pursuing

Anne Elizabeth Cundiff brings her 18 years of dietitian experience to this episode of the Pursuing Private Practice podcast, and shares with Jennifer how her passion has evolved to helping other dietitians on their journey of achieving career success.

Anne recalls how early in her career in 1998, she didn’t have any support while pursuing her education and career choices, and felt alone and isolated with no community or resources at that time. This experience later fueled her passion to provide that missing resource in the complex dietetics industry, leading to the launch of her mentoring business to help dietitians in navigating their career. 

She also shares with Jennifer how she first learned about Intuitive Eating from a student while working as a Preceptor, and how she incorporates it into her work with clients and refers out to specialized Intuitive Eating dietitians when needed. About Intuitive Eating, she says…

“I think as dietitians, regardless of where you’re at in your profession, you have to be open to any new way of thought that can help someone succeed at living their healthiest life.” - Anne Elizabeth Cundiff

Some of the topics discussed include:

• How she mentors new and experienced dietitians who are at a crossroads in their profession, educates them about career options, and provides connections and community.
• Her threefold approach with mentoring that also includes her book and podcast with over 150 episodes as the conversation piece.
• The power of working with younger dietitians and students to learn new trends and stay current with the changing industry, and how we collectively work together to uplift the profession.
• How she’s seen an increase in younger dietitians and those with 10-15 years’ experienced wanting to learn Intuitive Eating , and why it often doesn’t appeal to those with 30+ years’ experience.
• Examples of how her personalized Business Coaching approach of mentoring has helped dietitians:
  • find their ideal jobs,
  • to understand or re-discover their passion and values,
  • to navigate through burnout from high-intensity jobs and transition to other areas of practice.
• Why it’s normal to switch direction 3 to 4 times in your career and the importance of reaching out for someone to help you navigate those transitions.
• Examples of how she balances work-life satisfaction and self-care, stays organized and focused, and what she’s learned from her struggle with establishing boundaries.

“My approach is letting someone just talk it out, to help people not give up on something that meant so much to them when they first got into the field.” - Anne Elizabeth Cundiff

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/19

SPONSOR INFO:

1) This episode is sponsored by a resource for dietitians, The Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make In Private Practice. Gain insight and information about building a private practice and save time, money, and energy on common mistakes that you may be doing already! Download this FREE resource on the Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make in Private Practice and learn what NOT to do so you can do the things that really matter and make a difference. www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/mistakes          

Jennifer is delighted to have Beth Rosen as her guest on this episode of the Pursuing Private Practice Podcast. As a non-diet Registered Dietitian for over 20 years, Beth shares her journey of gaining expertise in the area of digestive health within the niche of intuitive eating.

From her early career in corporate wellness, Beth reflects on her discovery of HAES and Intuitive Eating, and how her awareness evolved from the diet culture approach. After taking a break to raise her children, Beth re-tookher RD exam and tells of her transition to private practice and niching down. She also looks back on how she transitioned from imposing food restrictions on her children’s diets to allowing them to choose for themselves, crediting this approach to their current practice of natural intuitive eating.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Juggling motherhood and career, and the benefits of private practice.
• How managing her own IBS symptoms led to her expertise of the Low FODMAP diet, and why she niched down to disordered eating for clients with gut health issues.

• How private practice and her client’s issues inspired Beth to create online courses and programs for clients with digestive health issues.
• The satisfaction of referring other HAES dietitians that are niched down in a specialty without the diet culture approach.
• The opportunities to learn from others of like-mind in the HAES-informed dietitian community.
• Beth’s work with Low FODMAP brands to educate the public about healthy food product choices that promote digestive health.
• Her well-seasoned advice for those entering private practice, and for those wanting to create a course.

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/18

SPONSOR INFO:

This episode is sponsored by a free resource for professionals wanting to build a Weight Inclusive Private Practice, 10 Steps to Build a Weight Inclusive Business. This is ideal for those looking to transform their practice to incorporate the principles of a Health at Every Size® approach, Intuitive Eating, and body positivity. www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/weightinclusive 

Jennifer is joined by Paige Smathers, RDN, CD to explore the important topic of burnout for dietitians in private practice, and to share insightful and relevant strategies to prevent it.

Together they explore the definition of burnout, and shine a light on the causes of it from not only the complexities of the dietitian industry and our clients, but also from the anxiety and uncertainty that the online world can cause private practice owners. They reflect on the need to have honest conversations with ourselves and acknowledge how this work can be exhausting with the pressures to manage all aspects of the job.  

