Finding Balance & Ease As a New Practitioner (& FT Mom!)

You’ll love this podcast if you’re a …you know what, this is just a spectacular conversation about changing paths and following your passion and making it work as a Wellpreneur and a Mom.  

Let’s jump right in…

In this episode, Kiki is chatting with Katherine Peloso Smith. Not too long ago, Katherine decided her true passion was helping people and started on the journey many of us have made, transitioning into Wellness.

Along the way, Katherine pursued (and achieved) several new certifications, which include:

• Registered Holistic Nutritionist, accredited by The Canadian School of Natural Nutrition
• Certificate in nutritional and integrative interventions for autism, ADHD, anxiety, and depression

Katherine’s practice encompasses a full mind, body, and spirit approach to uncovering the root cause of health concerns and uses real-life practical tactics to guide her clients in achieving their ultimate nutritional goals.  She specializes in women and family wellness, focusing on supporting mothers through fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum.

What was Katherine’s calling?

Even though Katherine has always been interested in nutrition,  she initially pursued a degree in Business Administration and spent several years in the hospitality industry, selling wine :).

But, after experiencing firsthand the support available for people with very particular health conditions, she had to take matters into her own hands.

That journey, plus the arrival of her two boys, made it clear to her that she should be sharing her knowledge and providing patients a better experience.

I wasn't getting the help I needed from certain doctors, so I dove into the natural world of health and wellness and reversed a lot of my ailments and issues.

After the arrival of her two little boys, her interests expanded to include babies and children, essentially finishing the cycle and opening her up to a holistic approach to family health.

How Katherine approaches business development

Her degree in Sales & Marketing certainly made it easier for Katherine to get going generating leads and finding opportunities. Still, she is also mindful of balance, which Kiki refers to as ‘ebbs and flows.

For Katherine, it’s about recognizing that she wants to spend time with her kids and not think about the business some days.  Days like this provide the emotional fuel to tackle the website and social and building plans and programs.

Beyond the mindset, Katherine loves one-on-one coaching and uses Programs to build and engage with her audience.  From there, she can identify people that are ready to engage more deeply and would benefit from a more personalized approach.

A couple of times a year, I'll do a healthy habits challenge where I invite people in; we work as a group on a few healthy habits for seven days.

This approach keeps Katherine’s schedule full and provides her the opportunity to deep-dive with each client, after all, as Katherine put’s it:

At the end of the day, it's important to me that everything is individualized for each person, because everybody is so different.

Where does Meal Garden fit in?

Before even considering any automated tools for nutrition, Katherine went it alone, using Google Search, Word Documents, and the trusted calculator to create and personalize content.

She quickly realized this wouldn’t be sustainable.

First off, I tried to do it all by myself, which was extremely time-consuming. And, it just didn't look as professional, and I wanted to provide something that clients would love and was easy for them to understand and easy for them to navigate.

After trying out a couple of different systems, she came across Meal Garden, and everything started to click.

Not only did Katherine find Meal Garden easier to use for herself, but her clients LOVED it.

What does Katherine love about Meal Garden, well:

• It’s flexible: if a client needs a plan, she can put that together quickly, or if they just want recipes, that’s a few clicks.   Need to build a meal plan together in real-time? No problem.
• Easy for her clients: Client’s can login and download the plans and lists to PDF, or they can just use their phone for a more interactive experience; either way, it’s effortless to learn and use.

Katherine takes a collaborative and personalized approach to work with her clients, and Meal Garden makes it easier for her to do that.

The other side of Nutrition

An interesting point from the conversation happens a little later in the episode when Kiki and Katherine talk about collaboration and personalization and how much coaching is involved.

There is no doubt that nutrition is fundamental, but changing habits and lifestyles is brutal.  There’s research out there that indicates changing a habit can take up to 60 days!

Katherine uses a practical approach, focusing on small steps, celebrating successes, and building towards that better self.

But here again, Katherine emphasizes the need for personalization and flexibility.

I have some clients where they're like, give it all to me; I want to do it all in one big go. And then I have other clients looking for slow and steady one thing at a time they can master and then move on from there.

Myths and Fades in Nutrition

This is an excellent part of the conversation, and I think it’s best to listen to the podcast to appreciate it.

But, I’ll leave you with this,

I don’t think I’m 100% on board any cookie-cutter approach or a diet that claims it will ‘change your life in X days.’

You can find value in most things, but at the end of the day, it’s about the individual, and personalization seems to lead to better outcomes.

What’s Katherine learning about now?

She’s constantly learning.

Science changes day-to-day, so it’s essential to stay up to date with everything, but a few current curiosities are baby nutrition and gardening.

That’s right! Gardening.  Growing her foods and herbs is becoming a pastime for Katherine.

For baby nutrition, she’s been reading and learning with Oh Baby Nutrition, a site and school focused on this topic.

Kiki and Katherine discussed how Meal Garden could incorporate more content about this, and I’ve added the idea to our roadmap :)

Where to find Katherine

If you’d like to connect with Katherine,

Instagram: @mind.body.spirit.mama

Website: www.mindbodyspiritmama.com

Facebook: Katherine Peloso Smith R.H.N.

Speaking of personalization…

Did you know you could save up to 70% of the time you spend now creating and maintaining nutritional information with a membership at Meal Garden?

Who doesn’t want to save time and create better experiences for their clients?

Take a commitment-free look at Meal Garden today.

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Final Thoughts

Personalization, coaching, and balance are my takeaways from this conversation; what about you?

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