Private Practice Ventures From Team Dietitian Boss Instructor Mikka And What’s Next On Her Journey!

Libby Rothschild: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Dietitian Boss podcast. I’m Libby Rothchild, creator of Dietitian Boss, after almost four years of sitting in my dimly lit, windowless clinical office. I had enough. I wanted to feel like my work mattered. So I did something about it. I created a program that empowers dietitians and nutritionists to create their own private practice from scratch and emboldens already established practitioners to think bigger. My method provides a step by step process to improve how you market yourself on social media so your presence can become far more profitable and help more people. Mikka is a fellow registered dietitian, nutritionist in private practice, she completed the Dietitian Boss program in September of 2019, which helped her grow her practice by improving her marketing and sales skills. She has served as the lead instructor for the Dietitian Boss method since spring of 2020. Over the past year, she’s helped over two hundred Dietitian Bosses develop the skills and confidence to grow their businesses. I’m really excited today to have Mikka on air and discuss her progress, leadership, and journey over the last year and discuss what’s up for her next. I’m really excited to let you guys know that she’s played a pivotal role in the company to support the growth of Dietitian Boss as a company and to support the growth of you as dietitians. And at this juncture, Mikka has decided to leave the company and focus on her business, which is a beautiful thing. And in that decision making process, she wanted to share her story and let you know what’s going on with her, why she made this decision and what she’s learned as being the instructor in the company over the past year. It’s been really exciting and I’m happy to share this with you so you can learn from her, feel inspired from her and take action. I am thrilled today to have a conversation with Mikka and share some of our journey and progress in the last year, being the lead instructor in Dietitian Boss, we are taking a moment to reflect on Mikka’s journey and also send her off with a warm well, a big thank you. And then wishing her luck on her journey as she focuses on her business and really building out her private practice. So firstly, I just want to say thank you for all the work that you’ve done. It’s been absolutely incredible having you here as a lead instructor for Dietitian Boss. I just want to make sure that you know that we appreciate you.

 

Mikka: [00:02:58] Well, thank you for that. Thank you for all that you’ve done for me and all the women have done for me and shown me and shared with me. It’s been an incredible journey.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:03:07] So let’s talk a little bit about that. But for those listening who might not know who you are, if we’ve got some non clients listening or somebody hasn’t checked out my social media profile because you’re all over it, can you give a little bit of a recap because you were first a client, so maybe you could paint a little bit of a picture of when you were a client. And then we can talk about your role in the company as the lead instructor.

 

Mikka: [00:03:32] Sure. So let’s see. I started in your program back in September 2019. I’ve been in business for a year and was doing OK, but really knew that I need to take it to the next level. And I had never had a business coach. I mean, the concept of a business coach for a dietitian was just so radical at the time. And so I really felt that it was something that I wanted my business next level. I needed that support. And so I went through your program and it’s just so cool to spend that time thinking about the differences between then and now if we can get into. But yeah, I went there as a Dietitian Boss and then started doing some calls with you, leading some calls as an instructor here and there. And then it kind of just grew over time to.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:04:23] Yeah. So let me fill in the gaps. So firstly, you were a client, if you could, and you’ve done a podcast episode to share that experience so the listeners can check that out. What were the one or two takeaways, if you can remember, from September 2019 from the program at that time? I remember from our podcast episode, but do you have anything, even one thing that stands out that you had learned and adopted?

 

Mikka: [00:04:45] Yeah, absolutely. So the thing that stands out the most well, two things. The first is that really defining a niche and niching down and getting specific on one problem. I remember it’s funny now, it took me so long to understand the concept of an agenda, to really understand the difference between a problem and a solution and an outcome. So when I see clients struggle with that, I totally get it. I struggled with that for a while. So just that concept that when you become an expert in your own corner of the market, you can really, really stand out. That was revolutionary. And what that also did, though, was it helped me narrow down to serving one type of person which reduced so much stress in my business. I remember so stressed out, just always wondering who is going to come through that door, what kind of knowledge I was going to have to Google real fast. It was stressful. So by focusing on one area and becoming an expert in that one area, it not only gave me more confidence, helped me overcome some imposter syndrome, helped me serve my clients better, but that really helped me grow my practice. So that was the first thing. The second thing is no longer taking one off appointments. The end of one of appointments was the best thing that ever happened to my business. Yeah, it really helped me establish a long term relationship with the client. I knew that I didn’t have to try to get all my information out in one visit they would come back and not only for the client relationship, but also for revenue. I mean, I was able to count on the revenue that would come in from repeated visits.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:06:22] That’s great. Those are great reflections. So just to walk the listener through, I saw something special in you Mikka when you went through the program and I really believed in you as a human, as a dietitian, as a fellow colleague. And I had the opportunity. My business was growing fast at that time in 2019 where I needed some help. And what I decided to do was choose a couple of my clients and select them and ask if they would be willing to help out in the company. And what that means is provide additional coaching. It was for some bonus calls. And so I had asked you and wanted to see if you would be interested, if that would be something that would bring you joy, if that would be mutually beneficial. And so you had said yes. And then from that point on, that grew from a few bonus calls to more permanent calls, and then that turned into a larger role in the company. And then now, looking back for the past, I believe, 11, 12 months, you have helped serve over two hundred clients through the Dietitian Boss method, which has been with a blink of an eye. It’s been a pretty tremendous accomplishment on your end to be able to support so many of the clients and help them achieve the success and break through the barriers that you yourself have once broken through as a client.

