In this fun and candid episode of the Dietitian Success Podcast, Krista is joined by RD business buddies, Kristen and Gillean, for a heartfelt discussion about the hardest lessons they’ve had to learn as entrepreneurs. With each having a unique business focus—private practice, media dietetics, and online education—they share common challenges and invaluable insights. Together, they chat through:
- The importance of hiring self-sufficient team members who take ownership of their roles, and balancing oversight and trust to maintain quality while empowering employees.
- Setting boundaries to avoid burnout while maintaining flexibility.
- Learning to say no, delegate, and prioritize tasks based on personal and business values.
- Avoiding “Shiny Object Syndrome”; staying focused on the “main thing” to prevent distractions from diluting your brand.
- The value of in-person and network connections in growing a sustainable business.
- Being “in the room” with your community to foster deeper relationships and opportunities.
- Avoiding a codependent relationship with customers by charging appropriately for your services.
- The realization that marketing and promoting a product is as important as the product itself.
- Tips for engaging your audience in the creation process to build buy-in and excitement.
… and so much more!
Links:
- Don’t forget to lock in your membership rate before November 22nd 2024 before prices go UP!
- Questions about whether DSC is right for you? Email [email protected]
- Follow Kristen and Gillean on Instagram @expertwithinfluence
Episode Transcript:
Hey there and welcome to the dietitian success podcast. This is such a fun episode where myself, Kristen and Jillian. Just basically have a business bestie group chat, where we talk through some of the hardest lessons that we’ve had to learn from experience. We all have very different businesses. Uh, but there is definitely some common threads on struggles.
We’ve had challenges we’ve encountered. This is such a great episode. I’m so excited to, for you to listen to it. But before we get into the episode, I want to remind you if you are not yet a dietician success center member now is the time to join. If you’re new to us. Dietician success center is an online learning platform for dieticians and dietetic students. We’ve to membership tiers.
We have a nutrition membership and a nutrition plus business membership. Our mission is to help you save at least one hour per day. In client prep, and to help you deliver exceptional nutrition care. We do that through providing you with an massive library of nutrition, client handouts, all plain language, all very, very visual. Nutrition, video courses specifically for dieticians evidence summaries.
There’s a ton of content. We have two membership tiers. We have the nutrition membership. This is really for you. If you are a clinical dietician, a community dietician, you work in a family health team. Uh, public health, you’re working with patients and clients one-on-one and then we have the nutrition plus business membership, which has all of that nutrition, content plus additional content to help you start and grow your business. And so that is for you, if you are running a private practice.
So if you join us before tomorrow at noon Eastern standard time. So tomorrow, November 22nd, 2024 at noon Eastern standard time, you can lock in our current membership pricing. So when you join our membership, you lock in pricing, meaning you will never pay more for the membership. Even though we’ll continue to add value to the membership every single month. So you’ll be able to take advantage of all of the new content that we release next year and in the future.
So long as you keep your membership active, but you’ll be paying your price that you locked in when you joined. Prices after tomorrow are going to be tripling. So we recommend joining right now, if this is something that you’ve been thinking about, if you’re new to us, make sure and check out our website, dietician success, and our.com. And if you have any questions about the membership and whether it’s right for you, reach out to us either on Instagram, at dietician success center. Through the contact form on our website. Or just email.
[email protected]. And we would be happy to support you and to help guide you and answer any questions that you have about the membership. Okay. With that, let’s get into this episode.
Hi guys. Hello. I’m so excited to be here. I know. I’m so excited to just be sitting down with you guys and have a little business chat. This is going to be fun. So fun. I feel like we just got together and now it’s been over a year. Like what happened with time? I know, it’s wild. And you guys have your podcast that you just started, which is so cool.
How many episodes in are you? We just recorded our ninth yesterday, or the day before. Yeah, so Business Bestie podcast is me and Jillian, so Kristen and Jillian. And then, of course, your podcast as well. Yeah, so my podcast, the Dietitian Success podcast, I actually just posted yesterday episode 198. Holy cow, which is nuts.
So yeah, it’s been like, I’m like, Oh my God, I’ve been doing this for this long. And like, it really has not like the funny thing is, is that for the for the amount of consistency, like I’ve been doing it for so long and I feel like it’s stayed so stagnant in terms of growth, but like it still keeps like doing its thing, like still keeps bringing people in, which is really cool, but it’s like podcasting is so weird like that.
I’m like, how am I this far in and I’m only at this many downloads, but whatever. It’s fine. Well, I feel like it’s weird. Lesson in consistency, right? Like just showing up, just showing up every day and being stable and reliable. Yes. Honestly, I just love, this is my favorite thing we’re doing in our business right now.
I just, I love to chit chat and gab it up. And it’s so funny cause Chris and I will like be talking on our, like the zoom before we even start recording and I’ll be like, Oh, we just had a full podcast right there. Cause we just talk so much, but I do. It’s fun. And I, I love listening to podcasts. So I think it’s just, it’s fun to do it yourselves and share a side of you.
So, um, yeah, I don’t even know how many downloads, listens, whatever we have, or what those statistics we should be paying attention to probably are. But I think about 95 percent of them are Kristen and myself re listening to our own podcast. Totally. Yeah. We’re just listening. We were on our way to, we had a lot of travel this last Like two months and we were driving at like five in the morning and it was like One of the episodes just dropped and we’re driving to the airport like bright and early And jillian and I are just like listening to our podcast.
We’re just like cackling to ourselves Those girls are so funny. Like of course, we’re obsessed with it I love that. I love that. Well, and so that brings us to today’s topic, which we’ll start by doing a little roundtable introduction, but today’s topic, we thought it would be fun to talk about the business lessons that you’ve had to learn the hard way.
