startingprivatepractice

Let’s talk about rest.

Taking time off is something that a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with. And this seems like something that we are ashamed of! It seems like we should just love resting and taking time for ourselves.

I know that sometimes our mission can feel so BIG and we want to achieve our goals so quickly that we end up hustling all. the. time. But that’s not actually conducive to our success.

So let’s talk about it! 

Some of the topics discussed include:

• What is true rest and why do we need it?
• Rest as the foundation of self-care
• How your business will benefit from taking time off
• Pursuing Private Practice’s plan to take a break
• Tips for creating a practice of rest in your life and business

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/52

I’m so excited to invite you to Pursuing Private Practice’s new membership: Dietitian Business School! I created this membership with the goal of making it the go-to resource for building your private practice.

I am passionate about Health At Every Size and Intuitive Eating, and I think the world needs our message as dietitians now more than ever. Dietitian Business School is an amazing place where you can work on building your business and get support from a community of like-minded dietitians.

I would LOVE for you to join us!

Some of the topics discussed include:

• The three pillars of building a successful business as a dietitian entrepreneur
• The structure of Dietitian Business School, including: lessons, group calls and trainings, co-working sessions, group supervision, self-care calls, private Facebook group, group emails, AND a calendar to keep this all organized!
• The membership model explained

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/51

Jen Haefele is a member of the Pursuing Private Practice program, and I absolutely love the energy she brings to the group. This interview is a true reflection of her positive energy. She talks about her goals and dreams, and she talks about the future of her career. 

I love to talk with dietitians who are in her position - she is just beginning her journey into private practice. I tend to interview dietitians who are further along in their journeys, but I really want to start featuring more dietitians who are in the beginning stages of their businesses. It is so exciting to hear what they are doing now to build their businesses AND what their goals and dreams are for the future.

Jen has some really unique and fun ideas in her “parking lot” of ideas for the future, and I cannot wait to see what she does with her business in the coming months! 

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Jen’s numerous college degrees and what ultimately drove her to her work within Intuitive Eating.
• The most critical marketing steps to take when launching your private practice
• The challenge of dividing time between working for someone else and starting your own private practice
• Incorporating physical exercise with dietetic counseling

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/50

I had the privilege of interviewing Evelyn Tribole for this episode of the podcast. This ended up being a pretty vulnerable interview for Evelyn. She was very open and honest about her journey and the evolution of Intuitive Eating. 

One of the biggest takeaways that I hope you get from this episode is that it is okay to learn and grow and evolve and change! Even if you are an established business owner, there is still so much learning that we can do before we then take action, one of the most important steps when we learn new information.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• “When you know better, do better”
• The evolution of Intuitive Eating and writing the 4th edition
• Prioritizing family and self care
• Showing up with compassion and humility
• What’s next for Intuitive Eating?
• Diversify Dietetics Mentor Program

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/49

Clara is someone who is making such a big difference in the world through her positive message of body liberation. She is unapologetically herself as she stands up for what she believes in. I’m honored to talk with her today about her work as a dietitian and activist, and how her mission is helping to truly make this world a better place.

This episode is unique in that we made a mistake in the first recording of the episode, and rather than editing it out we decided to leave it in and model how we are still continuing to grow and evolve ourselves. Activism work is messy, and we aren’t always going to get it right. You will hear the episode wrap up like it is done, and then we will come back on one more time to identify our mistake and have a short conversation around it.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• How cultural and personal beliefs affect our health perspective
• The need for “unlearning” what has been assumed to be true, and learning what real health and nutrition can look like for people from various backgrounds
• Recognizing the difference between good intention and actual impact on others
• How making mistakes is an opportunity to learn and grow

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/48

I’m flying solo today to talk about a topic that is near and dear to my heart and something that I’ve been thinking about so much lately: transitions.

This conversation feels vulnerable to share, but it’s my hope that by sharing my own thoughts and feelings during this time, it will give you permission to accept these feelings as they come up for you too.

I think transitions are necessary in business. But it can feel scary to talk about because as business owners, we are “supposed to” have all of the answers and know what’s best for our business. It can feel like we’re supposed to be ON all of the time and not necessarily allowed to make transitions.

