We speak with founder Carolyn Fetters, based in California, who took it upon herself to inject some needed life into the basics of nutrition.
We were there to help her on her journey and today we catch up with Carolyn on how her business has blossomed, as well as what’s in store for Balanced Habits in 2015.
Hey Carolyn! Ok, Let’s start with the basics, how did you become passionate about Nutrition?
My entire family is considerably over-weight/obese and I knew that I needed to better understand nutrition and fitness in order to prevent myself from traveling down that same destructive path. I studied nutrition while at UCLA and began applying it to myself prior to developing a program with my husband for his fitness clientele. I understood that while the fitness is important, nutrition is what we need to get a handle on or we are basically spinning our wheels.
You’re based in Huntington Beach – one of the epicentres for fitness and nutrition! How do you keep Balanced Habits ahead of the competition?
Funny, we are so old school with our approach to nutrition. There are fads that come and go on a regular basis but proper nutrition; simply practicing moderation with all foods and exercising portion control has and will never go out of “style.” While it is not as “sexy” as the trends, we are here to stay and no one else can say that. We practice what we preach and it works. Period.
What are you most proud of, in relation to your work?
To have the opportunity to literally reach thousands of people now through Balanced Habits. Prior to developing this company I was only able to work with our own locations clientele, now I get to work with all of our licensees clientele through them and that is such an honour and a rush to be honest! I am amazed each day with the impact I am having on people I have never and will likely never have the opportunity to meet. Super cool.
What would be the most important tip, you would give fitness professionals, when it comes to helping their clients nutritionally?
To remember that it is the clients goal that needs to be addressed, not your goal for them. Also to not impose your own personal beliefs upon them if it is not something that resonates with them or can be integrated into their lifestyle.
While talking about your website (which we had great fun building by the way!) we knew it was important to feature your amazing success stories. Which success stories do you love most, and how have they helped your business?
One of my favourite and recent successful clients is from a business owner I worked with, who has now grown his business significantly through working with us.
It’s great hearing so many business owners becoming successful because of something we’re doing to work with them, in this case the business grew due to having this new profit center and it’s helped grow beyond what they could have ever done on their own. I have a few licensees who have now been able to open a second facility because their nutrition business has given them that ability. Or for the clients, the people who have had their health markers improved and are now able to enjoy more quality living make me the most proud.
I know Balanced Habits is making a difference in many ways and that is a great way to go to work each day.
The design and the simplicity of the site are amazing and makes Balanced Habits (as well as me!) look really good to my clients. The success stories is one of our most visited pages on the website and I’m so thankful Josh and Andy at Startup Active took the time to really push the importance of that on me as a business owner as they built the website.
Thanks Carolyn! When it comes to websites a lot of people, understandable, are quite cautious on getting their websites changed up and how to do so. Who do you trust? What’s the best way of changing things up? How much input do I give? What advice would you pass on to those people who are struggling to update their website or aren’t sure where to turn next?
3 words: Trust the professionals.
Just like your clients who come to you for fitness and nutrition advice, when they apply their limited knowledge from internet research or from anywhere else, it just hinders their progress.
Trying to insert your limited knowledge into website design can get in the way of your success too. It’s ok to not know everything!
Allowing professionals to help you to grow requires surrendering limited knowledge and control sometimes, and that’s not a bad thing to learn how to do. Websites are integral to making a fast impression these days and they have to be simple to navigate and the information easy to access.
Startup Active was so easy to work with and they made the process easy and painless. Thank you guys!
Thanks Carolyn! Last couple of questions…when you cheat, what do you eat?
Chips and Margarita’s hands down!
And finally, what exciting things do you have on the horizon for 2015?
Developing a full Balanced Habits Corporate Wellness strategy for our licensees to have more access to building their business through this important trend that health care in America is leading toward.
We are building out a full training module to support our Balanced Habits licensees if they wish to explore this incredible lucrative opportunity.
You can check out Carolyn and Balanced Habits here
