The Company Next Door
Audrey Watkins: Elevate Nutrition and Fitness Consulting (Park City, UT)
Today Ete sits down with Audrey Watkins of Elevate Nutrition and Fitness Consulting.
When Audrey Watkins started seeing signs from corporate that things were headed in the wrong direction, she followed the exodus of co-workers out of this particular nutrition and wellness company and into a new phase of life. Without knowing exactly how to start or run a business, she just went for it. She established Elevate Nutrition and Fitness Consulting and luckily, she already had clientele. About thirty or forty of her former clients followed her to the fledgling practice. What some people just starting out in business work years for, a strong client base, Audrey already had.
Why? Why were these clients so loyal? Audrey explains that the answer has been the key to her success. For her, it's all about forming genuine, strong relationships. Her clients were loyal because they knew she truly cared about them and their goals. That relationship was also a driver in her clients' success. They were actually seeing the changes they were looking for, at least in part, because of this relationship. Audrey's encouragement, and authentic dedication to her clients was helping them to meet their health and wellness goals.
How does Audrey connect so well with her clients? For one, she's a people person. She loves meeting people and she truly enjoys getting to know them. This is why she does what she does. And because she cares for them "like friends and family," she legitimately wants to help them feel their best.
Another of the key qualities of connection Audrey possesses is a high level of relatability. She's had a life full of experiences from joyful highs, to the downright lowest of tragic traumas. She knows the extremes and everything in between. She's a wife and a mother. She's worked at a Fortune 500 company (she has a degree in economics) and she's been a stay-at-home home. She's experienced the gratification and delight of bona fide human connection, and the shock of seeing a friend gunned down at work. Somewhere in that wide range of experiences Audrey can find a way to relate to anyone–from middle aged women, to couples trying to conceive, from brides, to athletes, to high school kids, to people in their 70's.
And this relational ability is seen in her approach to nutrition and to coaching. She applies a more flexible, custom-tailored path to wellness for her clients. It's about the client's body, the client's physical and emotional needs, the client's hopes and goals. She knows each person as an individual, so she knows how to help him or her as an individual. Dogmatic nutrition approaches don't make sense to her. In fact, she describes herself as "nutritionally agnostic." Together, Audrey and her clients "shoot for longevity and quality of life," and what that looks like depends on the person she's helping.
As far as the business side of things goes, Audrey had to start from scratch. She had no business operating experience or training. Legally establishing the company, and just the practical concerns of starting a business were major hurdles. Building the company website was a huge obstacle for her. She took on the challenge, and with the help of friends, got her site up and running. She's maintained her business without going into any debt, which was a must for her from the outset. And now she's got a thriving business. She does no advertising and relies purely on word-of-mouth and referrals for getting new clients.
Be sure to hear Audrey's incredible stories, and her business advice in this episode of The Company Next Door.
Today Ete sits down with Audrey Watkins of Elevate Nutrition and Fitness Consulting.
When Audrey Watkins started seeing signs from corporate that things were headed in the wrong direction, she followed the exodus of co-workers out of this particular nutrition and wellness company and into a new phase of life. Without knowing exactly how to start or run a business, she just went for it. She established Elevate Nutrition and Fitness Consulting and luckily, she already had clientele. About thirty or forty of her former clients followed her to the fledgling practice. What some people just starting out in business work years for, a strong client base, Audrey already had.
Why? Why were these clients so loyal? Audrey explains that the answer has been the key to her success. For her, it's all about forming genuine, strong relationships. Her clients were loyal because they knew she truly cared about them and their goals. That relationship was also a driver in her clients' success. They were actually seeing the changes they were looking for, at least in part, because of this relationship. Audrey's encouragement, and authentic dedication to her clients was helping them to meet their health and wellness goals.
How does Audrey connect so well with her clients? For one, she's a people person. She loves meeting people and she truly enjoys getting to know them. This is why she does what she does. And because she cares for them "like friends and family," she legitimately wants to help them feel their best.
Another of the key qualities of connection Audrey possesses is a high level of relatability. She's had a life full of experiences from joyful highs, to the downright lowest of tragic traumas. She knows the extremes and everything in between. She's a wife and a mother. She's worked at a Fortune 500 company (she has a degree in economics) and she's been a stay-at-home home. She's experienced the gratification and delight of bona fide human connection, and the shock of seeing a friend gunned down at work. Somewhere in that wide range of experiences Audrey can find a way to relate to anyone–from middle aged women, to couples trying to conceive, from brides, to athletes, to high school kids, to people in their 70's.
And this relational ability is seen in her approach to nutrition and to coaching. She applies a more flexible, custom-tailored path to wellness for her clients. It's about the client's body, the client's physical and emotional needs, the client's hopes and goals. She knows each person as an individual, so she knows how to help him or her as an individual. Dogmatic nutrition approaches don't make sense to her. In fact, she describes herself as "nutritionally agnostic." Together, Audrey and her clients "shoot for longevity and quality of life," and what that looks like depends on the person she's helping.
As far as the business side of things goes, Audrey had to start from scratch. She had no business operating experience or training. Legally establishing the company, and just the practical concerns of starting a business were major hurdles. Building the company website was a huge obstacle for her. She took on the challenge, and with the help of friends, got her site up and running. She's maintained her business without going into any debt, which was a must for her from the outset. And now she's got a thriving business. She does no advertising and relies purely on word-of-mouth and referrals for getting new clients.
Be sure to hear Audrey's incredible stories, and her business advice in this episode of The Company Next Door.
Hey, what is up everyone, this is Ete with another episode of The Company Next Door. I'm sitting down with a guest who I haven't seen for a while. This is the first time we've connected in–we haven't figured out exactly how long, three, four or five years somewhere in there–and she's been been through some changes over the last few years through her career. And we're gonna jump into that. But you know, if you know, those of you that listen to the show, you know that I only interview guests that I really believe in what they're doing, or the entrepreneur or the person behind them. And in this case, I believe in what she's doing because I've been a client, and she's just got a great energy and just really encouraging in her field. It's a really cool thing. So I'm sitting down today with Audrey.
Audrey :Hello.
Ete :How are you?
Audrey :Good. How are you doing, Ete?
Ete :Good. And so Audrey. Let me tell you a little bit about it. So she is in the nutrition, health, help me out what kind of, what's your space?
Audrey :Yeah, I'm a nutrition coach. I'm in the nutrition, wellness, fitness facet.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :Which is a growing popular trend right now.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :It's become really popular.
Ete :It's huge. There's a lot of money that goes into this field, you know, across America, or in the world. And there's so much bad information. There's so much garbage out there. I mean, there's so many podcasts that will tell you to do this. There's so much research that's contradiction. It's just a, it's a hard thing for anybody who's not an expert to navigate.
Audrey :It's it is for sure. And I think that's why it attracted me. There was so much misinformation and people were coming to me with some crazy things that they had tried and it didn't work and it was sending them down the road of disease instead of wellness and instead of health.
