Introduction
[00:00:00] Detective Ev: What is going on my friends? Welcome back to another episode of the Health Detective Podcast by Functional Diagnostic Nutrition. My name is Evan Transue, AKA Detective Ev. I will be your host for today’s show where we are speaking to FDN extraordinaire about her terrible gut issues. Her name’s Kristin Thomas.
I say that because she is someone that not only mastered the health side of FDN, she mastered the business side to the point where for the last couple of years, she has been exclusively coaching FDNs and other health professionals with getting their business started, how to actually deliver for people. It’s really cool what she’s doing.
Her direct bio, it’s going to be about her business credentials. But don’t worry, the story today and the interview today is actually just about her health stuff.
During the last part, I would say the last 15 or 20 minutes, we do give more business tips. I know so many of you are considering going through the FDN course, are currently going through the FDN course, or are already a graduate, so I’m sure you can learn something there.
But we’re going to talk about just health stuff for the first 30, 35 minutes or so. Kristin has a pretty serious one just like the rest of us. I will let the podcast speak for itself. Once it gets started, I will just say, we’re speaking a lot about what’s in the title – gut stuff. It gets pretty bad for her.
About Kristin Thomas
Now, her bio in terms of what she’s done business wise, she is the CEO and Founder of Health and Wellness Business School, a nationally recognized business and marketing school, helping health and wellness practitioners to authentically increase their impact and income.
Her and her team specialize in organic marketing, social media, authentic sales strategies, copywriting, client experience, and much more. She guides her clients to gain the confidence and know-how to step into the CEO role of their business so they can attract their dream clients, run a full and fun business, and reach financial freedom. I can attest, she’s actually done this for an incredible amount of people. It’s pretty amazing.
As a marketing professional for the last 12 years, she’s helped hundreds of companies create and scale their businesses through organic marketing strategies, content, storytelling, and human-to-human conversations.
She’s written well over 10,000 social media posts, over 500 web pages, and even worked for Twitter itself in the beginning stages. What was really crazy is we were on this podcast live and I found out that Twitter thing, she talked about it on there. And as soon as I finished up the podcast, I did some other stuff. Went on social media and the news everywhere was that Elon Musk had just bought Twitter. Obviously, she wasn’t involved in that, but I just thought that was kind of crazy. I don’t go on Twitter, so I was thinking, wow, that’s actually a huge thing to have helped with.
Last but not least. She has been featured for her advice on marketing and publications, including Inc Magazine, Entrepreneur, and even Forbes.
The Gut Issues Begin
So again, the first part of this, we’re talking about her health story, the terrible gut stuff she dealt with. Then we’ll be focusing on some business things at the end. But without further ado, let’s get to the interview.
Hey there, Kristin. Thanks so much for being here with us today.
[00:02:55] Kristin Thomas: Thanks so much for having me. Excited to be here.
[00:02:57] Detective Ev: I’m excited to talk to you. I feel like you’re kind of a mini celebrity in our space. You’re doing many cool things, helping a lot of people with the business stuff, and just making noise. I love people that are doing that and helping others. Most importantly, you have a health story and are so relevant to bring on this podcast.
You’re a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner yourself. We actually always start this show off with the exact same question and that’s what I’d like to use to get us started today. My question is just simply, when did your health symptoms start and what did they look like? Like what was going on?
[00:03:29] Kristin Thomas: I first started to notice symptoms that were categorized as gut health symptoms. I didn’t even fully realize that at the time. Back in my teenage years, probably like 14 or so years old where I would just like have certain foods and I’d get a stomachache, was kind of scared. I was still kind of growing into myself and didn’t really know anybody who had health issues.
Nobody in my family really did. So, I was just kind of like silent and suffering being like, why do I have a stomachache? Why after I eat these certain things, are these things happening? Basically in my early teenage years is when it all began.
Gut Issues, Stomachaches, & Heartburn
[00:04:02] Detective Ev: I liked that you actually brought up that it’s scary. I think as someone who dealt with stuff at a young age as well, I think that’s how it feels because you’re like what’s happening to my body. We almost feel like an old person in a sense, cause we contribute certain health symptoms or just sickness in general – this is something that happens when we get old.
I love being able to talk to young people now and just letting them know there’s probably a reason for this and it could be more natural related stuff. I find they’re actually quite receptive to those ideas maybe because their brains are still developing. I’m not sure.
Just to be specific, you said the stomachaches stuff after eating certain foods. Were there are other things going on? Like what else was happening?
[00:04:36] Kristin Thomas: It was mostly after seeing certain foods, I just got stomach aches. Probably a year or so after I started to notice that happening, then I started to get what I afterwards realized was acid reflux. Just like felt this burning sensation.
My dad growing up always had heartburn. I’d always hear his Tums bottle rattling in his bedroom at the end of the night. I was like, oh my gosh. Now I have heartburn just like my dad, what is going on?
A couple of years before I even started to have any of these symptoms, my grandfather passed away from colon cancer. Obviously, my mind went towards, oh my gosh, I’m having digestive symptoms. My grandpa just passed away from this. Is this what’s happening to me? I’m way too young. That’s where a lot of the fear really started to come in for me.
These Gut Issues Aren’t Going Away
[00:05:14] Detective Ev: May I ask, did you deal with like anxiety and stuff as well? Cause I feel like we’re already pretty similar in this area, like with where your thought process went with that.
[00:05:20] Kristin Thomas: Not until probably about like 19 years old. About the time when I was finishing college, I did. So not at this time, but I think it just like started to build slowly.
[00:05:30] Detective Ev: Got it.
That just seems like the thought process of a fellow anxious person where we immediately find the worst-case scenario. The acid reflux turns into colon cancer, and fair enough with what you’re talking about actually. I mean, I could see how that connection would be made.
So, you said that at 19, you’re starting to deal with some more things. I’m guessing these health symptoms escalated over time. Maybe even before we go there, a more appropriate question is did you find any relief even in the Western medicine world for these symptoms? Or did you just learn to live with that gut stuff at a young age?
[00:05:59] Kristin Thomas: A little bit of both. Pretty quickly after these issues, I realized they weren’t going away. I reached out to my mom, and it was like, hey, I think we need to go to the doctor. I’ve got these symptoms.
Using Lactaid Pills & a PPI for Gut Issues
We went to my GP, and he basically said, oh, you’re lactose intolerant. Take these Lactaid pills anytime you have dairy. He didn’t tell me to stop taking dairy. Just said, take these pills to help to digest it. I guess it worked. I started to cut out dairy at the same time.
Cause that was where my mind went is, oh, well this food is making an issue in my body, let me just not have it. Then they talk to me a little bit about acid reflux. But again, just pushed a PPI on me. I took that, was probably on that for about 10 years. So, I was on two medications by my mid-teenage years.
