In this episode of The Dietitian Success Podcast, I sit down with Bailey Franklyn. Bailey is a Registered Dietitian and the founder of Harvest Table Nutrition. Her mission is to empower busy non-cooks with the confidence to create healthy, plant-based meals. She does this by offering 1:1 nutrition coaching, group in-person and virtual cooking classes and through an online course. Today, we’re going to dive into what it looks like to be a dietitian who has paired her love of cooking and culinary skills with working with individuals in her community. We chat about: How to offer group & private cooking classes as part of your offerings Running ‘pop-up’ events The day-to-day workings of a part-time entrepreneur How to market yourself in a small community
Links:
Access our freebies – the Business Planning Workbook, Client Resource Kit & PES Statements Cheat Sheet here: https://www.dietitiansuccesscenter.com/freebie
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Follow Bailey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harvesttablenutrition/
Check out Bailey’s website: https://www.harvesttablenutrition.ca/
Episode Transcript:
Bailey Franklin is a registered dietitian and the founder of harvest table nutrition. Her mission is to empower busy non cooks with the confidence to create healthy plant-based meals. She does this by offering one-on-one nutrition, coaching group in-person and virtual cooking classes. And she also created an online course. So today we are going to dive into what it looks like to be a dietitian who has paired their love of cooking and culinary skills with working with individuals in the community.
And also, if you are a dietitian who lives in a small community or a small town, And you’ve ever worried about not having access to enough people, enough resources to be successful, or you’ve wondered how to integrate your business into your community. This episode is absolutely for you. Let’s jump in.
Hey, Bailey, how’s it going? Good. How are you?
Good. Thanks for joining me on the podcast. I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to just talk to you because I feel like the work that you do is quite, it’s quite different than a, what a lot of dietitians do just in terms of having the culinary spin. So we’re gonna get to that. But yeah, where are you joining us? I am in Thornbury, which is just outside of Collingwood, which is two hours north of Toronto. . Okay. Toronto, Canada. Canada. For all of our US listeners. . Yes. Yes. Apologies. Yeah, okay. So I wanna start off by hearing a little bit more about your dietitian story.
So what was your path to getting to where you are today? And then let’s dive a little bit deeper into your business and what you do in your business. Sure. So I. left high school, had no idea what I wanted to, well actually I lied. I wanted to be a vet, so I went to the University of Guelph because that’s what people do.
Quickly learned. That wasn’t my path, but I took a nutrition course and I loved it. It was the first time I had learned about nutrition like university, which is kind of crazy. So I took all the courses I could. Guelph does have a dietetic. Program, an undergrad there, but
I was doing a Bachelor of Science and Biological Sciences, so I figured I would just finish that. And then I ended up going torek, which is affiliated with Western, and I did an undergrad in Food and Nutrition there. and then applied for my internship. Didn’t get it my first time, so did a year of resume building and then I got it my second time and did my internship through Brusa again, and then I, I graduated in 2016 and wrote my exam the same year and have been working as a dietitian ever since. And what did you do during that year of building your resume, just out of curiosity? Yeah, I did a couple random completely nont nutrition related jobs until I got a job as a diet tech in a hospital.
And that was, I think, game-changing. I did have some other long-term jobs that are very, the skills are very transferrable. Mm. And so I think, I think that really helped. But honestly, working as a diet tech I think was, was very helpful. Cuz I worked alongside the dietitians. My my kind of clinical knowledge expanded, my verbiage changed and so I, that, that was very helpful.
. Yeah. The other jobs were just like, you know, working in hospitality just mm-hmm. as a job until I got something that was very in my field. So I feel like those diet tech jobs were always so highly coveted. , in university. Right. You were like, the people who are diet techs are like shoe ins for the internship
Yeah. It’s not glamorous. Being a diet tech is, is not glamorous. Sure. I worked in this. In the kitchen, which is usually in the basement, and no windows in this tiny little room. I worked in no service. Mm-hmm. . So even though we weren’t allowed to have a cell phone, there was, you couldn’t do anything. It was just so not, it was claustrophobic and probably a little bit miserable.
