Two years? Holy moly! Sometimes it feels like I’ve accomplished almost nothing, but once I sit down and really dig into what I’ve done there’s so much to say.
The past two years have been life changing, challenging, exciting, and fun! I’ve had the pleasure of both running a business without a day job, and running a business on the side of a day job, which is where I’m at right now.
Think of this post as the holiday update letter you’d receive in the mail from your Aunt Selma. It’s a little bit of everything tied into one, because as other health-based entrepreneurs know, a business is not just a business. It’s a self-discovery of who you are and what you have to share with the world.
To describe my journey, I need to go back to where it all began for me as an entrepreneur. Businesses never just pop up out of nowhere, except in the eye of the customer. I had plans from the beginning, which have shifted and changed and taught me that being an entrepreneur also means being patient.
Let me start in my last year of nutritional training…
2016 | Education & Graduation
By January of 2016 I was already 1/3 of the way through nutrition school. I was enthralled with what I was learning. My mind was constantly being blown wide open as I was being awoken to mass amounts of nutrition knowledge.
Spring was when I started to see the first glimpse of entrepreneurship, as I took on a co-op position with HEAL, helping develop their meal plans, social media posts, and nutritional database. Thanks to the owner and my mentor, Mandy King, I started to understand what it took to be an entrepreneur in the health world and couldn’t wait to graduate.
I was 32 years of age when the above photo was taken. Bright-eyed and bushy tailed, just having graduated from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition, I was ready to flee west to Vancouver to put what I learned into action and continue my studies in the real world. My dream wasn’t to jump right into business, which I now know was partially out of fear, but to immerse myself in the culture of food itself. Basically, I was interested in the ins and outs of cooking, growing, and understanding food. There was more out there that I wanted to learn that school couldn’t provide.
I knew that heading west meant I’d have loads of opportunity to get my hands dirty with organic farming, but before that began I knew I had to spend some time in the city to immerse myself in the nutrition community there. I wanted to grow with the support of others, continue my education by learning-by-doing, and exploring the options I had, wanting to work as a chef and entrepreneur.
My first job out of school was at Glory Juice Co. I spent 8 glorious months (pun intended) at their shop on West 4th Ave serving up organic food, juice, and knowledge to anyone who would listen. I met and befriended a lot of great people who cared about their health, fuelling my passion and inspiring me to learn more about where that food was coming from, so I started looking into how I could do that.
Skills learned:
A wealth of nutritional knowledge, how to share it with others, and how to follow my heart.
Biggest Challenges:
Being okay with ending a long-term relationship to make a big move, leaving my family behind again, and understanding what my future was starting to look like.
top Accomplishments:
Graduating with honours, moving to Vancouver again, and listening to and following my heart.
2017 | Learning By Doing
I continued to grow within the Glory Juice company, but the itch to branch out and touch soil kept growing. I was still confused at this point as a professional, fresh out of school. I knew what I liked to do and saw a need for certain things in the world around me, but wasn’t sure how to put it all together just yet. So I kept on growing.
In the spring I headed to the lovely BC interior to try my hand at small scale organic farming as a WWOOFer. I spent one month in Summerland and another in Salmon Arm. I was VERY green when it came to farming, but I was super eager and have always been a quick learner, so I picked it up faster than I thought. I loved being away from the noise of the city, hunkered down in the mountains, focusing in on what was important to me. It was also at this time that I started developing my website and a platform for getting my thoughts out. I could hear the wheels turning in my own head and knew I was on the right path.
After a while I decided it was time to head back to Vancouver. I was lucky enough to be able to travel a bit and ease back into my city life, but I was still confused and uncertain of the next steps I should take so to not stifle my growth, while enjoying what I was doing. I ended up back at Glory Juice, only this time I was managing their back-of-house cafe kitchen.
I learned a LOT working in this capacity and grew my skills as a chef, but found that because I wasn’t connecting with customers anymore I wasn’t tapping into my best offerings, nor was my passion being regularly fuelled. It was near the end of 2017 that I decided to leave that line of work behind and start my own business on a full-time basis.
Skills learned:
People management, organic farming, and stepping into my passion.
Biggest Challenges:
Stepping out of my financial comfort zone, and feeling lost.
Top Accomplishments:
Trying my hand at organic farming, and deciding to wholeheartedly start my business.
2018 | My First Year of Business
January was a month of personal growth. As I said above, starting a business meant uncovering who I am as a person and the unique gifts I have to offer. This took some time and effort, as well as some emotional ups and downs, but I wanted to see where this exercise of self-discovery took me and I’m glad I did.
One of the biggest lessons I learned was that I just had to start somewhere. I didn’t know exactly who I was meant to help or how, but I decided it was a good approach to at least have a fully functioning website, complete my Level 1 Essentrics® training so I could teach, and start to see clients. I took on a position in an integrative clinic, so I could keep doing what I love, including developing lots of recipes and cooking every day, while growing as a professional.