Ete :Yeah, and so that's kind of the, that kind of thing. So that's how I found you. And we don't know when. But anyway, I found her. She was working with a company at the time. And the process was really interesting to me. I had never really been aware at the time of, of how important it is to really track what you're putting in your body, how important it is to kind of turn your your wholeness into, I don't want to say science, but a formula of some sorts. And when we met you were working with a company where I would come down every week, and we would do some measurements and we would get on the scale but we would also do we go over the food and we would make a meal plan and I think one of the most important part there was some accountability there.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :And you would also, we've talked about it so it's almost like there was a there's a bit of psychology involved as well.
Audrey :Absolutely.
Ete :And so I love that model because for me it was like I was just like everyone else, yo-yo dieting, going online, trying things, try whatever Atkins for a month lose, 20 pounds, and then getting it all back. Try vegetarian and so anyway, so I haven't worked with you for years, but since then, you fundamentally helped me shift the way I thought about all of this, about fitness and health. And so I've been able to keep it up how many however many years it is.
Audrey :Yeah, that's great. That makes me so happy. I love hearing that.
Ete :So we'll start off with a, you call that a client testimonial right there.
Audrey :Right, great.
Ete :But anyway. So but that that was how we met, and we were meeting weekly, and maybe for a year and a half or so. And I know you didn't stay with that company.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :So tell us a little bit about kind of what the transition into what you're doing today and what you're building.
Audrey :Yeah, yeah. Great. Um, first of all, it's so it's so good to see you, Ete. I just, this is great. And you look amazing. So I'm really, I'm really excited. Yeah, so I worked with this company in 2014. And it was, it was great. I had a nice clientele and everything was going well. And then there were some signs that started happening, that maybe some things were falling apart from the corporate standpoint.
Ete :Okay, so, from the uppers in the company?
Audrey :Right, right. And just things were starting to happen that, just red flags. And so I was getting a little bit nervous and employees and colleagues started leaving the company. And so I thought, well, I think this is a true sign that it's time for me to move on as well. And my clients were so gracious and they're like, we'll follow you wherever you go. So this, you know, was a real turning point for me because I never had any intention of starting my own company. That just wasn't right you were in my future. I was totally content where I was doing what I was.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :And I, you know, I, I just didn't think that I would be having to start an LLC, but I did and it was so scary and so terrifying. But it was also just such a fantastic thing as well. And it was one of those things where I had, you know, quite a bit clientele at the time. They needed my help. They had paid for my services. And I just could not abandon them. So I, you know, found some office space. And just we, we transitioned over here and I started Elevate Nutrition and Fitness Consulting.
Ete :And so at that time, so, and I know the part that you love about all this, like you said, you weren't, you weren't setting out to be, to start a company, to be an entrepreneur. Yeah, that was the last thing from your mind.
Audrey :Right, right.
Ete :But you have these clients and you just I, being one of your, your former clients, I know you were really focused on relationships.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :You really cared about each client, had a relationship. So I can see that many of them came with you.
Ete :Yes.
Ete :So how many? Roughly. Do you know?
Ete :Oh, gosh, I might have had 30 to 40.
Ete :So you start, so you had, so that's like, that's nice, because you had, you weren't just starting out having to start this new company from zero.
Ete :Right.
Ete :You have clientele but, but did you know how to start an LLC? Did you–
Audrey :No, no. I didn't know anything.
Ete :How'd you do it?
Audrey :Yeah, I have an amazing husband.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :And he's so supportive. And he, he was just on, you know, he's like, let's figure this out. So he was really helpful. And I had to start an LLC, file an LLC, find office space. You know, we never wanted to, I didn't want to go into any kind of debt when I started this company, that was not part of the picture. I didn't want to accumulate any debt. I didn't want to owe anybody any money.
Ete :That's awesome.
Audrey :So when I moved into this space, I had, you know, leftover pieces, mismatched furniture. It did not look the way it looks today. Because I wasn't willing to accrue any debt. So–
Ete :Why is that? So many people are, have no problem taking out a huge loan.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :You know, you got to spend money to take money, right?
Audrey :Right.
Ete :Where'd that come from, that, that principle in your life?
Audrey :I just felt like, if I couldn't do it on a really conservative budget, if I couldn't stay within what I could afford–
Ete :Sure.
Audrey :–that I shouldn't be doing it.
Ete :Awesome.
Audrey :So I wasn't willing to sign a big lease and have all these expenses and have employees and marketing costs. I don't advertise. I've never advertised.
Ete :Wow.
Audrey :It's all word of mouth. And Google reviews, that's the way I get my clientele. So it's referral based. And yeah, I just wasn't interested in having any debt affiliated with this company, I felt like it could be done without that.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :And I was able to manage that.
Ete :Was your husband, is he an entrepreneur at all? Or is he working a job or what's his, tell us a little bit about his background.
Audrey :He's a corporate guy. He's in sales. He's in the biotech industry. He's been in the business world for a long time. And he's been in sales, and he's just a super smart, super smart guy. And then my dad is a businessman as well. So I kind of grew up in the business world. And in the corp–I worked in the corporate environment out of college. So I had a corporate job for about 13 years. But yeah, I just knew that I didn't want to acquire any debt and I wanted to serve my clients without having that financial stress.
Ete :So besides, you know, not wanting debt, besides wanting to take care of your clients–
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :–those are the two key things. Were there any other principles upon your founding this company that you're like, alright, I didn't want to be in the business, but I'm forced into it. I'm going to do it. Here are the things that really matter to me.
Audrey :Yeah. My reputation.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :You know, I really, I really pride myself on taking care of my clients like they were friends and family. I have been so blessed because every client that's come through that door, I have had a connection with. I develop a relationship with them, we have rapport. I truly, my intention is always for them to have the absolute best outcome and improve their health. It's not so much as an aesthetic thing. I really tried to tell my clients, you know, there's a lot of role a lot of miserable, unhealthy skinny people in this world–
Ete :Yeah. Right. Yeah, I remember that.
Audrey :–and there's a lot of people that are completely content, maybe being a little bit overweight, and they feel great and they're happy. And they're having a very satisfying life. So my, my whole intention is just to, you know, connect with people take care of people. Their health is my top priority. And my whole goal is just to get them feeling their best.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :That really is what it's all about.
Ete :There are new technologies that are kind of doing that. And in a year or two, I actually tried some of them for fun.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :It wasn't the same thing. I don't know why. There's a big, there's a big one that everybody knows. It's four letters. I won't say it, but it just didn't work for me. I was getting these like robotic texts, and I just I just ignored them. Do you worry about that in your industry? Do you feel like that could replace you or what are your thoughts on that?
Audrey :Yeah, no, I don't worry about that at all. There are some people out there that really embrace that kind of technology and they like that robotic, automated connection.
Ete :Sure.
Audrey :That's just what they want. And that's fine. I think that there's so many people out there, and they'll figure out what works best for them. But I don't worry about that at all because I feel like the human connection and actually having somebody to call to talk to, to see to have a face to face connection–
Ete :Can't replace that.
