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

Cheryl , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

The things my parents got right started with exposing me to healthy habits at a young age. Coming from a family of farmers, it was easy to see where real food came from. We were raised knowing that fresh vegetables, some meat in the house, and a few eggs were all you needed for a great meal. We were also fairly poor, so that meant not wasting food and getting creative with leftovers, which are habits I still carry with me today.

My father was also part of the first running boom in the ’70s, in addition to maintaining the farm. I witnessed firsthand what true physical dedication looked like. I saw how committed he was to becoming physically fit, not because he was promised something in return or because someone forced him to, but because it mattered to him. He did all of this while working a full-time job and eventually going back to school for his master’s degree at 30. Even though I didn’t appreciate it until much later as an adult, seeing that kind of discipline absolutely shaped the person I am today.

As for my professional life, I am proud to say that I have not lost my roots. Everything I learned growing up, including life in a farm environment, helped me become someone who deeply appreciates nutrition and fitness. The philosophy I was exposed to was simple: exercise regularly, eat natural foods, and practice self-discipline.

That experience was incredibly influential, both in shaping my personality and guiding my professional path in the fields of nutrition and fitness. Overall, I consider myself lucky to have discovered this philosophy early in life, and now I have the opportunity to share it with others.

Cheryl , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

To the readers who might not know me yet, my name is Cheryl McColgan, and I am the founder of Heal Nourish Grow. Through this website, I combine my passion for nutrition, wellness, food, and physical exercise to give people all the tools to live a healthier life that is not only achievable but sustainable.
The seeds of this journey were planted way back when I grew up on a farm. Later as an adult, this shaped by interests. It became apparent that the themes I loved reading and exploring in my personal life have a lot in common. These included eating whole foods, working out, dealing with stress, keeping your mind healthy and cultivating habits conducive to long-term health. Ultimately, I decided to create Heal Nourish Grow to explore all of these topics in greater depth, dig into the research and share valuable knowledge and tips to start leading a healthier life without any excessive fuss or restrictions.

In Heal Nourish Grow, I offer my audience recipes, wellness tips, nutrition advice, practical life skills and other valuable resources for people who want to become healthier, happier, and more confident. Many of my recipes and tips are based on low-carb and ketogenic meals as well as whole-food nutrition. Moreover, I strive to promote healthy living in general and prove that it is possible to eat well and stay healthy.
What is it that I want to solve for the target audience? I want to help people become less confused regarding nutrition and healthy lifestyles because this issue has become very complicated nowadays due to plenty of contradicting sources of information available online. Second, many people feel discouraged because they think that they have already done everything they could. What I try to achieve is making everything easier by returning to the foundations of real foods, consistency, exercise, sleep, a healthy mindset and practical habits. These concepts aren’t sexy or trendy, but they’re the things that actually give you results…not the latest supplement or fad!

I approach teaching wellness in a somewhat unconventional way. One of the first articles on my site way back in 2017 is about how to achieve your own version of ultimate wellness. Due in part to my psychology degree, I focus on helping people develop healthy practices that allow them to thrive in terms of nutrition, fitness, mental stability, and so on, without putting them through additional stress and exhausting routines. Second, I appreciate tasty and high-quality foods. To me, eating healthy should be enjoyable as well.
Above all, I am proud of creating a brand that reflects me entirely. Not all websites dedicated to healthy living focus on helping people reconnect with themselves and the surrounding world.

The main thing I wish people knew about my work is that it is practical and helpful. First of all, everyone knows how difficult it is to lead a healthier life today, considering the level of stress and responsibilities of daily life in an increasingly stressful world. people. So my ultimate goal is not to impose unrealistic demands and routines to make others feel guilty about themselves but rather to empower people to create sustainable habits that support their personal goals.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Of all the books I’ve read, two have changed the way I see things: The Lean Startup and The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

Reading The Lean Startup shifted the paradigm with which I view not only business and entrepreneurship but any project, product development, service offering, etc., in general. The key takeaway for me was the importance of testing, learning and iteration over perfectionism.

Having spent a lot of time developing different types of content, including recipes and resources, as well as courses, a business and even an online community around a health program, I found the ideas presented in this book extremely valuable and relevant. I learned not to wait until every single thing is just perfect, to act, to listen to the feedback, to make adjustments and to learn from that feedback.

This mindset has helped a lot in building Heal Nourish Grow. Wellness is not universal, and business certainly isn’t either. People are different; their needs and struggles are different, and their feedback is different. Being open to changes, iterations, learning, and continuous improvement are the key ingredients to success.

Reading the Four Agreements helped me on both a professional and personal level. The agreement that has had the greatest effect is “don’t take anything personally”. This lesson is especially crucial when you put any type of content out in the world, be it a blog post, a cooking recipe, social media, your point of view on any particular health topic, or whatever else is happening within your business and brand.

You will never get it right for everybody and you definitely won’t get their praise for every single action and piece of content created. In this case, taking things personally could become extremely damaging for your confidence and overall state of mind. It’s a daily practice to try to take this to heart, but it’s extremely valuable for mental health and confidence.

The other three agreements are equally important and relevant for a lot of aspects of my work and life: “be impeccable with your word”, “not make assumptions”, and “always do your best”. These might seem too obvious but in fact have profound meaning and influence your actions significantly. The way he writes about these things beyond just the simple statements above is really profound.

I highly recommend both of these books to anyone, there are lessons in both that apply to all aspects of a life well lived.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Apart from skills and knowledge that will be vital for my career in any case, what I consider the most crucial are the skills of creating connection and empowering people. I think that people do not come to wellness just for information, because the majority of them probably know that they should exercise, eat healthy foods, sleep more and reduce stress. It is the encouragement and accountability that they need the most.

Connection is such an important skill for wellness practitioners. People always learn faster and better when they feel appreciated and understood rather than criticized and lectured. In my opinion, listening and understanding the client is the most important first step of coaching.

I also believe that helping other people in this way means empowering them. I don’t want people to rely on a practitioner or coach all the time. Instead, I do my best to help clients realize their strengths, needs and desires so they can more effectively coach themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://healnourishgrow.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/healnourishgrow
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/healnourishgrow
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/healnourishgrow
• Twitter: https;//x.com/healnourishgrow
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/healnourishgrow
• Other: Podcast: https://healnourishgrow.com/podcastepisodes