But our situation is always changing, and our business needs to fit into our life - not the other way around. No business is going to be “successful” if the business doesn’t fit into the business owner’s life.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Moving out of our private practice building after 9 years
• The necessity of transitions
• Different kinds of transitions in business and life

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/46

Did you know you don’t have to have clinical experience before opening up a private practice?!

In today’s episode of the Pursuing Private Practice Podcast, Alex Raymond and I have a really honest conversation about clinical experience. Clinical experience is completely different from the experience of owning and running a private practice. 

So many internship preceptors preach to their interns that clinical experience is a requirement for becoming a successful dietitian, and this just isn’t true if you want to run a private practice. 

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Alex’s story of deciding not to get clinical experience
• Starting out in private practice
• Growing as a counselor
• Running a private practice as a partnership

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/45

In this episode, Robyn Goldberg and I are deep diving into the process of writing and publishing a book, and we focus specifically on the business aspect of this amazing endeavor.

Robyn recently released a book, The Eating Disorder Trap: A Guide for Clinicians and Loved Ones. The book is awesome, and while I’m so excited for everyone to hear more about the book itself, we also talk about the process of writing a book as a business opportunity. 

The book is just the tip of the iceberg for Robyn. She has so many incredible ideas about marketing a book and getting the message out, and she shares about what she wants her life to look like in the future.

I hope this episode will inspire you to start thinking big, too! What if you put your heart and soul into a project like this? What would that look like? What could it do for your business? How could it support your mission?

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Making the decision to write a book
• The book writing process
• Self-publishing vs. working with a publisher
• Marketing her book during the pandemic

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/44

This is Elyse’s second appearance on the Pursuing Private Podcast, and I could not be more excited to welcome her back! We are celebrating the release of the 4th edition of Intuitive Eating.

We talk about so many different aspects of Intuitive Eating in this episode. If you haven’t listened to her first episode on the podcast, The Evolution of Intuitive Eating, I encourage you to do that! That episode discusses how Intuitive Eating has evolved and gives reason to why the 4th edition of the book was so necessary.

I hope you enjoy the episode and grab your own copy of the book! It’s an invaluable resource for all dietitians and I know many of our clients are eager to soak up this information too!

Some of the topics discussed include:

• How dietitians can use Intuitive Eating in their practice
• Why Intuitive Eating is a perfect fit for private practice 
• How Intuitive Eating is evolving into more courses and programs and products that other dietitians are creating
• A sneak peek into the marketing efforts of releasing the 4th edition!

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/43

Today’s guest, Kirsten Ackerman, is a member of the Pursuing Private Practice for Intuitive Eating program and has built her own thriving private practice. She is the author of the incredible book, The Intuitive Eating Plan: A Body Positive Approach to Rebuilding Your Relationship With Food.

Kirsten is a self-proclaimed multi-passionate entrepreneur. She has so many things going on in her professional life, and this podcast episode gives us a glimpse of that. On top of running her own private practice and authoring a book, she also works at a treatment center three days per week. 

It was really awesome to see how Kirsten balances having all of her different business adventures and still has a life outside of business too, which is always so important!

Some of the topics discussed include:

• The evolution of Kirsten business from working in a bariatric surgery clinic to an Anti-Diet Registered Dietitian
• The benefits of being multi-passionate 
• Kirsten’s process of writing and publishing a book

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/42

This week on the Pursuing Private Practice Podcast, I’ve decided to re-air an episode that was originally out in March with Tamara Melton titled Diversity in Dietetics. 

This issue is so important to our field. With everything going on around the United States with the Black Lives Matter movement, I really do think that we have to start talking about diversity more as providers to support the dieticians that are black in our field. We should be thinking about how we can lift them up and move forward as a profession.

As a white provider, I was silent last week. I wanted to listen and really think about how I could help our profession best move forward. One of the statistics that came across my Instagram feed was that only 2.3% of dietitians are black. I knew the statistic was low, but I honestly did not know just how low it really is. 2.3% is not okay, it’s disgraceful.

It is so important for dietitians to realize that we can have an impact in increasing the diversity in our field. I know that I want to support Diversify Dietetics in this mission, so I am so excited to re-air this episode with Tamara. She gives us so many different things to think about in this episode to help us better support dietitians of color. 