Audrey :You can't replace that. And I just, that's not something that I worry about, you know, I, I'm a company of one. So there's only so many people I can help. I don't ever see myself being this big corporation.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :I like that I'm in control and that I can completely help my clients and I don't have to worry about anyone other than myself.
Ete :I think in this day, that's that that's getting lost, I think. Now and ever being in a company of one or small companies, there's a lot, there's a lot of power and you have a lot of freedom to, to serve your clients in ways that large companies or, you know, robotics can't do it.
Audrey :Absolutely. Yeah.
Ete :So when you're working with a client, and I like what you said earlier, it's not so much just the aesthetics. I mean, I'm sure you have some client and it's weight loss, and it's fine. It's not just weight loss. We're talking about wholeness, nutrition. Yeah. And but but weight loss is a huge conversation. We've kind of pointed that out. So when you get clients in and and they're not making progress deep, how's that for you? Because I know how much you connect to the client like that. What does that...
Audrey :You know, it used to be, it used to be hard, you know, I think, Oh, my gosh, what what's happening here, but now over the years, I have been doing this since 2014. And over the years, I've come to realize that not all the wins and victories are scale related, right?
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :So somebody may come in thinking that they really want to lose weight, but what it turns out is they want to, they want to feel better. They want to be able to hike and bike and ski without having any knee pain or joint pain or back pain. They want to not feel fatigued in the afternoon, they want to sleep better. They want to have, you know, they want to take care of their families, they want to be able to cook healthy meals for their families and feed healthy snacks to their kids and their grandkids. Athletes want to perform better. So I work with, you know, these awesome athletes, and it's so rewarding to see them when they can hit prs or they can, you know, excel in their sport. Those are the things that that I feel really, really matters. So I don't worry so much about the progress that's, you know, on the scale.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :There's so many other ways to measure progress.
Ete :I think that's an important message in this in this space. Big time.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :So when you left the company, you were kind of seeing the signs on the wall and you're–
Audrey :Right.
Ete :Yeah, this, it's time. So then you start your LLC, you start Elevate.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :You've got clients that come over with you. You've never done business or wanted to. So here you are now a business owner figuring this out. As far as your program or your process. I know you mentioned before we started the interview that you made some changes.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :You said you were not as strict or I remember how you phased it. But yeah, can you tell us a little bit about what is it? What is your, what is the visit? Or what's the process now look like, now that you're Elevate?
Audrey :Right. So I feel like how I was trained was very, you know, traditional meal plans, restricted in calories, restricted in food choices, there wasn't a lot of empowerment on the client side. And that, that bothered me. I didn't feel like it was as flexible as it needed to be. I didn't feel like it was as sustainable as it could be. I just felt like there was room for improvement. So when I went off on my own, I decided that I was going to you know, explore that a little bit more and see if there were clients that would appreciate having a little bit more flexibility and a little bit more choice. So from a coaching perspective, it's really about Okay, you know, what are your goals? What do you want to accomplish? And how do you want to do that?
Ete :Not so much here's my program.
Audrey :Absolutely.
Ete :You fit into this, but how can I help you? How do I fit into your life?
Audrey :Oh, yeah. So it's much more. It's, you know, we develop a great relationship. It's, it's very collaborative.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :We work together. So it's not me telling, you know, okay Ete, I need you to eat spaghetti squash every night and it needs to be a cup.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :And that's going to be a great complex carbohydrate for you to eat. So instead, it's like, Okay Ete, tell me some of the foods you really enjoy. And why do you like those foods? And, you know, let's talk about that a little bit. And is that serving you well, is that promoting health or is that taking away from your health? And just having those conversations and really trying to understand the environment that the client is surrounded with. We all know that that's a really important aspect of our health is, is how our lifestyle is, and what's around us, and those people that are supporting us,
Ete :Right. So this makes a lot more sense this, this model versus you know, how can we fit this into what you already have, like you said, because the restrictive thing it doesn't work for everybody,
Audrey :Right. It doesn't.
Ete :It works for very few long term–
Audrey :Right.
Ete :–because of birthday parties, because whatever ,and so I'm almost hearing like you're creating this new program where you're making space for for their life and their lifestyle.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :And then just guiding them.
Audrey :Yeah, absolutely. And I'm here I'm here to guide them. I'm a practitioner myself. I don't claim to eat perfectly ever but I do try to make healthy choices and cook and feed those around me, you know, healthy foods, but I'm certainly going to go to a birthday party once in a while. I'm going to have a piece of pizza once in a while. I don't, don't believe in restriction and deprivation and starvation and any healthy, unhealthy, extreme measures. That's never going to serve the client, well, long term, or even short term. If there's anybody out there that, you know, they come to me and they say, gosh, you know, I saw this great program, and it's lose 10 pounds in two weeks or lose 10 pounds in a week.
Ete :You're all, Nope.
Audrey :And I just say run, you know, that's, that's never gonna promote their health. That's never going to be a healthy choice long term.
Ete :So are you, so you have your initial consultation visit.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :You sit down, you talk about, you know, their environment, the food they like all this and you kind of help put together a custom program.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :And then are you still doing like, is it more of a, is it still a weekly kind of check in with you know, encouragement and do you still kind of doing that psychology aspect of it?
Audrey :Yeah, yeah. It's, it's, it's, it's kind of a little bit of everything, you know? We talk about exercise. We talk about sleep, we talk about how hydration strategies and movement and stress, and nutrition. Yeah, all those things are factors of our health. And so they're important things. So it's not just about nutrition. And it's just, it's not only about exercise, it's kind of all of these different components that make up our health. So yeah, I love to meet with clients weekly. Some clients that doesn't work for them. So it might be, you know, bi-monthly or every other week, whatever works best for them. I have online clients that I that I work with–
Ete :Video chat?
Audrey :Yeah, no, just an online program. And it's all done through messaging and email. And that works well. I have phone clients, but the the face to face is is really enjoyable. I really, I really enjoy meeting people and getting to know them and meeting with them on a regular basis.
Ete :Yeah. One of the things I always liked about the way you did, you did your your your work. Was you're just really encouraging?
Audrey :Right.
Ete :You know, like you're, she's got a great energy if you guys haven't met her and just it's just like a light bulb. But you're always so encouraging. I remember times coming in on having big wins and sometimes coming in and I didn't have a big win.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :But you you were really good. I think it's a gift at saying, okay, you know kind of picking me up and I would walk out the door after that and say, Okay, I can do this again. Because sometimes in this journey, we lose faith in ourselves and our ability to overcome–
Audrey :Oh, yeah.
Ete :–all the crazy temptations out there.
Audrey :Yeah, self doubt can be, so a big problem for people.
Ete :Huge problem. And I always found that that was you that was one of your gift was that you were somehow able to help build people up but in an encouraging way where they weren't discouraged.
