We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Georgia Grey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Georgia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.
I went through a health journey from 2014-2018, during which I struggled with autoimmune disease and Lyme Disease. This left me feeling sick, exhausted, and overwhelmed for years. Fortunately, I had a degree from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and knew that I could heal with food. In 2017, I came out of the woods with my health issues, after years of experimenting with different food, detox, and self-care. I realized I had a unique set of skills and knowledge, and that others needed my help. I started my current business, Whole Body Healing Nutrition in the spring of 2017 while I was teaching first grade. I spent two years building the business on the side, and then finally quit teaching in 2019 to run my business full-time.
It was scary to take the “leap” and go from a steady paycheck to finding my own clients to generate revenue. Something I did for my first year in business, was I also tutored kids-this became my new side hustle. I find a lot of entrepreneurs wait tables, drive Uber, or find ways to generate income. This is a key piece of advice I would give to others wanting to start their own business, which I find isn’t something that people talk about-find a way to make steady money, as you start your business, so your business remains your passion. I find people have this mindset that they have to go “all in” but you need to pay your bills! There’s nothing wrong and it is often necessary to do a side job you might not love in order to keep yourself afloat.
I also hired a business coach which was expensive but key to getting myself to where I am today. The only thing I would have done differently is to start sooner! I always encourage anyone with a business idea to GO FOR IT! If I can do this, anyone can do it. Work hard, believe in yourself, take risks, and don’t quit!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
After dealing with debilitating acid reflux, migraines, and joint issues during my years in college, I finally discovered Celiac Disease was the root cause of my seemingly disconnected health issues. Upon learning about my Celiac diagnosis, I became fascinated with food. I started questioning the ingredients I could not pronounce in my food, watched every nutrition documentary I could read books, and fell in love with cooking.
I realized I was spending all my time after work (teaching first grade at the time) studying nutrition. I felt it was time to put this passion to a degree. While teaching first grade, I became a Certified Holistic Health Coach (INHC) through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. I studied over 100 different dietary theories and learned about nutrition from various perspectives.
Shortly after I graduated from IIN, strange symptoms appeared once again. I found myself with a large swollen pinky joint, brain fog, memory issues, body aches, phantom joint pain, and extreme fatigue. While I was gluten-free and seemingly “healthy” I still felt terrible most days. I discovered I was sick with Lyme Disease and other autoimmune disorders. You can read the full story here. I pushed my body too hard with exercise and ignored my intuition. Although the process was difficult, I finally learned the importance of slowing down, following my gut and getting in tune with the foods that nourish my body.
My health has been a journey of whole-body healing. Holistic health and wellness look at the psyche, body, and soul-not just grams of protein and carbs.
I currently offer private coaching for people who don’t feel well, be it hormone imbalance, fertility, autoimmune disease, Lyme disease, PCOS, weight loss/gain, and more. I also have online courses for other client-based business owners and those with autoimmune diseases.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
No one gets into teaching for the money, and most teachers end up leaving teaching because of the money. I was one of those teachers! When I launched my business, it was a huge lesson and growing point for me to start charging for my services, up prices, and feel worthy of the amount I was charging. I was used to making pennies, it felt foreign to have such an influx of revenue!
I think we all have emotional stories tied up in money, (the same way we do with food!) so I have spent years examining how to heal and improve my relationship with money. I’ve found that money is often tied to our worth, and when we can let go of our imposter syndrome, realize that money helps us serve others, and that money isn’t bad, we can ultimately do good in the world.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
This is the number one question I get from others who are interested in creating a client-based business. My answer-make friends!
When I first started daydreaming of launching my business full-time, I cold-called (and hand-wrote letters!) other wellness practitioners in the Denver/Boulder area. I thought-who sees my ideal client, but doesn’t do what I do? I reached out to tons of acupuncturists, massage therapists, NDs, and others in the wellness realm to connect.
I asked how they got to where they were in business, and then I explained how my services can help their clients. This got the initial ball rolling to getting clients (I even offered some affiliate payments if they sent me a new client so they were motivated to do so) and is still a source of how I get my private clients. From there, happy clients refer their friends, and the snowball continues!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wholebodyhealingnutrition.com/
- Instagram: wholebodyhealing
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgia-grey-b1996047/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WholeBodyHealingNutritionCoGeo/videos
- Other: TikTok: wholebodyhealing Podcast: The Whole Body Healing Podcast
Image Credits
Headshot-Kate Ivy photography