 

Mikka: [00:07:40] Yeah, absolutely. That’s incredible to think that it really did go by and that I mean, 200 clients was incredible. Yeah, you know, coaching is a really transferable skills. So it’s been cool to transfer that from talking about health to now business coaching and to support them and be there for that accountability and walking them through the process in the way that I would with my own private clients in a very similar manner, especially that accountability piece. It’s been really, really, really cool to be part of.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:08:14] So what would you say would have been some standout moments in the last year? I know there’s been a lot of progressions and we’re going to get to talking about how the methodology, the Dietitian Boss method has been updated. We’re actually dedicating an entirely separate podcast to that with Dietitian Boss instructor, Yaa, but for purposes of today, we’re going to talk about that in a moment because that’s huge. But before we dive into updates and improving the methodology based on feedback, which is what we teach our clients to do, can you share some insights or reflections about whether they’re a broad or specific about your role in the company?

 

Mikka: [00:08:52] Sure. Gosh, well, my favorite part of being the lead instructor has been getting to see the transformations of so many women at so many different levels of business, whether it’s someone who was overcoming imposter syndrome or all these mindset barriers about starting their business to dietitians who have been in business for a while and are making incredible income. But seeing how they just knock down challenge after challenge, like I said, no matter what level of business they’re at, it’s just blown me away and made me realize that there is absolutely no ceiling for any dietitian. Anyone who wants to carve their own path, do their own thing in business. There are no limits for them.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:09:36] That’s beautiful. Is there a particular example, a reflection of a specific client or a specific situation that you want to share? I love the overall theme of breaking down barriers and part of transformative coaching.

 

Mikka: [00:09:50] Yeah, I really enjoyed working with the Dietitian Bosses who have been a little bit nervous to own their niche or own their message, especially if it’s something that they had to, it’s a new area that they had to craft. I’m thinking of Becca King, for example. She really honed in on helping women with ADHD stop bingeing, which I think she was one of the first people to really focus on that group of women. And I remember her being so nervous to niche down that far and watching her overcome that fear and how incredible it has been for her. Same thing with Dr. Kera, really niching down with the black woman experience and speaking to that experience so boldly to achieve food freedom. I can see how scary it was for them to get so specific. But by doubling down on their message, they’ve been able to just stand out and increase their visibility and just explode. So those are two examples. I’ve seen a lot of Dietitian Bosses do this, but two examples that really stand out to me.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:10:52] Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. And both of those women have done incredible work. Kera started from zero with no feed and has over ten thousand followers in under six months and filled programs. Becca also started as the personal feed a few hundred followers. I don’t remember she made any money or low income and now she is a intermediate to high earner. I can’t remember if she allowed us to disclose, but she is enrolling into her group program. So those are great examples of two Dietitian Bosses who are innovators.

 

Mikka: [00:11:29] They’re able to, of course, make sales and grow their businesses, which is incredible. But they’re also able to really craft their own message, which I think is one of those things that when you’re stuck in clinical, you have to just teach what is on the handout. You really don’t get to own your message. And I think being able to watch them own their message, what they want to put out into the world has been really, really cool.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:11:54] Yeah. And it also sets the way, right. So when other people see what Becca’s doing tying in mental health and food freedom and people see what Dr. Kera Is doing right and power in the black experience and accepting and finding food freedom right? That is really paving the way for people who are also nervous to stand out. They’re nervous to teach what’s not on a hand out. They’re nervous to charge anything for their services, right?