Audrey :Right. And I, and I think in an authentic way too, right? It has to be genuine and it has to be you have to be able to find the bright spots that are like what's going right with this. So yeah, maybe you you know had champagne and birthday cake last night. Big deal. What's going right what happened before that?
Ete :Focus on the positive.
Audrey :Yes, absolutely. Because a lot of times people can do, you know, 100 things, 99 of them, right. And they focus on the one thing that went wrong. And that's human nature. But that's, that's, you know, so common and so I try to focus on okay, that was, you know, that wasn't your ideal moment or what you wanted. That's all right, what what happened the other 99 times? Let's focus on the good things. Let's focus on what's working, and what's going going right for you.
Ete :Were you always, did you always have that mindset? Was there a point in your life where you were able to start looking at more of the positive versus the negative things? Because that's not natural for a lot of people?
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :It's not for me, I've had to train my brain and everything for years to get better.
Audrey :Yeah, I've, well, I've read books on mindset. And you know, I've had a lot of things in my life that I've had to overcome, that were really challenging. And I think that, you know, when you go through some really tough things, you learn that having a positive mindset and being able to reframe that will make it that much easier.
Ete :Yeah,
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :So let me ask you this, how did you get your start in–because I know you're working with this other company–in in this whole world of health, wellness, nutrition because you didn't always want to do that. Did you as a kid–
Audrey :No. Oh my gosh, I never thought, if you would asked me even in high school or college if you thought I would be, you know, a nutrition coach, there's no way I would.
Ete :If I asked you in high school, would you want to be what...
Audrey :I always wanted to be either a teacher or in business.
Ete :You're doing both. You're teaching people. Okay.
Audrey :Yes, yes. So it all worked out, I suppose.
Ete :But did you go to college?
Audrey :Yes.
Ete :And but not for health, nutrition, anything?
Audrey :No, I was an economics major at the University of Utah.
Ete :Okay. And were you from originally from Utah or?
Audrey :No, I'm from Idaho. I'm from the Haley area.
Ete :Don't know where that is.
Audrey :It's near Sun Valley. Little ski resort town much like where we live. Yes.
Ete :Awesome. And your family, your father was an entrepreneur?
Audrey :He wasn't an entrepreneur. He worked for a big corporation.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :And he was the CFO.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :And so I grew up with him–you know, he's such a hard worker. He's probably the hardest worker I know. He's still working today.
Ete :Really?
Audrey :Yeah, he's just, he. He was an accountant and he loved numbers and finance. And that's, that's kind of what I grew up with was a really hard working, hard working dad.
Ete :And your mother?
Audrey :My mom was a homemaker. Yeah. And she was great. So typical, you know, family of four. I have one sister who's younger than me, and she ended up, she's a teacher.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :So yeah, that's, that's super fun for us. So yeah, we grew, I grew up in a small ski resort. I met my husband at 14.
Ete :But you didn't get married at 14.
Audrey :No, no, no, no, Thanks for clarifying thst. Yeah, we met at 14. It was eighth grade, junior high. We dated for a couple weeks, and then we became really good friends. And then we started dating again, our senior year. We dated for gosh, almost 10 years before we got married.
Ete :Wow.
Audrey :And then our–Yeah. 10 years.
Ete :And you were at, because you went to University of Utah. So during that period, did he go there as well?
Audrey :He went there as well.
Ete :So you kind of were just that that whole time you were pretty close.
Audrey :Yeah. And then we're getting ready to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in a couple weeks.
Ete :That's crazy.
Audrey :Yeah. So we've been together 37 years.
Ete :That's awesome. Wow. I'm 37 years old.
Audrey :Yeah. Isn't that crazy?
Ete :That's awesome.
Audrey :And we're still I mean, he's, he's such a great guy. And we have a great relationship and we're best friends.
Ete :You have two kids?
Audrey :Three kids, three kids. My oldest is 23. So she is graduated from college and working. And then my middle daughter is 20 and she's a junior at the University of Utah. She's a business major.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :And then my son is 15 and a half.
Ete :So just one at home.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :So and how does he, do you try to like teach him like? Do you take all this stuff home and say, Hey, you got to eat that, you know, how does that...
Audrey :I try. At first there was a lot of resistance. My kids were like, Oh no, but now I think they're starting to realize that you know what I say rings true. And my son, he's a hockey player. So he's really getting interested in, you know, eating for his sport and for performance and feeling his body. So that's been fun to watch that transition.
Ete :Totally random. But as we're talking about kids, do you have any advice for parents with kids that are tryingto...Like I got a 10 year old.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :And he eats–and I can't blame him, we buy it, right?–but the way he eats is nothing like the way I eat. It drives me nuts, but I don't know what to do about it.
Audrey :Yeah. Oh my gosh, I, I–
Ete :Do you get that a lot?
Audrey :I do. I do. And it's it's hard because kids are tend they tend to be finicky. They tend to be picky. They want to eat what their friends are eating. They want the treats. So I, you know, again, I go with the philosophy, I tell parents, you know, don't try to force food, don't try to push food on them, but give them an opportunity. You know, let them go to the store with you, hey, look at all these fruits and vegetables. Do you see one that you might want to try? Let's cook this together, you know, how would you like it and really empower them so that they're making some choices. They do say research shows that it could take up to 15 times for a kid to decide they like a particular food. So don't give up.
Ete :Yeah, I'm on one. Yeah, I mean, like, yeah.
Audrey :Don't give up. And then you know, sometimes they need it to be fruits and vegetables to be cut in fun shapes. They need yogurt to dip it in, they need to make it more interesting. And then another thing with kids is they get overwhelmed. If someone gives them a big pile of food. They don't have an appetite that's gonna support that big pile of food.
Ete :So emotionally, they get overwhelmed?
Audrey :Yeah, they get overwhelmed emotionally, visually. So It's better to give them little amounts of food, and then feed them more if they're hungry. And then another thing is a lot of parents, you know, oh, my kid, my kid won't eat, I don't know what to do. They're not eating, they're not eating. Kids have a natural appetite. And they can naturally regulate it. They don't need our interference.
Ete :So they know, when they're hungry they'll eat?
Audrey :Yeah. They know, you know, I have parents that will be like, Oh my gosh, they're not hungry. They're not eating, and they're so worried. But they'll eat when they're hungry. One thing that I don't know if this is prevalent today, but in my era, it was so common for parents to tell their kids like you have to clean your plate. You have to finish your food.
Ete :Yes. I grew up that way too. Every bite. And you're right, but it'd be a huge plate.
Audrey :Right. And that's just that's just not doing your child any, any service. So it's very much you know, make it let them be in control. Let them you know, have them trying new things, but don't force it. And then whatever's in the house is what they're going to eat. So, you know, treats and those kinds of things. I believe that they should have access to that but not 24-7, you know, all the time and then that way they're going to choose, maybe maybe make a better choice.
