Tami Parket THP ep 2

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[00:00:00] Lindsay Sutherland: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to thriving holistic practitioner. I'm your host, Lindsay Sutherland. And thanks for joining us today. We have another amazing guest joining the show. Her name is Tami Parker. She lives in Oregon. We were just talking about how we're both here in the Pacific Northwest of the U S and she's a holistic nutritionist.

[00:00:19] And she's here to help shine some light on what it takes to build a thriving practitioner practice. So thank you so much for joining us. I'm so grateful to have you.

[00:00:27] Tami Parker: Thank you for having me on here. I appreciate it.

[00:00:30] Lindsay Sutherland: Definitely. So tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get onto this journey and kind of when did that all start for you?

[00:00:38] Tami Parker: Um, well, it started later in my life. Um, I just turned 54. I returned to school in my late 40s and Decided, you know, this is the opportunity of a lifetime for me to be able to go back to college and get my bachelors and the masters degree in nutrition science. I mean, you can have me talk about food all day long.[00:01:00]

[00:01:00] And then, while in my program, I started realizing that there was an area of women's health that was very much underserved. Which is the transitional state of perimenopause to menopause and to post menopause and just women's health in general is just underserved. So that got me started in that area of my niche of working with women.

[00:01:22] Um, and then I graduated during the pandemic. Yay. Um, and then, you know, because of the shutdown, um, I started my practice during that time. Very much part time. Um, I was also studying for the CNS, which is an advanced board certification. Um, so that all kind of came together. And then I just decided, well, you know, I'll just start seeing people a little bit at a time and started doing the process of starting a private practice.

[00:01:56] Wasn't my intention to do that right away at all. I mean, I, [00:02:00] In our business class at school, I was like, I don't want to start a practice right away. I want to work with other people. I want to work in a clinic and then I want to start a practice. So it was kind of a just had to do it. You know, I had to do something.

[00:02:14] So, um, it's. It just got started. Um, and I'm still learning and figuring it out along the way and trying to determine how I want to do this practice and what I want to do with my career as a nutritionist.

[00:02:31] Lindsay Sutherland: Okay. So I have so many questions from that. Like, first of all, what were you doing? I mean, that's like a huge life pivot to go from, Oh, just.

[00:02:40] I think I'm going to go to school and do this, you know, what were you doing before? And then what led you to think like making that pivot and, and such a drastic change kind of what inspired that and what was going through your mind and your heart when you did that?

[00:02:52] Tami Parker: Um, well, prior to that, um, I'd spent A few decades as an administrative assistant [00:03:00] up to an executive level admin assistant.

[00:03:02] I also worked in it as well. I also worked retail. So I did a bunch of business stuff and I thought, you know, I want to go to business school, which I was working on a business degree with a focus on marketing at 1 point. But it just, I mean, it was just something that I thought would be beneficial for me and I thought.

[00:03:21] I could do because I was really good. I feel like helping other people figure things out and really good at other things business wise. But the funny thing was, I found out what I was really good at was when we would have these team events where we needed to order food in. That I was very much about asking people about their dietary needs, like, do you have any dietary restrictions?

[00:03:45] Do you have any, you know, asking them about food? I could, you know, I realized I was like, wait a minute. I like food. Yeah. Yeah, so I was working for a local company. Um, it happens to be [00:04:00] a health insurance company that I was working for, and they did a layoff of a bunch of us. So, um, my job went to India. Um, and because of that, I qualified for NAFTA or Trade Act, which.

[00:04:14] Part of the benefits of that is you can do retraining. So it came about that, um, I had the opportunity to finish off my degree, but I could finish it off in a different program. And the university that I attended, the National University of Natural Medicine, they just opened up their Bachelors of Science in Nutrition.

[00:04:39] And I qualified for that and by the skin of my teeth, I got TRADAC to help me with that. So that was where I was able to step in and go, I really like talking about food and I really like nutrition. Um, I should say that before that I was also doing aromatherapy, so I got, um, level one [00:05:00] certification as an aromatherapist, um, and again, coming back to, but I like talking about food and herbs and supplements and all that stuff are great, but if you don't have the foundation of diet in place, then they're not going to work as effectively.

[00:05:15] So again, I was like pushing me towards, I want to talk to people more about food, um,

[00:05:23] Lindsay Sutherland: Interesting. Well, there's so many things about food out there, you know, like, oh, yeah, all kinds of information. True. Not true questions. This, you know, it's like all over the place. I could definitely see how a need for what you do was so true.