Cause we all have many. And honestly, I had a hard time coming up with, I have three, but I had a hard time coming at like narrowing it down to three because there’s just been so many. Um, but yeah, so this is gonna be a fun topic today. I, let’s start with little introductions. Kristen, do you want to go first?
Sure. So I’m Kristen Carley. I am a registered dietitian based in Arizona. Um, I have a private practice, Camelback Nutrition and Wellness, where I have a team of dietitians who sees patients in a variety. give specialties, uh, via telehealth. And then I co own a business with Jillian here called Expert with Influence where we train dietitians how to work with the media because that is a big part of what I spend my day to day doing since I’m not in the weeds with the patients as much anymore.
Jillian? And I’m Jillian, yes, um, also in Arizona. Um, I have been a media dietitian. Um, for about 10 years doing TV and stuff. And I would say the last five or six years, I’ve really focused, um, as being an entrepreneur. I left my full time job all in, on the media side of things. So I love working with brands to do different ways to get their message out.
Um, consulting is one of my favorite things to do, but TV, social media, writing, all of it. And that’s actually how Chris and I first met. She came to a TV segment I had, cause I had posted on a listserv that I needed an intern to come. And just get like behind the scenes photos and videos. So, um, she ended up coming, she had a flat tire on her way, but she made it to the station and, um, you know, long story short, that’s how we first connected and just stayed in touch since then.
And then, you know, we were, we went to lunch, um, almost two years ago now. And we were like, you know what? Like this was so hard to get into the media space and to learn how to work with brands and write pitches and what is a media kit. So we just decided like, wouldn’t it be cool if we like showed other people how to do this.
And. If we change the landscape from being super competitive to be like super collaborative and not do any gatekeeping Um, so that’s kind of been our our project in this last two years of our expert with influence and doing our mentorship to show Other people how to work with the media because it’s so fun.
It can be so lucrative and we enjoy it So outside of that i’m a mom of three so busy with kids and dentist appointments and Um, and crafts and all that stuff. So pretty much keeps my calendar pretty full these days. Awesome. What about you, Krista? Um, so my name is Krista Kolajesic. I am actually in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
So I’m the Canadian of the group. Um, and I own a business called Dietitian Success Center. Um, and Dietitian Success Center is an online learning platform for dietitians. Our mission is to help dietitians save at least one hour per day in client administrative time while learning. delivering exceptional nutrition care.
Um, and so I’ve been doing that for almost four years. It’s almost our four year anniversary, um, which is pretty exciting. It’s been, yeah, I’ve really just, I am such an advocate for dietitians. I think dietitians are such an underutilized and like underappreciated profession just in so many ways. And I’m just, I’m just I’m just obsessed with helping dietitians do more and get more visible and, um, yeah.
And so I also have the Dietitian Success podcast where I talk about business and entrepreneurship, which I love. Um, and I have a one year old son. Who just, yeah, had his first birthday in October. So have been navigating the world of just like entrepreneurship and being a new mom. And that’s been really interesting and fun and ups and downs.
Um, but yeah, that’s me. And your resources are so good. Like they are so helpful. Like love them. And your podcast too. Um, if you guys are listening on the Business Besties, go check it out. Because especially in a dietitian world, I feel like you have such a range of topics that are so, so helpful. Thank you.
I feel like we’ve been on your podcast before. I remember I was on your podcast like way, way, way back. Like, like you were like episode five or something. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. Yeah. So crazy. Yeah. That’s awesome. Thank you. Um, okay. So let’s get into our our business lessons. I think we each have a few. Yeah. So maybe we’ll, um, Kristen, do you want to start with your first one?
And then we can do a little round table again. Yeah. I think, um, One of the first things I thought of when I, when you posed this question, I was like, okay, I think for sure around hiring, I’ve had to learn a lot. So like I said, I have a team of dieticians that sees patients for me. Um, and that was in order for me to step away so that I could spend more time doing media, but also be able to be more flexible because I also was pregnant and was about to give birth.
And so I was like, I know I’m not going to be able to like necessarily I don’t necessarily do these one on one patient appointments all the time. Um, with hiring the team, I think I’ve learned the hard way that you need to pick the right team members. I feel like that’s so obvious, but I really require somebody to be incredibly self sufficient.
Um, if I have to micromanage every little thing you’re doing, He’s actually isn’t helpful for me. We’re just such a lean team that like, I, I don’t have the ability to, to do that. I, when I delegate you a responsibility, it’s awesome if I get somebody that’s just like, I will take this on, I will own this, I will treat this like my baby, like it’s my business, and that is just so key.
And that definitely wasn’t the case. For our first few hires, for sure. Yeah. And how many people do you have on your team now? So I have two dietitians that work with patients, and then I have a few dietitians that I kind of have just as like, independent contractors on standby should we need any projects.
So it’s a grand total team of six with me. Have you found it hard to, like, set up systems around managing people? Like, I guess what I mean by that is, so one of the things that, like, okay, so I think for us, so I have, for context, it’s me, and then I have two, like, core employees, and then same thing, like, we work with a bunch of contractors.
And one of the things that I’ve found the most difficult is trying to figure out how to, like, especially as a virtual team, how to actually, like, bring everyone together in the right way so that everyone’s on the same page and, like, setting up the right systems for communication. That’s something that’s been, like, such a learning curve for us.
I know, so, since we, and I think we’re at a pretty good place with it now, but I’m curious what you do, is, like, We, every Tuesday we have our weekly team meeting where we like all come together on Zoom and then we use Slack in between, like for everything. We can’t use email anymore because it was like, this is just so inefficient and ridiculous.