I’d say, as the case is for most people, when I was on the PPIs, I definitely noticed hardly any acid reflux. But when I was off of them, even just for a day or two, the burning sensation came raging back. I basically felt tied to the medications. But that was pretty much it for probably about four or five years for what I was on.
[00:06:53] Detective Ev: I got to say, I respect the thought process of at least removing dairy. What a concept! Maybe it’s not the core problem, but at least trying to get to that problem, especially in the teenage years.
I think it is so easy (and I’m not condemning anyone, I’ve been in the same boat). It’s so easy to just say, there’s a pill for this. I can just take that and still do whatever the heck. I think it’s a lot more of an intelligent thought process that people realize to say, wait a second. Why would I take this medication, doctor, if this thing is seemingly causing this?
More Gut Issues, More Meds, Still No Answers
Moving forward a little bit, getting into those late teenage years. We already alluded to the anxiety thing. What else is going on? How is this starting to get maybe a little worse or escalate?
[00:07:27] Kristin Thomas: It was about a year or two into my professional career after I graduated college from marketing degree and got hired on at a very early-stage startup company in Boston.
I moved from a small town in Connecticut up to the big city in Boston. Got a pretty significant job, basically leading this entire company’s marketing. My first job out of college, like no pressure, right? That’s where a lot of the anxiety started to kind of kick in, in a big way. I just noticed through my lifestyle of like, not knowing what to eat and all of these things and just living a busy, more hectic lifestyle, that my issues were starting to get worse and worse.
I started to have a lot more gut health symptoms than before. They were just getting more intense, more frequent to the point where one night around 2:00 AM, I ended up going to the emergency room because I was just in excruciating pain. It felt like if I moved my body even a centimeter I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was like, I don’t feel like I can even move. It just hurts so much.
They basically just left me with some steroids. Typical kind of story there, unfortunately. At that point I was like, well, now I’m going to the ER. Now I’m on yet another medication. This is three now. I’ve got more serious symptoms, but still no answers.
Knowing It’s More Than Just These Gut Issues
Then I was talking to my mom, and we were like, well, you live in Boston, which is supposed to be one of the best cities in the country for medical care, supposedly. I was like, well, I’m going to go on a hunt for answers and figure out what this is. Cause it definitely feels like more. I did a ton of research. I was like, this is more than just acid reflux or lactose intolerance. This level of pain is not what those are. I just know that.
I went to probably three different top GI doctors in the Boston area, two of which basically snubbed me away and didn’t have any answers for me. Didn’t want to do any sort of diagnostics, literally, not even a single test. Just said, good luck, you’re fine.
Another one that finally did do some testing, ultimately diagnosed me with ulcerative colitis. I think it was around age 22 or 23 that I was diagnosed with UC.
[00:09:12] Detective Ev: Will you say this?
Everyone knows that listens often, I’m obsessed with this thought process of how people get to the next step. Like you said, oh, I just know it’s something more. Well, how did you know that? The doctor’s not necessarily saying that. They’re giving you the medications. I don’t know if there is something to elaborate there, but I’m curious.
What do you mean you just knew? How do you know that even though no one’s necessarily saying that to you?
A Gut Instinct About the Gut Issues
[00:09:32] Kristin Thomas: I don’t know. I think I literally just had a gut instinct. I feel like I’ve always just been very intuitively connected to my body. Again, I did a lot of research. I knew all the symptoms of acid reflux. I knew all the symptoms of lactose intolerance. I wanted to know what was going on inside my body and the symptoms didn’t match up.
I was like, this is no longer what these are unless what I’m reading online is not true. I was like, I just feel like it’s way more severe than that. I just felt like literally nobody was doing any tests at all. So, there was no reason for them to say it was or wasn’t anything else. Just the lack of information told me there’s something that’s missing.
[00:10:03] Detective Ev: Sure. Well, and you don’t even realize this. You just answered the question perfectly because that is what people say. They call it this gut feeling. I just knew. I just figured.
By the time this comes out, 140 something episodes, the number one thing I’m hearing that gets people to actually get help. And in your case, you’re not even going the natural route yet, right? You’re just finding that diagnosis for God’s sake. I mean, we’re not even talking about the natural stuff yet.
I want people to be their own advocates. There is a time and place to say, hey, I can try something different here. No one, guys, is promoting anti-doctor, anti-Western medicine.
Is Gut Issues the Best of the Best Genetically?
Listen to the story. You’ve been doing this for years. It’s not working objectively. I think at that time it is okay to remember that doctors, while generally speaking, they are great people, are still imperfect humans working in an imperfect system. You’re allowed to trust yourself and self-advocate, even if you don’t have those credentials and say, hey, I’m going to go try something else.
I’m sure you’ve seen this when you were doing more of the health coaching yourself. We see people all the time that are afraid to advocate for themselves. They never even think like that. So, I always just like to get that answer out of people. There must be someone out there that thinks I’m spoon-feeding the gut feeling thing, but it’s that universal, Kristin. That’s what the people that come on say. And to me that was the same thing. I wouldn’t have worded it as a gut feeling at the time. I don’t know if I would’ve said that. But I just knew this didn’t make sense. Why am I sick?
I’m being told in my science (whether people believe this or not is not relevant to me), I’m being told in the science class that I’m the best of the best genetically. That’s how I got here. That’s how evolution got me here. If you subscribed to that, that doesn’t make sense then. Why are half the kids on medications? This kid’s overweight. That kid has to go for his inhaler every day. This is the best of the best genetically?
That’s just common sense to me. I didn’t need to be a doctor or a scientist to say something about that seems a little off.
Gut Issues Diagnosis – Both Scary & a Relief
I’ll get off my soap box, but I always want people to just trust your gut, literally. Do that kind of stuff, go out there, and figure it out.
So, in this case, that trusting of your intuition was not for the natural side yet but ended up leading to this diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. When you got that diagnosis, what’s going through your head? Was that more of a relief at the time? Because you’ve had these things going on for a while or was that scary? Both? Tell us what was going through your head.
[00:12:13] Kristin Thomas: Yeah, it was probably both. It was a new, really big term that I didn’t know anything about. I was like, oh, here we go on yet another diagnosis cause at this point I already had two. I was just in my very early twenties. So, here we are with a third.
But it was also a relief. I was like, all right, thankfully, there’s an answer. Obviously, I went right home and started researching it. Got on Dr. Google. Finally, the symptoms did match up. I was like, all right, this makes sense. We’re onto something and it felt like, again, kind of that gut instinct, that there’s something else going on here was finally being validated.