Paige shares how she recognizes the early signs of depletion that leads to burnout, how she came to accept that discomfort, uncertainty and discouragement are part of this work and being in private practice, and how she developed mindfulness skills to deal with that, rather than just trying to feel better.  

Jennifer and Paige discuss how learning to tolerate the distress of this work can actually help dietitians grow in other aspects of life, and be role models for our clients.

“Mindfulness for me is not about feeling good; it’s about getting more skilled and able to feel the discomfort that I’m feeling, because discomfort and uncertainty is part of this work.” ~Paige Smathers

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Paige’s journey from seeing inpatient hospital clients, to her discovery of Intuitive Eating and starting a practice.
• How her private practice and podcast has developed since 2015, and the importance of staying true to her message and mission.
• Self-care strategies and how to maintain realistic boundaries in private practice by working smarter, not harder.
• How diversifying and building in-person connections in your local community can re-energize you and your practice.
• The differences between in-person versus online burnout, and ways to stay grounded and true to your values when social media causes anxiety and uncertainty.
• Proactive mindfulness techniques and managing your schedule to maintain energy levels.

We need to take care of ourselves so we can effectively work with our clients and thrive in our practice. You’ll get some helpful burnout prevention tips from this episode that you might not have considered!

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/17   

SPONSOR INFO:

This episode is sponsored by a resource for dietitians, The Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make In Private Practice. Gain insight and information about building a private practice and save time, money, and energy on common mistakes that you may be doing already! Download this FREE resource on the Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make in Private Practice and learn what NOT to do so you can do the things that really matter and make a difference. www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/mistakes     

In this solo episode, Jennifer takes you on a deep dive about the topic of success as a dietitian business owner, and in particular, reflects on how success is defined by you personally.

With the weight-inclusive, HAES and Intuitive Eating approach yet to become mainstream in our profession, the trend is seeing many dietitians moving to private practice in order to truly align with their values as a provider, make a difference in the world, and “succeed” on their own terms.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• If the definition of “success” truly means what you think it means.
• How success changes as your life and business changes.
• How being in private practice with you as the boss allows you to succeed at providing care that is impactful.
• Why dietitians need community and additional business and nutritional counselling skills training to have confidence to build a business.

We ask our clients to do hard work every single day in order to succeed at healing their relationship with food. We as private practice owners have to ask ourselves to do that hard work too, because growing a business is a journey that is hard and full of ups and downs but it’s sooo worth it.

The main message from this episode is this; if you have the passion to truly create success on your own terms, your business will be successful, and you WILL be making a difference.

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/16

SPONSOR INFO:

This episode is sponsored by Pursuing Private Practice® for Intuitive Eating. This program teaches dietitians how to successfully grow a private practice that specializes in a non-diet approach.

Jennifer welcomes special guest and industry leader Elyse Resch for an inspiring and informative talk about the evolving movement of Intuitive Eating, and how it’s transforming the way Registered Dietitians practice in our field.  

Following Elyse’s Intuitive Eating presentation with Evelyn Tribole at FNCE 2019 with over 2,000 attendees, together Jennifer and Elyse continue the discussion about how the movement has evolved since the first book came out 25 years ago; Intuitive Eating. With the 4th edition coming out June 23rd 2020, Elyse reflects back to 1995 when the idea of Intuitive Eating was first starting, and takes us on a journey of how it has evolved with social justice, additional research, and greater awareness of weight stigma.

She expresses her gratitude for being part of the change and getting the message out to the world, and how Intuitive Eating is now taking on a life its own.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Elyse’s journey of transitioning from her first career as an elementary school teacher after having her son, and starting her private practice with the goal of being self-employed with autonomy. 
• How Intuitive Eating has changed the Registered Dietitian field and kept RDs in the profession with a new sense of purpose and fulfillment.
• How Intuitive Eating impacts and extends out to other areas of life, such as relationships, connections with others, and satisfaction.
• Why having a specialty such as Intuitive Eating helps create a brand for yourself, and allows you to make an impact in the lives of others as a Registered Dietitian.
• The crucial role and benefits of supervision.
• How she manages work-life satisfaction, and makes time to be with family and tend to her other interests and self-care.
• A review of FNCE 2019 and its first presentations on Intuitive Eating, Body Image, and Binge Eating Disorder.
• How Intuitive Eating is now being woven into University curriculums, and the frustration of being trained in a traditional weight-centric approach is outdated. 
• Elyse’s future projects and her plans to transition into consulting work, and her hopes for the future of the dietetics profession.