Yeah. And the hours were not great. Oh. But I did it. Which is great. That’s all that matters. Yeah. You fill your resume, you got to where you needed to be. So then exactly. You graduated 2016. Yeah. And then what have you been doing since? So I graduated in June of 2016. In September I moved to Northern Ontario.
Which if you live in Ontario, that can, that’s a pretty big space. But I worked in Sudbury and I worked part-time at a nurse practitioner clinic. So I was part-time there for a couple months and then I also was working part-time in long-term care. So I did those two jobs for probably three years.
And then I got full-time on at Loblaws and I did full-time there for just under a year. And while I was doing those, all of those jobs, I. Realized what I liked about certain things and what I didn’t like about certain things. And that’s kind of when the idea of like, I, I think I could do something really cool.
That’s when my whole, like my private practice and business idea started forming. So that was. The fall of 2019 is when like the wheels started turning that I had some ideas of a business that I could create, although starting my own private practice was never something that had I’d ever been interested in prior to that.
Mm. And why do you, so for those of you that don’t know, Loblaws is a grocery chain, so it was, it’s a retail dietitian job. Yes. Why do you think that you had never thought about private practice before? To be honest, it was never talked about an internship when, when we had to do our internship, which is a year of unpaid work.
Working with someone that was in private practice or even discussions with private practice was never an option, right? You have to do your clinical, you have to do your food service, you have to do your public health, you have to do your research, and maybe I didn’t know enough private practice dietitians at the time.
Instagram was a thing, but it’s not what it is now. And so even witnessing that that was, or like knowing that that was an option wasn’t available. And so it just, it never crossed my plate. And also I just thought like, that seems like a lot of work. You have to, you know, do all this stuff and work for yourself.
I’d rather just. Have someone else pay me and work nine to five. And my opinion of that has changed drastically in the last couple of years. And was there anything specific that prompted you to think about private practice or to like, do you remember, was there a person, was there inspiration? Was it just seeing more people on Instagram doing work that you were like, this seems really cool?
I think it was that all of the jobs that I work, I liked aspects of. But I wanted to create something that was, that I liked the entire thing, if that makes sense. Mm-hmm. , totally. So when I worked at the nurse practitioner clinic, I did counseling and I, I love canceling, I love educating, I love doing nutrition education, but it is so hard to sit in an office and to tell people and encourage people how to eat healthy when you’re just telling them, you know, and showing them food models and saying, okay, now you have to go home and you have to do this and this and this.
So I loved the education part, but I didn’t love that we were so far removed from actually putting things into practice, which is why I loved working in retail because this is where people make their food choices. So I love doing demos and I love doing grocery store tours cuz I’m like, this is how you label read.
This is how you can make a healthier choice, right? Where you’re gonna buy your. and showing people different recipe ideas or quick snacks or quick easy products. I loved that, but people don’t have time when they’re shopping to like, talk to you. So there was not a whole lot of long-term education that was possible there.
So I, I liked aspects of things, but it wasn’t both of like the education piece and the teaching people where they’re making their food decisions. I wanted to combine, And then going even further when I was doing cooking demos. So I’d make a little recipe and I’d stand on the grocery store floor and I’d have things for people to sample.
And everyone was like, I love this. Where can I buy it? And I said, actually, I made it. And they’re like, oh, I, I don’t have time for that. And I just thought, oh my God, you actually do, it’s like three ingredients. It took me 10 minutes. And so I thought, what if I could show people how to make. Like it’s people’s either confidence in the kitchen or in their cooking skills or in their lack of time or perceived lack of time that I found to be people’s biggest barriers to making healthy food choices.
And I was like, Ooh, what if I can. combine that, what if I can do something with that? Yeah. So that’s, that’s when the wheels started turning where it’s like, I love education. I love showing people how to make healthy food choices. And I wish I could actually show them how easy it is to make food and to buy food and what to do with it when they get home.
