VYN is Turning One! What I've Learned This Last Year In Life & Business
I can't believe it, but it's been officially a year since starting my business as a Women's Health Coach. And though it's had it's ups and downs along the way, I can't imagine doing anything else! I've learned so much about myself and about loving others this year as well as what it means to really stick to something even when it gets hard. Today I wanted to sit down and share with you my experience from the last year as a business owner, things I've learned, as well as what I hope to accomplish in this next year.
First off, before I say anything more, thank you. Thank you so much for supporting me and supporting this business. Thank you for sticking around and reading and engaging and reaching out! I have met so many amazing women through this business both local and online and that has just been so cool! So thank you!
I started this business with the hope to share with women what real nutrition looks like. If you've read my story, you know I struggled with an eating disorder for many of my high school and college years. My disordered eating stemmed from a place of wanting to just be healthy. It was innocent as many disordered thoughts towards food tend to be. I'm so grateful to say that I was able to heal from my disordered mindset around food and exercise and really learned what a healthy life looks like and that it's not as black and white as I had thought.
Fast forward, I became certified in intuitive eating counseling last September, started this platform, as well as a program in health education. I was high on wanting to share all that recovering from my eating disorder had taught me. I knew (still know!) that there are far too many women out there struggling with a poor relationship with food that affects every aspect of their life. I wanted to help be the change for that.
Then there was the struggle of knowing that I had this amazing gift to share with people but not knowing how to get it to them. I had to learn how to do business and, if you've ever been to nursing school...even if you haven't I'm sure you can imagine...we aren't taught business in the slightest! I would have never thought that I would be running my own business had you asked me even 3 years ago. It was never on my radar! I remember envisioning myself working day in and day out in the hospital and loving it. But that's not what happened. I firmly believed God pulled me in a different direction.
BUSINESS AS AN INTROVERT
All that to say, I had to start from square one with how to run a business. I remember back a year ago where I focused so much on writing blog posts and scrolling Instagram for "inspiration" but never got in front of people. If there's one thing I've learned that's business related in the last year, it's that you have to get in front of people! Whether that's attending a local chamber meeting or being bold and emailing someone you wish to connect with. Even just meeting people and telling them what you're doing. It can be so scary to be bold in this way, especially if you feel that you're more of an introvert, which I do. But one thing I've come to realize is that hearing "no" (or not hearing anything at all), is part of life. And it's ok. It's got nothing to do with you.
DOING HARD THINGS
Along those lines, probably my biggest lesson this past year has been in just doing the hard thing. There have been times when I have felt so out of my comfort zone. But it's been those times where I've still pushed through that I have seen the most growth in my business as well as in me personally! It really is true that difficult things make you a stronger person. And there have been many, many, many difficult things that have come up or I've had to regain strength to keep going. So just know, with anything you're doing, you will face hard times. You will feel strong one day and not the next. But keep on going. Keep doing the hard thing!
BEING GENUINE
If there's one thing I value most, it's being genuine. And though I know we all fail at that from time to time, I aim to always be genuine with you all in everything I do in business. That has been the most important thing for me this year. It's why I share my story. It's why I talk about my struggles. There's far too many fakers out there in the blog and social media world that only exacerbate the struggle so many women have with food and their bodies. So I do hope you feel a genuine connection here and find yourself taking a deep breath and getting comfy because you feel supported and don't feel so alone anymore. Something I've realized about myself even more in this last year is my incredible ability to dream. I sound super prideful with that statement I just realized. But it's true! And it can get me in trouble sometimes because I place such high dreams and unrealistic expectations of myself to get there in an unreasonable amount of time. #beinghonest.But I definitely have some big dreams for the upcoming year and some of them seem so big that they're scary. But I am a firm believer in big dreams! I can't share all of them with you because... anticipation :) But here's a couple and some broad goals I have for the upcoming year...
Pulling back from my nursing job a little. I've been working 30-40 hours as a nurse this last year in addition to running this business, seeing clients, and trying to grow which, if you can imagine, has been exhausting. I'm excited to finally have the opportunity to pull back on my hours as a nurse and be able to put in more hours here with you :) That being said, it's a major leap of faith! But I felt it was time and the opportunity fell in my lap and I took it. With that you can expect to see more of me on social media, reaching out to you (you should reach out too because I'd love to meet you!) more content in the form of blog posts, videos, and workshops that will help you along in your journey towards peace with food. So yay!!!
Seeing clients in person! Another thing that's fallen into my lap lately, thanks to a new business friend, is an office here in Westchester, New York. I've mostly just been seeing clients virtually up until now, but I did miss the interaction face to face. There's definitely nothing wrong with virtual coaching and it can be sometimes even more helpful because you can feel more comfortable to be yourself more easily behind a phone and it brings flexibility. But I'm happy to be able to offer in person as an option.
There's other things, of course, but I need to finalize some details so forgive me for not sharing too, too much.Anyways, thank you for being apart of my community here and for being open in sharing your experiences and engaging in a new conversation around women's health. I hope you'll join me in this next year as we work together to bring awareness to non-diet and non-weight focused living.