So, that helped me. It felt like it at least got me on some sort of path going forward of knowing even what target I’m even shooting at. Then from there, I went down the conventional medicine route for probably another year and a half to two years being put on medications and kind of going from there.
More Gut Issues & Heavier Meds
[00:12:53] Detective Ev: Now this is always my favorite part. When do we get to the breaking point, the aha moment, whatever you want to call it? Because I know not only have you gone through the natural side, I mean, you’ve gone through FDN. This is years ago now, doing wonderful things, getting that health under control. There’s been a long journey probably before getting to that point.
So, when does the moment come where you go from just diagnoses in the conventional world, doctor after doctor, to hey, I’m going to go try something a little different? When does that happen?
[00:13:19] Kristin Thomas: It was probably about a year and a half or so into being put on a lot of more medications, heavier medications.
I started to do, again, research as a thing. I was doing research on the medication, started to see the long-term effects of them. They were actually, seemingly going to take me in the wrong direction that I wanted to go. So, I was like, all right, I’ve got to get off of these. They’re helping me short term, but ultimately, they kind of stopped working because I landed up in the hospital two more times after that first incident.
Again, one of them was in the middle of the night. I was like, all right, this can’t keep happening. This can’t be my life. I’m in my early twenties. Like, where is this headed later in life? So, I was thinking, long-term as well.
Surgery For Gut Issues Suggested
At the last ER visit my doctor looked at me point blank and he was like, all right. We’re going to try one more round of prednisone and one more round of mesalamine, which I was also on to help kind of keep the UC at bay. (It wasn’t really.) He was like, if this doesn’t work, we’re going to have to be looking at surgery and basically removing part of your intestine.
I was like, all right, we’re trying the same round of medications, again. They haven’t worked before. That doesn’t tell me they’re going to work again because I don’t trust them now. And if it doesn’t work, which I don’t have high hopes they’re going to, all of a sudden, you’re just going to take part of my body out of me? This also just felt like things were spiraling.
It just felt like people were going to quick conclusions. At this point, that’s when my anxiety really started to kick up. I was like, all right, this is scary. Forget the diagnosis. The idea of surgery is super scary to me. I do not want to go that route. Every cell in my body was like, we are not doing this.
I basically just said, thanks, but no thanks. Walked out of that doctor’s office and never went again. My anxiety at that moment was so high because I was like, well, what do I do? What’s happening? Am I going to end up with colon cancer? Where is this headed? How are things going to improve or get worse? Where’s this going?
Gut Issues & Stress Led to Acupuncture
I don’t even know where I found out about it, honestly. I just believe it landed in my lap where I found out about acupuncture. One of the main benefits is that it can help with stress. I was like, well, that’s like even more prevalent than my gut health symptoms at this point. Cause my mind was going crazy with this.
I was like, it can’t hurt. I’m going to try it. It resonates. I went and very first visit, she asked me point blank, I was in the middle of a flare up and she was like, what are you eating to help with this? And I was like, what do you mean?
She goes, there are certain foods that can make this worse. Has your doctor told you about that? I was like, well, he sent me to a nutritionist, but they didn’t really give me anything specific and it didn’t really do anything for me. They just kind of handed me a booklet and I wasn’t given any understanding about any of it.
She kind of told me about the anti-inflammatory diet and what inflammation meant. I’d never been told that term before, didn’t even understand that what I had was an inflammatory condition and that certain foods can be inflammatory. So, this is all new to me. But as she was speaking, I was like, that makes sense.
All these puzzle pieces were just coming together. I was like, this all makes sense. This all resonates, I think we’re onto something. She basically told me to kind of try the paleo diet, basically cut off all wheat, dairy, gluten, like all of that, sugar, processed foods, everything.
A Successful Path Away from Gut Issues
I was like, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I’m going to do this. I went all in. Bought paleo recipe books, revamped my whole kitchen, threw out a bunch of stuff. Started cooking. Within two weeks after being sick for what, six or seven years at this point, like 90% of my symptoms were gone. I was like, all right, we’re on to something.
I say all the time, I literally felt like my acupuncturist saved my life at that very first appointment.
[00:16:22] Detective Ev: Wow! You said you don’t even remember how you got to the acupuncturist necessarily? Okay. No worries. Really interesting.
And so cool. It never gets old listening to these stories because I know what it’s like. I’ve seen my family members go through it. I went through it. I mean, this is real stuff, guys. It affects every aspect of people’s lives when you have health issues like this.
You’re going to the hospital for this stuff. It’s not fun. It’s scary as heck. Then to finally find something that’s wow, this is working. This is really helping me to the point where in a matter of weeks, once you find the right pieces of the puzzle, yes. It’s kind of funny. The last 10 to 20%, can be tricky for certain people. But the first 70% to 80% can turn around so dramatically quick once we get the right puzzle pieces put together.
How did this lead to FDN? I can understand why you became obsessed with the topic afterwards, because you had this profound experience. But I’m sure you were going to school for something different or in a different career path, like you said. So how does this end up leading to finding something like FDN?
Healing from Gut Issues with FDN
[00:17:18] Kristin Thomas: It wasn’t that soon after I came across FDN because, again, another thing just kind of fell on my plate. Like second appointment with my acupuncturist, she kind of checks my pulse and was like, your adrenal glands are shot. That didn’t surprise me because of just the level of stress I’d been under, both with work and with the health. She was like, you need to find somebody stat who can help you with your adrenals.
I just happened to be following an FDN who specialized in adrenal health and hormone health. I had no idea what FDN was at the time. I didn’t even realize that was her credentials. I just knew that she was promoting stuff. She happened to be enrolling, again, just like perfect universal alignment, happened to be enrolling for a program at the time I started to really follow her for adrenal health.
Enrolled immediately. I was like, all right, if my acupuncturist said I need it, I trust her fully. I’m going to do whatever she says. So, I joined that program. Finally got things tested, finished that program in like three months, was feeling so much better. Just like sleeping better, noticed that whole cascade effect on all of my health, including my gut health, and learn how to eat a bit better.
Then after that, she recommended that I work with an FDN who specialized in gut health to really dive deep into that and do all the gut testing. At that point I was about to hire my second FDN practitioner. Again, didn’t fully know what FDN meant at the time. Just knew that this stuff was working, and I wanted to stick with these people.
Testing for Gut Issues & Sensitivities
So, did more tests. All sorts of stool testing, food sensitivity testing. Ended up having 30 food sensitivities to things I was eating all the time. I definitely had leaky gut and all of that going on. Cut out all those foods, started to feel even more better.
Did stool testing. Found out I had basically all the pathogens you could think of things I’d even started to ask my doctor about. But he basically brushed off and looked like I had three eyes on my face when I asked him about that.