Hmm. So that brings us to your private practice. Yeah. So how did you start it then? So when I was in Loblaws, I. , I wanna do something cooking related. Mm-hmm. . And I am someone who, when I seek out experts, I look for credentials. And so I thought, you know what? I think I need to have some credentials behind my name if I’m gonna teach people how to cook.
I don’t think that’s, it’s probably, it’s not, not everyone has to do that, but for me, I was like, I think I need to go to culinary school just so that I can say I have. Credibility to what I’m teaching. So I did, there were some hiccups in between, but I did a one year program and in that time I was building my practice. , but at that time I had no idea what I was doing. Like, didn’t know what services I was gonna offer or prices, or what things looked like. I just had this like vague, vague idea of what I wanted things to look like.
Mm-hmm. . Um, But it, I was all over the map when it came to actually creating something and having it, you know, be on paper and be real. It was all just this like foggy concept. . Yeah. And so were you still working nine to five and then doing culinary school, or did you take time off from work?
So I left Loblaws end of 2019. I was supposed to go to culinary school starting in December of 2019, but that fell through. Mm-hmm. , so I ended up working. Something completely nont, nutrition related. And then we know what happened in March of 2020. So I was unemployed until September when I went back to culinary school.
Gotcha. And then actually in December of 2020, I started working as a food service manager at a long-term care home. So though there was a good year and a half that I was not practicing as a dietitian, Yes, so I was going to school. I was working as a food service manager, and I was like slowly starting my business.
So no, I so appreciate you sharing that because sometimes there’s this perception that the career path is this linear thing, and we start working somewhere when we graduate, and that’s the long term trajectory, and it’s just so not the case. . No, no, there’s, it’s just not linear. There’s so many different directions that you’ve gone, but ultimately they’ve all led you to where you are now.
Yes. And do you remember what some of the first steps you took were for your private practice? I always loved asking that question, like, was it like you picked your business name and you bought a domain and you threw a website up there? ? Yeah. The, yes. The very first thing I did was pick a name. Yeah.
Probably like the least important thing. No, that’s, that’s often the most obvious place. . Yes. Yeah. So I snagged the name on the handle on Instagram, and that’s a great name. Oh, thank you. Welcome. Yeah. It took, I remember like sitting with my mom and my sister and we were brainstorming and I, I was really focused on this other name and it just didn’t resonate.
And then we just started like bouncing ideas back and forth. , someone said it and it was like, yes, that’s it. I’m surprised that you were able to get Harvest Table Nutrition as the, because that’s your, your a or your handle on Instagram, right? Yes. And you were also able to get the domain? Yes. That’s awesome.
Yeah. There’s a lot of, harvest is like a, a big word out there, but Harvest Table nutrition was free. So cool. So that was the first, and thinking of a logo, those were the first two things which are . I think that’s where, honestly, I think that’s what I did when I first started my, not d s E, but like my first, first when I had back in my food blogging days.
Those are the first things I did too. So that’s where often where most people think to start. Yeah. So that’s really cool. Okay. Then that brings us to where we are now. Mm-hmm. . So what types of services do you offer? It’s expanded from what I originally was offering. So I offer nutrition coaching virtually.
I offer private cooking classes, group cooking classes. I have an online course, I do pop-ups, and I do some private baking and cooking for clients. It’s a lot of, Ooh. A lot of things. That’s cool. Yeah, that’s, yeah. I didn’t know about those last few. Those are new additions. Yes. It’s expanded . So tell us about the cooking classes. What does that look like? Mm-hmm. and what does that involve? Yeah, so, I have the private classes, which are usually one to three people. I try and keep it as small as, and then groups are anywhere from four to 12. The largest group I’ve done is 12, and I do them in person, so I go to clients’ homes.
I bring the recipes, all the ingredients, some extra tools and equipment that we need. And there’s more education involved. It’s more hands on, I would say. And then groups is more people do it for fun. Mm. Right. It’s much less stress if you’re having a group of people.
The host or hostess doesn’t have to plan a menu, do any grocery shopping, do anything like that because I do it all. I show up with everything so they can have more of a good time and just enjoy it. Yeah. And then either way, you get some new recipes and a delicious meal at the. . Yeah. And so are the, is the client who would hire you for private, are they more of the person that’s looking for that like nutrition education component as well?
