Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Deborah Levy, founder of Health Above All, located in Cresskill, NJ, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I have a nutrition counseling and consulting business. In my private practice, I focus primarily on eating disorders, weight management issues, food allergies and sensitivities, and sports nutrition. In my consulting business, I work with companies who want to deliver fact-based nutritional messaging to their consumers and have products that I feel good about representing.
Tell us about yourself
After ten years of working in the medical nutrition industry, I opened my private practice when my kids were really young to have the work-life balance I desired. My clients find me through referrals from their doctors, therapists, family members, or friends. I choose not to advertise because when I get referrals on a continuing basis, I know that my clients are happy with their own individualized results. I branched out into consulting because it was a way of educating others on a larger scale than was possible with one on one counseling. I love that I get to make a difference in people's quality of life.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Every single time I help someone struggling with an eating disorder to become healthy again, in the brain and body, I feel the same huge sense of accomplishment. An eating disorder affects not only the one struggling but also the family. I am committed to helping everyone in the trenches of the disorder get through it. When they do, it's truly life-changing.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The beginning stages of the business were really difficult. I had to figure out who my target clients were and then how to get them and keep my referral sources going. All these years later, the referrals come in regularly because of the successes I have had with clients over and over again.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Figure out who your target client/consumer is and focus on them. People try to be everything to everyone, and it's not possible. Find your niche.
- Choose to have multiple sources of income. My streams of income are private clients and companies each month. If something happens and one of them is slow, I have time to focus on the other and generate the income I want.
- Become an expert in your field. Do whatever you need to rise above all of the others who are vying for the same client/consumer.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Find what you love and give it all you have. I know I have more to give, and I hope to begin writing a blog to share some of my insight with a larger audience. I'd even like to start a podcast to help families who have a loved one battling an eating disorder.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://healthaboveall.net/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/health_above_all/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahorlicklevymsrd/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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