The Dietitian Business Podcast

What if your side hustle could become more than just a little extra income?

In this episode of The Dietitian Business Podcast, Maggy sits down with Katie Dodd, dietitian, entrepreneur, business coach, speaker, blogger, podcaster, and founder of The Dietitian Side Hustle, to talk about how she went from a traditional dietitian career to building multiple brands and revenue streams.

Katie shares how her entrepreneurial journey started with a freelance writing opportunity and eventually grew into The Geriatric Dietitian, High Calorie Recipes, and The Dietitian Side Hustle.

Today, her revenue streams include blogging and ad revenue, affiliate marketing, digital products, physical books, courses, brand partnerships, webinars, speaking engagements, coaching programs, and more!

But Katie didn't build all of this overnight.

Maggy and Katie talk about the importance of building a recognizable brand, listening to what your audience actually wants, repurposing ideas into multiple offers, and approaching entrepreneurship as a long-term game.

They also dive into Katie's book, The Dietitian Side Hustle, including how the book came to fruition, what she learned from writing and publishing it, and why writing a book may not make you rich—but can become an incredibly valuable entry point into your business.

Katie shares what happened after launch, why continued promotion matters, and how a book, podcast, blog, or other piece of content can help people discover your brand and eventually lead them toward your other offers.

Plus, Katie ends the episode with three pieces of advice for dietitians who want to start a side hustle or create a new revenue stream:

• Discover what's possible.
• Learn from someone who's already done it.
• Work on the mindset that could keep you from actually doing it.

If you've been thinking about starting a side hustle, adding another revenue stream, writing a book, or simply figuring out what's possible outside of a traditional dietitian career, this episode is for you.

Listen to the full episode of The Dietitian Business Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

Get Katie's book on Amazon here: https://link.amazon/B0estjpi8

What if your next revenue stream is sitting right in your own community?

In this episode of The Dietitian Business Podcast, I sit down with Elisa England and Ellen Petrosino, co-founders of Nourish and Thrive Nutrition Centers. Both started with their own 1:1 nutrition counseling private practices before coming together to build a community nutrition and culinary education business.

As their community partnerships grew, other dietitians started asking the same question: How are you doing this?

That led Elisa and Ellen to pivot into B2B education and create the Community Dietitian Framework- a program designed to help dietitians become the go-to nutrition experts in their communities while creating revenue beyond traditional 1:1 counseling.

We talk about finding opportunities in an untapped space, building community partnerships, diversifying revenue streams, and why you don't need to have everything perfect before you start.

Then we switch gears for some business coaching!! With Elisa preparing for maternity leave, we talk about how stepping away from your business can expose where the business depends too heavily on you— and create an opportunity to delegate, hire, document systems, and build something that can continue running without you.

In this episode, we cover:

• How two solo private-practice dietitians came together to build a community nutrition business
• Turning community nutrition into a legitimate revenue stream
• The shift from B2C services to a B2B business model
• Creating the Community Dietitian Framework
• Finding organizations with budgets, grants, and programming needs
• Why dietitians should think outside the box when looking for opportunities
• Why you shouldn't wait until your program is perfect to launch
• The importance of surrounding yourself with people who challenge and support your growth
• Preparing your business for maternity leave
• Delegating, hiring, and documenting your systems
• Creating revenue that doesn't require you to physically be there
• Building a business that can operate without the owner
• Opportunities to scale through additional dietitians, markets, and passive or leveraged offers

One of my favorite takeaways from the conversation: don't wait for perfect. Find the need, start building relationships, take action, learn from what doesn't work, and improve as you go.

What does the therapy side of business coaching look like?

In this episode, I sit down with Stephanie Haber of Ahava Nutrition for a business coaching conversation that starts with questions about delegating, waitlists, and growing a private practice... but, it quickly gets into something much deeper and personal.

Stephanie works with medically complex clients and brings her own experiences with chronic health challenges into the way she relates to the people she serves. After recovering from a stroke last year and experiencing significant seizures just weeks before we recorded this episode, she also knows firsthand what happens when personal life and professional responsibilities collide.

So we start with a question almost every solo practice owner eventually asks, “What do you do when you’re wearing all the hats?”

How do you know when it's time to delegate?

When should you start a waitlist?

When are you actually ready to expand?

And how do you balance your personal life with a business that constantly needs something from you?

But then we get into the questions that don't get talked about nearly enough in business: How do you navigate the emotional side of starting and scaling a business?

When you work with complex clients and genuinely care about them, where does empathy end and overextending yourself begin?

We talk about how a lack of boundaries—with clients and with yourself—can contribute to compassion fatigue, caregiver burnout, and ultimately business owner burnout.