Ete :Gotcha.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :You've been seeing a lot of different clients, a lot of different body types, you know, physiques all these different things, different allergies all these years. And I imagine and I wonder, do you start to see patterns and things? Are there certain myths that you see out there in this because we talked to beginning about how much just nonsense there isn't. It's, it's so hard for someone who wants to get healthy. What do you start like do people come in with Oh, I thought this and this. Do you see like..
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :Could you bust a few that drive you nuts?
Audrey :Well, there's a lot of people that you know, want to follow a trend. They either want to follow keto, or they want to follow paleo or they want to do the carnivore diet or, you know, they want to be vegan or vegetarian.
Ete :They just want to fit into a label?
Audrey :Right. There's just something where they think like, Oh, you know, my friend did this and it worked so well for her and I want to implement this in my life. And what I tell them is how long can you do that for? Because if you can't do that forever, it's not going to serve you well, right? You have to it has to be a lifestyle, it has to be something that you can do long term. So really, and then pointing out, you know, the elements of how happier are you going to be doing that? You know, if you if you love bread, and you never get to have a piece of bread again, is that gonna? Is that gonna make you happy long term? Are you going to be able to sustain that? So sometimes people are really shocked to hear that. I really don't have a particular I guess I'm nutritionally agnostic. I support clients with whatever it is that they want to do. But a lot of times I have to, you know, start at a very basic level and say, hey, let's just start out eating five fruits and vegetables a day. Let's just start there. Let's make sure you're getting your, your water in. Let's just make sure you're moving your body. So to simplify it, right, because you don't ever want to overwhelm the client with, you know, a million to-dos, and then they leave feeling more confused than than they when they started. And then yeah, as far as trends and and patterns and stuff that I'm seeing, you see a lot of people that especially in middle age, that are really discouraged. They feel like they don't know what happened. They don't know how they got there.
Ete :Sure.
Audrey :They, they feel like they're ready to give up.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :They feel like they've tried everything and nothing worked. And so, you know, just really trying to let them know like, this isn't just you, you know, this is your body. This is the stage of life. There's things that we can do to definitely get you feeling better. But how you are at 50 is not gonna equate to how you were at 16 or 20 or 25.
Ete :Yeah, there's changes for sure.
Audrey :Yeah, there's a lot of changes that just happened in the whole aging process. So my whole goal is, let's shoot for longevity. Let's shoot for quality of life here. Let's get you skiing on, you know, at the mountain when you're 75 and 80.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :That's, that's what we want. We want the quality of life. We don't want, you know, to, to go down the path of illness.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :So yeah, those are those are some things that I see–
Ete :I love it, just focusing on this, like you said, if it's not gonna work long term, it's not gonna work.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :I think that's...You could put that on a on a T shirt.
Audrey :Yeah. Well, and something that people always ask me, they come in and they're like, what's the perfect diet? I want to do the perfect diet. Yeah, I want to have this amazing result. And what's the perfect diet? Just tell me. I'll do whatever you tell me to do.
Ete :And what do you say?
Audrey :It's an interesting question. It happens really frequently. And the perfect diet is the one that you're going to stick to.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :It's the one that you're going to enjoy and the one that you're going to adhere to. So I kind of flip it around and say, well, you tell me what would the perfect diet be for you? What would you...What would you embrace? What would you do every day from here on out?
Ete :Yeah, what sounds fun? What sounds like something–
Audrey :Because, yeah, there has to be a variety and there has to be an element of enjoyment, right? We can't just, you know, food is fuel and it's enjoyment. And it's pleasure. It's not necessarily following whatever your best friend did.
Ete :Interesting. When you're talking about that, you know, I never realized it's like, on one side, totally random. But we don't want to have labels, right? We're in this world. We don't want to be labeled as anything, right. But then in the food world, it's your right we want to what am I, am I Keto, am I vegan? And we want to find our, our little tribe or our little box and stay in it.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :Where, you're right, that doesn't, this, this doesn't make sense. It's not necessarily the best for you.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :Like I said earlier, there is a psychological side to what you're doing. Like, I feel like, you know, when someone's down and eating, you're just like, you kind of help help them with their mind.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :I imagine you take on some of that. Is that exhausting?
Audrey :Yeah. It's a, it's something I'm learning to manage a little bit better, it can be tiring, but I, I love it so much. And they say that when you love what you do you have no sense of time. And I, that has absolutely happened with me. I can just lose track of time when I'm with my clients, even talking with you, you know, I just am not aware of the time that's passing by. But um, yeah, it can be really exhausting. I work with brides, I work with people that are trying to conceive, I work with people that are, you know, new parents, new moms. I have a client I'm working with that wants to be a firefighter.
Ete :Wow.
Audrey :So it's, it's fascinating. It's so interesting. I'm intrigued all the time. I just absolutely adore my clients.
Ete :Do you have a favorite? And not not client? I'm not gonna ask you that. Do you have a favorite scenario? Like, is there one that you come across? If you like, Oh, this is fun. You know?
Audrey :It's all so, it's all so great. I I really love working with with middle aged women like myself because we can just laugh and commiserate on on all the things that we're going through. So that's enjoyable. I love you know, anytime I help a client conceive that's just so special to me. I call them my little Elevate babies because there's been some miracles there. So I love that brides are really, are really fun to work with. And athletes, I work with a lot of athletes, and I really, I really enjoy that as well. And so I you know, I've had clients that are in their 70s and they're, they're fantastic. And then I've had younger clients or high school kids that are trying to kind of enhance their sport performance. And I love that too.
Ete :Yeah, but yeah, that's, that's very diverse.
Audrey :It is.
Ete :That's kind of funny. So okay, so you're forced into business, you build the company start Elevate. You, you start, all these clients come with you. And you know, you're just kind of customizing, coming up with this new program we'll call it, which is like, basically whatever program fits each person.
Audrey :Right, very individual.
Ete :How has it been going? So you started in 2017?
Audrey :Yes, I started elevate in February or March of 2017.
Ete :So about three, just over three, three and a half years.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :Are you happy? Has it been, the balance has it been, on the business side, I'm asking. Yeah, we're gonna talk more about the business side. Has it been overwhelming? Is it become more easy? comfortable? How's the business experience?
Audrey :Oh, it's, it's been great. It's, it's, you're constantly learning. You know, I had to, I had to learn how to build my website.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :And I had never done that before. I'm not the most technological, advanced person. But I had my sister in law and my brother in law who are and they really helped me build, build my website and get that up and running. And I still remember in July of 2017, when we got my website up and running, that was really a pivotal moment, like, Oh my gosh, I built a website. I never thought that would happen.
Ete :And I love that you said that because for some they might go, website, that's easy. But for many, like, most people don't build a website in their whole life.
Audrey :Yeah, you know, it was scary. So scary.
Ete :And I saw it. It actually really good.
Audrey :Yeah, thank you.
Ete :I was going through it yesterday.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :So cool. So what else has been like a challenge for you? So...
Audrey :So that was the big one. That was the one that I think was really terrifying. I already had my clientele. So I knew I could manage my clientele.
Ete :Yeah, cuz you've already done it.
