We were lucky to catch up with Shannon Dolan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shannon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I always knew I wanted to have my own business and to help people in a deep capacity and on a larger scale. I had started my career as a personal trainer, and while I loved doing it full time, I knew that this 1:1 model wouldn’t work for me long term. When I went back to school for Nutritional Therapy this inspiration and desire to start my own business started to come back to life, and take root. Funny enough, around that same time, I won tickets to a Tony Robbins event. That weekend I was able to recognize the thoughts that were holding me back, while gaining clarity around what I wanted to do. I came home with this fire in me. I developed my LLC, created a “plan” (that really wasn’t much of a plan at all), and took so much messy action that first month. I knew I wanted to offer these techniques of Nutritional Therapy and holistically supporting the body in the corporate setting, but, truly had no idea how to do it. I laugh thinking about those months when I was cold calling businesses and emailing them about what I had to offer, because if they did end up hiring me back then, I would have had no idea what to do from there. My motto has always been, “everything is figure-out-able,” and that was a perfect example of that mindset.

I ended up hiring a coach to help me with building the foundation of my business- more in the B2C model where I developed my first signature program, learned how to market my business, and how to show up on social media. From there I was able to sign on my first clients, build online courses, work alongside a business for corporate wellness talks while I build that side of my business, and create a brand that has been recognized in numerous publications and platforms. Having the support from additional coaches for various other aspects of my business has been crucial. From a coach that helped me with my B2B offerings, to marketing experts, and accountants, they’ve all been vital pieces of allowing my business to continue to grow.

I like to look at growing a business as one giant experiment. During the first few years, it’s all about trying new things, making mistakes, and allowing for the space for you to find your stride. Having support, whether it’s other entrepreneur friends, coaches, or mentors vital to keep the inspiration going. You will doubt yourself, run into hiccups, and having the guidance and support of others makes it a little less scary.

While Health With Shannon is still in those beginning years, it’s been fun to see the growth. Not only being able to see expansion of offers, but also the reach of clients that has expanded globally. There is much to be revealed on the horizon, and I just keep staying grounded in the understanding that, “everything is figure-out-able.”

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?

There were many twists and turns that brought myself, and my brand, Health With Shannon, to now. Originally, I set my sights on a career in art, going to school specifically to become a graphic design artist. During my sophomore year I began to feel burned out from the constant demand on my creativity, and found myself knowing I needed to pivot. Thankfully at that time I was taking a nutrition course as an elective and loved every minute of that class. I had always been fascinated with nutrition and health, so decided to switch gears. I ended up graduating with a degree in Nutrition and a minor in Strength and Conditioning, and art (I couldn’t let those credits go to waste!) After graduating school I became a Certified Personal Trainer and did that and Health Coaching full time, along with other various jobs while I grew my clientele.

After about 5 years in the fitness industry, I kept noticing the same conversations being had regularly with female clients and their trainers. These clients were working extremely hard, but were not seeing the results they hoped for in the gym. I started to become increasingly curious about this, exploring more on the topic centered around women’s health. Around that same time I was experiencing issues with my own health. I had increased food sensitivities, continued problems with my menstrual cycle, and continued to go through these cycles of exhaustion.

Thankfully, I ended up going back to school to become a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. At this time I learned a whole new layer to nutritional sciences that I was not given in college, or continuing educational programs had done. I learned more about how to support the body on a deep level, what common symptoms stem from, and how to utilize nutrition and lifestyle in a way that can allow the body to heal. At that time, I thought I was there for my clients, but, really, I needed to hear, and apply all of this new knowledge for myself.

This all set off a catalyst for deeper understanding about female biology, my own healing experience, and the desire to help other women connect, support, and live in harmony with their body. Health With Shannon was created with all of this in mind. Through the B2C offerings I get to help clients 1:1, and through online courses learn how to nourish their body and provide it what it’s asking for in order to help ward off burnout and generate sustainable energy. Through the B2B branch I bring a more inclusive conversation to corporations as I provide them with the tools to support their nervous system during stressful times.

It’s been a gift to be able to hear and witness the incredible transformations of those I have gotten to work with. I think my proudest moments have been when a client gets on a call with me and I can see, and hear the new spark of vitality in them. They go from feeling at a loss, discouraged, and so incredibly tired, to having clarity, confidence, and sustainable energy. What’s even more exciting is when I hear they are able to share what they learned with their family. My hope is that younger generations don’t have to go through this burden of looking at their body as an inconvenience, but rather, one with immense wisdom and power.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have two to share that I’m sure someone can relate to:

In 2022, I was navigating through a period of loss, grief, and also a lot of new growth within my personal life. With all that was going on behind the scenes, and as a solo entrepreneur, it was hard to continue showing up in the same exact capacity that I was before. As a business owner, who has built a business centered around being authentic and transparent, it’s hard to show up as if nothing is wrong, when you’re going through something. There was a lot of self sabotage happening to make sure my business wasn’t growing at that time, because mentally I didn’t have the capacity. Thankfully, I recognized this, and I ended up taking a part time gig doing something else for a little while, exploring other passions of mine to help get my spark back.

After allowing myself space to heal I was able to come back in a way that felt more inspired and in alignment. Resilience to me looks like being able to provide yourself with what you need so you can either continue down the path that you’re going, or elevate to a whole new level that you didn’t know was possible. It requires time, patience, and compassion to build that resilience, and I’m grateful that I allowed for all of that to happen and take place when it needed to.

Another area of resilience is showing up, even when there’s negative comments!
I’m sure so many business owners on social media understand this one! I have met my fair share of negative comments, judgment, and direct messages from strangers, and oddly enough, people I know. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the negative comments that you completely forget the hundreds, or thousands of people who say kind things. What helps me continue is remembering that some people will misunderstand you no matter what you say, and their comment has a lot more to say about them then it does you.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

“Build it and they will come,” is probably the worst phrase you can ever think is true as a business owner. Yes, they will come, but, only if you talk about it enough where they know it exists should follow quickly after that phrase. Before I had Health With Shannon I created a fitness program, in a pdf format, that I spent months on perfecting in order to sell to make my own cash. I kept it a secret. Hardly anyone knew I was developing this program, and then one day I felt ready to announce it to the world, thinking people would be purchasing it like crazy, and it was *crickets* in my inbox. It cracks me up to think about how I truly thought that if I just built it, the people who were following me on social media, my friends, family, strangers, would just come out of no where and give me their money for a product they hadn’t even heard of.

Through that experience I learned many things, and the biggest one being that you have to show up, time and time again, to tell your audience about what you have to offer. Build it, market it, talk about it, share more about it, and then, maybe, once people trust you, and heard about it for over 15 times, they’ll come!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.healthwithshannon.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/healthwithshannon
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/healthwithshannon/
• Other: Tik Tok @healthwithshannon Pinterest: @healthwithshannon