Some of the topics discussed include:

• How Diversify Dietetics is passionate about empowering students and professionals of color to help them become the leaders of the next generation in dietetics.
• Why micro-aggression and unconscious bias can create a barrier to learning and creativity for students of color in all-white learning environments.

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/41

This week’s episode topic was requested by a listener! I always assume that if someone takes the time to email me about a topic, many more of you are wondering the same thing, so I am so excited to bring you today’s episode about pivoting in your business.

Business owners usually pivot (change direction) for one of two reasons: they either want to better serve their customers and clients, or they want to better serve themselves! 

Maybe you are newly passionate about something and want to add an offer, but are worried you might confuse your audience. Or maybe you aren’t excited about your current offer any more and want to move away from it, but you don’t want to disappoint anyone. You are allowed to change your mind! People change as they gain experience, and that’s a good thing! You should never feel “stuck” in your own business.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Common changes people make to their business
• Why someone would pivot their business
• How to make the process of pivoting your own business as smooth as possible

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/40

Melainie Rogers is someone that I have looked up to for a very long time. I was lucky enough to get to know her while I was living in New York City, even though I wasn’t necessarily practicing in the eating disorder field like I am now. 

I’ve always known about her and her treatment center and I’m just in awe of what she’s built. It’s such an honor for me to have her on the podcast.

She talks about her unique journey of going from solo dietitian in private practice to a group private practice, to actually building a treatment center that truly supports her mission to support eating disorder recovery and her clients in the best way possible. She’s also growing her virtual practice and offers a variety of online courses that are especially helpful during this COVID-19 crisis.  

Melanie has such an incredible mission for her company, I’m excited to see what’s next for her!

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Melainie’s incredible journey to CEO of BALANCE Eating Disorder Treatment Center™
• Giving ourselves permission to pivot and evolve in our businesses when we feel called to
• Shifting into a CEO mindset
• Learning to delegate to a team

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/39

My guest today is Nicole Mareno, and this was her first ever podcast interview! And she does such a fantastic job. She explains her story, talks about everything she went through in her own recovery, discusses how she uses her special skills as a registered nurse to work in the field of eating disorder recovery, and how she integrates her work as a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor to make a big impact with her clients.

I was really inspired by this episode. Nicole is such a special person. I’m so excited for everyone to get to know her and get inspired by how she brings a unique twist to Intuitive Eating as a registered nurse. So many of us can also bring something a little bit different to Intuitive Eating using our own personalities, our own training, and our own credentials to better serve our ideal client.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Nicole’s unique journey to Intuitive Eating
• Changes Nicole has made to her business since the start of COVID-19
• COVID-19 Eating Support

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/38

I’m so excited to finally bring you an episode with Stefani Reinold. She is one of my best business friends. We have had many different versions of this conversation privately, and we kept saying, “We should record this!” because we knew that it could be helpful to others as we are all processing our own version of the new normal with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Stefani brings so much to this conversation -- she has her MD, a background in psychiatry, and is now a therapeutic provider. Many dietitians don't have therapeutic training unless they’re in the eating disorder field and are receiving their own supervision and training. This conversation will be very helpful to so many people as we continue to process our own thoughts, feelings, and emotions around the COVID-19 crisis and try to determine how to best move forward while also taking care of ourselves (that’s number one!), our families, our business and clients, and all of the new responsibilities that many of us now have.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Processing our experiences (and an explanation of what “processing” actually means!)
• Handling outside pressure and feeling guilty for taking a break
• Setting boundaries that honor our values
• The importance of supervision for clinicians

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/37

This episode is about a topic that is near and dear to my heart: marketing yourself as an anti-diet intuitive eating dietitian. I really hope this message impacts you and helps you move forward in your business!

Sometimes it seems like everyone out there is an anti-diet intuitive eating dietitian with a virtual practice, right?! So many of us have moved our practice to a virtual model, and we’re all teaching the same type of content and offering the same type of services to our clients.

This is why it is so important as a dietitian that you infuse your personality and put your own spin on your messaging and your offers. There are going to be people who truly resonate with  YOU, and those are your ideal clients. There are also going to be people who do not resonate with you, and that’s great too! They aren’t your ideal client. Trust me, there are more than enough clients to go around!

