for Essensia Restaurant at The Palms Hotel in Miami. This role grew to Corporate Executive Chef; in this position, Julie oversaw all culinary operations for The Palms and its sister hotel, Circa 39. In 2015, Julie branched out on her own as a hospitality & culinary consultant, providing farm-to-table restaurants and catering businesses with environmental best practices know-how. 

She has served as VP of Slow Food Miami, and Culinary Director of the SEED Food and Wine Festival.  

When Julie is not working, you can find her traveling the world with her family, cooking, exploring, and outdoor adventuring.

Julie’s favorite bowl - BYOB with coconut black rice, seasoned tempeh, marinated kale, raw roots, spicy slaw, yellow sauce, Gold Sauce, spicy sunflower seeds, and toasted coconut...and hot sauce, of course!

Trina Sargalski

Director of Marketing and Communications for Yard Hospitality

Trina joined Della in 2015 when, as she likes to say, The Wynwood Yard was a vacant lot of rocks and plants. She’s been a part of the team ever since. Trina is a former journalist, food writer and public radio producer. 

She was formerly the Miami editor at Tasting Table, as well as a forever public radio nerd and former reporter and producer on the award-winning local South Florida NPR team that won the Bronze Award at Third Coast International Audio Festival for a 20th anniversary documentary on Hurricane Andrew. (The first and second place winners were produced by This American Life and Radiolab.)

She’s obsessed with storytelling…and digital marketing. She talks about pixels so much that Della has encouraged her to name her new pet ‘Pixel’. 

Summed up as simply as possible, Trina’s job is to connect and create. She is fueled by good food and good stories, meals with family and friends, music and dancing. 

Trina’s favorite bowl is a Caribbean Bowl with BeCultured black eyed-pea tempeh.