[00:05:41] Obvious. I love how you were able to pair up, not just that need, but also something that really brings you joy. I think that's just a true, important thing for everybody, you know, to be following their heart and then to be able to build a business around that is to me. I wouldn't recommend it any other way.[00:06:00]

[00:06:01] Tami Parker: Yeah, exactly. I didn't realize that this was something. This was a thing that I could do. Um, and I didn't realize it was something that I really enjoyed doing. I mean, I love chatting with, with my girlfriends about food and as I got more and more into women's health, seeing more of the misinformation that we as women get regarding how to feed our bodies and just how to take care of our bodies in general, diving more into that, to learning more, um, and then.

[00:06:32] Looking at everything that we see as women growing up as, you know, this is how we should be eating. Like you're supposed to eat a tiny salad and that's supposed to be good enough because you're supposed to be thin. And I'm like, yeah, no, I want a burger. Thank you very much. You know, I want it. I want to eat.

[00:06:50] Um, so. That was also part of my, my love with food is talking to women about their beliefs about [00:07:00] food. Where did they get these beliefs from? What is their relationship with food? And then how does that equate to the relationship with their body? And just get rid of some of these, what I'll call them patriarchal, Blunders that have affected us as women in how we eat, how we think about our food, how we think about how to eat, how we think about what to eat and how much to eat the shame and guilt that sometimes comes with it.

[00:07:30] Um, when I hear someone say, I eat quote healthy, I always step back and go really. Let's talk about what's healthy, you know, um, so, um, yeah, I'm that person too. I will play devil's advocate every time.

[00:07:46] Lindsay Sutherland: That's great. That's the best way to learn, you know,

[00:07:48] Tami Parker: I

[00:07:49] Lindsay Sutherland: think, yeah, well, so when you got through with your, with your program and your certification, and then you were, it was obviously weird times.

[00:07:58] I mean, I, it's interesting how many [00:08:00] people made a pivot around COVID, I think. Millions in the world. Um, COVID was definitely a pivot maker for a lot of people. I know for me, too. It's when I went from working in a W 2 to working from home and homeschooling my kids, and it was definitely a transition time.

[00:08:16] So with that, though, what was that like for you? I mean, did the school give you an idea on how to start your practice or were you just kind of like left to freebird it, I suppose you could say.

[00:08:27] Tami Parker: Um, yeah. The, the program at NUNM, they did have a class, it was on professionalism and then another class that was on like starting a practice, you know, starting a business, starting a practice.

[00:08:41] And again, it wasn't on my mind to start a practice out of the gate at all. So I kind of took some of the things that I learned from that class when I was trying to figure out how to do this, but there was still a lot of pieces missing. I didn't know I needed to have limited liability insurance. I didn't know that.

[00:08:59] I didn't know that I [00:09:00] really, as a nutritionist, I needed to know the laws of the states, because every state has a practice law and a title law when it comes to working in nutrition. And so as a nutritionist, I'm not a dietitian, I'm a nutritionist, the laws are, I have to know those laws so I know which states I can legally work in.

[00:09:18] I didn't know I needed to know that.

[00:09:20] Lindsay Sutherland: Yeah. I can't believe they didn't tell you that. Honestly, like, especially if the school was in a certain state, you would think they would have given you that information.

[00:09:30] Tami Parker: Well, it goes by what state my client lives in, not what state I reside in. So, um, in Oregon, for example, there's a title law, so only a licensed dietitian can call themselves a dietitian, but there's no practice law regarding who can practice medical nutrition therapy or nutrition therapy or whatever you want to call it, right?

[00:09:50] So there is a difference between, like, general nutrition and medical nutrition. So as long as my clients are in [00:10:00] Oregon. There's no reason why I cannot legally work with them, right? It's within my scope. In California, the law is they have to be referred by a doctor. In the state of Washington, you have to have your CN, which I do have.

[00:10:13] Um, in, let's say, um, Colorado, there, my understanding, there isn't a practice law there, so I could work with clients there. In Illinois, I'd have to be licensed. Oh, interesting. In North Carolina, I'd have to be licensed. So I'd have to have what they require. To obtain that license and every state is a little bit different of what they require.

[00:10:36] So I've got to understand all of the legal stuff behind that. We really didn't talk about that. Wow, so that was stuff that I've been having to learn, like, reach out to others who've already gone through the process and go, okay, what do I need to do here? Um, and then that falls into. if I wanted to, um, be on an insurance panel.

[00:10:59] That goes into [00:11:00] whole other thing that, no, we didn't talk about that in our class. Mm-Hmm. , we didn't talk about the pros and cons of taking insurance or not taking insurance. Uh, we didn't really talk about networking and refer, getting how to get referrals. Uh, what sort of programs. What, you know, to start out with, like, do you want to do an ERM?

[00:11:21] And then which ones are out there? Um, how to navigate social media?

[00:11:25] Lindsay Sutherland: Yeah,

[00:11:28] Tami Parker: there was just like, I mean, it was the very minimal education on, on starting on practice. Like I learned about branding. But since I already was had a business course, and I was already on the path of marketing, I'm like, yes, I'm familiar with branding.

