The Nutritional Supplement
Anna Marsh - Career Profile
1. What Course did you graduate from at CNELM and when did you graduate?
I originally studied the BSc Hons Nutritional Therapy graduating in 2009 and then in 2013 I enrolled on the MSc in Personalised Nutrition graduating in 2014.
2. What made you decide to become a nutritional therapist / practitioner?
I have always had an interest in nutrition. I was originally based in South Africa and was planning to study Dietetics but at the last minute I changed my mind and did Biochemistry and Sports Science instead. I then decided to move to the UK and study at CNELM.
3. Do you specialise in a particular area of health?
The main area I work in is women’s weight loss. However, from a functional approach that comes hand in hand with exercise, gut health, hormone balance etc. I would say that the majority of my clients are weight loss clients but I do this in conjunction with athletic performance and gut health.
4. Did you start practising as soon as you graduated or were you already practising? What was your first role after graduating?
I was working as a Personal Trainer when I started the BSc at CNELM and when I graduated I continued working as a Personal Trainer but stepped more into a nutritional therapy role, and I continued doing that while I was studying for my MSc.
Since completing the MSc I have stepped completely into the nutritional therapy role, although since exercise is such a massive part of people’s health, I often integrate the two disciplines in my work.
While I was in London I also did some corporate event work for Transport for London who contacted me via the BANT website. They ran Health Shows where they would offer health screening for their staff at various locations around London, so I would do two or three shows a month.
In addition to my practice, I am also now the Module Leader for the Personalised Sports Nutrition module on the MSc programme at CNELM, and until recently I was also a Clinic Supervisor at CNELM.
5. How did you kickstart your practice
In the beginning I got my nutritional therapy clients through referral via the gym where I worked and through other Personal Trainers. Most Personal Trainers will offer basic nutritional and dietary information to clients but when they come across someone who needs more in-depth nutritional advice and support, these clients would get referred to me.
As I already came from a health & fitness background, this really helped me in terms of having the connections and contacts. It also helped in terms of confidence, although it was still a very steep learning curve coming out of the degree and having to make it a profitable business. This is something I’ve only really nailed in the past year.
6. Did you spend a lot of time marketing your business?
As I had the personal training to fall back on, I didn’t spend much time marketing my nutritional therapy business to begin with. I decided instead to take my time and rely on word of mouth recommendations, working with clients gradually and seeing how I could help them. So in one sense, having the personal training background took the pressure off having to promote my nutritional therapy business as I was not reliant on the income from nutritional therapy alone. However, the other side of the coin is that I may not have marketed this side of my business as much as I could or should have done which may have hindered its progression in the beginning.
So between Personal Training and Nutritional Therapy I was making a reasonable income but it was a little bit stressful financially at times. The significant change happened when I decided to move from London to Bournemouth. In so doing I gave up everything I’d established to date and literally had to start my business from scratch.
7. So you effectively had to kickstart your practice all over again?
Yes, and that was the trigger for me to hire a Business Mentor. It was the best decision I ever made and was life-changing. I was able to use some money from the deposit that I had saved for the move to Bournemouth and I decided it was an investment I had to make. I knew I needed help and I knew I couldn’t do it on my own. So one morning I just Googled: “Business Mentor health and fitness industry” and that was it. I had an initial free call with the Business Mentor service to see if I was right for them and they were right for me, however it was still very much a leap of faith as it was a significant investment. For that reason, I decided I had to make it work. This in itself was very motivating.
8. What did your Business Mentoring Involve?
The Mentoring programme I embarked on involved a one-to-one call to start with, and then it walked you through an online programme step-by-step, regarding a number of aspects of your business such as marketing techniques etc. You also had access to an online Forum shared by all the members in the group and you participated in a group call once a week where you got specific coaching and mentoring. Initially I signed up for 3 months, and then I was invited to the Platinum programme which is for 12 months and includes further coaching and mentoring and a number of weekend meet-ups throughout the year. You have to have reached a certain level in your business to be invited to the Platinum programme.
9. What was the most significant thing you learned from hiring a Business Mentor?
Personally, I have always struggled with pricing and I think that this, along with selling and marketing yourself generally, is something that many Nutritional Therapists are uncomfortable with. Nutritional Therapy involves a lot more work than just the consultation, and we often feel that clients won’t be willing to pay for these aspects, so you end up undercharging which can lead to feeling devalued. So the biggest benefit I gained from the Business Mentor programme was building my confidence on price points. This involved a lot of mind-set shifting and working through my personal mental blocks. Having worked through my own mental blocks in this way, I am also now better equipped to support my clients’ mental blocks regarding weight loss.
10. How did the Business Mentoring experience affect your new business model?
In effect, my new business model mirrors the one used by the Business Mentor programme where I signed up for a 3-month coaching package, as this worked so well for me. Now, instead of charging per consultation, I sell 3-month coaching packages, so clients are engaged in a longer term relationship with me. This gives me and the client the opportunity to ‘check-in’ with each other on a regular basis which helps the client to be engaged with the programme and in making the necessary changes while receiving the support they need along the way. I have also moved a lot of my business online, so I create a number of free gifts such as e-books, webinars, etc. which I offer on my website or via my social media sites, and use these to promote the value of my coaching package.
