Salad with a Side of Fries

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jenn Trepeck, Founder of Salad with a Side of Fries, located in New York City, NY, USA.

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

Salad with a Side of Fries is a podcast and health coaching practice. We provide clients and listeners with the tools, approachable science, empowerment, and motivation to live their healthiest, happiest lives. I often say I teach the nutrition education we're all supposed to know, but no one ever taught us. As a result, you look better, feel better, have more energy, and drop the excess body fat as a side effect.

Our typical clients fit into one of three categories:

They've been on every diet under the sun, weight has been a thing their whole life, and they need it not to be anymore.
Weight has never been an issue until...(the pandemic, a diagnosis, threat of a diagnosis)
I don't have weight loss. I want to be healthier and know what to listen to and what to ignore from everything I hear and see in the news and on the internet.

It's all about empowering each person to be their best guide and health advocate, helping them decipher fads and facts and combat the often harmful confusion we see in the diet, wellness, and food industries.

Tell us about yourself

Salad with a Side of Fries was born from my own weight struggle. Growing up a dancer and then gaining weight between high school and college, I was the poster child for the diet industry's consumers. Trying everything out there, over and over, living on the yo-yo rollercoaster. That is until I found the curriculum I based my practice on. It is the ONLY thing that's allowed me to say I've kicked my food issues. I believed everyone deserved this information, and I set out on a mission to pay it forward and help people help themselves. I started health coaching as a side hustle in late 2007. Finally, in July 2019, I left my full-time job (in hedge funds) and decided to give my all to my own business. In August 2019, I launched the podcast, Salad with a Side of Fries to reach a larger audience and support the health and well-being of even more people around the world.

What motivates me is the mission behind everything I do: to change the state of healthcare. To empower people to reclaim control of their health is, in my opinion, the greatest gift we can offer. So often, we don't think about the importance of our health until we don't have it. Hearing from podcast listeners about the changes they've made because of something they heard on the show and connecting with my clients weekly, witnessing their transformations, and helping them see their own progress is the greatest gift.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My greatest accomplishment is the number of lives we've changed and the people we've reached. In my practice helping hundreds of people over the years and the podcast reaching thousands every week, I'm in awe of all we've created. What's more, my health coaching and podcast have given way to other ventures, all aligned with the mission to change the state of healthcare. In fact, with one such project, our team is writing legislation for the State of New York to support a truly integrated approach to treating pain.

Moreover, as each wellness warrior we work with transforms their own life, the butterfly effect takes hold, and they, in turn, impact countless others. When they have the foundation of information and tools to reclaim control of their own wellness, they can go out and live the rest of their lives sharing their gifts with the world.

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

Taking a step without knowing the one that will follow. Some might say it's risky to leave a full-time job and go out on your own, but I believe nothing is permanent unless I decide it is. This approach has made it easier to take a step without knowing what will come after, whether where it will lead or what my next move will be. I think It's essential that a business owner is willing to lead without necessarily seeing the entire path ahead!

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

If you've never considered giving up, you're not doing it right. When you start to question, wonder if it's time to give up, tie a knot at the end of the rope and hang on. Keep going! Seeing what doesn't work is as much the process as celebrating the wins. Remember, just because you may not see the results now doesn't mean you won't see them in the future. I would even go as far as to define success as not giving up and trying new ways to reach your goals! Failure is only when you give up completely and haven't learned a lesson to carry with you. Measure, monitor, adjust and control. Keep going and keep growing.
Define success for yourself. I personally define success as living with choice and dignity. This definitely stems from working full-time in very demanding industries for over a decade. For me, choosing how I spend my day, who I spend my time with, and what I work on is a success. What's more, this definition has changed over the years. I used to think success was owning an airplane, owning an apartment in New York City, having a fancy title or career—the things we're often taught success looks like. And what I've come to truly learn is that success is a choice. How I spend my every day to be with whom I want to be, working on the projects I want to work on when I want to work on them, and being able to choose the things that bring me joy. Success is freedom with time (and I suppose the money to do anything we want to do with that time).
Balance is a four-letter word, as much of a curse word as others more commonly recognized. I now know balance doesn't exist. We've been sold a bag of nonsense to think that balance is the goal. Whether it's work/life or working on the business vs. in the business, this project or that balance does not exist. "Balance" can feel like being pulled in a million directions and trying to stand on that tightrope in the middle. Rather than balance, focus on presence. I work to be wherever I am. If I'm hanging out with my nephew, recording a podcast, working with my team, or working with my clients, that's where I am. For me, this is way more helpful and way more powerful than the idea of balance or striving for this thing that truly doesn't exist. Understand that it can all fit together; it's not a Venn diagram of your responsibilities. It's a single circle…your life.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://asaladwithasideoffries.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JenniferTrepeck
https://www.facebook.com/Saladwithasideoffriespodcast
https://www.facebook.com/groups/425796548337541/

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jenntrepeck/
https://www.instagram.com/saladwithasideoffriespod/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenntrepeck

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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