[00:11:44] I mean, getting caught up on the current status of how to do that. I had to figure out, but, um, yeah, and there's so much more now that we throw AI out there too now. Right. They didn't, that wasn't a thing. Yeah, that wasn't a thing. [00:12:00] So, uh, um, yeah. So, uh, yeah, that brings another topic of plagiarism that my professors would have had in class.

[00:12:08] So, um, yeah, I had to, I really did have to take more outside of school or learn more and, and look for those people that were already teaching other practitioners like myself of ways to. To do my business, like how to create programs, how to create memberships, all that stuff. So, um, and to be honest, not all of them work

[00:12:36] Lindsay Sutherland: through.

[00:12:36] Yeah, well, and the messaging is, is unique. I think a lot of the cookie cutter programs, I'm not to say anything negative about anybody, but I've been in them myself for other businesses. And there are, there are good ones out there, but then there's also some that have like, a box and they want everybody to fit through their box and their box doesn't necessarily apply to everyone, every specific type [00:13:00] of business.

[00:13:00] And, and then the question becomes, is your business a local business or are you virtual? And are you a hybrid? I mean, there's just like different things for different types of practices that not every program is designed to meet those needs.

[00:13:16] Tami Parker: Exactly. Yeah. So like I talked to people about personalized nutrition, like there isn't one diet that will fit everyone.

[00:13:22] I feel it's the same thing. What you talked about is like there's programs out there and they, it's like a one size fits all, but even some of the underlining message and tone of that program may not fit your personality. Like I call it bro marketing or bro business and I'm like, that's not how I want to do my business.

[00:13:42] I don't want to be that, you know, Oh, you got to hustle. I, I, that is term like, don't tell me to hustle. I'm like, I want to go with this intuitively and with intention. And I want to do something that comes more from the heart. Then comes from this [00:14:00] base of ego. Yep. Yeah. I mean, for me, that's not how I want to run my practice and I don't, and I don't feel like I can serve people better if I'm caught in a place of ego.

[00:14:11] It just, it doesn't work out well.

[00:14:12] Lindsay Sutherland: I agree 100 percent to be candid with you. That is exactly why I pivoted. From, so my background, I worked in the car business for 20 years. So you want to talk about that bro marketing? Hello. I know those, but I was just telling a friend of mine, I've always felt so disjointed because I had like this masculine energy at work and then I would come home and I have that mom of four kids and I'm a wife and like that, that balance of that feminine energy.

[00:14:39] And I was in management and I always wanted to like, I was the only female manager. So I'm here. I was this like beacon of femininity in this masculine environment, trying to forge a pathway and it just felt so bipolar, I guess you could say in a way, like the energy of it, not my mental state, but, you know, leaving that and then moving to [00:15:00] Idaho.

[00:15:00] Cause that was like, I'm getting out of the car business. I'm moving to, or I want to be, I want to farm. We raise sheep. Like, I just wanted to drastically change my lifestyle. And get to this place where I could do things more holistically in my life. And so I still, then I deep dove into like internet marketing, online business.

[00:15:18] And again, everything was, so I call it transactional where it's not relational, it's transactional. Let's get this many leads in, let's close this many conversions. Let's look at our KPIs, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And not to say that wasn't useful or effective, But I felt empty. I'm like, I feel like there's just, I can do more for people than this.

[00:15:42] And then I thought, I realized I did a kind of a, I guess an approach on a holistic look at my life and my business. And I realized that 80 percent of my clients were in the health and wellness space. And that my very favorite ones were holistic practitioners because I love it. Too. I love like, like you got a chance to have a do [00:16:00] over if I could have a do over, I would be, I'd probably study herbs.

[00:16:05] Geek out on herbs. I love to research those. And so similar, you know, I thought, well, I don't have the time and the capacity to go back to school and start over. I've already got this skill set. How can I do both? Like help people in a holistic approach. And I finally, for the first time ever feel Like I've aligned with that, that energy, like the feminine and the masculine have finally come together so I can serve people.

[00:16:32] And I could, so my point is I completely understand with what you're saying. And I agree with you. I think that builds a stronger business. You get more legitimate referrals that you're not feeling spammy and icky about asking for because people are so helped and. I'm happy and grateful. It just changes the whole dynamic of the business from all the way through.

[00:16:55] I just love it.

[00:16:56] Tami Parker: Yeah. Yeah. And I like, you know, those, [00:17:00] you mentioned KPI and I was like, Oh, I hear, I mean, I hear it's like, it's all, it's, it's an, it's a numbers game. It's a number I hear that every time I'm like, Oh wow, that's bro marketing. And I do hear it from other women telling other women the same thing.