Stephanie puts it perfectlyyy during our conversation: “Where does somebody else end and where do you begin?”

We also tackle another big question: “How do you navigate complex cases?”

We talk about care coordination, boundaries, professional supervision, therapy, and recognizing when your clients' struggles are starting to follow you home. We even discuss creating a ritual at the end of your clinical day to mentally “download” what you've heard and experienced before transitioning back into your personal life.

And then there's money.

What do you do when you feel bad charging people?

How do you reconcile being an empathetic healthcare provider with being a business owner who needs to charge copays, enforce cancellation policies, and actually get paid for your time? Sometimes delegation isn't just about getting time back—it can help you hand off the business tasks that take the greatest emotional toll.

Finally, we talk about the practical side of growth: how dietitians can learn business when we weren't taught it in school, where to find trustworthy resources, and how passive income can help diversify your revenue so your income isn't entirely dependent on seeing another client.

In this episode, we answer questions like:

• What do you do when you’re wearing all the hats?
• How do you navigate the emotional side of starting and scaling a business?
• When is it time to delegate?
• When should you start a waitlist?
• When and how should you expand your practice?
• How can poor boundaries contribute to compassion fatigue and burnout?
• How do you navigate complex cases?
• What do you do when you feel bad charging clients?
• Where do dietitians actually learn how to run a business?
• How can passive income create more flexibility and sustainability?

If you're great at taking care of your clients but aren't always as good at taking care of the person running the business, this one's for you.

Dietitian private practice looks very different today than it did even a few years ago.

Between the rise of big telehealth companies, GLP-1 medications, changes in insurance, AI, and an increasingly crowded market, dietitians are being forced to rethink what it means to build (and sustain) a successful private practice.

In this episode of The Dietitian Business Podcast, I’m joined by fellow dietitian business coach Jennifer McGurk, founder of Pursuing Private Practice, to talk about the current state of dietitian private practice: what’s working, what’s changing, and where we think things may be headed next.

Jennifer and I have both spent years working with dietitian business owners at every stage, from brand-new solo practices to established group practices. That gives us a unique bird’s-eye view of the challenges dietitians are facing right now- and there are some BIG shifts happening.

We talk about:

• The rise of telehealth companies: How companies like Nourish, Fay, and Berry Street have changed the landscape for solo and group practice owners- and why hiring great dietitians has become increasingly competitive.
• GLP-1 medications: Why GLP-1s don't necessarily have to be viewed as competition and how dietitians can communicate the value they bring to clients taking these medications.
• Insurance vs. private pay: Why accepting insurance is becoming increasingly common while simultaneously becoming more complicated- and how private-pay dietitians can differentiate themselves beyond simply offering one-on-one sessions.
• AI in private practice: How dietitians are already using AI for documentation, research, marketing, email, and administrative work... and why human connection may become an even bigger differentiator as AI evolves.
• Pivoting your business as your life changes: Your business doesn't exist separately from your life. Parenthood, marriage, divorce, caregiving, financial changes, burnout, and shifting priorities can- and should- change the way you structure your practice.
• Burnout: Why starting a private practice doesn't automatically solve burnout and why boundaries, counseling skills, leadership, support, and personal development matter just as much as your business model.

One of my favorite parts of this conversation is our discussion about pivoting.

The private practice that works for you today might not be the private practice that works for you five years- or even one year- from now.

Jennifer has experienced that firsthand, evolving from a solo practitioner to a group practice owner and eventually shifting her focus to business coaching. I've experienced it too, going from solo practice to building a 30-person group practice and eventually back to solo.

There isn't one "right" way to build a private practice.

The market changes. Your clients change. Your life changes. And your business gets to change with you.

Jennifer's final advice to dietitians is simple:

Go for it.

Whether you're thinking about starting your practice, hiring your first team member, launching something new, or making your next big pivot, don't let uncertainty keep you stuck.

Because private practice may be changing... but there is still so much opportunity for dietitians willing to adapt, differentiate themselves, and build a business that works for the life they actually want.

You've spent years becoming an expert dietitian, but starting your own private practice can still make you question EVERYTHING!

In this live dietitian business coaching episode, I sit down with Anna Strano, founder of Strano Nutrition, a virtual private practice specializing in perimenopause, menopause, and women's health. After more than 15 years of outpatient counseling experience, Anna has everything she needs clinically... but she's struggling with something many dietitians experience before launching their business: confidence.

Together, we unpack the real reasons so many dietitians stay stuck as an employee before ever seeing their first client as an entrepreneur.