Finally, again, I had answers. We got on a protocol. At that point, probably about two months into that program, I got into what I considered was remission. Nobody told me that I was in remission, but I just, again, intuitively just got instinct. All my symptoms were gone, I felt like my body was so much stronger, and things were very stable. At that point I was in remission.
I just got inspired by this whole journey that I started blogging about it. I started a paleo blog for myself, just kind of journaling what my journey was and stuff. Then I started to think like, what if I turn this into something else, right?
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset. I was running my own marketing agency at the time. I was like, well, I know how to build a business. I know how to market it. This could be a path for me, and I was just so passionate about it. I was like, well, what if I could help other people way earlier than it took me to get better?
From Terrible Gut Issues to IIN & FDN
This was an eight-year journey at this point. If I could help them at the early signs before all of this disaster that I went through, to help them to find their healing, that would be the most meaningful thing I could ever do.
So, I basically job interviewed both of my FDNs. I was like, all right, what school did you go to? How long did it take? I literally just like interviewed them. They told me point blank their whole path, all the schools and trainings they went to and everything.
I basically, enrolled first in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Then pretty much immediately after, right into FDN. So, I had the health coaching, I had the FDN stuff, I just kind of had the whole package. It just lit me up. I mean, it just continued to help me with my own healing journey because I knew I wasn’t done yet. We’re never really done, right? And it allowed me to finally be able to help other people, which was just so exciting.
Commercial Break – Try the FDN Course for Free
[00:20:19] Detective Ev: Hey folks, it is Detective Ev popping in here really quick. If you are listening to this podcast and thinking, hey, wait a second. I’d like to go do what Kristin and Ev are doing. Well, now you can. And best yet, you can try the course completely for free to see if this is actually right for you.
What you want to do is go to fdntraining.com/tryfdn. What that will allow is for you to be able to try the entire first module of the course completely for free, no credit card required, nothing like that. I say this every time we mention this, we know that there are people out there looking for this type of particular course.
We do not need to use sales tactics or anything else to get you into this. We just need to expose it to the right people, and they want to join. That is literally exactly what happened to me five years ago. I was looking exactly for something like this. I just didn’t know where it existed. So, what you want to do is go to fdntraining.com/tryfdn. That is T R Y F D N and try the first part of the course completely for free.
Gettin’ In the Rhythm
Okay. Now back to the episode.
So cool. I’m guessing you were pretty happy once you went through the FDN course. I know that you said the journey is never over, but at that point, I feel like you have done some solid work. For those who don’t know, we have people run tests on themselves, even in the course.
When did you graduate?
[00:21:33] Kristin Thomas: Earlyish 2017, I think.
[00:21:35] Detective Ev: Okay. So you went, wow! You and I were like, literally the exact same time. I was June of 2017. Yeah. That was about it.
But my point is, back then you only got a couple of labs with the course, which was still cool. Nowadays, they give you pretty much all the labs and you’re using this included in tuition. It’s really amazing. I think that’s just smart to do anyway.
But on those labs were you finding anything to course correct at that time? Or were you pleasantly surprised? What would that have been? The BH 205 and 101 at the time, I guess.
[00:21:59] Kristin Thomas: Yeah, it was all the BioHealth ones. It’s been so long ago, I forgot what came up on them. What was interesting to correlate from like a year or two prior when I did my first BioHealth adrenal stress profile or something like that, back when we called it adrenal fatigue. I was literally in that. Like had the exact just tanked out response. So, it was really cool in the FDN program, how like a year or so later, I got to see that literally my numbers were in the exact rhythm that they were supposed to be.
Retesting & Seeing Improved Lab Markers
I was like, this is great! I got to retest and learn what that’s like literally firsthand experience being a client of FDN and doing the initial testing, the protocol, the retesting, and just seeing the body improve and seeing the data around that was so cool.
I just remember seeing so many of the markers of labs that I had run a year prior improve. That just continued to improve my confidence around like, I can’t wait to help other people with this. I’m already onto something myself, and this is amazing.
[00:22:46] Detective Ev: It’s a good testimony for retesting because to me, I think you can’t lose with that. If you retest and you find something not so great, okay, thank God you did it. If you retest and you found something great, the feeling that you get with that as someone who’s been through that, is worth a lot more money than you spend on the test.
Just to see that objectively is like, wow! That’s nice to know this is working! Because the labs really, they can be misinterpreted, but they don’t lie. The numbers are the numbers and when you get better, you can feel that subjectively. And it’s amazing to see it objectively as well.
After you go through the FDN course, are you still blogging simultaneously while this is going on by the way?
Storytelling the Healing Path from Gut Issues Attracts Potential Clients
[00:23:19] Kristin Thomas: No. At that time, I started to build my own website for my health coaching business. I was able to start my business back when I was in the IIN curriculum. I had already like built up my business and started a blog there.
So, I kind of shut down my old paleo blog and transferred some things over to my new health coaching site. FDN was really adding on a lot of the lab testing. The reason why I joined FDN literally immediately after IIN was because, my whole story.
I’m all about storytelling and just being really authentic and open with what you went through personally. That was a big part of what I was sharing with my audience on social media and my whole healing journey was literally the FDN work. I got into remission when I did the test, when I did the protocols, and knew exactly what I was shooting towards. So, a lot of my audience was attracted to that. They’re like, can you do that testing? Can you do this? Can you do that? And I’m like, oh shoot, I can’t yet. Right?
At the time, my husband and I were actually planning for our wedding. I was like, I don’t have any time to enroll in another program. I know the FDN program is pretty intensive, but I was like, I can’t not. I’m here to deliver my passion and to be congruent with what I saw to really heal me in the way that I did.
FDN – The Technical Lab Analysis System
So, I found myself enrolling in FDN as I was planning for and investing in our wedding and everything. And I’m still running my marketing business plus the health coaching business, so, a little bit busy. I just literally absorbed myself in the content, watched modules over and over because they were just so fascinating.
Every time you hear something different, and it was worth that little bit of extra time spent I had to put on my schedule. Everything was just mind-blowing.
[00:24:41] Detective Ev: Nice!
I mean this in a totally positive way to IIN, but there are many people, myself fully included, that go through IIN first and then end up going through FDN. That’s just kind of how it happens. But I’ve actually never heard it the opposite way to be clear for people out there.
Did you do that primarily just for the labs, like you said? Or did you feel like you got everything you needed in IIN? Again, in the most positive way possible. I think IIN’s a tremendous coaching program. I think they do very good with that.
FDN actually is not much of a coaching program at all. It’s more, very technical lab analysis and certainly a system. But it’s not how to help someone reach their goals through, what do you call that, motivational coaching or something like that? We don’t necessarily teach that.