[00:17:15] It's a numbers game. But I'm working with people and they're not numbers. They have a number, they have numbers associated with them, but there are people that are struggling with some challenges. And I don't want to just like, you know, like cattle, just bring a bunch of people in and they, and we don't.

[00:17:34] Work well together, right? Because that's that's the other part of you know Having a holistic practice is I might not be a good fit for someone and vice versa So being able to recognize that as well, you know of understanding like kind of clients. Do I want?

[00:17:51] Lindsay Sutherland: Because I want my

[00:17:53] Tami Parker: practice to be a certain way I want, you know, I'm still And that it'll change, you [00:18:00] know, if you would have asked me a year ago, I would have had a different answer.

[00:18:03] I think thing what I have now, but I know that from my experience, just starting out, which it was very much of, I got to get clients. I got to get clients, you know, which, you know, I have a student loan. I had to have exactly, you know, and, and, and being honest about having a business. It's not free to run a business.

[00:18:25] It costs money. I mean, at the end of every year, when I'm throwing my taxes over to the person who does my taxes, I'm looking at how much money I spent every month compared to what's coming in. And I'm like, okay, I do need to bring in more clients, um, to help increase my income for my business so that I can be able to continue to do this.

[00:18:48] Um, so. To an extent of finding that balance of the old way of what I call the old way of thinking of marketing and doing business and bringing in this [00:19:00] more, um, there's a book called radical healership. Which does look at for people that do holistic health or do health care from Nutritionists to mental health therapists, whatever and it is approaching it from from a more heart centered holistic approach of how to run your business And it was I do recommend that book to any health practice practitioner out there if you haven't read that book It's a short read.

[00:19:27] It's not it's not It's not a bazillion pages, so I do recommend it, but being able to bring in every aspect so that you are coming to your business and running your business with, from a place of authenticity, like it's your business, it's yours.

[00:19:44] Lindsay Sutherland: Okay, so challenge question for you. Okay, this goes into mindset because you know, when we're starting a business, it's a, it's really a head game for us.

[00:19:52] Like there's a lot going on. How do you maintain that since you've kind of had your foot in one in both worlds, right? Like we were just [00:20:00] talking about that bro marketing and this, you've been in both spaces. How do you navigate that? Um, I guess mental fortitude to stay true and follow your heart when maybe the fear, I guess you could say, that creeps up about like, okay, I need more clients.

[00:20:18] Almost that panic that can ensue if we let it. How do you navigate that? Like, what do you do internally to help keep yourself steady on the course and like, you know, keep that poise and so you can stay true to yourself? Like, what, how do you navigate that?

[00:20:33] Tami Parker: Yeah, that's a good question. I'm laughing at it.

[00:20:39] Oh my God. Cause there's days that I don't, I don't, That mental fortitude is, you know, it's not around. Um, I'm in panic mode. Um, because the reality is to keep my business going, I've got to have money to pay the bills,

[00:20:52] Lindsay Sutherland: you

[00:20:53] Tami Parker: know, whether it's bills to run my practice or bills to just keep my life going. You know, I've got a mortgage to pay and I got food to [00:21:00] buy, you know, all those life things.

[00:21:01] So a lot of times what I will tell myself to do is to first walk away from social media.

[00:21:10] Lindsay Sutherland: Hmm. Smart.

[00:21:12] Tami Parker: Yeah. Because there's, when you look out there and you see the people that are in the field that you're in and it looks like they are succeeding and it looks like that they're thriving in their business, it can add more pressure.

[00:21:26] And I found for me at times, I could feel like I'm failing and that doesn't help the situation, right? It doesn't help me to try to think creatively. It doesn't help me to figure out what I need to do. That would be best for me and for my situation. So I find that a lot of times I just have to step away from social media to step away from, um, all of that and just try to figure out what I need to do.

[00:21:50] And I had to, to be honest, I had to do a really big check in with myself to say, can I run my practice full time right now? And I had to say no. [00:22:00] So I, I've been working part time at a bakery since undergrad and I talked to my boss and I said, look, I, I need to be able to make enough money to pay my bills.

[00:22:09] So I'm not in that mode anymore. So I am working full time there while I'm still working on my practice to get things going and seeing what other opportunities are there. That also helps my, that mental fortitude. Yeah. Taking, taking the stress off of one area. Right, so I would tell anyone, like, look, if you are worried about money and your practice isn't bringing in that money yet, find other ways to bring in the money to cover those living expenses so that you're not stressed.

[00:22:41] So that's 1 element that's off your plate, and then you can put more of that energy and what you really want to do for your practice. And that way, you're not feeling like you have to do things that you feel will compromise yourself, compromise your integrity, compromise your accountability, [00:23:00] your authenticity, and will make you do things that you really don't feel comfortable doing.