Like they wanna start really figuring out how to build healthy meal planning into their day-to-day for them and their families. And then the person who would come to the group is just more like, Hey, I just do wanna do this one-off. Really fun cooking. , yes. Groups are more looking for something, a new experience, you know?
Mm-hmm. , maybe they’re like, we don’t wanna go out for dinner, or, we don’t want something catered. We want something just different. So yes, the nutrition concept is not something that they focus on so much, but private. Yes. It’s funny, a lot of the private classes I’ve done, people have bought the class on behalf of someone else as a gift.
Oh, interesting. Yeah, so those ones aren’t so much nutrition focused. It’s more Gotcha. A new technique or a new recipe that they wanna try. Yeah. Whereas some of them, if they’re booking it on behalf of themselves, then yes, there is some nutrition focused. And so the one thing that we haven’t really touched on is the whole plant-based piece too, right? Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . That’s a big component of the work you do. Yes. I’ve been vegetarian for like 15 years, so it’s just, to me it’s how I eat. And I am. I know plant-based, like there’s so many health benefits to it, and that has become my niche is teaching people and encouraging people how to eat plant-based as well as the culinary aspect.
But I think people are interested in it. There’s more talk about it, about the benefits. And I, I think people’s biggest either misconception or barrier to doing it is they’re like, I don’t know how, or I’m going to miss it on my favorite foods. Or I don’t know how to make it taste good or it’s boring, or all of these things.
And so I’m trying to show people that plant-based eating can be delicious. You can still eat your favorite foods, right? It can be a balance of things. But yeah, showing them the benefits not only through the nutrition lens, but also like this is how you can buy it. This is how you can prepare it to make it taste delicious.
And tell us about the pop-ups too. That was the last thing that I wanted to hear about. Yeah. What is that? Oh, okay. That came on very out of left field. So I live in a very small community which has benefited my. greatly. But there is a, a brewery not far from where I live, and they, they don’t sell food.
So during the summer, every weekend they were having local restaurants or small, chefs come and do pop-ups and serve food. And I went one weekend and I asked if they had any opening. The rest of the summer and I just said like, this is who I am, this is what I do. And they said, sure. . Ah, that’s so cool.
That is so cool. Yeah. Good for you. Yeah, it was yeah, that was, that is probably the biggest learning curve curve. Wow, I can imagine I have ever experienced. So the first one I did was three days beginning of August. And since then I’ve done five or six in a couple different locations. So for a couple different organizations and restaurants.
And it’s been, it’s been great. It’s been fun. It’s a really, really great way to meet people in the community. and do some in-person marketing, and yes, financially it can be good. Mm-hmm. , I think it, it, it definitely takes some time. The first, I don’t think I broke even the first one I did . Yeah. But I don’t, to me, honestly, I don’t look at as a way to make money.
I’m like, for me, this is a great way to market myself and my business and just to meet people. So, yeah. Yeah. So how did you decide on, I’m just curious, like how did you come up with a men? Was it, was it that you had to come up with a few different options that you were gonna serve? Yeah. Like what did that look like?
Yeah, so all of them there’s probably four to five offerings that I have per menu. So when I’m creating a menu, I definitely think about seasonality. and you know, what is in season. And then I kind of create a running list and then I’ll ask people like, what would, what do you, what would you be interested?
I always try and have, you know, some salads, like healthier options cuz I look at it mm-hmm. from my lens as a dietitian. So I want some healthier options, but like, dessert is always on there and mains. So seasonality I look at as well as what other people have offered before. I wanna be a little bit different so that people that are coming will always have different options and how much prep is involved.
So how much prep do I wanna do ahead of time? How much prep can I do on site? What equipment do I have? How many people do I have working with me? Yeah, there’s a lot of, there’s a lot of things that go into, oh, I can imagine. , do you remember what some of the things are that you’ve served? Yeah. In the summer I did PDAs, so I did a grilled veggie pita, so I made all my own p.