What did you feel was the main reason you still went to FDN after IIN?
Needing FDN to Help Others with Serious Gut Issues
[00:25:27] Kristin Thomas: Yeah. It really was for the testing ability and the protocols.
Because I felt like from my end, I had a really good basis of nutrition, like generally how the body works, the coaching, and how to set up a coaching program. All of those things. I felt like I needed to start my business. I had those, but yeah, it was the going deeper because, naturally by me telling my story, who was I attracting, right?
I was attracting other people who had complex autoimmune issues and gut health issues like myself. I knew that diet alone wasn’t going to fix it. I could get there, a good amount of the way. In terms of like, if they had a huge bacterial infection going on, food might not fix that. We need to actually address that, otherwise they’re still going to have issues.
So, I didn’t want to be inauthentic with what I was teaching my clients to do. Like, oh yeah, just follow this diet and it’ll be fine. Knowing that there could actually be a really serious imbalance. Or I can be telling them to eat a food that they’re actually really sensitive to or is causing inflammation in their body.
I wanted to be able to deliver them that level of information and FDN was the only program I knew. Again, interviewing my two coaches that I hired, they were like, this is the Primo school to go for it. I was like, well, I want the best of the best education, so I’m signing up for it.
FDN’s Lab Analysis Philosophy Makes the Difference
[00:26:29] Detective Ev: Cool.
That’s a really great way to say it because IIN has a lot to offer. But there are many people out there, guys, that are just like myself, tremendously ill, the GMOs, the glyphosate, God forbid the birth control many women are stuck on as many women go through the FDN course, antibiotics, whatever it is, there is just stuff going on in the world that’s unprecedented.
We need to know what the heck is going on in that person’s biochemistry and in their gut to really make an appropriate protocol for that individual. There are fundamental principles that are probably true for everyone. I, generally speaking, think everyone should be going to bed when it is dark. That’s what human beings were made to do. We don’t need a certification, even for that.
But we need to know why someone might have UC, might be completely different than why someone else might have that. That’s where the lab analysis comes in.
So, you finish up FDN and I’m guessing that you’re actually doing this work. This is where it’s going to be a fun, different type of podcast actually for the next 20 or so minutes. Because Kristin had a ton of success with the FDN program in business.
How did this go? Because you had these people that wanted to run these labs, and I know for you this took off pretty well.
Taking Potential Clients Along the Gut Issues Journey
[00:27:35] Kristin Thomas: Yeah, it did. I was just so excited about everything I was learning through the FDN program. I would say I couldn’t actually bring it into practice until I was graduated, but I kind of just brought my audience along my journey with me while I was going through the program.
As I got lab tests back, I’d show little snippets of that. I talked about how I was getting closer and closer or just different things I was learning as I went through the program. By that time, I had a mini wait list of people who were like, as soon as you graduate, please email me because I want to do this work with you.
To the point where, actually one client who really wanted to work with me, I actually was getting imposter syndrome around her because I felt like she knew so much. I was like, why would you want to hire me? I’m going to be a brand-new practitioner, but she was just like dead set on wanting to hire me cause she just felt so connected to my story and my approach and stuff.
We ended up; she was my first ever client. She renewed to my program, twice. She called me her practitioner for life, and we still are in touch to this day. She was so amazing and just built a really beautiful relationship with her.
You Might as Well Try Something
Within just about four to six months after graduating from the FDN program, my practice was full time because of the way that I brought my audience along my journey with me. Opened up an early wait list, got people in, got them really excited and understanding what this level of work is really about and what information they can get that they don’t have. Really helped them understand that.
That’s what got them to listen up and be like, I want that and I’m willing to wait for it. That’s how that happened. Ever since then, my practice was full time. Like 15 or so clients at a time was kind of where I kept things. A couple of times I had a wait list as well.
[00:28:58] Detective Ev: That’s amazing! See, guys, it takes work, but this is not rocket science. This is so smart. People always have an excuse or an answer as to why they can’t start. You’re not even graduated yet and you’re like, okay, wait a second. I can share content on my story. If some people follow along, fantastic, and if not, well, you guaranteed weren’t getting clients before that anyway. It’s like, no harm, no foul. You might as well try something.
There are a ton of people that listen to this podcast, especially nowadays, since we transitioned. The primary person is either a trainee of the FDN course or someone that’s on the fence about the FDN course. I think this could be relevant to both of them. What’s your advice to someone that’s maybe not graduated yet, but they want to hit the ground running as soon as they’re done? Is it as simple as sharing their story along the way? Or is there anything else you’d advise now?
Get Started Sooner Rather Than Later
[00:29:44] Kristin Thomas: Yeah, I’d advise getting started sooner than later. Because like the old adage of “build it and they will come” doesn’t necessarily work these days. You really need to prime your audience and build that awareness, which takes time because people these days are exposed to thousands of messages and offers literally every single day.
You can’t just wait until, oh, I have my certification. I’m just going to drop one announcement and I think that’s going to build my business. Doesn’t work these days. People are way too distracted. You have to build it over time. That’s why I intentionally decided I want to bring my audience along my journey. We’ll let them know what this is all about. Share different angles of it so that it kind of primes them so that when I’m able to open up the doors to this level of work, that I have people ready for it.
So, even though you can’t technically take on clients, if you are still in the training program, just open up about your story. Talk about your story, talk about the labs you’re doing, talk about different things you’re learning, and different ahas you had about it. Talk about just different ways that you’re like wow, if I knew this stuff before, when I was going through X, Y, and Z thing with my health, things would have been different and here’s how. Just inspire your audience, open up about your story. Just get vulnerable as if you were talking to a friend, right? How would you want to open up to a friend?
Your People Are Out There
Bring your audience into your world and let them get to know you because that’s the biggest thing, right? If a prospective client is deciding between you and another practitioner, if they love you, if they know your personality and they feel like they know who you are as a person, but they don’t know the other person at all, guess who they’re probably going to hire. They’re probably gonna hire the person who they know. Or if they feel like they know.
Even if you can’t take a dollar from their wallet, just get to know them and open up a conversation.
[00:31:15] Detective Ev: I think this is so important. I love that you shared that with people. There are many people that are very talented. No doubt about it, right? They’re exceptionally good looking or exceptionally charismatic, whatever it might be and certainly those are useful things. But in today’s world, one of the cool, amazing things that has happened because of the internet is you are exposed to everyone.
Now, the downside is like you just said, people are exposed to a thousand plus different things at least every single day that’s trying to get their attention. So, the more specific that you can be to who you actually are, you’re going to find that person in the mix of the thousand things that they’re looking at. Your people are out there.