[00:23:05] So I would, you know, take care of, you know, take care of those things that you have to do. And you're not a failure if you can't do your business full time at all. You're not a failure.

[00:23:17] Lindsay Sutherland: That is the best advice ever.

[00:23:19] And I'm so glad you said that because I mean, even hearing you talking about that, I instantly felt this like peace in my stomach that was like, I'm so glad she shared this because I think that's the hardest thing. And I don't know if it's everybody or if it's women, but I can only relate to women cause I am one, but.

[00:23:36] I feel like we just put so much pressure on ourselves to we have this giant expectation. And then if we have to pivot or we have to come to a grace, give ourself grace in some capacity or another could be with the kids, you know, it could be hiring help with the kids. It could be in my case, sending my kids back to school after COVID the crazy of COVID.

[00:23:57] I was like, okay, I cannot build a business and [00:24:00] homeschool my kids at the same time in a reasonable amount of time, you know, it was just not going to happen. And the stress wasn't worth it. So it you guys. You want to go back to school, go back to school. Doesn't mean I failed because even though homeschooling was important to me, I also know I have to look at the whole family and the dynamics of everything going on.

[00:24:19] So, you know, you, we make those choices. They are not sacrifices. They do not mean that we're failures. I love that you said that. And I'm glad you shared. Thank you. Because I think that's what we need more of is just more vulnerability for people to be honest about what it's really like behind the scenes so we can, we can Have realistic expectations.

[00:24:39] Tami Parker: Exactly. Yeah. I mean, there's, like I said, social media, I see so many nutritionists out there that look like they're killing it. Right. And I get that, that envy feeling like, Oh, I wish that I was doing that. And like, what are they doing? I need to do exactly what they're doing. And a lot of things that they might be doing, which some of them I've, you know, tried to follow and I'm realizing that works [00:25:00] for them, but that doesn't work for me.

[00:25:01] My life is not their life and vice versa. So I have to remind myself like what I tell my clients, like this is personalized, what works for you may not work for someone else or for someone else may not work for you. It's the same thing with our business. I mean, there's certain things that yes, we have, we all do exactly legal stuff, whatever.

[00:25:21] Everyone has to do. Pretty much the same thing, but how we run the rest of our business, that as long as there's no like legal things tied to it, you got to stay within your scope of practice. Right? Um, but there's things of how we go about doing it. Like, I use practice better as my EMR for my clients.

[00:25:42] There's many other ones out there that people use. Um, I use, I don't use social media as much. Um, and trust me, I do have those moments of guilt, like I need to post on Instagram because I haven't posted anything in over six months now. Um, but then I stop [00:26:00] back and go, I'm the boss. This is my business. If I don't want to post on Instagram, I don't have to.

[00:26:09] I don't want to be on TikTok. I don't, I don't, I'm not on, I'm not on a lot of them because I'm like, this is my business. I don't have to. Right. I don't have to. Right. And

[00:26:19] Lindsay Sutherland: there's so many other ways to build a business. I think that is a misconception that like, I'm, like you said, what did you, didn't you say that the company, they gave you a branding or a social media course?

[00:26:29] Did they, did you say that? Or in the beginning?

[00:26:32] Tami Parker: There was a program that I did that we went over social media stuff and we went over branding. Yeah. It wasn't. Even though they haven't like those out of the box things that people are doing, um, I still struggled with it because I just didn't feel like it was how I would want to do it.

[00:26:52] Um, and it didn't. And they still kept saying like, Oh, you need to make sure that you're posting on social media. Like, do it like [00:27:00] this and then watch all the markers and then do, you know, like, all this stuff. And I was like, how many hours a week are you expecting us? It is. Oh, you need to do 20 hours a week.

[00:27:08] And I'm like, excuse me.

[00:27:09] Lindsay Sutherland: Right. No, but that's the thing is like, think about what, how do people build a business before social media? It's like, just, that's, that's like, I think my point is that there is, you know, you take so many business classes or talk about business. And I, as a, as a business consultant, I get asked, I get more clients because people want to ask me about social media, which I find hilarious because if you look at mine, I post sporadically.

[00:27:38] I'm not. An influencer in the space or whatnot. I study it because it's part of my business and I can give advice about it, but I always, I have told more people that they should not do social media then to do social media, because like you said, it doesn't, it isn't always a lead generator. For some it is, and for certain [00:28:00] practices or personalities, I think it has more to do with the personality than the modality, if that makes sense.

[00:28:06] Like, some people love it. They, like, it comes easy to them. They love making videos. They come up with content ideas, like, it just pours out of their brain. But other people are more relational. They would rather talk to a human rather than talk to themselves. On the screen, you know, like some people also are really good networkers.