Looking back, the steps I took in this first year were copy written from all the other professionals I saw out there in my field. It’s so easy to do what others are doing, thinking your path is determined based on your profession, but really it’s not. There are umpteen ways to do business and I felt comfortable doing what I knew, which was what others were doing. Needless to say, working in a clinic didn’t feel like me. I had to keep my hands in the dirt, so I took on a volunteer position with Victory Gardens, and I had to cook, so I worked as a private chef with Fresh In Your Fridge, which made up for what I felt I was lacking.
This kept me grounded, but there was one major drawback…I wasn’t comfortable promoting myself. I couldn’t figure out whether this was a confidence issue, or whether I wasn’t comfortable in what I was doing professionally. Had I still not figured myself out?
Ultimately, even though every day I question why I did it, I decided to leave Vancouver and head home to Ontario to regroup. I missed my family and lacked direction, so I went to the most comforting spot I could find, only to discover that I had changed so much that it was hard to fit in at home anymore. This is when I decided to take a break and better understand myself while letting my emotions out.
The end of 2018 was a heavy time for me. Not feeling successful and just having ripped myself out of my favourite surroundings - that which I still call home - I felt weak and vulnerable. I knew, though, that no matter what I was feeling there was opportunity ahead.
skills learned:
How to start a business, how to market myself, and how to hold onto what makes me “me”.
Biggest Challenges:
Finding my financial balance, leaving another long-term relationship, and moving back to Ontario.
Top Accomplishments:
Starting my business, becoming certified as a Level 1 Essentrics® instructor, and volunteer farming.
2019 | The Year of Discovery
I decided to head to Toronto for January 1st. I had a great support system there and felt it was where I needed to be to grow my Essentrics® practice and nutrition business, and I was right. I quickly connected with people in different fields of interest - urban organic farming, fitness, and package-free living - to try to find a line of work that suited me best.
For most of the spring, I was fortunate to work with BUFCO, meeting and working with fun, like-minded people in the city. I felt at home. I also did some volunteer work with a package-free store called bare market, having connected with the owner in earlier months. In addition, I gratefully had the opportunity to grow my Essentrics® teaching practice by way of subbing classes for two established instructors in the city. Things were falling into place, all except my finances.
It’s a tough position to be in when you realize you loving what you’re doing, but that you’re not making nearly enough money to live on. This has been the great personal struggle of my thirties, and I believe what has held me back in business is not realizing that it’s still on me to make the income flow. I can find a way to do what I want while still earning a steady income, I just have to be mindful of how it all can work together while becoming good at marketing myself.
In the meantime, though, I had hit a wall. It was between struggling for another 5 months while taking a dream part-time job, or taking a full-time corporate job at a place I’d worked at before. I chose the latter. I figured, and still believe, that the position presented itself at the right time and is just what I’ve need to be able to clearly see what’s in front of me as an entrepreneur. Stability is okay and has certainly been most welcome.
Fall was a time to sift through my emotions and understand where I wanted to go next, and I’m really grateful to have had that opportunity and proud of myself for accepting it. It gave me time to focus on myself, which helped shape the way I approached the next year and decade.
skills learned:
Running a business, a greener organic farming thumb, and allowing for financial stability.
Biggest Challenges:
Adapting to Toronto again, figuring out how to survive financially in a gig economy, and going back to corporate culture, especially while maintaining a part-time business.
Top Accomplishments:
Scheduling my first regularly scheduled studio Essentrics® classes while becoming certified as a Level 2 instructor, running nutrition workshops and lunch & learns, and taking on an official urban farming role.
2020 | The Big Shift
I know we’re only one month in, but I have never seen my future so clearly. It may not all be put together in one piece, but darn it if I can’t see the forest for the trees, and it feels goooood.
The first two years of business were very piecemeal. It has been confusing and challenging, but also eye-opening and exciting. I am currently a part-time entrepreneur and I like that. I know that I desire to continue to cook and create recipes, farm (even if just on my back deck), teach Essentrics®, and continue to help others by using the skills and knowledge I have.
This year will be one of fostering what I already have going - meal planning and time management with clients, progressing alongside my fitness students, saving money, and planning for my future. I will continue to listen more to my heart and the signs around me that are guiding me along my path.
I’ve come to learn how balance is being applied to my life. I fought it for so long, not wanting to take any steps away from my growth as an entrepreneur, but sometimes growing means accepting help and taking a sideways steps along the way.
skills I’M TAKING WITH ME INTO 2020:
Patience, financial growth, and living in my truth.
PREDICTED Challenges:
Trying to do everything at once, getting ahead of myself professionally instead of growing what I currently have, not wholeheartedly committing to my health out of fear, and finding my peace in the big city.
Top GOALS FOR 2020:
Grow my finances, niche my business, become a certified Level 3 Essentrics® instructor, take care of myself physically & mentally, and slow down enough to live in the moment.
I feel good where I am right now. I’m excited for all that 2020 has to offer, leaning in with an open heart and mind, and a much clearer understanding of who I am as a person and a professional. Knowing this is already helping guide every decision that I make. If I can say one thing, it’s that this business has given back to me just as much, if not more than I’ve put in. I love that.
Thank you for being here with me for the ride. It never ends and neither will I.