Be Authentic and Be Yourself
And I have this same thing. Many of the listeners know I do mental health speaking outside of this with schools and kids. When I did that, I just started out. For the sake of today’s conversation, it’s a speaker bureau. It’s not really that, but there’s many speakers involved.
I was like, oh my God, this one dude had been doing this for 10 years. His story was crazy. And I went to a school that he had been at a year ago. I’m totally nervous. Right? Imposter syndrome – you couldn’t have said it better. That’s exactly how I felt. And that was the first school ever that invited me back to come speak to all their students.
There’s no way I’m a better speaker than this guy and I’m not being humble. There really wasn’t. I don’t have a crazier story. I’m like, what was this? I didn’t know a thing about marketing or anything at that time. I was super young, never studied it. And I realized, oh, yes. My story is not technically as crazy. I’m not a better speaker. I relate more to this school though, than he did, the demographic. They look like me. They had a similar life to me.
That’s why it connected better. That’s why I got the invite back. I don’t have to be the best speaker in the world. I didn’t have to be the best looking. I don’t have to have the craziest story. There’s someone out there that’s going to relate to you, so you gotta be authentic. What a wonderful thing too, that you got to be authentic and be yourself.
Successful Client with Gut Issues Story
That’s actually one of the best business strategies nowadays. Holy crap is the world shifting! I wouldn’t have liked this 30 years ago where it’s all about these sneaky tactics and crap. That’s not me, right? I think it’s beautiful that it’s transitioned into a world where now it is better to be authentic than ever.
Before we transition into the business stuff that you offer, because if you are an FDN trainee or someone considering the course, this is definitely one of the people you want to listen to. We’re going to spend the rest of the time doing that. I got to ask as someone who worked with so many people, had a busy practice. Do you have any client success stories that were just amazing and really cool that come off the top of your head? I always think that’s fun to share.
[00:33:29] Kristin Thomas: Oh, my gosh. So many.
I had one client who came to me. She was like a spitting image of what I was like at the beginning of all of this severe ulcerative colitis, in and out of the hospital, on severe medications, like all this stuff, barely able to tolerate foods. To the point where, she was basically feeling almost in remission as well, able to tolerate foods, going days on end without any sort of symptoms whatsoever.
She was kind of an influencer in her inner city. She got invited by the Crohn’s and Colitis Association of America to actually speak on stage about her healing story. I was so proud of her to see her up on stage. I saw a little video online about her being up on stage and talking about it and just inspiring so many other people too.
Another Successful Client with Gut Issues Story
That’s really the ripple effect of what I wanted to get into what I was doing in the first place. I knew that it’s not just about my client in front of me, who’s getting better. They’re spreading the word, whether it’s just to their spouse or their kids or their mom and dad or to an audience. They’re spreading that inspiration even if just a couple of people make a couple of changes to their life, they’re going to get better. That’s just a beautiful domino effect that this work has. So that was amazing.
Another one that I remember just so vividly was one of my clients came to me mostly wanting to lose weight and fix a little bit of her gut issues. Come to find out she actually had some hormone imbalances. But by us just fixing her gut, her period regulated, her mood balanced, her acne went away. All these hormone issues that she had that we were going to address later on in her program, instantly resolved themselves in the first half of our program before we even technically addressed it.
But we obviously were taking a root cause approach. It was just so amazing getting her message letting me know, hey, all of this stuff just shifted for me. She was so blown away by it and just so thankful for the whole journey. It was amazing to support her in a couple of programs.
Make a Living & an Impact
[00:35:07] Detective Ev: That’s very cool.
I love how this is that ripple effect and it’s just spreading out into the world. I have not found one person yet that’s doing this work, that just decided to do this by accident. It is okay to make a profit. It’s encouraged. You got to make a living and you want to do those things, but at the same time, we want to make an impact. This is probably some of the best work I can think of that you can be able to do both.
People will happily pay you a good income. They’ll pay you a good trade for your services cause you’re offering something good. So, you get to make the money and they’re happy to do it cause you’re actually helping them when no one else has been able to. That’s about as good as it gets. That’s how you do good work.
Now again, I want to switch to the business stuff cause that’s what you’re doing now. I got to ask you, by the way. It matters and I’ll explain in a second. Have you ever taken an FDN advanced course?
Kristin Thomas: Yes. Several.
Detective Ev: Okay. You have. All right.
I was just curious because I know, I won’t mention any names, but a lot of successful, very successful people in the FDN world that are killing it with their practices, I have found ironically, have never even taken an advanced course. I’m certainly not telling people not to take those. They are wonderful things. But don’t ever let that be the limiting belief.
Predicting the Comeback
The FDN system by itself was in place to help you create a business and serve plenty of people. If you want to serve a specific niche in a very advanced way, that is what the advanced course is for, but it’s not a requirement to go do this work. Don’t let it be an excuse either because I feel like we get into that. It’s like, oh, I need to know more. I need to know more. The FDN system is it. There’s plenty of people going out and doing that without those things. So, I was curious.
With that said though, four to six months, you’re already killing it full time. How long does that go on for before you start considering the business side of things? How did that even happen? Like where did you decide that you want to go do that?
[00:36:42] Kristin Thomas: It was so funny. My fiancé at the time, now husband, he saw this in me. As soon as I got into health coaching, cause I basically shut down my marketing agency, which was wildly successful. But I just wasn’t nearly as passionate about it as I was with the health coaching stuff. He just kind of laughed one night. He was like, you’re going to get back into this at some point. You’re just really good at marketing and copywriting. Like it’s going to come back somehow.
No, I’m done with it. That chapter is closed, and it was just because I wasn’t passionate about it. I was writing and marketing about stuff that I could do in my sleep, but I wasn’t like super passionate about it like health and wellness. I just needed a break. Just like close the door for a while kind of thing.
Starting to See a Trend
I was practicing as a health coach for probably about three and a half, four years total. Over the course of a couple of years, more and more, not just FDNs, but health coaches across the board, health and wellness practitioners of all different degrees started to reach out to me. Seeing that my social media posts were getting a lot of engagement, that my following rate was growing a lot, that my courses were selling out, that I had a well-built website, like all of these things.
They’d ask me questions, like, how’d you build your website, and how did you create your blog? How did you create a group program? How did you sell it out? How do you know what to write every day? Like all of these questions that were pretty easy for me to answer, because again, I had a marketing background. I went to college for it, worked for several early-stage companies, including Twitter (corporation, obviously), but worked for them. Then had my own agency with dozens of clients.
These were things that were just kind of my second nature skill set. So, I would just like answer the questions when off, DMs on Instagram and stuff like that. I started to notice a trend over time, like more and more questions were coming in every year. I was like, there’s something here, but I just couldn’t see it yet.
