I get lots of questions about food and health and nourishment.  My newsletters and blog posts are largely devoted to those topics.

I also get a lot of questions about my online business. How did you grow that online business? Who are “the Babes”? Why did you add “marketing strategist” to your list of services? And what does all this have to do with CHOCOLATE?

Today I’d like to address a few of those questions.

Some people have midlife crises. Others start businesses.

My “midlife” brought many gifts:

a feeling of ease and connection in my personal relationships,

anticipation of “what’s next” in my professional life,

and, a deep sense of knowing that I was turning a very important corner in how I operated in the world, particularly around my health.

I had learned (the hard way) that my perpetual state of overdrive did not serve me.

Today I want to share with you a few of the pivotal people and programs that most impacted the growth of my online business and my growth as a human BEING. You might call me an ambassador for these individuals because whenever I am powerfully impacted by awesomeness, I simply feel called to share it.

 

It’s the money, honey!

If you’ve been following my posts you’ve already met Bari Tessler Linden, Financial Therapist and Mentor Coach. I love to interview Bari in the context of my Well-Nourished Woman programs because our work dances together beautifully. Bari teaches people how to stop, look, and listen—to bring awareness to their money story or their patterns around money. I teach women to pause and get curious about their food stories and their creative lives.

Before I bring anyone to my Conscious Bites Community, I want to experience their work. First hand. Bari’s online Conscious Bookkeeping Home Study Program made a HUGE difference in my personal financial life. Working through her program helped me get very clear on my finances. I found out that I needed to do some inner work to see what was stopping me from tracking my money intelligently and with purpose. It’s no surprise that when I started doing the deeper work around money, my business flourished. Bari is launching a conscious money movement and she is beginning with a year-long program combining all of her teachings and all of her wisdom. It’s called, The Art of Money. This program weaves personal, couple, and entrepreneurial money teachings into one complete tapestry. I’m a huge fan of Bari’s work. Be sure to check it out.

 

And then there’s my tech husband. . .

Yes, Bari shares her honey. Actually, I met Forest Linden long before I had the pleasure of meeting his beloved wife, Bari. Forest designed my very first website. It wasn’t just his tech savvy that astounded me, however. I was mesmerized by his capacity to literally hold my hand through the process of learning how to navigate a pretty complex website. A few years later, Conscious Bites Nutrition gave birth to Chocolate for Breakfast and I found myself managing not one, but two websites. About that time, Forest and I had a conversation that sparked a new facet of his entrepreneurial life and the “Tech Husband” was born. And with that, Tech Genius, a “ridiculously comprehensive” training course that teaches you how to use all the web tools you need to build a successful online business.” Just in time, too, because I really needed a more targeted approach to managing all the behind-the-scenes technology needed to GROW my own online business. I now have answers to all those niggly questions that keep me up at night as I feel my way into shopping carts, HTML, information management systems and the intricate workings of my website. I can thank Forest for that.

 

And who are those “Babes” you keep talking about?

Oh my. Can I tell you that of all the entrepreneurial adventures I’ve engaged in (and there have been MANY), the one that brought me the most joy and the most empowering was B-School. I discovered Marie Forleo in 2010. I had invested in more business development programs than I care to count and I had learned a lot about marketing. Much of that learning left me, well, a little dismayed. I discovered a lot of manipulation in the online marketing world, practices that I simply couldn’t tolerate let alone embrace. And then I happened upon an online program called B-School. Instead of a mile-long sales pages shouting at me to purchase the latest and greatest business development programs or a “platinum” membership to an exclusive club, I found Marie TEACHING an online course that offered me the nuts and bolts that I needed to move my business from brick and mortar one-on-one consulting to a platform that extended my reach worldwide. I remember thinking, “The buck stops here.” I no longer felt the need to travel around the country enrolling in programs, I simply needed to follow the timeless marketing principles that Marie so generously laid out for me. But even more profound than the business mentoring I received from B-School, was the amazing community of “Babes” who continue to enrich my life with unconditional love, laughter and 24/7 business support. Where else can you pop into a forum at midnight and say, “Hey, is anyone else experiencing a glitch with their ecommerce plugin?”

 

Disclaimer: I receive an affiliate stipend for some of the programs I endorse. However, I assure you that I ONLY endorse people/programs I have “personally” experienced and grown from. I am also happy to speak with you to decide if any of these people/programs are a good fit for YOU given your unique set of circumstances.