[00:28:28] They want to be in networking others. I'd love to blog, you know, or podcasts. Like there's so many ways, but I will say there is, there is a consistent foundation to marketing. I think that people are needing, no matter the modality of the, the marketing. And there's a certain like, There's a baseline I should say, but it can be applied to any type of modality.

[00:28:52] And that's usually the conversation I end up having. And I'm like, unless you love social media, let me show you a way you can grow your business. That [00:29:00] doesn't need it, you know, like it's okay to not really be putting a lot of emphasis on social, I think. Yeah.

[00:29:06] Tami Parker: Yeah. So it's funny. And it works for, I feel like social media works for some people.

[00:29:12] Um, I have a friend who I met in, in school, um, he went on to become a naturopathic doctor, but he, his Instagram, he had been working on before he even started his, his program. And he was always, and he's like a food person as well, which is why we became really good friends. Um, at one point, uh, we were meeting for lunch and he just hit a hundred thousand followers on his social media.

[00:29:38] And, you know, of course we celebrated, but he and I've talked many times about. Instagram and, and I saw how many hours he was putting into it. Um, we did a program where we were, um, together that we were overseas at, and we were in this country and it was great. And he would be up late at night. Working on the [00:30:00] photos that he took for the day to load up on his Instagram page.

[00:30:03] And I was like, you know, I saw how that benefited his following. Um, but later on, he realized that he was spending so much time on it, that, that he wasn't able to do a bunch of other things with himself and with his career and his business, um, he is an influencer for sure. Um, And I'm not a huge fan of the whole influencer thing.

[00:30:27] I'd rather be an educator.

[00:30:29] Lindsay Sutherland: Um,

[00:30:30] Tami Parker: but his, I have to say, cause he's a very dear friend and I love him to death. Um, He's an educational influencer for sure.

[00:30:39] Lindsay Sutherland: Um,

[00:30:40] Tami Parker: but I do see out there, those influencers that put in all those hours of work and they're taking these great pictures and they're just doing these really dynamic reels or videos.

[00:30:50] And I just get exhausted. Just looking at that, I'm like, I'm sorry. I have research papers that I really need to dive into to build [00:31:00] my knowledge up. And I'd rather do that than figure out all the technique techie stuff to post about G. I. health transfer changes that happened during perimenopause. Right?

[00:31:13] I'd rather, you know, a quick something that someone may just scroll right by, you know, um, I'd rather, you know, Talk to someone or speak like what we're doing now I'd rather do this kind of environment where I reach out to people and talk about The things that I know that I want to educate people on right?

[00:31:31] So for the people that are coming out brand new if you've never really been big on Facebook or Instagram or whatever social media platform before don't think that you have to be Automatically change who you are and start doing those because it looks like everybody else is doing it because I'm here to tell you, no, not all of us are doing it.

[00:31:52] Um, so there's other ways of being able to market, uh, public speaking. If you can line yourself up [00:32:00] with that opportunities to speak, um, as a holistic practitioner, there's so many different places that you can go to ask, Hey, um, like for example, a yoga studio. If what you do would benefit a yoga studio, reach out to local yoga studios and ask them like, Hey, I really like your studio.

[00:32:19] Um, I have this talk that I like to do. To talk, you know, like to give it's on this topic with this benefit, the, the people that come to your studio, if it does. Let's chat, let's work something out. Maybe we can build something around it. Um, I met a doula. I've known her for a while, and she posted on Facebook because we're, we're friends about the things that she was experiencing perimenopause.

[00:32:44] And I was like, oh, lady, let's talk. We met up, I talked to her about what she was going through and she said. We need to bring more women together to have this conversation, just talk about the realness of perimenopause. And so we started doing something where we would have [00:33:00] women meet up. And we would talk and I would be the subject matter expert in the room.

[00:33:06] Right. And that so that, you know, kind of got the word out of what I do. Yeah, so there's there's so many different ways outside of social media to do this and and I would tell people. You're going to see, you're going to see a lot of advertisements out there of people that want to teach you, learn what I did, you know, those kinds of things, or I can teach you how to do this with your business and that, and that,

[00:33:31] Lindsay Sutherland: um,

[00:33:32] Tami Parker: be very skeptic.

[00:33:36] Because I have spent a lot of money on some of those things, thinking that this was the thing this was this 1, this 1 to work, you know, they marketed their program really well. But then, when I. Did them it was very similar to the 1 I did before.

[00:33:54] Lindsay Sutherland: Yes, oh, yes, so, you know, there's another red flag to that.

[00:33:59] I've [00:34:00] seen is if the person running the program isn't meeting with you personally. On that call, I, I have had. Where I've, I've had amazing programs and then I've had some that were my, to my own fault where, you know, it was a little imposter syndrome. Like, I think I needed one more certification or one more training and then I get into it and I realized, you know what, this is such, this is stuff I already know.