Wow. And yeah, I think I made like 300, 300 of them. Oh my gosh. And then, yeah, we did grilled veggies and I had a couple different salads. I had like a Greek salad and then my family has a blueberry patch, so we did fresh blueberries for dessert. I’ve also done veggie burgers on homemade like pretzel buns, soup Wow.
Pretzels. Yeah. Lots of different, it’s fun. I would say that’s my form. creativity now. Yeah. Is creating menus.
Okay. I wanna hear a little bit more about what a typical day in your life looks like. . Mm-hmm. . don’t be afraid to get specific here, . Don’t be afraid to get granular because you know, I think that the reason why I like this question is because like, if you haven’t done, if you’re not an entrepreneur, or even if you are.
There’s just this curiosity around how other people are doing things or like, what does your life actually look like working for yourself? So I wanna know, what is your, what is a typical day look like for you? . Okay. It is not glamorous every day. Every day is different. Mm-hmm. So I am still working in long-term care.
I am not full-time in my business yet. So the days I work in long-term care, which is usually two days a week. I’m, so I usually start my day between five 30 and six. And that’s only because I go to bed at like a geriatric hour. So I am staying able to be up upset. I feel that, yes. Yeah. and like I work best in the morning.
I am an early bird. I am the most productive during that time. That works for me. So I’m usually up between five 30 and six. I like to do stretching or yoga or something just to move a little bit. If I’m going to one of my homes, I try and get 30 to 60 minutes of admin work done in the morning. So maybe it’s checking emails, responding to emails maybe social media stuff.
If I had a client the night before, I usually do my charting and follow up stuff in the morning. And then I’ll go to my home, usually six to eight hours. And then when I get home, I try and squeeze in a workout. And then usually I try and put in two hours of work in the evening.
So usually five to seven ish. So that might be again, Emails writing my weekly emails to my email list, social media stuff. If I’m doing any cooking classes or popups, maybe it’s making grocery lists or like planning out what my week is gonna look like and when I, what days I’m prepping what? Or just, you know, other stuff on my asana to-do list.
Mm-hmm. . If I have cooking classes, Summer during the week, I find if, it’s a local, someone that lives in the area, they tend to book during the week. So the day might be you know, grocery shopping, printing out recipes, doing a little bit of prep. If prep is involved before I go to the class if I’m doing popups, that might be three to four days of prep ahead of time, including grocery shopping and then like figuring out, what to make when.
And then all the marketing that would go along with that. Fridays and Saturday mornings are for private baking clients cuz they usually drop stuff off Saturday mornings. So I spend all of Friday and Saturday morning baking. . And then if I do have a random day, then I don’t have anything booked.
It’s admin stuff. So it’s catching up on, again, emails or like planning social media, figuring out maybe new offerings or brands that I wanna reach out to or local, you know, businesses or other small businesses in the area that I would like to partner with. Email, writing for my email list. Planning new freebees.
Yeah. I so appreciate that. Because I think the way that you shared that, it just, , it just goes to show what starting a business really looks like in that you’re often working nine to five and mm-hmm. , when you wanna work on your business, you’re working on it.
in the evenings and on weekends. And one time I heard somebody refer to it as like, you’re working on your business in the margins of your day, which I think is so true. It’s like this margin in the morning, this 30 to 45 minutes or whatever. Yeah. You know, this like three hour margin in the evening after you’ve had dinner.
On a day where you happen to not be working your nine to five or on the weekends. And that’s just the reality. But that’s what it looks like if you want to be able to. the rest of your career, hopefully doing what you love to do. Yes. There’s gonna be a period of that working in the margins.
Yep, absolutely. And there are some days, honestly, I’ll get home from long-term care and I know it is not a day that anything is gonna get done. Yeah, absolutely. And I just accept that. Mm-hmm. and I, I don’t do anything. Yeah. And when I do have the time and I can look at a computer again, , then I will. make up for that time.
But there are some days where I just know today is not the day. Yeah. And I’m, there are days where I’m okay, or weeks that I’m okay working on the weekend. I mean, a lot of what I do just inherently happens on the weekends. Mm-hmm. . But if I have a weekend off, I don’t mind working on my business Yeah.
