We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caitlin Holmes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Caitlin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

I never actually intended to start my private practice. When I graduated with my Masters, I had a clinical internship lined up, and I was hoping I could transition this into a job at a later date. But the pandemic left me with no internship and no obvious opportunities to gain the clinical hours I needed for my credential. So, I decided to start my private practice! Even though this was not what I was expecting, I loved the prospect that I could have more say in my patient cases. I started with the basics: filed for an LLC, bought liability insurance, and set up a business bank account. The biggest obstacle I faced was trying to balance business tasks with patient leads, and eventually, patient management. In private practice you really do wear many hats, some of which you don’t necessarily want to have to wear. Eventually I hired an accountant, worked with a lawyer to create contracts and important legal documents, and set up a virtual patient portal to better manage my cases. Knowing what I know now, I’d have completed these latter steps sooner!

My biggest piece of advice is to set up your “systems” sooner (i.e., patient flow & off-boarding, business work flow, how to manage taxes, personal accounting, how & when to pay yourself, social media presence, marketing, etc.). I approached my business head first, despite having received this information before graduating. I didn’t understand that once you become busy, these systems are critical. Without them, you experience unnecessary stress and hurdles to tackle everything required by the business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Certified Nutrition Specialist who works primarily with athletes! I help athletes of all levels and disciplines gain clarity on how to fuel their active lifestyles. Together we tackle potential barriers to them eating a personalized diet that supports them best, including time constraints, access to foods, lack of awareness, signs & symptoms that create disorder, body image concerns, dietary sensitivities/allergies, etc. We create sustainable eating strategies adapted to their unique health needs.

I believe many of us have been convinced that we can’t trust ourselves when it comes to eating. But when clients bring awareness to their own needs, preferences, and barriers to change, it releases them from the diet culture narrative that they have to eat a certain way to be healthy. My ultimate goal is to support clients on their journey towards building that personal diet and discovering what feels and fuels them best. When a client can confidently nourish themselves in a way that they identified works for them, I know my job is done because they have the tools they need to create meaningful change in their diets and lives.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Diversifying where I promote and market my services! Initially all of my clientele came from Instagram. I worked with a business coach who taught me how to sell on the platform and consistently grow my audience. Later, I expanded to local gyms, clinics, and newspapers to advertise my services. To boost SEO, I enhanced my website, started writing for magazines and blogs, joined podcasts as an interviewee, and created a podcast with a co-host who increased traction. I have also created programs with other coaches and nutritionists who bring their own unique audiences to my own.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Be more realistic with your time and energy before setting deadlines for tasks.

It took me over a year to create my first evergreen course. I didn’t have a ton of time to dedicate to it, and I struggled with the design and course content. Eventually I hired a designer to support the overall look and flow, which helped take some of the pressure off from me while I focused on recording modules and working with clients. After I hit the 1-year mark, I started to feel bored with the project and set a hard deadline. When the release date was approaching, I was so burnt out from my work with clients and didn’t have the mental capacity to spend time on the course. But instead of delaying the release, I pushed it out quickly. I didn’t market it well and the launch period barely broke even with the my designer costs. If I had delayed a bit longer, I could have created a better marketing strategy when I had more energy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.caitlinholmes.com
• Instagram: @dirtbagnutritionist

Image Credits
Ryan Salazar