[00:34:24] That's when I started to realize that. That was my own limiting belief. That wasn't, you know, that like I knew more than I was giving myself credit for. But I think having that, um, I did have one experience where it was a very expensive program and it was going back to those Transactional type of days where it was like, you're going to build this whole business.

[00:34:46] You're not even going to have to be involved. And it was like, they were selling this idea of basically an absentee ownership and how to get to that, which has sounded very appealing. You can imagine, right? Like a lot of people would are this whole make money [00:35:00] and don't work like movement, you know, it's, it's a joke, but it was, it was so, um, So believable.

[00:35:09] And I thought, Oh, this is great. She's, she's living the life. She's got this program set up. She's clearly walking her walk. You know, I vetted it. I vetted it. And then like six months in, I'm like, first of all, I haven't learned anything new that I didn't already know. And I'm still stuck. Like I haven't made progress.

[00:35:27] Because of the way the system was set up, you never got to talk to the leader, the smart woman who built this whole thing. You were always dealing with her trainees. And I mean, how really effective is that? You know? So I agree with you, like be cautious, ask questions and, you know, if they're not willing to jump on more than one call with you or show you the behind the scenes or give you referrals of people that they've helped.

[00:35:54] Absolutely. Walk away.

[00:35:57] Tami Parker: Yeah.

[00:35:58] So that's, that's the other thing to think [00:36:00] of is, like, do ask, like, has anyone else done this program? What was your experience with this program? Is it worth the investment? I, I, my thing that I was going to, what is the ROI, return on investment? Always, always, always ask yourself. What is the ROI? It might not be financial.

[00:36:16] It might be, it might be the return on your financial investment might come in other avenues and other ways. Um, it could be connecting with other people in the program that can help you with your business that you, you know, unexpected ways. Um, I do wanted to say that you mentioned something about, you know, that imposter syndrome.

[00:36:35] That is the huge, huge trigger for making a lot of decisions around what to do for your business. Because it does feel like if I'm not doing it like this, then I'm an imposter, right? I'm not, I'm not a professional in this line of work. Um, I've looked at various different other letters to add after my name [00:37:00] and thinking, like, do I really need this?

[00:37:02] Do I want to spend another 10, 000 or more on top of what I've already spent just to have these other letters? What is it? Do people even care? You know, so those are the other things to, um, that I think that a lot of us, when we come out of school, you know, come out of the gate, we think, oh, I have to have all this stuff.

[00:37:21] Some of them you do, but some of them, you really don't need them right away. Like, it could be something like, just, just hold off. Just wait. See if you really do need that. I've been looking at like health coaching certification and still struggling if I want to go through that whole expense and time to get that national certification.

[00:37:43] I already did health coaching classes in my program.

[00:37:46] Lindsay Sutherland: Yeah. I

[00:37:48] Tami Parker: don't

[00:37:49] Lindsay Sutherland: think you have to be certified. I mean, my brother in law was a naturopath and he ended up I guess downgrading you could say to health [00:38:00] coach because there was actually less restrictions in that space, at least at the time, this was going back a few years.

[00:38:06] He still had all the same knowledge and everything, but if he was practicing under a license, it required him to, like you were saying, there's all these rules. I see the same thing too. And like, um, Psychology, the space of psychology. And we saw that at COVID, a lot of psychologists were limited to being able to practice within a certain territory.

[00:38:27] But if you go put a sign on your door, metaphorically speaking, that you're a life coach and you might have the same certificate, like knowledge and background as a psychologist or a therapist, all of a sudden you could like, just, Freelance and be a life coach and, and make an impact across the country and not just in your backyard.

[00:38:45] I mean, there's some interesting dynamics about that. I'm not sure. I feel like the coaching. Kind of took over and blindsided these, like, systems that were already in place.

[00:38:58] Tami Parker: Yeah, the, [00:39:00] again, that's where, um, you know, when you're doing your business, understand the laws of the state that you're in and the states that you want to work in.

[00:39:07] Um, because there, I, I, I had this, um, session, it was like, A webinar that we had a lawyer come in and talk to us about how to be able to practice in states that you can't get licensed in. And there are some nuances to be able to do that. There's a lot of people out there practicing in the gray. And they think that's safe well, I found out that it not personally, but in conversation with another medical provider was sharing with me how even working in the gray, even for a lot of those coaches that are out there. That they might find themselves in trouble eventually, because there are. Laws that are going to be changed. And that will affect who can be a coach and who can't. So where can people go

[00:39:57] Lindsay Sutherland: to get like that knowledge?

[00:39:59] Do they need to [00:40:00] find an attorney or is there, is there somewhere that this is like, oh, I mean, clearly, you know, this, where did you go to get the information? I guess that's what I'm trying to say.