So we’re just literally talking all day, every single day on Slack, which has been so helpful, but how do you manage that? Yeah, I think it’s a little different in that the, the patient care stuff, um, and the media worlds, like, they are really different, and the peop the dietitians who are handling patient care, they probably don’t even know or really, frankly, care about what’s happening in the media world.
Um, so in a lot of ways, not everybody needs to be on the same page, but what I’ve noticed is, like, In terms of managing dieticians who have patient sessions, I, this is like my other hiring kind of, uh, learning lesson is they, they do require, I need them to be self sufficient, but they do require some oversight as well.
So a lot of, um, the patient appointments are just the dietician and the patient. So I’m not even there, but I have to make sure that like, Everything’s going smoothly and everything’s kosher, right? Like I gotta make sure that this is, I don’t know what’s going on in this session, you know? And so for, for me what I figured out is like a regular chart review and then also setting up a bi weekly appointment with the dieticians who do, well, with everybody, but especially with those dieticians who see patients so that I can Like, talk to them, review their charts, and then also talk to them about like, okay, are you struggling with anything?
What’s like a problem patient that you need some advice on? Or like, really checking in, because otherwise it was just like, hoping and praying that they’re doing everything right, and they could not be, you know? And I’ve had situations where, you know, we’ve had to let people go because it was like, what the heck’s going on here, you know?
So that is hard. Finding that balance of like, being self sufficient, but, you know, having my hands on it a little bit. Not, and really not because I want control. More so, like, I don’t want to, I don’t want to be involved in this, but I have to make sure, like, my name’s on the line here, so I have to make sure that everything is going smoothly, you know?
It’s, it’s tricky. That is hard, but I feel like you’ve done a good job managing it. And what’s really cool is you give your team members, like, honestly, like, there’s the right people that want that freedom, right? That don’t want to be the micromanage. And I think you attract the people that are moms or have busy lives, and so they can fit this into the pockets of their time.
So, honestly, hiring is so hard. I feel like you kind of just have to do trial and error. Like, there’s, even if you do a thing, thorough interview, you ask for recommendations, what like, it still isn’t always perfect. But I think what I have realized through working with hiring people or contractors or assistants is just like, you have to have like the best communication.
Sometimes I’m like, Oh, I don’t want to say this because I don’t want to like hurt their feelings. Or maybe I like over promise something. Oh, yeah, like million projects. And it’s like, I’m not being like, really truthful. So I think with any of the hiring, and it’s just an ongoing thing of like communication and So having those meetings and the practices is like so important for sure.
Yeah, and I feel like, and I know this isn’t always possible, but I feel like I’ve always tried to have the, the approach of hiring people that I know. Because I think that, like, I feel like one of the most important things when it comes to hiring is like personality fit. I think a lot of other things can be trained, right?
Like skills can be developed, things can be worked on, but personality fit is like, not one of those things, right? That’s just either it is or it isn’t. And I think like it’s always so, I feel like it’s so hard to know that. Without, like, just, just from an interview, right? So hard. So hard. So, so hard. That, like, that concept of having somebody be intrapreneurial, like, that is the person I want.
Yeah. Like, that self sufficient, like, doesn’t necessarily want their own business, because if they did, they would do their own thing, right? But they want the, the feeling of ownership and, like, pride and, uh, responsibility that comes with your own thing. Like, they would treat this like it’s their own baby, like, their money is on them.
You know? Yeah. Like, that quality is really rare, but it’s ultimately, like, Chef’s kiss. Chef’s kiss. What you need. Chef’s kiss. Yeah. I love that. What about you, Krista? What’s, what’s one, uh, business lesson that you have had to learn the hard way? Okay. So, um, I have three. I’m trying to think of the first one to start with.
So, um, okay. So I feel like I am the type of, and I know a lot of other entrepreneurs can, can identify with this, but I am the type of entrepreneur that has like crazy, shiny object. Syndrome. Like, I get, I love the process of starting a new project and like, doing something new. And I have this rule for myself now, that when I have a new idea for something, I have to wait at least seven days before I’m allowed to start it, because I think this is a lesson I’ve really had to learn the hard way, is distraction, um.
Not only does it distract you from what your main thing is, like it’s the, it’s like, keep the main thing, the main thing, and it distracts you from the main thing. Um, and it also, I think, dilutes your brand too, right? It’s like, if you’re, under your brand, like, Brands need to be simple, like a simple brand I think is the most effective brand, and as soon as you try and start doing way too many things under that same brand, without just keeping the main thing the main thing, I think it just does you and your business a disservice.
So, that has been my like, oh my god, the thing that I feel like every year I’m like, Krista, like you gotta just like keep the main thing the main thing and something I just struggle with so much and so now I think I’m like coming to a point where I’m like okay just like I have this rule for myself now and especially because too like I’ll sometimes have these ideas where I’m like yes this would be so great and then I’ll like start it and then I’ll lose interest in it or I’ll be like no like why did I do this?
And so I’m just kind of like, you know, just want to start something. Um, yeah, so I don’t know if that’s something you guys have dealt with. I relate to that strongly. It reminds me, honestly, a lot of like, Um, my husband has ADHD and he’s a psychiatric PA. So we always talk about like, that’s a very common symptom of ADHD that he is always struggling with of like, You’re always looking for novelty over nuance and it can be a real bummer because you start all these projects and then you don’t finish.
And I agree that in a business that’s really tough because your brand needs to be so drilled down. Um, and. I, I so, so agree with that, like, there’s so many things, I think Jillian, just knowing how you operate, I feel like you’re the idea girl, like, you have, you’ve got all these creative ideas, you see all the shiny things, and I’m like, I don’t know how that, like, what, what’s your vision here, you know, like, I don’t see it, like, I, but you see it, you know, like, I think that I don’t, I don’t get really as distracted necessarily, but I think that there’s also a lot of good that comes out of that, like brilliant creative ideas.