Audrey :Yeah, I had been doing it before. Luckily, a guy that we had worked with at our former company was a software developer. And he created some software. And that saved me because I didn't want to go down the software developing path.
Ete :So software to manage your–
Audrey :Yes, yes.
Ete :Okay so, CRM, customer relationship management software. Okay.
Audrey :Yeah. So he did that and that was fantastic. So that was kind of an exciting part is–
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :–I was in kind of on helping him create that.
Ete :Yeah, make sure it fits what you, your needs.
Audrey :Yeah. So that was exciting. Building the website, I think that was the scariest thing for sure. And then just building up, you know what, how I was going to conduct business. You know, I had said earlier, my reputation was important because I, I want people to refer others that they, I take great care of my clients, I want to have that reputation. I want people to know that they're going to be cared for, and nurtured. And I'm going to be checking in on them and supporting them along the way. And I think that that's the missing the missing link for a lot of coaching practices. There's a lot of online coaches, that they don't do that. They have so many clients, they can't possibly take care of them in that aspect.
Ete :Right.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :No, and I think that's a huge, I honestly think, like I said, I think that's one of your gifts and one of the values of your company. You know, just that personal, but also just your, the way you're able to encourage, hey, get back up.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :I think you'd be pretty good as like, I don't know, like leading in a war or something, like come on guys, like inspiring people. That's the word I'm looking for.
Audrey :Thank you. That's that's such a compliment. Oh thank you.
Ete :So yeah, so website, all that, those are all hard things. So, you know, you're just kind of hitting, are you just finding like every time you hit a new plateau or a new space that you don't know what to do, you just kind of have to figure figure it out.
Audrey :Yeah, you do. You really have to figure it out. And I'm, you know, I don't have anybody, I don't have a colleague that I can rely on. So that's, that's kind of challenging at times. But it's been, it's been great. It's been such a rewarding experience. And I think one thing that makes it work so well is, you know, I've had all these life experiences. So I really do have the ability to connect with people. I'm a parent. I have three children–
Ete :Right.
Audrey :–so I can connect with the kids. I substitute teach at Park City High once in a while. So I have that connection with some of the students there. So I think those life experiences that you've gone through, make me relatable. So I think people find that when they come in here, there's something that we have in common or they can relate to, and I think that's really helpful as well.
Ete :Okay, so I want to go back because I kind of glanced over, you know, how we got from University of Utah, married and, you know, to, to where you and I met.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :And you've shared, you know, with me, previously to this, you've had some really interesting, one experience in particular, when you were back in the corporate world, when you were working at a Fortune 500 company.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :Could you share a little bit of a little bit with us of that experience and how that led you to, to, to healthcare, and to nutrition?
Audrey :Yeah, it's an interesting story. So when I graduated from college, I got a job and and our company was acquired by a Fortune 500 big corporate, big corporation. And I went to work there and I was in marketing. And it was a great, it was a great company. We had a great time, lots of young people. And my really good friend worked with me. And, and we were there from 1990 to, I was there till 2003. But in 1999 a gunwoman entered our building and started shooting and came up to our floor and unfortunately, my friend was one of the victims of that shooting. So that was really an eye opening experience. It was horrifying. But you learn so much in those situations.
Ete :Was the gunwoman targeting anybody in specific? Why did she come to your floor and your friend?
Audrey :Yeah, you know, those are some questions that we may never know, but she, unfortunately, was mentally ill. And she was specifically looking for a blonde woman.
Ete :Which, you could have fit that description.
Audrey :Yes, very much so. And it was one of those days where it made me realize it, it wasn't my day to die. It was not my day. And unfortunately, it was my friend's time.
Ete :And so that had to have an impact on your career decisions.
Audrey :Yeah, it was a big eye opener because you realize, you know, you've worked so hard in this corporate position. And then you kind of wonder, gosh, is this worth it?
Ete :Yeah. Is what I'm doing matters?
Audrey :Right. I had, you know, my little girl at the time was a year. And I just thought, I don't know about this, but I really loved my job. And it was one of those things we we kind of came together in solidarity as a company and so a lot of people you know, stuck around and we continued to work really hard and then, it was never the same, but I was offered a position in Seattle to relocate. And it just didn't appeal to me. It wasn't anything that I was excited about doing. I did not want to leave this area. I absolutely love it here. So at that point, I just decided to take my severance package and be a stay at home mom and enjoy my children and enjoy my family. So I did that for a while and then ended up we had our son, and we built a house and I was totally content. I was a mom, was a stay at home mom. And you know, life was good. Yeah. And then as far as how I stumbled into this nutrition business, a friend called me and said, hey, there's a seminar in our neighborhood tonight and I don't want to go by myself, will you please come with me? And I told her I'm like, you know, that's really doesn't interest me. I don't have a weight problem. And I'm just not, I'm just not really interested in that.
Audrey :Yeah, yeah.
Ete :And she's like, please, I don't want to go by myself. You don't have to do anything. You just have to come with me.
Ete :Just a favor, to support her.
Audrey :Yeah. So I was like, Okay, I'll go. That's, that's fine. I'm sure it will be interesting. And as I sat there listening to this, this nutrition coach talk, everything he said resonated with me. And I was fascinated. I just I could not get enough of what he was talking about. And he was talking about fueling your body and eating for performance and picking quality foods. And I had never really thought about food in that aspect. So I was completely hooked.
Ete :And so, so your friend that you left the meeting, and she dragging you in, and you're you're trying to stay, huh?
Audrey :Yeah. And so I was like, Oh my gosh, sign me up, this is fascinating. And so then I decided that I was going to, you know, do this little 12 week program and see what I could accomplish and I absolutely loved it and I felt so great. And I kept teasing this this coach. I kept saying, I know you want me to work here. I know I'd be so good at this. And he laughed. And then one day he's like, you know, we do we do need somebody, would you be interested in getting certified and doing the training, the courses and everything that you need to do to become a fitness professional and coach people on nutrition? And I said, Yeah, I'd love that.
Ete :It's interesting that you had no interest at all going you said, I'm not that's not really interesting to me.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :Do you think that, it's interesting that you were sitting there and you're like having this moment like, Wow, what he said, it's resonated with you?
Ete :Yes.
Ete :Do you think you were just meant to be in this world?
Ete :I do.
Ete :Like it's kind of destined kind of thing.
Audrey :I do.
Ete :And you just finally found out, you were sitting there like, Oh, this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
Audrey :Absolutely. Yeah. It's it's fascinating because I took a nutrition course in college and never, I just remember it being so hard and difficult and trying to remember all the minerals and vitamins and nutrients and the ATP pathway and all these crazy things and then you know when you actually, I've taken multiple courses and it just is so different now because I'm so passionate about learning about it. I consider myself a lifelong learner. I'm always trying to to learn and grow. And the you know, new science comes out studies come out things change.
Ete :Yeah, constant.
Audrey :So it's just really interesting to me and I really enjoy it.