[00:40:07] Tami Parker: I, I went to my CNS community. So, uh, this is where, this is where social media, I feel. Does come into play and can be helpful because there are different Facebook groups that you that you can join.

[00:40:19] So, um, so for CNS, if you're interested about, you know, the legal, the legalities of working as a CNS, then be a part of the CNS Facebook group. Um, there's also a Facebook group for, um, insurance. For nutritionists and dietitians navigating the whole insurance stuff, including the legal stuff around being able to take insurance and whatnot.

[00:40:43] There's a Facebook group that helps with that. So it's reaching out to your peers. That, to me, is where I started. Um, because I couldn't afford a lawyer. So I do recommend that. Um, there are some free lawyer sites that you can go to as well. [00:41:00] Um, I just came across this guy on, um, I've seen him before and I forgot about him, but he's on YouTube as well, but it's like a functional lawyer who knew lawyers were going to go down the functional path, but they did.

[00:41:12] Um, and this guy works a lot from what I can tell so far is that he works a lot with people like holistic practitioners to help us understand some of the laws that are out there, um, that could impact how we work. So, what's his name? , Scott Radigan. R A T T I A G A N. So his, his YouTube channel is called Functional Lawyer. Functional Lawyer. Um, yeah, because I was looking at, um, he has a podcast up regard, or not a part, but a YouTube up on lawsuit challenges regarding telemedicine, licensing laws.

[00:41:48] Um, and that that's the other thing of being a holistic practitioner. If you're doing telemedicine, that's another thing you've got to understand as well is what are the telemedicine laws and it can get. [00:42:00] If you bring in insurance into the equation as well, that can complicate things a little bit. So I would say, in general, as my practice, the area that I wish that they would have talked to us a little bit more in our program was the legal things that we needed to know.

[00:42:17] Lindsay Sutherland: Yeah, definitely.

[00:42:18] And I'm. Kind of surprised by the fact that that wasn't part of the program from the beginning.

[00:42:24] Yes. Yes. Well, this has been a very insightful conversation. I love, I love the, The dynamics that we covered like it didn't I'd never occurred to me that this would come up, especially the legalities of things, you know, from this perspective, I guess, in a way, that's probably something I would have taken for granted.

[00:42:44] And I think a lot of people think about it from the beginner practitioner walking into it, they're going to make an assumption that that certification or that program or that educator is going to give them everything they need to know. To get started [00:43:00] and to think that there's this huge gap in that training, like, wow, that's great that we touched on that.

[00:43:05] I think that's really helpful.

[00:43:06] Tami Parker: Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I don't know why it didn't, it doesn't get brought up more in the programs .

[00:43:13] Lindsay Sutherland: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. This has been a great conversation. I'm so grateful you came on. You were so open and willing to share. I'm I'm just, thank you. Cause you're going to make a difference in people's lives.

[00:43:25] I just know it. You're listening to this.

[00:43:29] Tami Parker: Well, I'm hoping that, I mean, if anyone in, you know, in a nutritionist is, you know, or if they're thinking about going to nutrition school and they want to ask questions, I'm always open. I love, You know, sharing what I've learned with others, and, you know, kind of giving them things to think about that they might not have considered.

[00:43:49] So I'm I'm here. I'm happy to. And if anyone's wanting to learn about the CNS, definitely, you know, Get in my DMs, and I'm happy to get [00:44:00] you in, get the, we have a CNS Candidate Facebook page, um, that answers a lot of questions, and the ANA folks are tied into it, so they can answer questions directly as well.

[00:44:11] So tell me

[00:44:13] Lindsay Sutherland: how people, like, give them your handle, or where's the best place to connect with you

[00:44:17] Tami Parker: Well, on Facebook, it's Tami Parker. So, um, very easy in Portland, Oregon. You'll see pictures of my dogs on my home. And it's

[00:44:25] Lindsay Sutherland: Tammy T A M I. Yes. One M.

[00:44:29] Tami Parker: Just one M and an I. Yes. I, you know, I don't want to spend forever writing my name.

[00:44:33] Um, the other way is they can email me. My business email is info at get planted in health dot com. So you can reach me through that way as well. But, you know, Facebook DME. I always see them so and then my Facebook business page is planted in health.

[00:44:55] Lindsay Sutherland: Excellent. Thank you. I'll be sure to put those in the show notes.

[00:44:57] If you guys want to just click on the link, but I always [00:45:00] like to have it in the audio too, just for people who, you know, are writing and listening at the same time, because there's always that. Wonderful.

[00:45:07] Tami Parker: Yeah.

[00:45:07] Lindsay Sutherland: Thank you so much. It's been a true pleasure.

[00:45:10] Tami Parker: Thank you too. It was wonderful talking with you and hanging out.