And it’s hard to know, like, okay, is this something worth going for? Or is this, so I love your seven day wait period, your buffer. Let’s like, let’s just like sleep on it. See how we feel about it in the morning. Because do I definitely an idea girl? I can just actually that’s why Chris and I are actually really perfect because I will like have this vision and then she can literally execute stuff so fast.
She’s like, dude, dude, dude done. I’m like, wow, I’m like, I like hold off on stuff like, okay, I need to do these seven steps first, but she’ll like go and get it done. But I’m with you. I feel like It’s, it’s honestly just like doing a, like a check in or an audit, because sometimes it is good to try these different things, but having the time to think through it first and make sure like, yes, I do want to try this.
Or even just being like, for us, like in our business, um, you know, when we first started, we had, we launched our mentorship and no one signed up. And so we were like, okay, let’s think about something else. So we created another program. And just yesterday we’re like, should we like. Our mentorship is thriving and it’s what we love to do.
Like, why should we just kind of move on to this other program? That was almost like a stepping stone, a season of doing this. So it’s almost like just doing like an audit of things and seeing if it’s working or not working. But I’m curious, do you know your human design, Krista? Oh my gosh. No, I actually don’t.
But I wish I did because I’ve heard this. How do you go about? It’s so easy. I mean, you can literally just go online. It’s just based on your date, time and place of birth and it’ll tell you which one it is. But there’s also, I should probably get like some sort of affiliate link for this or something, but there’s a human design blueprint.
And I think it’s like, I don’t know, 90 bucks or something, but they’ll print out specifically to you. Cause human design is like one of those things where it tells you you’re in like one of, I think there’s five different categories, and there’s like, so many different shapes and aspects of it to use specifically.
So I love the blueprints, it tells you exactly for you who you are, here’s everything about you. And it tells you like, How you communicate best, um, what success looks like for you, what failure looks like for you, things you struggle with, relationships, like it just, I mean, I’m obsessed with it, but you, I think that you’re a manifesting generator, cause I am too.
And that’s where you, like, you can manifest and dream up things and you can also take action on them really fast. But our downfall is sometimes the fall through. So since you said that, I’m really curious. You have to take it. Okay, I’m totally gonna do that because I, I completely identify with that, with what you’re saying.
Um, and I think, yeah, that’s part of it is just like recognizing those habits or those things within yourself that can be It’s like a double edged sword, right? Like, it’s like, it can be really great, and that’s what makes you a great entrepreneur, but it can also be very distracting if it’s, like, leading you away from keeping the main thing the main thing.
Totally. Totally. Yeah. Totally. I love it. Yeah. Jillian, what’s yours? Okay, the first one I wrote down, and this is maybe, this is business, but also just life, is the Like learning about boundaries. And I am a yes person. I say yes to everything. And I do think, again, there are like times and places in your life where you can do that.
And then maybe it’s really good to try a bunch of different things and meet different people. But I started to just say yes to everything and then get so burnt out and just like be totally just feel like I I’m exhausted. There’s too much on my plate. I’m not motivated. I’m not inspired or creative anymore because I’m just.
Had like I’ve let all my boundaries go and so what I have learned is A lot of times if I just take a step back, if there’s something that comes my way versus just saying yes right away to whatever the circumstance is of being like, Hmm, like, does this work for me? Or is there some way that I can adjust this to make work for me better?
Like, for example, if someone’s like, come meet me for me in Phoenix for a coffee date on, you know, like a Tuesday I’m like, well, I have school pickup and what I could probably have Eric pick up the kids and like rearrange everything but like hold on wait actually can we do a virtual coffee day on zoom that way I’m not driving back and forth and can we do that you know one o’clock or whatever and sometimes I just wouldn’t even take the steps to like step back and like think through what works for me and for us as a family and then I just would like look at my calendar and be like oh my gosh like this is just so So overwhelming.
So that little lesson of, of, of keeping boundaries and knowing that doesn’t mean that you like turn down all these opportunities. It just means that you can make it work better for you so that you feel more in flow during the day. And even if it’s a no for now, it doesn’t mean a no forever. So maybe this is something I’m like, I’m not going to go on this trip or do this conference, but maybe next year I will.
Right. So. I think just the lesson in boundaries has been an ongoing lesson. I don’t think I’ve, like, perfected it. I feel like I will, like, be so good and strict with my boundaries in my calendar. And then all of a sudden it’s like, oh, I have unraveled. I need to pull it back together. Um, so it’s a constant thing where I’m just pulling it back together all the time.
What about you guys with boundaries? Totally. I think that’s so, well what you kind of, this is a little tangential, but one thing he pointed out was like having the room for like creativity and not being so jam packed kind of in your schedule. And I think that that made me think, um, how important it is to really allow some time for free space.
And as entrepreneurs, we have the ability and the control to, our schedule is flexible. We can change it. And. One thing I know Jillian and I we’ve talked about is like we can set up like a real like corporate job for ourselves and take all the fun out of it and just be like, I’m going to be changing to my desk from eight to five.
It’s like, why are we do like, we have to be intentional to put in those breaks and, you know, Um, I guess, yeah, say, like, hold firm to some of these boundaries so that we don’t slip into this not so fun, not so productive, even. You could even say, like, some of the content that comes out of a day like that isn’t even that great.
So, allowing some room for creativity, allowing some space. Yeah. Yeah. And actually this, this kind of ties into one of mine, which, which is around boundaries, but it’s actually more around boundaries within your business. So what I mean by that is, and this was like such a big aha for me this year. We, so we started working with a consultant a little bit ago because we’re sort of re structuring a little bit the business.