Ete :I do have one question. After the the shooting and, and the loss, just because I've never been in that kind of experience–
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :–or near it. Were you, did you not feel, I mean, how long did it take for you to feel safe again–
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :–in that building? How long does that take?
Audrey :You never get over it.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :You never recover. It's one of those things you learn to manage it. You learn to deal with that trauma.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :But you, yeah, I don't think, and maybe other people have had different experiences, but I think you really have to just kind of get in the right mindset and persevere and know that, you know, you're okay. But it takes a long time. And a lot of people will suppress trauma.
Ete :Sure. Absolutely.
Audrey :And that's something–
Ete :And it manifests itself in other ways in your life.
Audrey :Yeah. Yeah. And that's something that I, I realized I did is and a lot of people that I worked with, you know, that happened on a Thursday, we were back at work on a Monday.
Ete :Wow.
Audrey :And it was just, looking back it was just surreal, you know, to remember the day and what happened and how you felt and the terror and the grief and the huge sense of guilt, because I was unscathed, as were many others. And then, you know, other people weren't. So it's, it's really complex. It's a really complex thing to kind of have as a life experience, something I wouldn't wish on anybody but it also has allowed me to be able to help clients that have dealt with some trauma in their lives. Yeah. And to kind of overcome that.
Ete :Which is awesome. And again, bringing your life experiences into your company.
Audrey :Right. Right.
Ete :And so when you left and you had this great period of time at home, and and you're, you know, working with your kids.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :And I'm sure in some ways that was healing–
Audrey :Yes.
Ete :–with all this. Now I know your husband was in an accident.
Audrey :Yep.
Ete :Skiing.
Audrey :Yes.
Ete :And he broke his–
Audrey :Neck.
Ete :Neck. So that was around 2010-12.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :It was 20–.
Ete :Okay. And he healed up pretty well.
Audrey :Yeah. He's great. He's a miracle.
Ete :And I remember you were saying that it you know, you were that really opened your eyes to the fact that he was pretty healthy and active.
Audrey :Oh, yeah.
Ete :And how quickly that helped him to recover.
Audrey :Yeah, it was really interesting, Ete. So he got this random call one day from a buddy that he hadn't seen in years saying, hey, let's, let's go ski. Let's go make some make a few runs today. And my husband's a fantastic skier. He grew up ski racing from the time he was five years old. He's an amazing skier. So they went, they went out skiing, and I was at home and I remember my phone rang, and it was his friend. And I thought, that's kind of weird.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :And I answered and I said, Hey, you know, how's how's your day? Is the skiing fantastic? And he said, Actually, there's been an accident.
Ete :Oh, you never want to hear that.
Audrey :Yeah, and my, I was just like, you've got to be kidding.
Ete :Did you think the worst? I'm always aftraid of that.
Audrey :I just, you know, I didn't, I kept thinking oh maybe he broke his arm.Maybe maybe he broke his leg, cuz he's such a good skiier. Like, I just couldn't imagine anything happening. And I just and he said, we need, I need you to meet us at the hospital. It's not good. And I was like, all right, and I think I was just in shock. And I remember calling some friends and saying, you need to deal with my kids. I need to get to the hospital. And I went to the hospital. And you know, no one would talk to me, like everyone was running around and no one was giving me any information. So I didn't know what was wrong, and I couldn't see him. So I kept thinking, Okay, this is not a good sign. And I remember my pediatrician happened to walk out. And I was in a waiting room and I just said, Can you please go check on my husband? I have no idea what's going on. I was just told to meet here. And he's, she's like, Sure, I'll be right back. And she came back and got me and she said, it looks like that they might be transporting him to the University of Utah. And, you know, you can go in and talk to him. And at that point, he said, you know, gosh, I have a broken neck, but I'm okay. And I talked to him and it's just kind of a blur, but the whole experience was crazy because he was in the hospital a couple days. He came home wearing a neck brace. He didn't have to have surgery. He was millimeters away from having, you know, serious, serious injury. If he doesn't have the ability to walk what will our life be like?
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :What will that be? Because he's so active.
Ete :Right. So involved. Yeah.
Audrey :He bikes. He water skis. He's just like the most active person ever. And I remember having that thought goes through my brain. Like, I have three children. I think my youngest was five or six at the time, and I just kept thinking, what is this, what is this life going to look like? He's the, you know, the main provider. He takes care of us financially. He's just, he's our rock. So what is our life going to look like if he can't have the life that we have.
Ete :That's scary, scary thoughts to deal with.
Audrey :Yeah, yeah. So you know, fortunately, everything ended up being great. He came home from the hospital. He's painting, he was driving me crazy, because I remember the first thing he did was started painting a hallway. I'm like are you crazy? And then he kept teasing me saying if I can make it through your driving for the next eight weeks, that will be great. And I pride myself on being a good driver.
Ete :Oh that's funny.
Audrey :Anyway, so it was one of those experiences that just makes you realize life can change change in an instant. And he was simply skiing a blue groomed run.
Ete :Wow.
Audrey :The lighting was really bad that day. He made a turn and found himself skiing off of a cliff.
Ete :Wow.
Audrey :He landed on a track. And he didn't realize how serious his injuries were. The ski patrol came and they actually told him Hey, you're good. You can you can ski down. And his friend who I swear was his angel that day. His friend was like, No, no, no, I saw him fall. You need to get him down. He needs to go to the hospital. He needs x rays. He's not skiing. He's not going anywhere. So it's one of those things where, you know, thank goodness, he had this friend watching out for him and was able to see that the situation wasn't as benign as the ski patrol thought.
Ete :Wow, that's–
Audrey :Crazy story, right?
Ete :That's a lot going on.
Audrey :Yeah, there's a lot going on.
Ete :But incredible story and incredible recovery. I mean...
Audrey :Yeah, and he made a full recovery really quick. He has no long term effects. He gets sore once in a while, but he's still skiing and doing all the things, mountain biking, doing all the things he loves today. And it was a, it was one of those pivotal moments where you realize, you know, the in sickness and health, that you take that vow when you get married, really rings true in situations like that.
Ete :Yeah. And I'm sure experiences like that really play a part in some of your passion today. Why you care so much–
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :–about health.
Audrey :Absolutely.
Ete :Cause you've seen it. You've seen what happens when you're in good shape and healthy, heart healthy, to recover from that things.
Audrey :Yeah, absolutely. And he recovered so well, and he was fit and he was healthy. And I really think that that's why his recovery went so well, and he was able to overcome that.
Ete :So it was back 2010. Gotcha. And then we thought we reconnect the dots, which was you went with your friend there.
Audrey :Yes.
Ete :And then you bug this guy. He says, I'll give you job. And then you got certified.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :Okay. And then you got a job.
Audrey :Yeah. I mean, they basically just said, come work for us. You know, do you have anybody that might want to try to improve their health? And then I started getting a couple of clients here and there. And then word of mouth. And those people told their friends and family and so it just became a referral type thing. Yeah. And it just took off. And I've loved it from the very beginning.