 

Mikka: [00:12:22] Yes, absolutely. And as a profession, as a whole, I think it’s really expanding what’s possible for dietitians.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:12:31] And anything else from before we move on to some program updates, any other kind of reflections about overall, I mean, being the lead instructor and helping manage two hundred people and work with some of the other Dietitian Boss instructors is definitely a leadership role. And you’ve done an incredible job assuming that role. And we’re appreciative, Team Dietitian Boss appreciate it and our clients, too, because you’ve been there to help them transform for their experiences. Is there anything else that you want to share about that maybe from internal now that we’ve already talked about the clients, anything from the company aspect you want to share?

 

Mikka: [00:13:07] You know, it’s just been really cool to be part of such an empowering team of women who are go getters, are action oriented and who care so much about the clients experience. A lot of the other women within the team are past clients as well. So we have Yaa, we have Leah and Temple and Fatamah and it’s been really cool to share that experience with them. Where we’ve all been DBS, we’ve all been in the same program, we all get it. We come from the same place. Being able to coach with them has been a really unique experience.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:13:38] That’s great. I’m happy that that community built within a community has helped us solidify the work that we’re doing, that you’re doing. So you want to talk a little bit about some of the program updates, anything that any particular example that stands out or maybe just a high level overview.

 

Mikka: [00:13:55] Sure, yeah. So just in the way that we teach clients to look for pain points within the Dietitian Boss program, we’ve been looking at clients pain points, whether that be, do they need more accountability and support in a certain area or do you think they’re lacking information on how to grow their business in a certain way? And so it’s been cool to take those skills that I’ve learned from you and then also use them to help our own clients. So in terms of improvements, we’ve noticed that they’ve been asking for a little bit more accountability, but asking for more of a stepwise process on how to improve their marketing, how to expand their offers. Not everybody wants to do group coaching. And so we’ve had to listen to that and we’ve had to adjust it. We tell Dietitian Bosses to listen to what the market wants. And so we’ve had to do that, too. So we’ve been able to expand and teach them how to create courses and memberships and passive income. And, you know, with the changes in social media, we’ve had to adapt as well. It’s not just static Instagram post anymore. We had to learn reels and Tik Tok and how to use Facebook and really adapted the landscape so that we can teach our clients how to succeed.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:15:12] Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that Mikka. And you’ve played a pivotal role in listening to the clients through feedback forms, customer service, working with the team internally. We spend a lot of time looking to see how we can improve the experience. So Mikka and I have worked together to decide how to improve the program. In another version and in this version, we have looked at expanding to different social media platforms, educating on Facebook as well as Instagram, got content on reel’s, Tik Tok, and we’re constantly evolving and adding more worksheets for the clients to use, checklists. And we have a really great system that we’ve built within a system, within a system to have everything really clear so that we’re walking you through step by step and Mikka has played a great role in helping make that happen, being that she’s so close to the clients as the lead instructor. So my role as a CEO is to oversee what Mikka is doing and how the clients are moving through the framework, the methodology. And Mikka’s role has been actually coaching the client. So we’re working together, me on the back end and Mikka, on the customer facing end to make sure that all the clients have what they need to follow the framework to get the results of standing out, of creating content that is in alignment with our methodology, that gets eyeballs on it, but also is uniquely positioned to align with their market and the person that they’re trying to attract, solving the biggest problem and then, of course, create an offer and then progress the offer beyond a group coaching, like Mikka said. So we’ve now expanded into digital products and then finally how to enroll clients and we’ve expanded from sales call framework methodology to also helping people use sales pages and get payment from other sources beyond just using basic sales call. So the program has really been built out from a great starting point and based on the client’s feedback to give them a better, more comprehensive experience. And that’s largely in part from our role, Mikka and I, discussing and figuring out how we can get the best experience possible so that new clients can have what they need to attract clients faster.

 

