Address the Challenge - Brian Baumal

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Brian Baumal, a Registered Psychotherapist, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am a Registered Psychotherapist working with people who want to manage their weight or have eating disorders or food addictions. What makes me different is that I am one of the very few therapists in this field who have gone through and successfully managed both my weight and an eating disorder called exercise bulimia. I have lost 100 pounds and maintained that loss for a 10-year period (starting August 2012).

Clients tell me that one of the biggest benefits they get when talking to me is that I can relate to what they are going through when it comes to their concerns regarding weight appearance eating. They say it is very rare for them to find a therapist - or anyone in the broader health field in general - who can really understand and relate to what they are going through.

Tell us about yourself

I am 53 years old now. At 43 years old, ten years ago, I was well over 300 pounds, had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and signs of insulin resistance. I suspect that if I had continued with those conditions, I would not have lived to where I am now. In around 2015, I began to look for a specific direction for my psychotherapy practice. I asked myself, "What have I been successful at in my own life"? I knew that I had managed to lose 100 pounds and keep it off for about three years. So I looked up statistics on long-term weight loss success, and I was shocked to find that the success rate was incredibly low. Broadly and in summary, I would estimate that well-under 5% of anyone who has tried to do what I did would be successful at it.

I was truly amazed at how low the success rate was. I didn't think it was a comment on the ineffectiveness of fad diets, doctors, nutrition, fast food, etc... Rather, I was shocked at how I could have possibly defied the odds! My business and professional ventures, while somewhat successful, were nowhere near as successful as my weight loss was. So what got me started working in the field of weight loss, eating disorders and food addiction is that I felt that I just could not waste the gift that I was given in being able to maintain the weight loss I had achieved. I never felt myself to be smarter or more dedicated than anyone else, so I decided to see how I could help others - who were likely smarter and more successful than I - achieve what I could do.

What truly motivates me each day is that I feel immensely grateful to have addressed my weight, food, and body issues, given the low success rates. I am truly humbled and grateful every day for what I have achieved - and I don't take it for granted in any way. The temptation to order a dozen donuts for delivery when I am in a bad mood is as easy as picking up my phone, which is less than a foot away from me. It is with this strong sense of gratitude and humility that I am motivated to help others achieve what I did. With all my own insecurities and hang-ups, if I can beat my issues with weight, food, and body image, anyone can.

Speaking with people and connecting with their struggles in regard to weight loss, eating disorders, and body image. They can be incredibly isolating. Moreover, I know that eating, weight, and body image issues never go away completely - they are things that just simply have to be managed on a day-to-day basis.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Reaching full practice status in under a year in a field that is over-crowded, has low barriers to entry, is undifferentiated, and in some ways has a negative perception to it. Specifically, reaching full-practice status in a therapy business means a few things from a business point of view:

That you are able to retain clients and provide them with results.
That there are enough clients in the pipeline to compensate for those who leave and/or those who have finished a successful course of therapy.
That I have established myself as somewhat of an expert in my field, given that I have now stopped paying for advertising and am receiving referrals from physicians and other therapists whose clients need specific help with weight management, eating disorders, and body image issues.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The amount of admin work is insane. For example, I am typing this on June 5, 2022, at 1:00 pm, and it is 22 degrees and sunny outside. Can you imagine what I would prefer to be doing instead? On a more serious note, it is incredibly important to be efficient with your time and your systems and to stay one step ahead of where your business is going on these fronts so that you are not overwhelmed by them when your business achieves the growth you expect.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Become proficient and an expert in your field. Suppose you are not good at the core of what you do. Don't bother doing it. Be a voracious learner of developments in your field, and always, always seek to understand the wisdom of leaders in your field.
If you don't love what you do, don't bother doing it. Now, I suspect that there are few people that say they love the actual activities involved in septic tank cleaning, but maybe they love dealing with people, building businesses, solving problems, or beating a competitor. If you are not passionate about at least part of your business, you may run into trouble with it.
Be humble with others, but have good boundaries with them too.
Another tip I would add is to choose employees, associates, and partners very carefully.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.torontoweightmanagement.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torontoweightmanagement/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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