We’re like moving to a new platform, like we’re going through a massive transformational shift right now. It’s been big. And one of the pieces of feedback that he gave me, which was like, thank you for telling me this, but he was like, codependent relationship with your customers. And it was such a like, Oh my God moment because he was like, you are undercharging so significantly for the value that you offer.
And there’s sort of just this vibe of like, um, like, come join us. And like, we’ll give you all of these things. Like, please just like, come join us. And like, look at all of these things. Like we’re going to give you all these things. Like look at all these amazing things. Like, like, please like, just come join us, you know?
Versus I’m giggling because I totally relate. Right? Totally. Versus, versus sitting back and being like, no, like a look at like, here’s what we offer. Stand in that confidence of what you offer and the right people will come. Yeah. And another example of this is like being too flexible with terms and conditions.
Yes. So, you know, people asking for. Anything under the sun, you know, can I get a seven day free trial? Or can I, and I know you guys don’t deal with this as much because you know, your business model is different, but like, you know, people asking for discounts or like trying to get a free trial when we don’t offer that or whatever that might look like, right?
It’s like, Trying it’s being too flexible with your business boundaries in a way of trying to people please and pleasing just trying to please everyone and just actually having that like codependent relationship and it was like So that’s been like big for me this year of like getting out of my codependent relationship with customers.
That’s like mind blown Like, I’m like, I think we are as well. Yeah, I mean, we’re not giving, like, resources, but we give advice. I think that’s like, I can’t help myself from just being like, Oh yes, I’ll review that for you. Yes, I’ll meet with you. Yes, I’ll discuss this with you. Even today. Oh my god. I know.
And it’s hard because my personality, and I think all of our personalities, we’re just giving nice, loving people. And so it’s hard to be like, No, like, yes, I would love to review that for you. Please send me an invoice. You know, like, it’s hard. Sometimes it feels like you’re just being totally bitchy that way.
But also, I’m totally, I think that’s so, You are watering down the value that you provide. And I feel like there’s like this happy medium in between somewhere, right. Where you’re like standing in it, confident, understanding, but you’re not just like giving it all away. Or like you said, like, please come over here.
We would love for you to be here. Part of us, but when you’re an entrepreneur, that’s kind of like a lot of, you’re just hoping that this will work. I totally get that feeling. Yeah, and I think I think just like a huge part of it is like confidence and just building like the confidence in and I it takes time, right?
Like that is just an evolution. I think, you know, I feel like the who you are at the beginning of a business is very different than who you are, you know, three years down the road. But yeah, that’s been just like such a big. Big one for me this year. So, yes, boundaries in all ways. Yes, totally. I’m even thinking like, we don’t have like a product necessarily where we would have like a seven day free trial, but like, um, even signing a contract with a brand to do some sort of outlined whatever deliverables, there’s, There is always like, well, can we get exclusivity for, you know, a year and you can’t work with any other soup brand or whatever, you know, like all these things where they’re kind of asking a lot and it’s not really necessary.
It’s hard to be somebody to say, you know what, I’m going to have to, I can’t sign this contract until that’s removed or I need this or that. And that’s hard to ask for. It’s just tough. It’s probably just like a woman thing. We can’t ask. It’s like, You know, like, it’s just hard to, uh, stand in our power and just be like, this is what I need and this is what I would like.
Yeah. Totally. Yeah. What’s your next one? All right, Kristen. What was the other one? Yeah. Okay. My other one is, if you build it, they might not come. Because I think when I started, um, my business, I would have all these great ideas and I thought it was as simple as, well, if you have a good idea, then you’ll be successful.
And so I would, you know, spend the time making an ebook with Trader Joe’s recipes or whatever, And it takes all this time, and you’re photographing it, and you’re developing the recipes, and you’re building it in Canva, and all the things, and then you go to sell it, and nobody buys it. And you’re like, what the heck am I doing?
Um, I think that’s happened to me more often than not. Like, any good idea, like, it’s not just the idea of whatever the product or the service is that you’re selling. You also need some sort of promotional or marketing plan that goes along with it. Otherwise, no one’s going to know about it. And that’s been so hard for me because I don’t, I’m not great at that.
That’s just a missing part of me. Yes. And I feel like that’s why you have me. Yes. Are you okay. So are you like more of the, I love like you’re more, I come up with a million ideas. We’re going to launch that. We were just talking about this yesterday for our mentorship. I was like, why don’t we do a podcast tour?
Like just, Yeah, you know, things like that, where it’s like, I can come up with all the ideas. My, my flaw is just the execution simply because of time. But, um, yeah, I think that’s, I totally am with you. Like I’ve for sure launched stuff. And then if you don’t have a plan to share it, like getting it out, there is more.
And now I feel like I’ve even had some of my mentors say like, if you’re going to launch a course or something, either do a beta test or like launch it before you, or create it along the way. Like if it’s going to be a seven part series, like. Launch it first and then each week record one of the trainings or something like that, right?
Because you’re right like putting all the work into it at the very beginning is if you don’t know If they’re gonna really want it The other piece of advice someone gave me that I love is as you’re building something bring everyone along with you So ask their feedback as you’re going like they kind of get bought and I did that for the what’s for dinner Club And as I was creating it, I was asking them questions.
Do you like it? Like how many dinners a week do you typically make from scratch? Or like, how many nights do you eat out? Or like, what tips would you want? Things like that. So when I finally like launched it, I had like a bunch of people buy in right away because they were aware of it. They had helped me build it and they were bought in from the very beginning.