11. Did the Business Mentoring programme give advice on setting up your website or using social media for marketing?
There was some mentoring on social media marketing, such as Facebook Advertising etc. However, what it did provide was a network of contacts to draw upon and one of my websites was created by a web designer who I met in the Platinum Group. It is possible to create your own website quite easily for example on Wordpress – I created my first website by myself in this way. However, if you find you’re spending a lot of time creating and maintaining your own website, you need to weigh the costs of spending your time in this way with the cost of outsourcing. The question you have to ask yourself is: Is this task earning me money? If not, then it may be more cost effective to outsource certain tasks that you’re not good at, so you can spend more time doing the things you are good at and which can earn you money.
12. Do you find that people are willing to invest in a 3 month programme?
People who need it will find the money. Not everyone wants to invest in themselves and you have to accept that perhaps these people are not the right clients for you. Some people are willing to invest, some need more persuading as to the value of the programme for them, so this is why I do the free webinars and e-books, to help generate interest and explain more about the programme and how it might benefit them.
The way I look at it is that, yes, there is a lot of ‘free’ nutritional information out there on the internet, but sometimes you need the individual approach to really move forward. In the same way that I could have found free online tutorials to help me with running my business, I found that what I really needed was an individual approach, and since investing in the business mentoring programme, my business has sky-rocketed.
When you get the right structure for your business, you then naturally attract the type of clients that are right for you and for me that means clients who are committed and invested in making changes. This in turn improves your reputation, the clients get results, they are happy and they act as ambassadors for your business. It’s a win-win situation.
One of the best moves I made was to employ a past client as a part-time administrative assistant. She had a great experience as a client and she now undertakes the free 1 hour ‘breakthrough’ calls that I offer to prospective clients. The aim of these calls is to get to the bottom of the client’s mind-set, to help me understand if we are able to help them and if they have the necessary level of commitment to make the changes. It also allows them to speak to us and understand if the programme is right for them. To have a past client who has gained a lot from the programme undertaking these sales calls has proven to be extremely effective!
13. How have you found the transition from Student to Practising Nutritional Therapist / Scientist?
It was a steep learning curve in the beginning, coming out of the degree and trying to make my practice a profitable business. I think confidence had a lot to do with it. It was not until the end of 2014 / beginning of 2015 that I really felt I’d ‘arrived’ as it were. I put this down to the business mentoring programme. Before I had a business mentor, my nutritional knowledge was great but my business skills were not a good reflection of how good my knowledge was.
14. Do you miss studying? How do you fit CPD / keeping abreast of the latest research into your day-to-day practice/work?
I think I am one of those ‘chronic studiers’ – I always like to be learning new things. I am currently doing The Natura Foundation’s cPNI programme which is running at CNELM and I am also doing the Institute for Functional Medicine’s Accreditation programme.
In past year I have learned how important it is to be constantly growing. Without this our overall sense of fulfilment decreases and this affects our happiness. I always need to be stimulated in some way in order to feel fulfilled. So when I have completed the cPNI and IFM programmes, I will move on to the next thing. It might not be nutrition specific this time, I may move on to more personal development programmes such as Tony Robbins.
15. Have there been any particular influences, or influencers, e.g. tutors, other practitioners, books etc. that have inspired you in your work?
I listen to Podcasts regularly, and particularly Chris Kresser. I like him because he is very evidence based and so I know that everything he says is backed up by research and I love the way he does that.
I also love Robb Wolf, former research Biochemist who studied under Prof Loren Cordain, and author of The Paleo Solution – I think I have listened to every single one of his 300 podcasts!
16. What is your vision for the future in terms of your career? How do you see your business evolving?
My vision is to keep growing and developing my business to be more of the same but with a bigger team, so the same structure as now but with more staff. I currently have one or two people working for me, so expanding that team and filling the business out a bit more.
In addition to a sales and administrative assistant who I mentioned earlier, I also employ a coach who assists with coaching on my group programme. I also employ another nutritional therapist, so if I am too busy with clients than I can refer these clients to her.
Finally, I see myself as continuing to learn and grow, both in terms of nutritional knowledge and in terms of personal growth and development.
17. What advice would you give to those who are just about to graduate?
Be really clear on who you want to work with. Know what you want to do. Don’t just work with anyone. Be yourself – be authentic – as you will then attract the right people. Be clear on who you want to work with and don’t undervalue yourself. That can knock your confidence. I think a lot of Nutritional Therapists undercharge and this can have a negative impact on the nutritional therapy profession. I firmly believe that if everyone charged what they were worth it would raise the profession as whole.
My final piece of advice would be: get a Business Mentor! It was the best thing I ever did.
18. Do you have any tips, hints, regrets….??
Looking back, I would not have done things any differently, but I wish I had done things more quickly! Having said that, I have learned so much from the experiences I’ve had, and the struggles that I have had help me to identify with my clients. So the only regret I have is that I wish I had kicked myself up the proverbial backside a little sooner!
The other thing is that I used to worry about clients not getting results, but I learned that clients need to take responsibility for themselves, so this is a tip that I would pass on to anyone about to start their practice.
I would also add that, although my business is now very successful and profitable, there is always stress and anxiety in running your own business. When your business grows, your costs also grow, such as the cost of employing staff and the responsibilities that come with that. However, having a business mentor helps to manage any anxiety that may arise in this regard.
The final word is that I simply love what I do and I cannot imagine doing anything else!
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