When you have a message and a mission that is out there to the world that really attracts your ideal person, it is so much better for the health and longevity of your business! Now is the perfect time to work on this. What can you do right now to attract the people that are perfect for you?

Some of the topics discussed include:

• You are your own business, and you see things through your own eyes
• Specializing within a sub-niche (a niche within a niche!)
• Pivoting to be helpful now
• The power of community in marketing

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/36

I felt so inspired after this interview with Alexis Demuth. Alexis’s story involves being laid off from her job and deciding to start her own business just a week before Coronavirus began to shut the country down! If you are in a similar situation, I hope that this interview gives you hope and inspiration and maybe even the courage to finally get into business if it’s something that you’ve always wanted to do!

Those of us who already have an established business of our own are struggling right now too. COVID-19 has thrown so much of our “normal” out the window, and it can feel like we are starting from square one some days. I know we will get through this and the lessons we learn will make as better clinicians. I want to encourage you in that truth today, too.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Starting a business during the Coronavirus crisis
• Moving through the grief process and the nuances of feelings
• What Alexis’ business journey has looked like this past month
• The importance of continuing your business education
• Imposter syndrome

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/35

The timing of this episode is so perfect with what is going on in the world right now. The Coronavirus has forced many of us to take our practice online. We’re settling into a new normal, and many of us are beginning to think about how to serve our clients in a virtual way that creates an experience in online education.

Stephanie and I recorded this episode way back in January. I had planned to do a series about online education in April, and obviously scrapped those plans after the pandemic. But I still wanted to release this episode at a time when it could truly be as helpful as I originally had planned on, and today feels like that time!

That being said, I do want to put a disclaimer on this episode: if Stephanie and I had had any notion of what our situation would look like with Coronavirus today, we would have said many things differently. I would have been a lot more sensitive to people’s trauma and grief and unique situations. 

However, I do think that the message of the episode would have been very similar. The world was moving toward an online model to begin with before Coronavirus. Now it is the only model we have at this present time. How can we adapt to this model with our clients so that we are able to serve them as best as we possibly can?

Stephanie is a leader in the online education space, and she shares so much of that wisdom and expertise with us today!

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Why you should have an online program/offer
• What you need to have in place before setting up an online program
• Authentic, non sleazy, online marketing!
• Current trends in online education
• Delegation

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/34

Fiona is the first guest that I interviewed post-Coronavirus outbreak. This episode is the perfect way to open up the really difficult conversations that we are going to be having moving forward as the crisis continues and both our clients and ourselves attempt to navigate the uncertainty. The work that we do with our clients is completely different than it was prior to this crisis. 

This is an unprecedented time in our world, and we need to continue to have these conversations. None of us have the answers. All we can really do is bond together, build community, go forward in our businesses, and try to do the very best that we can.

This conversation with Fiona helped me tremendously, it felt like a supervision session. Our clients need us now more than ever. We need each other now more than ever. I hope that this episode brings you some peace and some permission to feel all the feelings, and I hope that this episode brings you some joy!

Some of the topics discussed include:

• What can we do when it feels like the world is crashing down around us?
• Can we actually still run our businesses right now? + the advice I wish I could have given myself two weeks ago!
• Best practices for running a virtual practice
• The importance of having our own self-care practices in place

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/33

I’m taking some time today to talk about how I’m feeling, how my business is doing, and what I’m doing differently to best serve my clients. I hope this serves as an inspiration to you to think outside the box yourself right now: What can you do to serve your people? What do you need right now to take care of yourself? What do you need to do to be the best possible version of yourself right now without feeling rooted in “shoulds”?

Some of the topics discussed include:

• The impact of the Coronavirus on the intuitive eating world and the importance of continuing to show up for the people that need to hear your message the most
• Giving yourself and your clients permission to feel whatever needs to be felt right now 
• Figuring out a “new normal” for the time being 
• Cultivating resiliency and being grateful for the lessons we’ve learned through navigating other hard times in life
• How to move forward in your business and support your people
• The power of community and connection. Who can you connect with today that will feed your soul?

For more information, visit https://www.pursuingprivatepractice.com/32