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/15

SPONSOR INFO:

This episode is sponsored by a free on-demand training for professionals, the 5 Secrets To Make Money and Make An Impact In Your Private Practice. On this training, you will discover 5 “Easy to Implement” tactics to GROW your Private Practice with a Specialty in Intuitive Eating.

Jennifer welcomes back Elyssa Toomey, RD, following their popular episode, Top 10 Nutrition Counseling Strategies to Support Clients. In this episode, they continue their discussion with the topic of meal planning.

Together, Elyssa and Jennifer break down the 5 benefits of meal planning, and how it gives clients permission to eat nourishing foods regularly, with the structure and flexibility based on their unique needs. Listen in as they discuss how meal planning:

1. Promotes balanced nutrition – to fuel their life, daily activities and goals.
2. Adds variety – by expanding their options of trying new foods and allowing exposures back into their lives.
3. Helps clients feel good in their body – by eating regularly.
4. Reduces stress – by decreasing anxiety with busy schedules.
5. Saves time and money – by avoiding unnecessary grocery purchases and batch-cooking.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Examples of ways the 5 benefits of meal planning help individual clients.
• How nutrition counselling works with each client’s situation to incorporate meal planning into their life.
• The announcement of Jennifer and Elyssa’s new project of using the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating, and how to put it into practice with clients.

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/14

SPONSOR INFO:

This episode is sponsored by, For Professionals: Help Your Clients Feel Fabulous About Food. This newly updated course was created specifically for healthcare professionals to support their clients with the principles of intuitive eating and eating disorder recovery.

Diana Rice, RD, LD, CLEC joins Jennifer to share how she became a Dietitian as a second career specializing in family nutrition after working in media as a journalist, in order to blend her passion for writing and food with her expertise in nutrition.

Together, Diana and Jennifer discuss her path of discovering intuitive eating and how she already naturally lived in alignment with its philosophy, rather than discovering it from struggling with her own food disorder.  

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Diana’s story of working as an intuitive eating practitioner without having her own recovery story.
• Her journey of raising a family, moving, and how she’s networked and built a private practice in a family-oriented community.
• How Diana obtained ‘The SOS Approach to Feeding’ training, to effectively work in family nutrition with millennial parents.
• How private practice set the foundation for Diana and her future projects and goals.

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/13

SPONSOR INFO:

Choose from one of these and it gets removed from the Jennifer resources below.

This episode is sponsored by a free on-demand training for professionals, the 5 Secrets To Make Money and Make An Impact In Your Private Practice. On this training, you will discover 5 “Easy to Implement” tactics to GROW your Private Practice with a Specialty in Intuitive Eating.

Alexis Conason, Psy.D., CEDS, joins Jennifer to discuss her behavioral approach to treating clients with binge eating disorder, and shares her journey of transitioning from a weight-centric to weight-inclusive, intuitive eating approach.

When early in her career she discovered what wasn’t working with her patients, Alexis describes her discovery of the HAES and mindfulness approach which fundamentally changed her work. Now, part of a weight-inclusive group practice specializing in eating disorders, and the creator of a 6-week online program The Anti-Diet Plan, Alexis discusses how she works with clients beyond the DSM5 criteria.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• The role of Dietitians who are often the first contact for people with undiagnosed binge eating disorders.
• Behavioral approaches for binge eating, such as psychodynamic, interpersonal, and third wave cognitive behavioral therapy, and the need for a multi-disciplinary support team to help someone heal.
• How social media plays a role in eating disorder recovery including the HAES social justice movement, and why finding your community can be healing.

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/12

(Sponsor Info) This show is sponsored by a free guide for dietitians, The Top 5 Reasons Your Client Binge Eats (and How To Support Them In Their Journey To Feel Fabulous About Food). This resource is all about nutrition counseling tips and strategies for clients struggling with binge eating. Gain skills and confidence to work with your clients while making an impact: www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/reasons   

Adina Pearson, RD and owner of Adina Pearson Nutrition joins Jennifer for a discussion and supervision session about her path of starting a private practice in a small community with a limited number of potential referrals. 

With a focus on eating disorders and food struggles, Adina’s goal is achieving a sustainable client load with work-life balance as a busy mother of two.