For a couple hours on the Sunday. Mm-hmm. , I find that’s actually when I’m the most productive, so. I assess based on like, how am I feeling and how productive am I actually gonna be. Mm-hmm. , after I’ve just spent eight hours working for someone else. Yeah.
Yeah. And actually I’m curious, where did the private baking clients come from? Like what does that, that you do? Yeah. They are all because of pop. . So a lot of, yeah. So a lot of the private baking clients or nutrition coaching clients have come because I’ve met these people in person at a popup mm-hmm.
and they’re like, oh, I didn’t know you do that. And it’s, it’s not something I advertise because it is very labor intensive, I’m sure. Yeah. So I can only manage so many. So it’s not something that I advertise, but the people that have found, , I do it. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. And are those like individuals, like individuals who are like, I want you to bake stuff for us for the week.
Is that how that is? It’s, it started like that. Okay. And then it the person who asked me to just do things for her privately also owns a small little shop, and she was like, actually smart. Oh, smart, cool. Yeah. She was like, can you do wholesale stuff? And I was like, and then awesome. I’ve since had two other people tag on, but they are both places that I’ve done pop-ups before and they’re like, very cool.
If we don’t have, you know, vendors on site, can you make us stuff so that we still have food to sell. Wow. So, yeah. Very cool. Okay, so I wanna know a little bit more about. The cooking classes piece. So, and particularly I would say like the group cooking classes, cuz I feel like there’s a lot of dietitians that are interested in doing that work, but they have no idea where they would start.
Yeah. So what does, can you break down that process a little bit for us? Like how do you, is it that you get invite and I think you do a mix of both. Like you’ll get invited to do one somewhere, or you’ll just put one on yourself. Yes. And then advertise it yourself. Yep. So how does that work? Yeah, so I, the ones I run on my own are usually free.
Mm-hmm. , I just do them through Zoom and for me it’s almost like a freebie. It’s a way of getting some new eyeballs on me. So those, I usually do free, I do them right through Zoom in my kitchen. They’re like half an hour at most. And I try and do them every. So the, I did one in the spring and then I did one a couple weeks ago.
So for that, I literally just do some marketing posted in some Facebook groups on social media. I have a Zoom account and then I just tell people what we’re making and I send them an ingredient list. Not everyone cooks along and I make that very clear. So it’s more of a cooking demo. Mm-hmm. . But yeah, so that’s cool.
That’s, that’s how that. The ones that I are paid, people reach, reach out to me and I have kind of predetermined menus that they can choose from. And yeah, I bring all the recipes and all the ingredients based on the menu that we’re making. And is there like a commercial kitchen sp like how do you find a space for that?
Or are you going to somebody’s home for that? I go to them, yes. I go with them. . Yeah. Most people I would say that are hosting a group large enough to have that many people in their house have a large enough kitchen that they can fit that many people inside. So, yeah. I love the virtual piece because it’s like, it doesn’t have to be something that’s this overly complicated. You have to find a physical space. You gotta like, you know, buy ingredients for everyone. Mm-hmm. . And it’s this whole thing. I mean, there’s sure, there’s a time and place for that if you’re doing the group private events, but like if you’re not, you can.
And if you’re interested in doing cooking classes, just do a virtual one. Absolutely make it easy for yourself. Set up your phone in your kitchen on a tripod and live stream. It ? Yes. The first one I ever did was Instagram Live. Oh, cool. I cringe thinking back to it cause I’ve, I’ve come a long way. Sure. I prefer to use my laptop, which, but I still like, I carry it around.
I’m like, okay, we’re moving over to this place. Place, yeah. . Right. It’s not, it’s not like we’re. New York Times cooking. Sure. Yeah. It is very like at home, but it, it works. Yeah. And I’ve gotten some, I’ve gotten a lot of engagement. Like I, every time I do one, I have a fair number of people sign up and are interested in it.
