Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jenn Trepeck. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Jenn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?
My health coaching practice was born from my own weight management struggle. Growing up a dancer then gaining weight between high school and college, I was the poster-child for the diet industry’s consumer. Trying everything out there, over and over, living on the yo-yo roller coaster. That is, until I found the curriculum I based my practice on. It is the ONLY thing that’s allowed me to say I’ve kicked my food issues. I believed everyone deserved this information and I set out on a mission to pay it forward and help people help themselves. I started health coaching as a side hustle in late 2007. In July 2019 I left my full time job (in hedge funds) and decided to give my all to my own business. In August of 2019 I launched the podcast, Salad with a Side of Fries, to reach a larger audience and support the health and well-being of even more people around the world.
What motivates me is the mission behind everything I do: to change the state of healthcare. To empower people to reclaim control of their health is, in my opinion, the greatest gift we can offer. So often, we don’t think about the importance of our health until we don’t have it. Hearing from podcast listeners on the changes they’ve made because of something they heard on through the show and connecting with my clients weekly, witnessing their transformations, helping them see their own progress is the greatest gift.
Jenn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have been described as a “force of nature” in the wellness space, recognized as one of Podcast Magazine’s 40 under 40, and nominated for the 2022 International Women’s Podcast Award for Visionary Leadership. I’m an Optimal Health Coach, Podcaster, and Business Consultant. After graduating from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, I founded Better Life Now LLC while working full-time in hedge funds. Stemming from my own weight management saga and “kicking my food issues”, my mission is to teach the nutrition education we are all supposed to know but no one ever taught us, along with the science behind food, fitness, and health. After over a decade of working with clients, I took my practice from side-hustle to full-time self-employment and launched my podcast, Salad With a Side of Fries, in 2019. Grounded in science, yet lighthearted in delivery, I talk about living life while still making ourselves and our health a priority.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Hands-down the most effective strategy for growing my client base is referrals. Whether referrals from past and current clients or referrals from networking contacts and partners, nothing beats the personal introduction and recommendation.
To make this most effective, think about contemporary networking and building relationships and being of service to those around you. Demonstrate who you are as a person and as a professional by how you interact with them, how you speak about what you do and offer them the language to refer and connect you to those they know. I often tell people, find an episode of my podcast, Salad with a Side of Fries, send it to your friend who expressed concern over their health or their weight and say “Heard this and thought of you…by the way I know her if you want me to connect you.”
Similarly with clients, I’ll let them know, when their friends notice their transformations you can offer to connect them to me and then just send a text to the two of us and I’ll take it from there.
There’s a dramatic difference in my closing rate when someone finds me through a referral than when they find me through other marketing efforts.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
If you’ve never considered giving up, you’re not doing it right. When you start to question, wonder if it’s time to give up, tie a knot at the end of the rope and hang on. Keep going! Seeing what doesn’t work is as much the process as celebrating the wins. Remember, just because you may not see the results now, doesn’t mean you won’t in the future. I would even go as far as to define success as not giving up and trying new ways to reach your goals! Failure is only when you give up completely and haven’t learned a lesson to carry with you. Measure, monitor, adjust and control. Keep going and keep growing.
Define success for yourself. I personally define success as living with choice and dignity. This definitely stems from working full-time in very demanding industries for over a decade. For me, to choose how I spend my day, who I spend my time with, and what I work on, is success. What’s more, this definition has changed over the years. I used to think success was owning an airplane, owning an apartment in New York City, having a fancy title or career—the things we’re often taught success looks like. And what I’ve come to truly learn is that success is a choice. How I spend my every day to be with whom I want to be, working on the projects I want to work on, when I want to work on them, and to be able to choose the things that bring me joy. Success is freedom with time (and I suppose the money to do anything we want to do with that time).
Balance is a four letter word, as much of a curse word as others more commonly recognized. I now know balance doesn’t exist. I think we’ve been sold a bag of nonsense to think that balance is the goal. Whether it’s work/life or working on the business vs in the business, this project or that, balance does not exist. “Balance” can feel like being pulled in a million directions and trying to stand on that tightrope in the middle. Rather than balance, focus on presence. I work to be wherever I am. If I’m hanging out with my nephew, if I’m recording a podcast, if I’m working with my team, or working with my clients, that’s where I am. For me, this is way more helpful and way more powerful than the idea of balance or striving for this thing that truly doesn’t exist. Understand that it can all fit together, it’s not a venn diagram of your responsibilities, it’s a single circle…your life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://asaladwithasideoffries.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saladwithasideoffriespod/ https://www.instagram.com/jenntrepeck/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Saladwithasideoffriespodcast https://www.facebook.com/JenniferTrepeck
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifertrepeck/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenntrepeck?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSpWoxiacNuGbyUtWPNYRnw/featured
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@
jenntrepeck?lang=en