Ep 14 - Earning as an influencer: An interview with Nic Ludlam-Raine on working with brands

Episode Show Notes

Hello and welcome back to Beyond the Clinic! I'm your host, Sarah Almond Bushell, and today we have a truly inspiring guest. Joining me is Nichola Ludlam-Raine, a dietitian who has successfully transitioned into the world of brand partnerships and social media influencing. In this episode, Nic will share her journey, provide insights on working with brands, and discuss how to overcome the fear of putting yourself out there.

In this episode, we dive deep into the world of freelancing and brand collaborations with Nichola Ludlam-Raine. Nic shares her experiences, from starting her career as a dietitian to becoming a prominent influencer. She discusses the challenges and triumphs she faced along the way, including dealing with criticism and building resilience. Nic also provides valuable advice for dietitians and other professionals looking to work with brands and enhance their online presence.

1. Journey to Freelance Success: Nic recounts her journey from qualifying as a dietitian to working full-time in the NHS and eventually moving into freelance work. She emphasises the importance of perseverance and following your passion.
2. Building Resilience: Nic shares personal stories of facing resistance and criticism, highlighting how these experiences made her stronger and more determined. Her advice is to learn from negative feedback and use it to improve.
3. Working with Brands: Nic provides practical tips for dietitians looking to collaborate with brands. She stresses the importance of creating engaging content, understanding your worth, and negotiating fair compensation for your expertise.
4. Navigating Social Media: The importance of a well-curated social media presence is discussed, with Nic advising on how to attract and engage followers. She also talks about the benefits of having a niche and being consistent with your content.
5. The Value of a Support Network: Nic and I discuss the importance of having a network of like-minded individuals to bounce ideas off and offer support, particularly when working as a freelancer.
6. Balancing Work and Life: Nic talks about achieving a balance between work and personal life, emphasising the flexibility that comes with freelance work and the importance of setting boundaries.

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicsnutrition/ and https://www.instagram.com/mummynutrition/

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Episode transcription:

Beyond the Clinic EP14

I am so excited to share with you today's guest. I have Nichola Ludlam-Raine, who is a dietitian like me, but who makes a lot of her money from working with brands as an influencer, essentially. So in this episode, Nick's going to talk to us about what it's like to work with brands, how to get started, and also how to deal with the fear, the And what it's like to put yourself out there and for when not so nice things might happen.

And I know that's something that holds a lot of us back. So Nick's going to share with you her story. I'm not going to give too much away, but do join me in this episode because it is amazing.

[00:00:44] Sarah Almond Bushell: Nick is somebody who has inspired me from the day I decided to go freelance. So welcome, Nick. Thanks for joining me.

[00:00:52] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Thanks for having me, Sarah. Yeah, it's a privilege.

[00:00:55] Sarah Almond Bushell: So I'd love for you to just start off by Letting us know how you got to where you are today in your freelance journey, because I think all of us come into freelance dietetics from a slightly different route.

[00:01:07] Sarah Almond Bushell: So can you give us a little bit of an overview of what your journey has been like?

[00:01:11] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Yeah, so I qualified as a dietitian back in 2009, and I remember vividly Going to a BDA freelance day in 2011, it was. So I'd been qualified two years and everyone there was saying, you have to have at least five years under your belt blah, blah, blah.

[00:01:28] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And I was thinking, but I am so keen. I'm ahead of all the research base. I probably did more research back then, generally than I am doing now, generally. And yeah and I was left feeling almost like a little bit, like I didn't really know where to go. Okay. However, I've always known that I wanted to do something more.

[00:01:46] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I did an MSC and when that was published as a paper, I was what do I need to do next? So it was 2012 and I was really into reading beauty blogs and I was beginning to feel frustrated about the amount of misinformation online. There was no dietitians online really that I knew of blogging, apart from someone in America called Joy Bower, I think it is, Bower, and she still remains a source of inspiration for me.

[00:02:11] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And at first of all I thought, you know what the world like doesn't really need my view because we've got Joy's and then I was like, wait a minute. Maybe they do started blogging and it just, it took off from there. I started working privately on the side in 2016, so I've always been very much a, like working 24 7.

[00:02:29] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I was working full-time with the NHS until I had my first son until that was 2020. Then I went part-time. I left, finally took the plunge and left last year, which took a lot of thinking about. That was 14 years. Privately, like my practice was building up for a private hospital in bariatrics. And then freelance, my income it took over my NHS wage in year one by 2013, which is crazy, but I carried on working for the NHS because I could, and I didn't have any children, so I'd work weekends and evenings, and, I am now at a place where I honestly feel so happy with my work life balance.