Is This My Next Level?
It was at a point where one woman who was actually going through the FDN program, she had gone through IIN, was going through FDN at this time, she messaged me. She just had like a laundry list of questions, just like all the questions about every area of business possible. I was like, all right, I’ve just got to get on a call with this girl. I can’t answer this over DMs. She clearly needs some support and I’d love to help her because I know how I can answer this for her.
We just got on a super casual call and before I knew it, I found myself just offering us to work together. I got off and I was like, what did I just do? Am I getting into business coaching? What is happening to my health coaching?
It was like, again, I would just be guided towards something, and something was just coming through for me, like, hey, this is your next level. I was like, you know what? I’ll see what’s here. I love what I’m doing right now. I freaking love health coaching. It’s amazing. I could see myself doing this forever. Then as I started to think about it more and I started working with her, I was like, what if this is my next level?
This is literally the combination of my marketing skillset, which I love marketing. I love storytelling. I love copywriting. All of it. I love just really authentic connections with your audience and building a community. So that’s awesome. And I love health coaching. I love the impact that this has.
Bringing Both Passions Together
I was like, what if all these messages I’ve received and then this huge message, what if this is just like my next sign of, hey, you can still be in the health coaching space, but what if you’re meant to help all of these other health coaches to reach their clients and build their business? I just felt this like butterflies in my stomach kind of thing in a really good way.
I was like, this feels like my next level. This is so exciting. I can still support people doing what I love doing and still be in the health sector deeply, which I still am to this day. But I can help them to build their business and literally bring both of my passions to life. That just lit me up like no other. I was like, this is it.
[00:39:57] Detective Ev: Just hearing your whole story now, it seems like almost your entire life was guided by this trust and faith in your intuition and just leading you to these cool things. If that’s not a lesson in and of itself for this podcast! I think it’s worked out very well.
How long did it take to transition? I know we talked about this before off air. You’re full-time with the business side of stuff now. How long did it take the transition for you from, hey, I’m health coaching to, hey, I’m only doing this? Because I know there was probably some time where there’s an overlap, obviously.
How long did that take?
Transitioning Into the Passion Combination
[00:40:26] Kristin Thomas: I took on this first client in June or July of 2019. By October, November of that year, I was almost full-time. I had several one-on-one clients who were working with me for support. I started my first program and basically shut down my health coaching application.
As my health coaching clients completed their program, just wrapped that up really powerfully and didn’t let any more clients on. By that following January, my last health coaching client finished up with me. I worked with them until they were complete and then was bringing on business coaching clients in the health sector. It just segued really beautifully. But yeah, I ramped up pretty darn quickly.
[00:40:59] Detective Ev: It’s amazing. I mean, four to six months, basically for both of those businesses then. I understand that they’re both related to health, but truth be told they are very different things in my opinion. I think that’s a testament.
90% of businesses fail to be able to consistently replicate positive results. Yes, passion helps, but I just admire that. I’ve done a lot of stuff with business. I know how tough it is. That’s pretty impressive to be able to do that, especially in the online world. Everyone dreams of being able to do this stuff online. It’s not like you have a brick-and-mortar store. You’re really just doing the online game. I think that’s amazing. And before it was cool before the COVID stuff, that’s even better.
Just to be clear, I would hope it’s obvious, but I always like to concise stuff so people know who to work with and who might not be for them. What do you do now? Like, what’s your elevator thing? What would you say to someone that you helped them with?
A Comprehensive Business Coaching Approach
[00:41:45] Kristin Thomas: We really help health and wellness practitioners, whether it’s FDNs or IIN health coaches. Anyone in the alternative health and wellness space that has their own coaching program, we help them to really elevate their income and their impact in a really authentic way.
We treat their business holistically, just like we’re trained as health coaches, right? I don’t just zero in or specialize in one particular thing. Obviously, copywriting and marketing is like at the heart and soul of everything that I do, but I know that everything in business, just like everything in health is interconnected.
You can’t have strong marketing without good sales to back that. You can’t have good marketing without a good program to then capture people. All of it matters, your pricing, your business strategy, your revenue model, all of those things. We really take a very comprehensive approach to that just like you guys do with your clients.
We look at everything from your programming to your pricing, to your lead generation, your marketing and your messaging. How are you capturing your audience and building awareness to how are you enrolling them? How is your sales calls going? How can you feel really authentic, but empowered during that?
Then how can you actually deliver a really powerful program too. We really kind of go from the very beginning all the way to when you’re actually working with your clients and supporting them there. We make sure nothing is left unturned just like you would run all the lab tests or do all the protocols. We do the same thing, and we dive really deep on all of those. Every client who comes to us needs something slightly different. So, we don’t give cookie cutter advice.
Building a Tailor-Fit Business
Obviously, there’s certain foundational things that apply across the board, no matter what. I’ve built hundreds of businesses at this point. I’ve seen what works and I’ve seen what doesn’t and those things are tried and true, no matter what. Then we also really kind of ground that into each person’s business, knowing their personality, their lifestyle, the hours they want to work, what types of stuff they do and don’t want to be doing and really help them to tailor everything that we teach to them, so they really have a business that they love and that supports their lifestyle. That’s the most important thing of all.
[00:43:35] Detective Ev: This is a very common thing. I have no business experience. I go through FDN, though because my heart’s in the right place. I have a story like you, or like myself, I want to go do this. Then I realize, oh crap, I could find a job with this. There’s actually more and more opportunities for that, which is amazing. But certainly the most practical route actually is the route of entrepreneurship in the FDN world.
Are you kind of a one-stop shop for someone like me that might not have experience with the sales and marketing or would I still need to go do something else.
From Foundation to Mastermind Businesswise
[00:44:02] Kristin Thomas: Yeah, we pretty much are. We have programs across the board. Our company is called the Health and Wellness Business School. We really teach all facets of business, and we have three different programs based on a level of business experience and your stage of business that you are.
If you’re like brand new, fresh out of school, nothing really created at all, we have an introductory program to really kind of get all the basics so that you have a foundation to start with. Then we have a program for you when you’re ready to scale up. Then we have a live mastermind when you’re really ready to grow in a bigger way and get some more live support from myself and my team.
We kind of hit it at all angles based on the stage of your business and the level of support you’re looking for. Each person just comes in and knows, okay, this is where I’m at, and this is what I need support with.
[00:44:41] Detective Ev: Love it. Just so we don’t tease the audience too much because I know that you got plenty to offer anyway. Can we give like one cool tip for people out there, maybe just starting off or just one piece of business advice that maybe you wish you knew years ago?
Remember Who You’re Here For
[00:44:52] Kristin Thomas: Definitely.
