Self-Care for Entrepreneurs: Why it's about a lot more than just scented candles and bath bombs

I think, when it comes to running a small business, we talk a lot about the work aspect a lot but the one thing we don’t talk about enough is self-care. And I’m not talking about a cliché version of the word “self-care” that involves bath bombs and scented candles (despite the fact that all of the above are quite nice). I’m talking about just how important it is to take your own health and well-being seriously as the work that you produce for your clients/ customers every day. That’s exactly why I asked a nutritionist that works with busy, professional women to be a guest my show so that we could talk about how entrepreneurs who lead hectic lifestyles can squeeze time into their busy schedule for self-care.
What this episode covers:

• What Gaylene, this week’s guest, does at Compass Nutrition, and the types of women she works with.
• How a lot of her business is based on her own, personal health struggles.
• How a conversation with her husband about what she was learning while studying nutrition, was a major motivation for the mission statement behind her business.
• Gaylene’s past experiences working as a massage therapist; how getting an injury that didn’t allow her to continue practising massage therapy, and led to a career change, which allowed her to help people in a similar way.
• How Gaylene encourages her clients to do a combination of nutrition and other stuff that overlap too, such as getting a massage to really prioritize their self-care.
• Why she thinks it’s so common for professional women specifically to struggle with self-care, and why it’s often about putting others first.
• The other common issue: the all or nothing attitude: “if I can’t commit to this one thing, I’ll just do nothing at all” and what makes that mentality so damaging.
• Gaylene on what is a much more productive way to approach this: “the little things count”, and why it’s so important for professional women especially to put their own health first
• Why learning to nourish your body is so important.
• The role of body image in the work Gaylene does with her clients, and how she addresses that.
• Why she doesn’t teach calorie counting and restrictive eating: “because it sets us up for failure.”
• The reality that all it takes is something like a birthday or a period of a lot of travel to fall off track, and how that can cause people to quit and look for the next best thing.
• How Gaylene finds that nourishing your body with good healthy foods, but also having stuff like birthday cake once in a while is the best way to avoid that.
• How creating healthy habits is really about creating a healthy routine to combat unexpected changes in your schedule.
• The most important criteria for any nutritionist you go with: “find someone you can really trust and be yourself with,” according to Gaylene…
• The best way to do that: find a referral, and how to pull that off.
• The importance of having a good relationship with your nutritionist and choosing someone you can feel really comfortable with.
• The one thing Gaylene wishes more people knew about working with a nutritionist: “one session isn’t going to fix everything, and it’s not all or nothing.”
• The very important role of mindset, especially when trying to make lifestyle changes in social situations.
• Why having a conversation with others about your lifestyle changes is important.
• How to approach conversations about making changes in your diet and living a healthier lifestyle. It’s all about creating a support network…and how to make sure that exists.
• How to not avoid stuff like birthday cake at the office altogether. It’s all about nourishing your body outside of those time, rather than avoiding those social situations altogether.
• What to do if you don’t have a supportive group of friends or family that get what you’re doing with your change in diet and lifestyle and the options you have.
• Why “I’m too busy” isn’t an excuse, and why it’s really about including small but important things in your routine that is just part of your day.
• The “what if” question Gaylene often asks her clients that is all about putting consequences of not taking care of yourself, in the context of the things you do every day.
• The most important take away of that: if you’re not taking care of yourself, how can you take care of others?
• When the temptation to give in to bad nutrition choices, in situations like travel…. “sometimes those temptations are what gives us pleasure”. More specifically when everything’s on track, and everything’s working well.
• The only exception: if we’re treating ourselves more than we’re nourishing ourselves.
• Why that’s all about not being overcome by guilt.
• The secret to healthy eating on a budget. The key essentials that you need to eat healthy without spending a ton of money. It’s all about the “dirty dozen” the foods that often get pesticide sprayed the most, such as spinach, cherries, etc., and things from the clean fifteen.
• The reason why these things help save a lot of money, and what they are so that you can primarily focus on getting just those foods in an organic format.
• Why you don’t actually have to eat all organic to be healthy.
• The value of support and community for keeping motivated and getting questions answered.
• How asking friends or any online groups you are part of, who they already know can be a great way to work around a lack of people who get what you’re going through.
• The importance of not just choosing the first person to pop up, especially if they’re offering within 24-hour results.
• The importance of feeling like you have that sense of connection with whoever you choose.
• Why Gaylene recommends Facebook and the reason why she finds she gets a lot of her clients through recommendations on that platform.
• The most important takeaway: not having an all or nothing mentality and having some sort of relevant guidance along the way.

About this week’s guest:
Gaylene Gomez is a Certified Holistic Nutrition Coach for women and Owner of Compass Rose Nutrition and Wellness. She helps busy, professional women lose weight and reduce bloating with simple lifestyle changes, so they can have more energy and confidence.  
 
Where you can find Gaylene online:
 
Website: https://www.compassrosenutrition.ca/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CompassRoseNutrition/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/CRoseNutrition/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/compassrosenutrition/
Free Nutrition Resource Library: https://www.compassrosenutrition.ca/nutrition-resource-library
 
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