Yeah, well, and I think too, like, as you’re creating something, if the sales and marketing component of it is not taking up just as much space in your brain, if not more, then there’s some energy that needs to go into that. Like, because it is as important as the product that you’re creating. As important like a hundred hundred like it’s just it’s so important and I love that example Jillian of like bringing people along with you and I remember I did the same thing when I first launched dietitian success center, and I had this podcast and I did like four episodes.
four podcast episodes where I was literally documenting, like, every step of me building the platform, basically. Like, here’s what I’m doing, here’s what I think I’m gonna price it as because of these reasons. Like, it was a very, like, insider’s perspective on, like, building a business, but also in turn, like, Telling you about this business and marketing this business to you and same thing then when I went to launch it There was a bunch of people that were like along for the ride and they were just like ready and waiting So it’s yeah, like it is you have to think through that piece.
Yeah, absolutely Well, you’ve been thinking about keeping the main thing the main thing going back to that lesson is Chris and I were just talking about this I can’t remember who told it was it Deanna our mentor that told us about You know, launching something, or maybe, Krista, I think you were telling us.
I think it was you, Krista. I think it was you. You told us this. So when you launch something, you know, it’s just as much effort goes into launching something that is a lower ticket item. That is a big ticket item, right? The state you’re, you’re creating email, you’re creating social content, you’re reaching out to people, all this stuff.
And so instead of like doing all these little things, you know, once you figure out what your main thing is, that like is getting traction and people are interested in it and really just Putting like really investing into that versus all these little things along the way because the time and promotion that goes into selling something or sharing something is just as much effort for a 10, you know, ebook as it is for a, you know, 1, 000 mentorship.
It is the same amount of effort that goes into it. Yes, and I don’t necessarily think a 10 ebook is easier to sell. No, I don’t either. No, like, I mean, yeah, I just, yeah, I’ve had so many, it’s interesting. This has been coming up a lot and I don’t know why. This, like, conversation around, yeah, just around sort of like.
Um, yeah, low price point things and volume versus higher price point things. I don’t know why, but, um, yeah, it’s the same amount of effort. It’s the same. I’ve tried to do both. And it’s like, it’s the same amount of effort, right? So I think you just have to go honestly with what people, what’s getting traction and honestly, what you enjoy doing too.
Like when you’re like, I’m, excited for this. I feel like that’s that gut check. And that’s the same thing when I say for people like Kristen, I say this when people are going to charge something. So say you’re going to send a fee for a TV segment. Like there’s a huge range of what people would charge for that.
But when you send that number, as long as you are excited about it, and when they say yes, you’re going to be like, this is amazing. Let’s do it. Versus I’ve totally had times where I’m like, Oh, they’ll probably pay this for it. So I send that right. And then they say yes. And I’m like, Dang it. Now I have to do it, you know, like, yes, I’m excited.
But like, I wasn’t really excited about the, you know, I was, I would have charged more. And if they would have said no, I probably would have been like, Oh my gosh, this is awful. But honestly saying getting that no and moving on to someone else that’s going to pay double that would be way more exciting. So I think we always just have to follow our gut check on that stuff to have like, We all know what feels good and what our intuition is telling us.
We just, like, are so busy and don’t have boundaries and we don’t pay attention to it. Yeah, that’s so true. I know. It’s, you know, and it’s like, I mean, anyways, we could have a whole conversation about, like, I feel like pricing and just, like, pricing, like, all of those things, but maybe we’ll save that for another episode because I feel like that could go in, like, every single direction.
Um, do you have another one, Kristen? Or I had one more. I think I did all of mine. Okay, cool. Okay, my last one, um, is, so, and I, this is like been a lesson that I’ve learned, I think, over the past, over the past sort of two years. And it really became, so the lesson is you cannot build a business from behind a computer screen.
And what I mean by that is the importance of making actual connections within your world and not thinking you can just, you know, post content on Instagram and, you know, have this like, and I mean, some people do, but I just think like, there’s so much value in getting out there, building connections in your community, whatever that community looks like, you know, building, Referral networks in your community.
If you’re a dietitian that has a practice, you know, like just like getting out there and meeting people and making connections. And I think the reason why this became clear to me is because I feel like when I was, when I was pregnant and like in the early postpartum, I just went into like hibernation mode, like, I don’t know what your guys pregnancies were like, but I just like, I found, I was just exhausted, honestly, and I was like, I don’t want to talk to anyone, quite frankly, like, you know, I don’t want to have meetings in my calendar, like, it was just rough.
And I felt it like I noticed it in my business that time I took away and like hibernated. I noticed it in not a good way. And so now I’m trying to think about like, okay, how can that be different in the future? Like, and how do I? I don’t know, like it’s just, I think I kind of fell into this false belief of like, Oh, you know, we have our system set up for like SEO and for, you know, like Olivia and Maria mostly create our Instagram content and stuff.
And so I just like have kind of like retreated from being more of like, uh, I don’t know, like a face of a brand. I’ve really retreated from that. And I’ve just felt it. I’ve noticed it. I’m like, yeah, that’s, I mean, that’s so tough though. I mean, like it is. Yeah. It is. With postpartum, it’s such an interesting time because it’s so, and it’s so temporary that a part of me is like, c’est la vie, right?
Like it is what it is. But I, I feel that like, I, and I remember feeling like kind of two feelings at once. Feeling of like, God, I want to get back to work and I can’t wait to get back to work and I want to work and I want to do something and I need something else to focus on besides this crying baby.
Yeah. I agree. But then also being like, God, I’m so tired. I don’t want to do anything. I just want to like snuggle my baby, you know, and they were just constantly in conflict. And so, I mean, it’s hard to, it’s really hard to show up as your best self during that time anyway. Yeah, I remember I was because I had I was when I had both my two girls, I was at a corporate job.
So I had like, like left, you know, I had like a maternity leave, a traditional maternity leave, which was nothing. My first maternity leave, it was three months, but they actually didn’t pay for anything. There was no maternity leave at my work. So it was just horrible, you know, not getting paid. Um, and then my second After it was Bryn, my second, they did do like, I think it was six weeks, six weeks of paid.