But yeah, it’s, it’s an easy thing to start sometimes you just need a push and accountability. Yeah. And the only reason that I like started doing them is cuz you and I had worked together last year. and I think you were like, okay, pick a date and you’re gonna do it . And it was like, okay. Yeah. All right.
So I did . Yeah. Oh cool. Okay. Yeah. Love that. . I wanna know what, so one thing that you said earlier, which I was like, Ooh, I’m so excited to ask more about that. You said, I live in a small community, which has been really great for my business. Yeah. And I love that statement because I think sometimes there’s so many limiting beliefs that people have if they live in a small community, they’re like, oh, there’s not enough people here.
Blah, blah, blah. So what. , tell me more about that experience and just marketing yourself in a small community. Like how have you gotten those opportunities? It’s been hard. Mm-hmm. only because I’m a huge introvert, and if I could sit in my office and send emails all day, I’d love it. Yeah. But I, I quickly realized that if, if I’m offering in-person things, I have to get out there and I have to meet people.
So I started with, I had these little. Pamphlets that I would go and grocery stores and little coffee shops and places that I would hang out or my parents would hang out, essentially my target audience. I would go and I’d put these little posters up and they would have my offerings and a QR code so that people could go to my website.
And I had like some interest. I had a couple clients finally through that. But I would say, Biggest things, were utilizing community Facebook groups. So anytime I run something free, if I have a freebie or I have a free workshop, I post it in these groups. So I’m probably, maybe part of four of them different, you know, like food specific ones and just like q and A ones and people looking for community stuff.
So I posted in there and I’ve gotten a lot of engagement from. and because I posted a free cooking class in one of those, a freelance journalist who writes for a local newspaper found me and interviewed me, and that brought a ton of eyeballs on, which was great. So that, for that, that was just like I was in the right place at the right time.
Mm-hmm. and then the popups, which is not, that’s not something available to everyone, right? Not everyone. can do food pop-ups, but those I would say are the biggest things for me. But another thing is like there’s, you know, I guess you don’t have to sell food to go to a pop-up, right? Mm-hmm. , you can do other things.
Yeah, like I’m attending a, a wellness fair in January and I’m not selling food. I’m gonna be promoting my services. Yeah. But that’s an in-person thing. In my community. . Very cool. Yeah. It’s all about making those in-person connections. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. . Yeah. That is a common thread. Mm-hmm. , that I’ve found for so many dietitians that have been on this podcast mm-hmm.
that talk about what works for them in terms of marketing. Mm-hmm. , there’s always a consistent theme. And the consistent theme is that even if it’s felt uncomfortable, and even if they haven’t wanted to, they get out there, they put themselves out there in some way. Absolutely. Or another. So that’s really cool.
Good for you for doing cuz I would feel the exact same way in terms of just being an introvert. If I can sit behind my computer, that is my dream day. . Yeah. I can sit behind my computer and just like work on some creative stuff. Great. Yes. Yep. I want that every day. Mm-hmm. . But you gotta just get out there. So thank you. Yeah. Matt? Yes. What do you feel like has not worked for you in terms of marketing your business? Instagram. Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. , I have gotten one client from Instagram. I have learned that it is not the place for me to get. and I’ve accepted that. Yeah. But I still use it regularly as a way for people to know me, like me, trust me understand who I am, what I’m offering, my personality, all of that sort of stuff.
And it’s also a fantastic way for me to get to know other small businesses in the area. Mm-hmm. and communicate with them and promote their services. And they promote mine and do marketing through there. , but it is not, I have found it is not a way to get paying clients. Yeah. It’s more, it’s more of a marketing tool and an engagement tool, but from a like paying client standpoint, that’s not for me.
Yep. It hasn’t been successful. Totally. It’s a brand builder. . Absolutely. Yes. Yeah, and I think that’s a really important piece is that sometimes we think about Instagram or even social media in this, again, sort of a linear way where it’s like this is a place to, the goal here is to get clients, but if that’s not happening, then what’s, what else can it do for you?
And you’re exactly right. It can be a really awesome brand building tool where it just helps to be able to build that no, like and trust factor. You know, people are able to see you in different ways, in different formats. Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Actually one more, I don’t know if this is relevant.
