We recently connected with Raisa Zhovklaya and have shared our conversation below.
Raisa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Project LeanNation is a nutrition company dedicated to educating, supporting, and creating better health through prepared meals, dedicated support, education, and accountability. Along with our prepared meals and nutritious protein shakes, we have tools such as our InBody body composition scanner to give you health insights your body needs. We strive to help you succeed in YOUR health and fitness goals!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I learned about Project LeanNation from a friend that was involved in the brand. Once I learned about their mission, I couldn’t stop thinking about the opportunity to bring that mission to my community in Syracuse, NY. I knew there was a need for this in our area and I wanted to bring a sense of community with a focus on health and fitness. Being open since February 4th, 2023…I believe we have built an amazing community and I couldn’t be happier about that! We have had multiple client transformations both from the inside and out! We have had a variety of clients lose about 15lbs up to 100lbs!
My personal mission comes from being a Registered Nurse (RN) for the last 11 years. Working as an RN with a focus on Stroke/Neurological care, I found a greater passion in helping individuals lead a healthy lifestyle to help prevent illnesses verses just managing them once they became ill. I find so much joy in helping others lead a healthy life and change their lives. Project LeanNation provides the tools for all of that!
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
I LOVE our clients! I always brag about how we have the best community!! I look forward to seeing my clients daily and weekly for their meal pick-ups. Getting to sit down with them during the InBody consultations to devise their health plan is how I get to know them, their goals and offer them guidance and support. It’s my favorite part of my “job”.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
When I first thought about opening up Project LeanNation, I had credit card debt after remodeling my new home and had drained my savings account. I was certainly not in a position to open up a new business. However, I was determined to make my dream happen. As I had gone through my own health transformation, I entered a contest to be on the cover of a health and fitness magazine with a winning total of $20,000. While I lost the contest, the whole process gave me the confidence boost I needed, seeing the support of family, friends, and my community. While I lost the chance to win the amount I was hoping to open up the business, I turned to other sources to fun my franchise fee and build-out costs. I applied and received a private equity loan, home equity loan, personal loan and had some initial help from my family with the build-out costs, Having my family help with the build-out helped me substantially on the financial end and made it even more of a passion project.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://projectleannation.com/locations/syracuse-ny
- Instagram: projectleannation_syracuse
- Facebook: plnsyracuse
Image Credits
Meghan Kubiak Photography Instagram: @meghankubiak_photography