We discuss how to know when your website is "good enough," how long nutrition counseling appointments should be, how to structure initial and follow-up sessions, what to charge for private-pay nutrition counseling, and why waiting until everything is perfect often delays the growth you're looking for.

We also talk about the transition from employee to entrepreneur. When you've spent years working within hospitals and clinics, you're used to someone else making the rules. Private practice is different. Suddenly, you get to decide your schedule, pricing, session flow, and business model... which can feel exciting and overwhelming at the same time.

If you've been wondering:

• Am I ready to start my private practice?
• How should I structure my nutrition counseling sessions?
• How much should I charge?
• Do I need a signature program before I launch?
• What if my website isn't perfect?
• How do I stop doubting myself?

...this episode answers all of those questions.

Whether you're still planning your business or preparing to open your doors, you'll walk away with practical strategies for building confidence, serving clients, and taking action before everything feels perfect.

Remember: confidence doesn't come before action, it comes because of action.

My takeaway tip: Start before you're ready. :)

Most dietitians don't intentionally set out to build a group practice…

They simply want more freedom.

That's exactly why Erica Branz started her private practice. She wanted flexibility, autonomy, and the ability to build a career on her own terms. But over time, something unexpected happened…. And, as life changed, so did her business.

In this episode of The Dietitian Business Podcast, Erica shares the behind-the-scenes story of how she naturally grew from a solo clinician into the CEO of a thriving group practice with two office locations and six dietitians.

One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that growth didn't happen because Erica had the perfect plan. It happened because she continued making the next best decision.

Whether it was stepping away for maternity leave, launching another business venture and wanting fewer client hours, or increasing access to care by accepting insurance, each season required her to evolve as both a clinician and a business owner.

If you've ever wondered whether you're ready to grow your practice, hire your first dietitian, or become more of a CEO than a clinician, this episode is for you.

One of my favorite quotes from Erica perfectly sums up entrepreneurship: "Want to grow? Don't wait for the perfect time. Growth is not linear- it's full of twists and turns."

Freedom, not building a large company, was the original goal.

Erica shares why she left traditional employment and how that decision eventually opened doors she never expected.

Instead of aggressively chasing growth, Erica's business expanded alongside her life. We discuss how maternity leave, shifting priorities, and launching another business created opportunities to hire, delegate, and build a team.

Erica originally built a private-pay practice but later chose to credential with insurance to increase access to nutrition care. She shares what influenced that decision, what changed, and lessons for dietitians considering insurance.

Hiring isn't the hardest part. Leadership is. Erica candidly shares why learning to transition from clinician to leader became the most challenging…. and most rewarding part of growing her practice.

Many practice owners struggle with deciding when to make this change.

As your team grows, culture becomes intentional. Erica shares how she's worked to build connection, support her clinicians, and maintain a positive workplace- even while managing multiple office locations.

One of the most powerful lessons from this episode is that successful businesses rarely grow in a straight line. Growth comes through seasons of uncertainty, pivots, setbacks, and opportunities. The goal isn't perfection. The goal is continuing to move forward.

Erica Branz, RD, is the founder and owner of Branz Nutrition Counseling, an insurance-based group private practice with two office locations and a team of six dietitians. In this episode, Erica shares the honest story behind her growth- from starting a private practice for more freedom to building a thriving team while navigating leadership, insurance, hiring, and company culture.

Running a successful group private practice sounds like the dream…until you're wearing every hat in the business.

In this episode of The Dietitian Business Podcast, Maggy Doherty sits down with eating disorder dietitian and group practice owner Tianna Noelle for a real, behind-the-scenes business coaching session about what happens after you've built a successful practice- but before you've built the leadership team to support it.

Tianna has grown her insurance-based group practice to more than $1 million in annual revenue, yet she finds herself working 60+ hour weeks, managing hiring, marketing, supervision, insurance issues, finances, and every fire that pops up throughout the day.

Together, Maggy and Tianna unpack one of the most challenging phases of business ownership: the stage where your practice is too large to operate like a small business, but not yet large enough to easily afford leadership positions.

If you're a dietitian who dreams of growing beyond solo practice or you're already managing a team, this episode offers an honest look at the systems, mindset shifts, and leadership decisions required to continue scaling.

Maggy explains why practices between roughly $1–3 million in annual revenue often hit a plateau where owners become the biggest bottleneck inside their business.

Learn practical strategies for identifying which responsibilities should stay on your plate- and which should be delegated, automated, or eliminated.

Instead of relying on intuition, Maggy shares capacity metrics that help determine when your team is truly ready for another clinician.

From venture-backed telehealth companies to changing workforce expectations, Maggy and Tianna discuss today's hiring landscape and creative ways to recruit local dietitians.