Well, it is relevant, yeah. Always relevant. . Another thing that worked really well for me, and again, this is probably only because I, I live in a small community, is I partnered with a, like a micro influencer. Mm-hmm. , so she is an influencer in the area. She. Focuses very much on small businesses and especially food related businesses, and majority of her followers, like everyone in the community knows her and majority of her followers are local.
So I contacted her in the spring and I did a group cooking class for her and her friends, and in turn she did reels that like, The service and that was, that was also huge. Wow. Hugely helpful. Yeah. So smart. Very cool. Yeah. Yeah. So again, it’s because I live in a small, I mean there’s influencers everywhere, but that might be yeah, a helpful mark marketing tool.
I mean, I think that can be applied to any community, even if it’s not a small community. Right? It’s just thinking creatively about how do you get your, how do you get your message out there? How do you get your offers out there? How do you get in front of different people? Exactly, yes. So that’s super smart.
And then I’m curious, what is a piece of advice that you would give to new business owners or people who are looking to start a private practice? Start. , like it’s not gonna be perfect. Your brand will change, your services will change, you will change. But the sooner you start, the sooner you will figure all that stuff out.
Because if you start a year from now, it’s gonna take you, you know, longer to like get to where you wanna be. Mm-hmm. . And I would also say work with a business coach sooner rather than later. Cuz I probably flounder. Throwing spaghetti at the wall for a year before I worked with, you know, you as a business coach.
And then things finally, I felt like I was on the right track and I knew exactly what I was working on, and I felt like I was gaining traction and things were moving and growing. And before that, I just felt very lost and confused. So find a business coach and work with. or joined D S C because honestly, I wish when I had started my business, D S C had existed because it would’ve saved me a lot of time and stress, you know, getting my E M R up and running all my legal stuff, marketing all of that, um mm-hmm.
But yeah, start now and work with someone that can help you. Thanks for the shout out. Appreciate that. Yeah. What’s next for your business? I do have some new ideas on the horizon. A lot of it is collaborating with local, small businesses. I’d love to run cooking classes on some farms and like, use produce farms and use their fresh produce in my the menu.
I would love to do that. I’d love to find a place to run in-person workshops cooking workshops, because I’ve gotten a lot of interest about group classes, but the group classes I do right now are groups that come together already, right? Mm-hmm. , they’re like friends or families, but I’d love a group of random people that just wanna do a workshop.
But I don’t have a space to do that, so hopefully finding a space where I can run that. . Yeah. And then there are some things I’m doing in my business that I don’t love, and so hopefully maybe really figuring out what I wanna focus on and what maybe I can slowly start to mm, remove. Cool. Yeah, that’s a big one.
Yeah. I, I was on a, I was on a, like a group coaching call a couple weeks ago with the mastermind that I was a part of, and the whole theme was, what are you gonna let go of in 2023? What are you gonna let go of? So maybe some food for thought. Yeah, it’s already, it’s It’s already on my good top of mind.
Yeah. So many exciting things coming up for you. This is why you have your own business, because you can think of these ideas and just do them. . Yeah, like that whole farm thing. Oh my God. . That would be so cool. That would be so cool. I just picture you out there with your apron in the summer and like an apple orchard making some awesome apple stuff.
Yes. Yes. Cool. Yeah. So fun. Yeah, I’m excited. It’s exciting. It’s very exciting. . Cool. Well thank you so much Bailey. So good to talk to you. Thanks for your time. Yeah, I, I feel like this was such an awesome episode in terms of just helping people really understand what it looks like to do something creative outside of just the one-on-one counseling.
Mm-hmm. coaching area. Yeah. So thank you so much for sharing. Where can the audience find out more about you and the work that you. Instagram , even though I said it’s, I do spend a lot of time on Instagram, so Harvest Table nutrition on Instagram or my website, harvest table, nutrition.ca is probably cool.
The best ways to find me. Awesome. I will link to both of those below in the show notes, but thank you so much for your time. Thank you, and I hope you have an awesome day. So good to talk to you.
