Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jennifer Sweenie, Founder of PIVAAT, located in New York, NY, USA.

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

My business is PIVAAT, a remote corporate wellness service with a nutrition-based approach. Our clients are any companies interested in providing wellness services to their employees! We conduct nutrition webinars, cooking demos, educational webinars, 1:1 nutrition counseling, and many fun classes on a range of topics — think "college electives and extracurricular activities." At PIVAAT, we believe wellness starts with nutrition education. The key to making sustainable, healthier choices and behavior modification lies in understanding and awareness of the correlation between what we consume and our wellbeing. Our clients are located across the globe and range from small startups to well-established, larger firms.

Tell us about yourself

I'm a nutritionist and a chef. PIVAAT was born in 2020 during COVID lockdown when I had to do just that — pivot. The name is a play on that infamous couch scene in Friends. I was seeing clients in person when our world was turned upside down overnight that March. Like most of us, I was terrified and paralyzed. I found my internal voice coaching me to just "pivot," and I often envisioned that scene and heard Ross' voice exclaiming, "PIVAAT!!!". It made me laugh and kept me pushing forward. I noticed a demand for employee wellness almost immediately. I was randomly contacted by a few people to give nutrition webinars and enjoyed doing them immensely. I loved that I was able to reach thousands more people remotely than with in-person speaking engagements and consults. I also noticed employees seemed more engaged and hungry for health and wellness support than they had been in the past. Corporate wellness had pivoted as well, and there was a need and demand.

Nutrition and wellness is my passion and has been for as long as I can remember. What motivates me each day is that I've found purpose in helping people. I love to learn, and nutrition is a changing science that requires always being on top of new studies and trends. I enjoy translating the information and educating others — and my absolute favorite part is when I watch clients succeed in implementing healthy lifestyle changes.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

See above!! I would have to say it was pivoting my business in 2020.

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

That's a hard one to narrow down, so I'm going to give two. First is what I call my analysis paralysis. When you're on your own, there is no boss or team members to bounce things off of. You are the sole decision maker. You really have to have trust in your intuition because you will doubt everything at the beginning. I have a tendency to overthink and over-analyze everything, and sometimes that can delay my taking action.

The second is discipline. And that ranges from turning off Netflix and getting off the couch to knowing when to shut things off and take a break. It's the delineating between work and play that can be tricky when your work is also your passion and what interests you. And I'm not even talking about actual work that directly results in revenue. For me, it's perpetual brainstorming, researching, worrying, procrastinating, and doubting. When I first started, I used to mentally calculate how much money I was potentially not making whenever I was not actively working. That is no way to live! I've also had periods when I've been completely unproductive and uninspired and engaged in a lot of leisure time. It's learning how to ride the waves and trying to find balance.

Oh, and one more! Self-promotion. I absolutely despise doing it, but it's a necessity. Word of mouth has always been my greatest marketing strategy. You have to put yourself out there and toot your own horn, even if it makes you cringe. No one else is going to do it for you.

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

  1. Be passionate about it. That is a must. For every little win, there are a dozen losses. You need the inner motivation and drive to keep going. It's a constant hustle, so you must believe in what you're hustling, or you won't last long. Every loss holds value, though! You're not losing. You're trying things out and learning what works and what does not.
  2. Know your weaknesses and outsource. Know when to let go and what to let go of. I waited entirely too long to hire salespeople. I am terrible at selling, and I tortured myself for years. Hiring people to prospect clients for me has been a game changer. I've also had to learn how to not micromanage PIVAAT's services. My goal is to build my business so it can run without me, and that requires hiring other people to lead my beloved nutrition webinars. After spending 3-weeks in bed with Covid recently, I realized how I need to let go and find people I trust. Not only does that allow your business to grow, but it frees up your time to pursue other avenues and interests.
  3. Risk-taking is non-negotiable. You cannot be afraid to take them. If you are, entrepreneurship is not for you. When you're starting your own thing, everything is a risk. One of my favorite quotes I read many years ago is, "Take a risk, see what you're made of. Repeat." That's how you have to approach everything. If my memory serves, that quote can be attributed to Katie Couric, but I haven't been able to corroborate that — this was pre-screenshot days! Trust your gut. Learn the difference between your anxiety and intuition…stay true to the latter.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

People you thought would be your biggest supporters may stay quiet. Perhaps even be critical and try to bring you down. But a whole bunch of random acquaintances and strangers will be your biggest cheerleaders. I've found the supporters are usually those who have been there or have a desire to follow suit and believe in themselves. If you know someone doing their own thing, you have no idea how far a like, repost, or pat on the back will go!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.pivaat.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pivaat_wellness/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-sweenie/

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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