And then I just took time off too. Um, but I will say my maternity leave as far as work goes was actually almost the opposite of you guys. I feel like I was so motivated mostly because I had had this side hustle that I would do was doing during my corporate job. And so I finally had the corporate job on lockdown and I could just focus on Yeah.
I dream. And so I felt like I, I remember doing wheels with the baby and like making recipes and don’t get me wrong. There’s for sure. There were days where it was awful disaster, crying, all those things. But when I think about it, like I finally got to like, have like space to do what I really loved. And then I, I almost kind of like packed it in because I knew I was gonna have to go back to the office, which I also liked that job.
It was just the time I didn’t have time to do the thing that I was most passionate about. So, um, it was, it was different, but I, I’m totally, I totally understand it where I agree with you, you have to be locked into your community. And when you, there are seasons where you step out, but you can always step back in, but I think you’ll, you’ll feel it and notice it and know when you’re ready to like jump back in, like, okay, I did that and now how can I.
Yeah, and I think that’s really more what the lesson has been for me is just that, um, is just like the importance of tapping back into the community and just not thinking that just like, you know, and I think, I mean, Because I feel like I, I see this often with dietitian entrepreneurs is just sort of this belief that like, and not talking about like, pregnancy or postpartum, but just like in general, thinking that like, I can just create an account on Instagram and like, not have to like, interact or engage with anyone and like people will just, I’ll be able to just build this like successful thriving business.
And I just think, um, I just think it’s so, because I feel like there was sort of this like rhetoric a little while ago about like Instagram’s kind of all you need to have a successful business and I just think, you know, it goes so much deeper than that. And there’s just so much power in like connection with other people and building those connections and just like, Just like getting out there, you know, and, um, yeah, just getting out there and getting in front of people in a more, um, I don’t know, like, person to person way, I guess that’s what it is.
Yeah, it’s just like that tip of, like, being in the room, right? Yeah, that’s exactly it. Yes, that’s exactly it. And even Chris and I talk a lot about, especially in the media world, I mean, Way more opportunities have come to me that are lucrative and bigger opportunities through my network than from a post on social media.
And I think you’re, we talk about, um, making your list of 20, 20 people in your life that are influential. Maybe they aren’t the one that owns the company that’s going to sponsor you for something, but they’re just someone that you know that is well connected. They know who you are. They would make an introduction for you if they knew anyone.
So I always talk about like on my list of 20, the first time I started, I had my postmaster’s president. He like literally owned, he was super successful businessman, but he owned like an RV park or something. And I was like, obviously that’s not going to work for me for what I’m looking for. But you know, he made introductions for me and I got coffee dates for people that he thought might be good for me to learn from.
So your network is so, so important because that’s where a lot of the opportunities come, especially in the entrepreneurial media world. Yeah, and they want to support you, right? Like, if you ask them a very simple, like, Hey, or just fill them in, be like, Hey, like, this is what I’m looking for, I’m looking for this type of thing, or this is what I currently do and I want this, Like, they will, they love helping people, so they’ll go into their world and think, Okay, in my Rolodex, who, who would be a good fit?
I should connect you guys, like, I know, I love that. I love when I can connect somebody together. I’m like, you guys figure it out, connect, like, have a great time. Like, I feel so you, needed. So, it’s just like such a, it’s such an easy thing to do and people like it. Don’t feel afraid and don’t feel like you’re burdening them by asking.
It’s something that I think I’ve learned. Yeah, and I just think that piece that you said, Jillian, about like, Just be in the room. And I think that’s really what it’s come down to for me is just sort of noticing what it feels like to be in the room versus step outside of the room. And again, you know, I know that there’s seasons for it, but it’s like, no, this is like where I want to be is like in the room, you know?
Well, maybe it’s like thinking through too, like you’re in the room, sometimes you’re in the front row. Or sometimes you’re the back row. So true. Okay, so maybe like, with like, maternity leave, if there’s another one in the future, it’s like, okay, well I’m still in the room, but I’m gonna be like, middle row.
Like, I’m not jumping to the back, I’m not going to front. I don’t know, it’s just thinking through that, like. Little things where it’s not like totally checking out, but you’re also giving yourself the space and time that you need to. So just thinking through like what that looks like for you and what feels good.
Yeah. I love that. Did you have, I remember one of my friends, but yeah, I’ll share one more story and I’ll jump in my last one, but one of my friends, he was like my mom friend that we just like commiserate about our lives and she has four kids. And, um, she, you know, we were talking about juggling all the balls and she said, sometimes like.
You know, you got to figure out which ones are like most important and like, you know, and sometimes you have to like put a ball down. And I was like, you mean like. I’m like, I don’t, I don’t get that somewhere higher than we’re low. And I was like, wait, so you actually set something down and don’t actually address them.
I was like, okay. That was like mind blowing to me. I was like, I, I need, I need to sit down and make a list of which things can be in that category. Cause that was difficult to understand, but, um, yeah, there’s always, there’s always things that you have. Kristen knows she has got to talk me off the ledge every day.
Cause I’m like. Like Jillian chill out go for a walk. I’m like, okay It’s true though. The balancing the motherhood thing is so it’s so tough and you got to be able to like let some stuff go You got to be able to just I try It’s, you can’t win them all. You gotta choose your battles. Okay. Alright, okay, my last business lesson I had to learn the hard way.
This is actually a very tactical one, but it was on the first lesson I learned, and that is about having a good bookkeeper. And for me, personally, like that stuff, cringe. I hate dealing with it. Taxes, yuck. Like, ugh, someone else just tell me what I’m supposed to do here. So, when I first started, um, we, my, Eric and I have always had a financial planner.