Mikka: [00:17:31] Yeah, absolutely. And it’s been really a unique opportunity to see how your business is run, such a successful business from the operations side to even the higher level, strategizing and seeing how you always start with the end goal. How can we help our clients help more of their clients? Right. And everything has been worked back from that. How do we support them? That’s to improve their outcomes. So seeing it from that high level overview has been, like I said, a really unique experience.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:18:01] Yeah. And really and I appreciate you sharing that. And that’s exactly what we teach our clients, right. Oh, you want to make your first thousand dollars, you want to get your first three clients. Here’s what you need to do to get there. And that’s no different, although with a higher, larger level for my company and what we’re doing. So the mission and vision of Dietitian Boss, for those of you that don’t know, we are here to serve ten thousand dietitians who will serve a million consumers, achieve the various health outcomes that consumers have within the next twenty years. So given that that’s the mission, is to help every dietitian who wants to start and grow private practice, have the tools that they need. The vision is ten thousand of them. So we are here to serve dietitians and help them serve more consumers. So knowing that’s the end goal, everything we do internally is structured and designed to help dietitians get there in the fastest route possible with the most community surround themselves by other like minded dietitians and the benefit of having Mikka help and other Dietitian Boss instructors who are alumni is that you really relate to the experiences, unique experiences they’ve had. So just to mention the team, Mikka served as lead for a year, Yaa is a student, Leah is from Canada. So we have these diverse people who have something new to contribute and they have different specializations, which can add a lot of diversity to the experience for dietitians going through the program and achieving their particular unique outcomes based on their goals. Because some of our clients have different goals or they want to get the first few clients or they have a brick and mortar and they want to start cash pay or they want to become a six figure dietitian. We do have a couple that want to become millionaires and we support them on their unique goals with the methodology that can be applied to achieve the outcome that they want.

 

Mikka: [00:19:44] Absolutely, the unique perspectives and the different expertize that we’ve been able to bring has been great for the clients and to see a full view. Yeah, yeah.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:19:56] And what would you say? We’ve talked a little bit about team. So before we talk about what’s next for you and focusing on your business, what would you want to add or talk about a little bit more in depth or any particular examples about the culture and the team that you’ve experienced from Dietitian Boss this past year? Maybe core values, mission and vision, that the meetings that we’ve had, anything along those lines?

 

Mikka: [00:20:20] Yeah, it’s been really neat to learn from so many different experiences, so many different people with different expertizes, whether it be, you know, we all work so closely together. So whether it be from the design side, the content management side, learning from our operations manager, everyone in the team, we take one of the core values is having a very strong team. And so we do all work very closely together. So everyone has their hand in different areas. So I guess it’s a really collaborative experience. And the team meetings that we’ve had, we all get to learn from each other and hear where each other’s strengths are and how we can better support each other. And it’s just been a very supportive environment, I would say.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:21:05] That’s great. Thank you for sharing that. And so, again, it’s been incredible having you. The team has appreciated you, as the CEO I have appreciated you. I will continue to appreciate you and your leadership. And it’s just been tremendous, the transformations that you’ve been able to support for the clients following the Dietitian Boss method. So what is next for you in your business? What do you want to share with us about your path to success and what you’re up to?

 

Mikka: [00:21:37] Sure. You know, I’ve just spent the last year being so inspired by all of our clients and seeing them crush goal after goal and challenge after challenge. So, you know, at the end of the day, I’m a dietitian. I really, really cherish my time as a coach, as a business coach. And I’m excited to spend a little bit more time coaching people and their health. Again, like I said, at the end of them, I’m a dietitian and that’s where my heart is. And why all of our Dietitian Bosses come here, because we want to help people improve their lives by improving their health. It’s a really special profession, and I’m excited to spend more time focusing on that.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:22:15] So what I’m hearing is that by guiding two hundred people through in 2020 in the program as the lead instructor, you have indirectly served consumers by helping teach the teacher, the teacher is the dietitian in this example. And now you want to go back and be closer to the client in your own practice and apply more of the methodologies in your own business versus you indirectly helping dietitian help more consumers. Is that is that correct?

 

Mikka: [00:22:42] Yeah, that’s a great way to put it. Again, I really, really cherish and value the experience and I respect these dietitians so much for getting outside of their comfort zone and being vulnerable and sharing their experiences and their challenges and their wins with us. Yeah, and now I’m ready to take everything that I’ve learned from not only being in the program, but being an instructor and go back and apply it in full force in my own business.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:23:08] Absolutely beautiful. I’m thrilled to hear that I will continue to support you in every way that I can. And thank you for your time, your dedication and your leadership from me, the team, our clients and the Dietitian listening. Thank you, Mikka.

 

Libby Rothschild: [00:23:23] If you are inspired by this episode, click subscribe so we can fill your library with encouragement each week. Every day, your potential clients are searching online for professionals like you with the hopes of finding the right person who can make a genuine impact on their wellbeing and life. Join my group coaching program and follow the Dietitian Boss method. You will be surrounded by other amazing Dietitian Bosses from around the world who will be there to cheer you on, support you, give you feedback and provide you a spark for new ideas, all while following the proven Dietitian Boss method. You will be able to share your successes and struggles with people who get it. Book a call with my team to learn how you can become your own boss.