Discover simple ideas for expanding referral sources, involving your clinicians in outreach, and creating sustainable marketing systems that don't depend entirely on the owner.

Maggy shares why waiting until you can "afford" leadership often keeps practices stuck- and how investing in systems and people creates long-term growth.

• Track clinician capacity before posting new positions.
• Build redundancy so your business doesn't depend on one person.
• Cross-train administrative staff whenever possible.
• Recruit locally through alumni networks, Facebook communities, and professional relationships.
• Give clinicians protected time for provider outreach and networking.
• Delegate responsibilities gradually to build trust and reduce owner overwhelm.
• Create leadership opportunities before burnout forces change.

Growing your practice isn't just about hiring more dietitians.

Eventually, the biggest obstacle isn't finding more clients- it's building systems that allow your business to grow without depending on you for every decision.

The practices that scale successfully aren't the ones with the hardest-working owners… they're the ones with the strongest systems.

When your private practice feels slow, unpredictable, or stuck at the same client load month after month, it’s easy to spiral into self-doubt. “Am I doing a terrible job? Is this as good as it’s going to get? What am I missing?”

That’s exactly what Adina — a highly experienced dietitian with 20 years in the field — brought to this business coaching session. And in this raw, honest conversation, we dig into the real reasons her referrals, retention, and caseload haven’t matched the quality of her work.

This episode pulls back the curtain on what actually drives a profitable, steady private practice — and spoiler: it’s usually not “more marketing.”

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. Retention Before Marketing

Adina was seeing only 3–6 clients per week — and had never examined her retention data. We explored why client return rates matter more than any new referral source, how to calculate retention inside Simple Practice, and what counseling shifts can extend a client’s lifespan in care.

2. Why Referrals Aren’t Coming In

Despite years of postcards, snail mail, coffees, handouts, and networking, every effort produced the same outcome: small trickles of referrals but nothing consistent. We dug into the foundational questions:

• Is the messaging landing?
• Are services clear?
• Are conversations addressing true pain points?
• Does the value come across to doctors and clients?
  When every tactic fails to move the needle, it’s not your effort — it’s the underlying message.

3. The Client Experience Drives Everything

If current clients aren’t referring and aren’t completing many sessions, something inside the session needs refining. We discuss what makes a session feel valuable enough that:

• Clients naturally return,
• Clients tell their friends,
• And doctors confidently refer.

4. The Power of Being Shadowed

Most solo dietitians have never been observed during a session. We break down why shadowing is one of the most transformative tools for growth — offering perspective, counseling refinements, and clarity on blind spots that affect both retention and referrals.

5. Anonymous Surveys That Tell the Truth

Adina had sent occasional feedback forms in the past, but nothing systematic. We outline exactly how to send a true anonymous client experience survey, incentivize responses, gather honest insights, and turn feedback into action.

6. Moving From “I Think…” to “I KNOW.”

This is where the transformation begins. Adina often said: “I think clients like sessions,” “I think messaging is fine,” “I think I’m doing okay.” But CEOs don’t rely on guesses — they rely on KPIs. We explore how tracking retention, referrals, session averages, and patterns shifts you into confidently knowing what’s working and what’s not.

7. Why Business Coaching & Supervision Have ROI

Supervision isn’t an expense — it’s an investment. $200 in shadowing can turn a one-time client into a $1,000+ long-term client. We break down exactly how that ROI works when done intentionally.

Practical Actions You Can Take:

• Audit your retention numbers
• Shadow or be shadowed by a trusted dietitian or supervisor
• Send a 2-minute anonymous survey to all current clients
• Track weekly KPIs: referrals, retention, cancellations, new vs. returning clients
• Rework your messaging so providers and clients instantly understand your value
• Align your counseling flow with what supports long-term engagement

In this week’s private coaching session, Maggy sits down with Jonathan Yuhas of Yuhas Nutrition, a dietitian in Syracuse, NY, who is navigating a challenge many early-stage private practice owners face: balancing a part-time job, growing a caseload, managing administrative work, and trying to honor the values that matter most, especially family and flexibility.

Jonathan specializes in CKD and diabetes care, receives strong referrals from nephrology groups, and is building a lean, insurance-based practice. But with growth comes new questions: How do you work on your business instead of constantly working in it? How do you organize your time without burning out? How do you maintain a meaningful personal life while still growing?

This coaching session explores how to build a practice that supports your life instead of taking it over.

What We Cover:

Working On vs. In Your Business
We discuss how easy it is for solo dietitians to get stuck in task mode—charting, billing, scheduling, and emailing—and how to carve out intentional weekly time to think strategically and move the business forward.