[00:03:10] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Like I, I do work pretty much like full time hours but it's within my control and I pick my son up from school three times a week. Two days he does after school club. I work the odd weekend. No, not the odd weekend. I don't work weekends anymore. I work the odd evening Only because I've got some patients and I could get paid a little bit more and if I'm not doing that I might be doing Other stuff on my blog.

[00:03:34] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: So yeah, I did I've got multiple income streams now, and I'm just yeah I'm at a point where I'm really happy, but I do Like I do work hard still.

[00:03:43] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, absolutely. That's amazing. Thank you for sharing your journey. And I think actually that's how I first came across you. God knows how many years ago it was now, but it was through your blog.

[00:03:54] Sarah Almond Bushell: And I remember following along with what you were publishing on a fairly regular basis, wasn't it? And you were, you're right. You were like one of the only dieticians out there who was blogging at the time. And I know that when I decided I was going to, take the freelance side of things a bit more seriously.

[00:04:10] Sarah Almond Bushell: It was you who I got in contact with and said, is this legal? How do we do it? How do you make sure that you're not going to get into trouble? And so yeah, absolutely. You've been a real source of inspiration for me. So thank you for that.

[00:04:22] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Oh, thank you. And I should just say, I don't know if you're going to ask me about it, but I have come across barriers.

[00:04:27] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Of course, when you're one of the first ones to start out doing something new. There was a lot of resistance, a lot of resistance and I've, yeah, I've fallen down multiple times or should I say I've been pushed down multiple times but I've always risen and I'm a much stronger person for it and I, yeah, I've never put a foot wrong because I've always done my research but other people may have thought that what I'm doing was just a little bit off the charts, but it was never off the charts.

[00:04:53] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Cause I always had, HCPC when you HCPC regulated, you're not going to do anything silly cause your job's at stake.

[00:05:00] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, absolutely. Let's talk about that if you don't mind, actually, because I think one of the things that I find with a lot of the dietitians that I talk to is this fear.

[00:05:09] Sarah Almond Bushell: There's a real fear of putting yourself out there, a fear of, Accidentally saying something wrong because you might not be a hundred percent up to date with the research. There's a big fear about being called out by our colleagues on, on, what we might be putting out online. So you said they're actually not falling down, being pushed down.

[00:05:27] Sarah Almond Bushell: Do you mind talking a little bit about what that means? What happened to you?

[00:05:31] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: So I remember vividly in 2013 I just not won the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards and I was by myself down in London. And I got an email from the then BDA. So we're talking 11 years ago. It's a very different space now. I cannot praise the BDA enough for their support and their forward thinking.

[00:05:50] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: But back then it was very different. And I got sent an email. Saying that because of my blog, I was being, my face and name was being taken off a website called Trusted Dietitian. And I was mortified, like I think I broke down into tears, rang my mum, and my mum helped put things into perspective.

[00:06:07] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: She said, Nick, this is your trade union it's not the people who regulate you. So this was actually the first step towards making my blog and what I do a little bit more concrete. So I then, I set up the very first disclaimer page. It took me days to write set up a disclaimer page. I had a look at my blog, really didn't think that I was doing anything wrong, because gone are the days where you had to mention, three brands, but that was removed many yonks ago.

[00:06:36] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And I sent my blog to the HCPC and I said, is what I'm doing okay? And within 24 hours, I got a reply, the most loveliest reply, saying you're not doing anything wrong. You haven't breached any guidelines. I sent a screenshot, a snippet of that email to the BDA and I said, look, I want re reinstating on my website, this, that, and the other.

[00:06:58] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I didn't hear back from the BDA. However, in the forthcoming weeks my name reappeared and I then got a direct message on Twitter saying You are back on TIA trusted TID trusted dietician website. And that was it. No apology, no nothing. So at that point, I just I started to move on. And everything was hunky dory until 2020, which we all know, was not only pandemic year, but the year that some, a journalist who is no longer working in this country so I won't mention names, but she works for a very big tabloid, and she did what she calls an expose, but it wasn't an expose, it was an opinion piece.

[00:07:36] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: on mainly five doctors who work with brands, but then she also threw in the names of four dietitians. She felt that brands shouldn't, sorry, dietitians shouldn't work with brands. So she reported three of us to the HCPC. And of course no, nobody was in the office. So I was, the BDA was so supportive.