I would say the biggest thing just to keep in mind, whether you’re brand new and just starting off, or maybe you’ve been at this for some time and things have fell a little bit sticky, is to know that your, I call them soulmate clients, the people that you’re just meant to work with, they’re out there and they’re watching you. If you think of how many people in every disease category, or however you want to think about whatever you focus on, right? How many people are even just like people who have ulcerative colitis, millions of people.
Not one single person can satisfy working with millions of people at a time. There are tons of people, there are enough clients out there for every single one of you, even if you do exactly what another FDN or health coach does. Know that there is always an audience out there and there’s always clients out there. People are watching you, even if it’s just one person is impacted by one of your posts. That is one more person who’s having that light bulb moment and it’s starting to make a change to their life.
That’s the impact you’re here for. Cause sometimes social media gives us that quick dopamine hit of, I need to get a billion likes. I need to be doing this. I need to be doing that. But let’s bring it back down to your mission of what you’re really here for. You just want to change lives. And if one post changes one person’s life, amazing! Goal accomplished, right?
People are Always Watching
Do it again and again and that’s where you get that multiplier effect. So, just resting into the process and knowing that people are watching, and people are out there, their revenue is there for you. Just stay consistent with it.
[00:46:14] Detective Ev: That’s the honest to God truth about people watching. I had my mental health stuff like that. I ended up kind of having a lot of bad things that happened locally. I got kicked out of high school. I’m very transparent about this stuff, even on this show. So, it’s a small enough town, you make some bad noise when you do that. But because of that, as I’ve got on my own healing journey, and I don’t even just mean that with health stuff, I mean, that’s just as a personal development journey, healing as a person, I was always very transparent about that and sharing this stuff.
Some of the things that would get the least amount of likes and that you think no one is listening to, I’ll see someone randomly in the grocery store in the local town, six months later. They’re like, you know what Ev, I love your stuff. I was following back when you said this. I’m like, what? I forgot about that.
People are always watching. If you don’t believe that still, how many posts do you guys see every single day that you didn’t like, you didn’t comment on, you didn’t message the person? I think we do that way more often than we do like or comment on things. It’s happening all the time. I think what you just said is totally relevant.
Where to Find Kristin Thomas
As we’re wrapping up our time here, I got two more questions for you. One obvious one, where can people find you if they’re interested in working with you? To be clear for the audience, I know that we normally have people on that could potentially be a coach for you health wise. Kristin is exclusively doing the business stuff now. So, if you’re a new trainee that wants to be proactive with this, because she can cater to that. Where can someone find you?
[00:47:31] Kristin Thomas: You guys are welcome to check out our website is healthwellnessbusiness.com. Up there, we have all three of our programs on there. Everything from our foundations course for beginners, all the way up to our masterminds. You’re welcome to check out all of those.
Some of them are courses you can enroll in right away. You have lifetime access, and you could literally go through them at your own pace, which is amazing. Other ones you can apply to work with us directly, and we can set up a call with you guys. Wherever you are in your journey, or if you’re simply not sure, we have a contact page on our site too where you can just reach out and we’ll chat with you some more.
We also have a free Facebook group. We have a really beautiful community of practitioners who are wanting to, in all different stages, wanting to grow and scale their practice. You guys can join that too if you’d like at hwbsgroup.com. Or you can just search on Facebook for Health and Wellness Business Success Secrets, and we’d love to have you in there as well and just get to know you some more.
[00:48:17] Detective Ev: Amazing.
We will have that in the show links, of course.
Signature Health Detective Podcast Question
In health, wellness, business, not bad. Did you have to buy that URL?
Kristin Thomas: Yes.
Detective Ev: Sorry. I was just wondering. I’m like I can picture it like maybe someone hadn’t thought of it, but I was figuring someone would have snagged that by then. So that’s nice.
With that all said we always finish up with the same question on this show and it is a health-related question again. The question is very straight forward, but it’s cool to hear how many unique answers we’ve gotten over the last year and a half. The question is, if in this case I could give you, Kristin, a magic wand and you could get every single person in this world to do one thing for their health, whether that’s literally do one thing or not do one thing, what’s the one thing you’d get them to do.
[00:48:57] Kristin Thomas: I’d say sleep more. I truly believe that if you’re not sleeping, your body’s not healing. And pretty much every ailment could be improved by sleeping more because that’s when your body regenerates. Most of us are very sleep deprived these days. So, I would say sleeping more. That’s where it starts.
Helping with the Business Side of Things
[00:49:11] Detective Ev: That’ll do it for today’s interview with Kristin Thomas.
I really love that so many FDNs, enough have went on and done business side of things for the people in FDN that really need it. Most people that get into the functional or holistic space, not even just an FDN, I’m talking generally speaking now. We get into it because our heart is in the right place, and we love health. We can talk about health all day long. That does not mean we know a darn thing about business, sales, marketing, copywriting, or many of the things that are usually required if we want to go do this work.
There are opportunities to work for other people, of course. But let’s be honest, I think most of us, if not all of us have that hunch to kind of go do our own thing. I feel people like Kristin Thomas and Jen Malacca, they are wonderful women to work with. There’s other people at FDN too, doing this that can really help you with the business side of things. They’ve actually done the health stuff themselves. It’s not like they took two clients and then started teaching this.
These are people with full-time practices, waitlist practices, doing the health thing. They’ve been able to master that and then show others how to do it. I think that’s wonderful. And if you don’t already know this, when you go through the FDN course, you can graduate obviously. Then you can join a group afterwards called AFDNP, which is the Association of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioners.
Conclusion
If you are listening to this right now and you are a trainee that’s not more than halfway through, or you are someone that’s just considering this for the first time, by the time you even finish the course, FDN business school is going to be officially launched.
That is run by Jennifer Woodward. She is the executive director of AFDNP. We just had her on recently and got great feedback from her episode. So, go check that out if you haven’t already. What we basically did is say, we see this common theme, a lot of people are coming in and asking business questions. We’ve been able to help out with that of course, over time. But now it’s just, how can we separate ourselves from the competition? Is there a one-stop shop that people can come to? We’re hoping for that to be FDN.
Now of course the business school is huge. There’s an additional cost for that, but it’s nothing compared to the course. And hey, I mean, it really only takes one or two clients in this world before you could pay off something like this, or even the course, believe it or not.
Now with that said, it is great talking to you guys once again. I will be back with another interview soon. We also have some interesting things coming up on the podcast because I was just down at a huge conference with many, many functional practitioners and FDNs alike. I promise you; we were able to make some good connections down there.
I think you guys are really going to love what is coming out. Until then take care and I will talk to you guys again soon.