Together Jennifer and Adina explore Adina’s current marketing activities to physicians and the challenge of getting referrals and respect. They consider different ways of how Adina can approach doctors to help them make their job easier by highlighting the benefit of referring clients to a dietitian, and Jennifer’s recommendations of communication and marketing strategies to increase referrals.

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/11

(Sponsor Info) This episode is sponsored by a resource for dietitians, The Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make In Private Practice. Gain insight and information about building a private practice and save time, money, and energy on common mistakes that you may be doing already! Download this FREE resource on the Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make in Private Practice and learn what NOT to do so you can do the things that really matter and make a difference. www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/mistakes

Lindsay Stenovec, founder of the Intuitive Eating Moms Club shares how work-life balance can change and shift as you grow as both and entrepreneur and a parent. On this episode of the Pursing Private Practice podcast Lindsay shares how being a mom changes the way you run your business. She and Jennifer talk about support and community, "control", the ability to adapt, and how to be flexible as an entrepreneur and as a mom. Listen to how becoming a mom changed her business and how she manages the work life balance and runs a successful practice.

For more information, visit https://pursuingprivatepractice.com/9

This episode is sponsored by a free on-demand training for professionals, the 5 Secrets To Make Money and Make An Impact In Your Private Practice. On this training you will discover 5 "Easy to Implement" tactics to GROW your Private Practice with a Specialty in Intuitive Eating.

Click here for more details - www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/training

Taylor Wolfram joins Jennifer McGurk on the Pursuing Private Practice podcast to talk about the intersections between Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size® and veganism. Listen in as they discuss:

• How Taylor grew her business from part-time to full-time (and the reasons why she had to grow slow)

• How Health at Every Size® and ethical veganism intersect and have common core values in body autonomy and body liberation

• What dietitians need to know when working with clients that are ethical vegans

This episode is sponsored by a free resource for professionals wanting to build a Weight Inclusive Private Practice, 10 Steps to Build a Weight Inclusive Business. This is ideal for those looking to transform their practice to incorporate the principles of a Health at Every Size® approach, Intuitive Eating, and body positivity. www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/weightinclusive

For more information, visit www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/8

Julie Duffy Dillion, has a weight inclusive dietitian practice and discusses her journey as a dietitian and how she jumped into opening her own private practice and how her practice evolved over the years. She shares the importance of knowing what's best for your own private practice and why you need to learn to say no. Saying "no" is crucial to growing your practice. You need to be able to say "yes" to the things that matter, versus spending time doing all the "shoulds" in private practice.

This episode is sponsored by a resource for dietitians, The Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make In Private Practice. Gain insight and information about building a private practice and save time, money, and energy on common mistakes that you may be doing already! Download this FREE resource on the Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make in Private Practice and learn what NOT to do so you can do the things that really matter and make a difference. www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/mistakes

For more information, visit www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/7

Jennifer shares her top 3 lessons she learned along the way on in investing in her business and helping her business grow. She shares her journey through her business growth and how each person has their own money story. 

Investing in your business can come in a variety of forms and Jennifer shares some examples of ways you can invest in your private practice and some of her own past investments in her own business.

1.    Do not wait too long to do the things you need to do to move you forward.

2.    Invest in something that will get you the best return on your investment. 

3.    Pick something that is led by someone you like. 

SPONSOR
This episode is sponsored by a FREE training “5 Secrets To Make Money and Make An Impact In Your Private Practice”. Come hang out with me LIVE on Thursday, September 19th at 1:00pm eastern and 5:00pm eastern. In this training you will learn:

1. How to build a foundation for your business that is NOT the perfect name or logo (find out what it is and stop drawing your logo right now!)

2. How you can thrive in private practice while working with clients in a weight inclusive way.

3. The secret sauce of what to say in your marketing so clients say “YES!” to your services.

4. How you may be networking all wrong and how to network in a different way that will triple your referrals.

5. What to do when you hit a bump in the road and feel like nothing is working.

Sign up here: www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/learn

For more information, visit www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/6

Libby Rothschild joins the Pursuing Private Practice podcast to talk about the importance of marketing and sales for your private practice. She also shares tips to find community in your business. In this episode you will learn:

1. How to authentically use your target audience to build community
2. How to sell services to clients
3. How to leverage social media, particularly Instagram

This episode is sponsored by a FREE training “5 Secrets To Make Money and Make An Impact In Your Private Practice”. Come hang out with me LIVE on Thursday, September 19th at 1:00pm eastern and 5:00pm eastern. In this training you will learn:

1. How to build a foundation for your business that is NOT the perfect name or logo (find out what it is and stop drawing your logo right now!)