Ete :Gotcha. And then so here we are today. So I have a question, Audrey, kind of a follow up. I know you've shared with us some trauma you've been through. And then of course, some of these, you know, your husband breaking his neck almost paralyzed. And I'm sure that's just the beginning. I'm sure there's a lot more, there's not enough time to tell all your life stories.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :Um, one thing I just am thinking about is, is there a higher power? Is there some element of faith in in your life or even even in your business, and does that play a role or...
Audrey :Oh my gosh. Yes, absolutely there is, Ete. When you go through those things, you kind of realize that faith is kind of what gets you through those traumatic times in your life, good or bad. I've had an amazing life. I live a very blessed, awesome life. I'm, I'm so fortunate. But yeah, faith is a huge part of it. And I had to have such faith starting this company. It was just–
Ete :Oh, yeah. Because you're all alone.
Audrey :Absolute faith. I was by myself. I wasn't quite sure what I was doing. I knew that I had to help these people. I knew that I loved interacting with my clients. But yeah, there were times when it was just prayer. And, you know, if there's somebody out there that can benefit from my assistance, if there's somebody out there that I can help, you know, please allow me to do so. And I'm not kidding, there are some times when, you know, I would get an inquiry or someone would call or send me an email very soon after, and it was it was, you know, makes the hair on your arms stand up.
Ete :Yeah, yeah.
Audrey :Because it was just, it was just so crazy.
Ete :So I mean you're you're literally like that's part of your, your your running your business, is just saying a prayer and saying that if there's someone out there that might need what I'm doing?
Ete :Yeah, you know.
Ete :Amazing.
Audrey :I know, it's crazy.
Ete :And people come?
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :There you go. I like that way.
Audrey :And then they like me. That's even better. So, so yeah, I definitely think there's a spiritual component to this. I was raised with faith and I have a strong belief in that, and prayer is an important part of my life. I mean when my husband was injured and when I went through all that trauma, that was kind of the one thing that was able to help get get me through all that is knowing that, you know, there's something else out there than what we all know on this earth.
Ete :I love that you're willing to share that because I, about a year or so ago, I have a friend who I'm trying to get an interview with. But she said, she told me she said that I literally have learned one lesson in business because we're asking, How are you so successful? What have you done, you know, paved the way. It was literally what you said she was like, I get up and I just pray each day, like, What am I supposed to do today?
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :And I do it. And then when I'm done that I go back and say, Hey, I just finished that. What do you want me to do next? And then I go back and kind of,this thing. And I was like, really? And so you're not the only one that that runs business that way. And it's kind of cool. I know it's not the most popular topic to mix business and faith right in this day. But it's true. it I love it.
Audrey :Yeah, and gratitude, you know, that that component of gratitude and being grateful for whatever it is, even if it's something that you didn't expect or something that's might be considered a failure or a disappointment, just being grateful for the lessons that you learn and the opportunity to interact with other people and being grateful for our health and all the things around us. That really is important as well.
Ete :Awesome. Awesome. I agree 100%. Are you taking new clients today?
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :Okay, so if someone's listening, they're interested in working with Audrey, which I highly recommend if this sounds like a good fit for you, again, life changing for me really, really impactful. The best way to get a hold of you is just–
Audrey :Yeah, the best way to get a hold of me is either the website or you can call my office number, which is 435-631-2939.
Ete :Okay.
Audrey :And yeah, and I have a website, it's elevatenutritionparkcity.
Ete :Awesome. And we'll put that in the show notes.
Audrey :Perfect.
Ete :So that if anybody is interested in working with Audrey, and if you'd like what she's been kind of laying out this program that fits your lifestyle, that's balanced and not too extreme. I know that sounds good to everybody. So if that sounds good to you, go ahead and reach out to her. Just just kind of winding down Audrey, I want to ask you, what, what have been some big things that you've learned on the business side of the last few years? Like, what's your big takeaways that you would recommend if a new entrepreneur said, Hey, you've been doing business a few years. What would you tell me?
Audrey :Right. Oh my gosh, I think main thing is to find a mentor.
Ete :Oh.
Audrey :You know, find somebody that can really help guide you. And that's something that I wish I would have had sure that I didn't have. And so I had to kind of figure it out on my own, but find somebody that can you know, that's doing what you want to be doing.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :And just ask them say, Oh, my gosh, you know, how, how can I make this happen for myself and really try to take what they have to say, and implement that into your practice because the people that have been doing it for a while have learned so many lessons along the way.
Ete :Why not listen to them?
Audrey :Absolutely.
Ete :Why not learn from them, save yourself the headache?
Audrey :Right.
Ete :That's a great piece of advice. Is there anything else that you that's on your mind that you would think...
Audrey :Yeah, I mean, I think it's a really good idea if you're going to be an entrepreneur to start small, right? Like, don't go for the big office and the fancy furniture and start advertising. Really look at what your bandwidth is, not only financially but physically, emotionally.
Ete :Yeah.
Audrey :How much stress can you can you take on right now? And start small. But get started. Don't delay.
Ete :Just do it. Just jump into it. Something smaller.
Audrey :Yeah, because if I hadn't have been in the situation I was in, I would have never done this and it's ended up being such a fantastic experience. So you just have to take action, and whether that's, you know, making some phone calls or building a website, whatever that is for you. Take action and get started.
Ete :That's awesome. And I'm glad you got through your website.
Audrey :And yes, oh my gosh, that was that was a huge accomplishment.
Ete :Oh, man. Well, those are great lessons. I appreciate you allowing me to come to your office and have this kind of this conversation I think is–
Audrey :Oh, it's great.
Ete :Some good stories and some get some great tips there, some great takeaways. So yeah, I just love, one thing I just wanted to kind of wrap up with is, I just love the idea, you know, as I'm talking with Audrey, she, she never wanted to be in the business. It was never part of her plan.
Audrey :Yeah.
Ete :And she just, it just happened. It just, it just became what it was, you know, when she saw an opportunity and she wasn't afraid. And maybe it was, I'm not saying it was easiest decision. I don't know what it was like but but you did it and like you said, you you found an office and you have mixed mixed mixed match furniture at the time.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :Keep it, but you didn't want to get into debt. I mean, you did it the right way. Without even knowing how to run a business. It's kind of a it's kind of interesting how natural and intuitive sometimes business can be, how simple it can be.
Audrey :Right.
Ete :It's just really like you're saying it's, it's find something you love. It's it's having a great customer relationship. Staying out of debt like it's literally these few core principles can make you a successful businessman or a woman.
Audrey :Yeah, absolutely.
Ete :So anyway, but thank you, you know, for sharing all that with us.
Audrey :Thank you, Ete. It's been such a pleasure chatting with you.
Ete :It's good to reconnect.
Audrey :So good.
Ete :Thank you guys, I hope you've enjoyed this episode. So thanks for tuning in. And again, check the show notes. We'll have some links and some more information about about Elevate if you check it out. We'll see you on the next episode. Thanks.
Audrey :Thank you.