Skip the Diet, Just Eat Healthy - Eat Well to Be Well

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Cheryl Mussatto, Founder of Eat Well to Be Well RD, located in Osage City, KS, USA.

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

Besides my day job of working as a clinical dietitian at two medical facilities, my side hustle is being a freelance health and nutrition writer. Over the past four years, I've written four books - Two self-published (my book on brain health and the other was ghostwritten on men's health for a healthcare professional), and the other two books with a book publishing company, covering prediabetes, and heart health emphasizing the Mediterranean diet. I'm also the head writer for an NYC urologist/prostate cancer surgeon for whom I've written articles/books since 2015. I also contribute my medical/professional commentary on nutrition-related topics to various news outlets. The internet is flooded with nutrition information - some are excellent, some riddled with misinformation. Having an experienced registered dietitian write accurate, up-to-date nutrition articles and books is invaluable to readers seeking the truth on nutrition information helpful to reaching their goals.

Tell us about yourself

I'm a lifelong Kansas, born and raised on a farm. After high school, I graduated from Kansas State University with a BS in Dietetics and Institutional Management and from the University of Kansas with an MS in Dietetics and Nutrition. As a registered dietitian, I've worked in various settings, from working with the WIC program to being a Dietary Department Head of a small hospital, as examples, but what got me into freelance health and nutrition writing has been my love of sharing nutrition information with the general public. In 2013, I approached the editor of my local online newspaper - www.osagecountyonline.com - inquiring if I could start my nutrition column. He said yes, and I named it "Eat Well to Be Well," my mantra regarding health. Since then, I've contributed one to two nutrition articles each month to his newspaper. But, things ramped up for me in April of 2015 when an NYC doctor and medical celebrity "found" me on this online newspaper platform and requested to interview me on his live radio show. We discussed an article I had written called "Vitamin Supplements, Friend or Foe." After the interview, he asked me several times to be on his radio show. From there, he asked if I could write articles covering men's health and other health topics for his website. It wasn't long before I created my website, and this is how I was discovered by a book publishing company that approached me to write a couple of books for them. What motivates me each day (seven days a week!) to sit in front of my computer and write articles is the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction of providing evidence-based nutrition information for my readers. It also takes a lot of self-discipline to set aside so many hours a day to meet my writing deadlines, but it has become a part of my life that I have managed very well.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment has been the opportunity to work with a medical celebrity on a major news outlet. He encouraged me to start my website, which has led to numerous opportunities to write books, speak at conferences, provide my commentary to various news online outlets on nutrition articles, and get to work alongside someone not only in the medical field but also with connections to the media.

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

The type of business of being a freelance health and nutrition writer can be lonely at times with its unique challenges. It takes perseverance and grit to reach out to other authors to ask questions about many things I did not know. One of which was learning and becoming educated on writing books! From writing the first word to loading it onto Amazon or Ingram Spark, there is so much information I didn't realize that went into publishing a book. In my very first book, The Nourished Brain, which is self-published, I took a six-month self-publishing course to accomplish this task. This provided me with the necessary groundwork for working alongside an accomplished self-published author (and also a dietitian) on the ins and outs of what every author should know. Writing a book can be intensive. But once it's completed and you hold the physical form in your hands, it's worth it and a labor of love.

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

My top three tips on running a business today, in regards to freelance writing work are:

1. Be organized and keep detailed records.
2. Be creative, and if something comes along that scares you, do it! - If I had turned down the opportunity to be a guest on a live radio show in NYC with the doctor, my career would have taken an entirely different direction.
3. Reach out to others who are successful in freelance writing. Join closed Facebook groups geared toward this niche, compliment and start a conversation with a freelance writer you admire. Ask how they got started, and be persistent in staying focused on your goals.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://eatwelltobewellrd.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EatWellToBeWellRD/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cherylmussatto

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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