Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Peri Heft. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Peri, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Most of us have heard the term “big risk, big reward.” And honestly, I don’t 100% agree with that, BUT, I do believe there is a lot of truth to it. When it comes to starting ANYTHING new, there is some level of risk. And when you’re developing, starting, and launching your own business as an entrepreneur, most people start out in debt due to the investments that have gone into the business before earning that money back. For me, diving into health and wellness was a moment of trust, vulnerability, and you guessed it, risk.

In the beginning, health and wellness was always a side hustle for me, which you could label as low risk, as I always had the income of a full-time career to fall back on. That “side hustle life” was just extra “fun money” for me.

But when I decided that it was time to take my business to the next level, I knew what that would mean. Relate it to the chicken and the egg, or the horse and the cart — however you wanted to look at it — I knew that I would need to cut back on my full-time career in order to grow my personal business. Therefore, I was taking on greater risk.

When I did, from my first year as an entrepreneur to my second year, I tripled the income of my personal business. And I fully believe that was directly correlated with pulling back on my full-time career. Bigger risk… but bigger reward.

Peri, 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?

My journey began when I was sitting at my desk working late in Chicago at a social media agency. I had a troublesome client, who was irritated about a tweet, and I said to myself… “What am I doing here? All of this, over a tweet?” Now, I LOVE marketing and advertising, and I still work part-time in it today. I don’t think I’ll ever give that up. But there was a huge part of me that was like “Seriously, what am I doing here? Who am I helping? How is this giving back to the world?”

And so… I began my journey into the health and wellness world. It started out as me cleaning a yoga studio for a discounted membership and ultimately had a domino effect. I decided to take the dive and sign up for yoga teacher training. Then advanced yoga teacher training, then group fitness training, and so on.

After that, I always yearned to help people in a larger way – and in a 360-degree format. So after completing a life coaching program, I began to develop other skills to set myself up to do just that. While unemployed during a layoff from an advertising and marketing job, I began my journey studying for my Nutrition certification and earned that credential too. And that was the missing piece that helped me launch PeriFitFoodie, a health and wellness business that helps folks improve their MEALS, MOVEMENT, & MINDSET.

After launching PeriFitFoodie and helping tons of folks lose weight and change their lives for the better, I launched a cookbook (“52 Macro-Friendly Recipes for the Mindful Eater”) and also signed up to earn my personal training certification.

Today, with nearly 100 clients and successful transformations later, I am a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutritionist, Certified Yoga, Group Fitness Instructor, and I’m OBSESSED with helping folks via PeriFitFoodie in improving their MEALS, MOVEMENT, & MINDSET.

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

People skills.

You can be the best trainer on the planet, and you can know everything there is to know about nutrition, but unless you provide a safe, vulnerable and friendly space for your clients to improve, grow, and train, they will never trust you.

Empathy goes a long way in this field, as weight loss and health are a sensitive subject. Alternatively, you also have to be motivating and dedicated to helping your clients reach their goals, even when they don’t want to.

It’s definitely a fine balance, but if you have “good people skills” and are able to walk the fine line between empathy and motivation, it’s definitely possible to make clients feel comfortable and uncomfortable (in a good, growth way) at the same time.

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

Referrals!

Honestly, the more people you work with, the more your “web” (of potential clients) grows. And the more people you meet, the more potential clients you have at your fingertips.

My advice: try to be as social as possible — go to parties, events, networking meetings, travel, etc. You never know who will turn into a client, then another client, and another client, and so on.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://perifitfoodie.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peri_fit_foodie/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeriFitFoodie
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/periheft/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsWdj49FJaRni_yXk7BdcqQ