2. How you can thrive in private practice while working with clients in a weight inclusive way.

3. The secret sauce of what to say in your marketing so clients say “YES!” to your services.

4. How you may be networking all wrong and how to network in a different way that will triple your referrals.

5. What to do when you hit a bump in the road and feel like nothing is working.

Sign up here: www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/learn.

 For all the details and shownotes for this episode, visit www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/5

Erica Leon joins the Pursuing Private Practice podcast to talk about her career in a “traditional dietetics” and her journey to Intuitive Eating and a non-diet approach. Learn how she found Intuitive Eating, how she works with clients from a Health at Every Size® approach, and how she niched down into working with women in mid-life.

Erica takes us through changes and decisions in her own business as she has gotten older and her priorities shifted. Hear how she grew her local private practice by hiring 2 dietitians, as well building online courses.

This episode is sponsored by a free resource for professionals wanting to build a Weight Inclusive Private Practice, 10 Steps to Build a Weight Inclusive Business. This is ideal for those looking to transform their practice to incorporate the principles of a Health at Every Size® approach, Intuitive Eating, and body positivity. www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/weightinclusive

For more information, visit www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/4

Never underestimate the power of friendship! Join me as I sit down with Sam and Ausinette of the band Atlantic Wasteland for an awesome chat about hanging with the homies and pursuing your passions. Sit back, relax and let's Start The Beat! 

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Jessica Setnick joins the Pursuing Private Practice podcast to discuss her journey to eating disorders private practice, as well as how dietitians can use professional speaking to enhance their career.

In this episode you will hear how:

• Jessica started her private practice specializing in eating disorders
• She evolved to create products and services for other Registered Dietitians
• Jessica is now helping other dietitians with professional speaking

Jessica is an inspiration to other dietitians and has written a new book called “A Dietitian’s Guide to Professional Speaking”. Hear about her story and how she has evolved as an entrepreneur and she looks to lift up other dietitians so they can do the same.

For more information on this episode and additional resources visit www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/3

This episode is sponsored by a resource for dietitians, The Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make In Private Practice. Gain insight and information about building a private practice and save time, money, and energy on common mistakes that you may be doing already! Download this FREE resource on the Top 10 Mistakes Professionals Make in Private Practice and learn what NOT to do so you can do the things that really matter and make a difference. www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/mistakes

Dietitians support clients in many ways throughout the intuitive eating journey. Nutrition counseling is always individualized and personalized for each individual client, however many clients need support in similar areas. Elyssa Toomey, RDN, RYT, Associate Dietitian at Eat With Knowledge, joins the conversation to talk about the top 10 strategies that dietitians can use with clients in nutrition counseling.

You will learn HOW dietitians support clients in different areas of nutrition counseling, such as developing a positive relationship with food, helping clients with body image, and breaking down complicated nutrition science topics.

In this episode, you will hear how Elyssa and Jennifer work with clients to help you increase your confidence in nutrition counseling when working with your own clients.

SHOW SPONSOR

This show is sponsored by a free guide for dietitians, The Top 5 Reasons Your Client Binge Eats (and How To Support Them In Their Journey To Feel Fabulous About Food). This resource is all about nutrition counseling tips and strategies for clients struggling with binge eating. Gain skills and confidence to work with your clients while making an impact: www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/reasons

For more information, visit www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/2

Welcome to the Pursuing Private Practice podcast!

Just like clients go on a journey filled with many ups and downs to find peace with food, dietitians have a similar journey when building a business specializing in intuitive eating.

In this first solo show, Jennifer McGurk talks about what to expect from the Pursuing Private Practice podcast. She tells her story of building her private practice and many lessons learned along the way. You will hear about:

• Why Jennifer is so passionate about helping clients feel fabulous about food and supporting professionals to do this important work

• How Pursuing Private Practice was created and how the mission has evolved over time

• Jennifer’s belief that you can make money and make an impact in private practice

The Pursuing Private Practice podcast is just getting started! Stay tuned for more episodes on business strategy, nutrition counseling skills, and advice and support for dietitians growing a weight inclusive business. The Pursuing Private Practice podcast will feature guest interviews, solo shows for Q and A, and be THE resource for building an intuitive eating private practice!

For more information, visit www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/1