Deep Work That Drives Growth
Using Cal Newport’s deep work principles, Maggy helps Jonathan identify how even one protected hour each week can improve systems, efficiency, marketing, organization, and long-term planning.

Values-Based Decision Making
Jonathan shares that family and flexibility are core values. Maggy walks through how identifying your values (using Brene Brown’s values framework) can guide your schedule, working hours, telehealth days, and overall structure of your private practice.

A More Effective To-Do List
Jonathan’s to-do list feels scattered and overwhelming. Together, we restructure it using a high, medium, and low priority system:
• High priority: needs to be done within 24–48 hours
• Medium priority: should be completed within a week
• Low priority: no deadline, low consequence
Maggy also explains how integrating Google Tasks with your calendar can reduce mental load and prevent constant task-switching.

Time Blocking and Weekly Reflection
We emphasize the importance of setting aside a weekly reflection block to review goals, evaluate workflow, examine systems, and determine what needs improvement. Jonathan realizes he has been so busy working that he has not had time to think about the bigger picture.

Considering Hiring and Delegation
Jonathan wonders whether bringing on administrative help makes sense. Maggy explains when hiring is beneficial, how to evaluate return on investment, which tasks are appropriate to delegate, and why staying lean or scaling up are both valid paths depending on your goals.

Long-Term Vision for a CKD Specialty
Jonathan shares his interest in building group programs, cooking demos, structured telehealth days, and more efficient systems. This episode breaks down how to move toward that future without sacrificing boundaries or personal wellbeing.

Key Takeaways
• Your values should shape your schedule and workflow.
• Deep work is essential for meaningful business growth.
• Time blocking reduces overwhelm and increases efficiency.
• A structured to-do list helps conserve energy and focus.
• Delegation can increase profitability and decrease frustration.
• Private practice should support your real life, not compete with it.

Connect With Jonathan
YuhasNutrition.com

Listen to the Full Episode
Stream this episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

In this episode of The Dietitian Business Podcast, host Maggy Doherty, registered dietitian and business coach, sits down with Dr. Joyce Faraj-Ardura, PhD, RDN, founder of Nutrition Counseling Academy, to explore how dietitians can bridge the gap between nutrition education and behavior change. If you’ve ever wondered why some clients “know what to do but don’t do it,” this conversation will change the way you think about counseling forever.

Joyce shares her journey from tenure-track professor and clinical nutrition manager to successful entrepreneur and educator. After years in academia, she realized that dietitians needed something missing from their formal education — the art of communication, connection, and motivational interviewing. That realization led her to create Nutrition Counseling Academy, a space for dietitians and health professionals to master behavior-change psychology and grow their impact in private practice.

Maggy and Joyce discuss the mindset shifts that come with leaving the safety of academia to build a business that aligns with purpose and family. Joyce opens up about the burnout that pushed her to ask, “If I had five years left to live, would I still be doing this?” That single question sparked a reinvention: from professor to business owner, from educator to coach.

Together, they unpack the skills every dietitian entrepreneur needs — empathy, motivational interviewing, reflective listening, and the ability to create a client-centered session that leads to real, lasting change. Joyce reveals how her programs help dietitians move from educator to coach, teaching them to prioritize connection over content and empowerment over handouts.

You’ll learn:

• The difference between nutrition education and nutrition counseling — and why confusing the two stalls progress
• How to avoid overwhelming clients with too much information or too many goals
• Simple strategies to shift sessions toward collaboration and confidence-building
• How to market and grow your practice authentically through storytelling and connection
• Why feedback, reflection, and mentorship are essential to professional growth

Joyce also pulls back the curtain on the AI-based software she uses to help dietitians review their counseling sessions for tone, open-ended questioning, and motivational interviewing skill development — a powerful tool that turns self-reflection into measurable growth.

Maggy and Joyce dig into the business side of being a dietitian, from building a program that sells to understanding demand before you create. They discuss why “trial and error” is really “trial and correction,” how to find your niche, and why marketing for dietitians is less about selling and more about storytelling.

If you’re a private practice dietitian looking to scale, refine your counseling approach, or reignite your passion for helping clients, this episode will inspire you to look beyond the meal plan and into the mindset of behavior change.

Key Takeaways:

• Build a client-centered practice through behavior change coaching
• Combine science + soul for deeper impact Use storytelling and connection as your strongest marketing tools
• Evolve your counseling skills to stand out in the saturated wellness space
• Continue learning to create a sustainable, scalable business model

🎧 Listen in as Maggy Doherty and Dr. Joyce Faraj-Ardura redefine what it means to be a dietitian in private practice — not just a provider of information, but a true partner in transformation.