It was actually one of the best wedding gifts. One of our friend’s dads gifted us financial planning for a year for our wedding. Oh my god, that’s so sweet. So, we always had someone. And then, um, so I, when I first started my entrepreneurial journey, I had been our financial planner and he, he for sure helped me navigate it, but like he didn’t work with small businesses all the time.
So he was just trying to give me the best advice, but I was like tracking everything myself on Excel sheets and it was so ugly. And just honestly, anytime I had to go in there and do stuff, I dreaded it. So one of the best investments I made in my business was hiring a bookkeeper. And I love her Lou. If you’re listening, you’re one of my favorite people.
Um, she’s just the best. And it’s, it’s nice to have someone that you trust that you can ask questions about investing in something. She’s super straightforward with me and it’s, I just love, love, love it. But I had to learn the hard way of going through it and just being like, this really stakes. Yeah. Oh my God.
That’s such a good lesson. And I think just like such an important. step in just like maturing as a business owner is really Recognizing the need to like get your shit together when it comes to your business, right? Like because you have to like you really do like you gotta get it together Even if you’re not a numbers person like you figure out how to get it together.
Totally Um, I have a slightly different system that I use. I have an accountant who I love caitlyn shout out She does she works specifically with social media small businesses like us. Um, and she basically like, so she set me up on QuickBooks. So I have like my QuickBooks that is attached to all my business bank accounts.
And then, um, her and I sit down every quarter. We have a zoom meeting every quarter and we like go through all the transactions that are not categorized properly or categorized on QuickBooks. We categorize everything together. We like, you know, talk through any questions that I have. So, sort of same idea.
I don’t have a bookkeeper, but Caitlin and I, like, do our quarterly thing. So, whatever the system is, you gotta figure it out. I think it sort of makes me think of too, like, at large, like, um, this idea of delegating out the stuff you don’t like, right? Like, or the stuff that’s necessary that you could figure out but you’re not that good at, that’s like, kind of crucial.
Like, delegating, you have, you reach a point where you need to do that. And when you’re first starting out, you don’t do that, right? Like, because you’re just like, Trying to figure it out. You don’t really even know what you’re doing, you know, so that kind of can be clunky along the way trying to get to that point.
But once you’re there hiring where you need people to help you out and and that’s one crucial piece. I actually use the same bookkeeper that Jillian uses. We love her. She’s the best. I love that you said clunky. Because I’m like, that’s I don’t want to like, if anyone’s just getting started, like, it’s There’s no way around that.
I don’t think so. It’s going to be a big clunky mess. Like we’ve, I mean, I love when, you know, in the media world, we talk about, well, having a website is actually really critical for if you want to do media work, but you don’t have to invest in. It’s crazy. You don’t have to pay someone thousands of dollars.
You can make a little landing page yourself. So it’s starting messy and maybe you are doing your own bookkeeping for the first year. And, but I think it comes to a point where you realize like, what is going to be the thing that you first hand off. And then you keep going, and then the second thing you hand off.
So like, for me, the big things were the bookkeeping and stuff. And then I also have a gal that helps with social media. Because when it came down to my days, the amount of time I spent on creating content and filming everything, it was a huge chunk of my day. And like Chris and I have talked about, you know, that’s when you look at the revenue you get, and the amount of time you spend, You can easily figure out something that like, okay, this can go, especially in the dietitian world with interns.
I mean, there are millions of interns coming to me every day that want to have work and projects. So having, you know, an intern help out with something, but I think it’s going to be clunky. So don’t feel like we have it all together, but I think just thinking through like you like, look, okay, this is taking the most amount of my time.
It’s the least amount of money coming in and it makes me pull my hair out. Like that’s the first thing you start with. I’ve worked towards it. Having someone delegate that out and then moving on to the next thing. It’s kind of like this zone of genius thing too. Yeah. So true. When I think too, like at that beginning stage, when your business is so simple and like you have like five transactions happening a month, you know, it’s like three, like things coming in, two things going out.
It’s absolutely, you can do it yourself on the Excel sheet. For sure. It’s simple. It’s easy. It’s like you can keep track of it, but it’s, it’s more just around that act of like, but have a system, like still have a system in place, like still stay accountable to it, still know what’s going on in your business.
I think that’s another piece to it too, right? It’s like, don’t be afraid of it. Know what’s going on. That’s a place of empowerment versus if you like are scared of the numbers and you’re like, I just don’t want to pay attention to that. Right. Yeah. Messy things happen. Yeah. You’ve got to be involved in it.
Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We should wrap it up. We’ve been talking for almost an hour. I feel like we could say so many. I know. We could really keep going. So many billiards. It was so good to talk to you guys. Thank you for sharing your lessons learned. It’s so good to see you, Krista. It’s amazing. We need to do this more often.
Like, I can’t believe it’s been so long since we last. I know. I know totally. Um, for the business, Bessie podcast listeners, where can they find you? Where can research for sure about everything. So yeah. Dietician success center.com, um, or at Dietician Success Center on Instagram or the Dietician Success Podcast on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
Easy, easy. What about you guys? You can find us expert with influence as our business. So we have expert with influence com. expert with influence on Instagram. And then you can also just follow us along on Instagram on our personal accounts. I’m it’s Jillian. And then Kristen is Kristen in for Natalie Carly.
So check us out there. Send us messages. We’d love to hear what you guys thought about this. Biggest takeaways and if you have any business lessons that you had to learn the hard way. I want to hear them Yes, start a group instagram chat with us all. Yes Business lessons that you’ve had to learn the hard way All right Well, we can end this the same way that we always end our business bestie pasta podcast and that is just saying See you later business besties.
Bye guys. Bye