[00:07:58] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: They assigned us each a lawyer and Eventually the HCPC cut back to all three of us and said, you haven't done anything wrong. We're throwing the case out, which deep down, I think I knew that would be the case, but I was honestly having talks to my husband saying, will we be okay if I can never work again as a dietitian?

[00:08:16] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Like they were the conversations and it was horrible. And I had other stuff going on my personal life, trying for a baby. So 2020 wasn't very good, but it's behind me now and actually, I, like I said before, it's made me stronger. What's the worst that can happen? You get reported to the HCPC, the BDA, is supportive.

[00:08:33] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: So yeah, and do you know what? I actually quite almost like having a massive sounding board, because when I put stuff out, like I'm not perfect, but I learn. It's a bit like, I've got like my two social media accounts, Nick's Nutrition and Mummy Nutrition. When I'm putting out parenting stuff on Mumma Nutrition, I get back so much more than what I give.

[00:08:52] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And I actually love that and I'm a better dietician for maybe saying something that might have been not worded the greatest because then I get feedback and it makes me better. Had I never put that out, I would have never had that feedback and I would have probably carried on saying what I was saying, behind closed doors in my clinic.

[00:09:09] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Yeah, I actually really like the constructive feedback.

[00:09:13] Sarah Almond Bushell: Brilliant. That's amazing. And I'm so sorry to hear that you had those two quite stressful experiences, really and two very different experiences with the BGA at the time as well. Would you say that, going through such stressful experiences has actually made you a bit more resilient as a human?

[00:09:34] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Oh, yeah, I think 100%. Yeah, because now like nothing really fazes me there are horrible Websites on the internet where people like talk about each other in, derogatory manners. There's a lot of hate And even like reading that stuff, it just I just, I look for ways that I can improve, so I don't really take it as negative.

[00:09:53] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And also, if you've ever done an article in, in the tabloids, I won't mention any specific ones, but I started doing that from like 2012. So I've had these comments online, and you just, yeah, you just you read them, and then you move on with your life, and you just gotta remember.

[00:10:07] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: What's, what are your values? What's most important? You, your friends, your family, not that person who's hiding behind a keyboard God knows where, who's probably in maybe a sad place.

[00:10:18] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's fair to say that, the more visible you are, the more likely you're going to come across people who are not particularly nice.

[00:10:27] Sarah Almond Bushell: And it's happened to me a few times and Yes, the first time I happened to run away and I came off social media for about five days and then eventually, plucked up the courage to get back on. But now, if I do post something that's a little bit polarizing, actually they're my best posts.

[00:10:42] Sarah Almond Bushell: I get the biggest reach, I get the most comments. And so I've run ads in my business. And so now quite often I'll have a look at those. Polarizing posts. And I think, you know what, can I put a bit of ad spend behind that and just boost it a little bit further? So it actually works for you rather than against you.

[00:10:57] Sarah Almond Bushell: But I think there is something about building that resilience and you almost need to experience that in order to come out the other side as a better and more resilient person.

[00:11:08] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Yeah, 100%. And I think what's really helped is having what I call me in a circle, of which, you are a close friend, Sarah, but having, being surrounded by like minded individuals, who know you personally and professionally really helps because if you are unsure of something, they're your first port of soundboard before you put it out to the world.

[00:11:28] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, brilliant. And that's so true. And yeah, for those of you listening we do have a little inner circle where if we are creating something, we've got each other to bounce ideas around with. And that's just really nice to have that little network, particularly when you are freelance and you don't have a department to, bounce your ideas around with.

[00:11:46] Sarah Almond Bushell: Top tip. Go and chat with some of your colleagues if you're just not sure about what you're doing. And you can always do that inside my little community. I'll just mention a little plug there for my Beyond the Clinic business community if you wanted that as well. So Nick, let's change tack slightly and talk about your business.

[00:12:04] Sarah Almond Bushell: So you've got lots of different income streams. Do you want to talk us through what your business looks like at the minute?

[00:12:11] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Yeah. And I wouldn't say, I almost don't really call it a business. I think my husband like runs a business. He's got an office and office manager and staff. So I don't employ staff, but I do have somebody who works for me like on a freelance basis.

[00:12:27] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Yeah, doing like lots of work that I don't have time for and prior to this girl, Melissa, Louisa, she was working for me basically one day a week and we had a, like a really good working relationship. I did used to be under management for two years, but I've actually moved away from that and I'm actually really happy.

[00:12:43] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: The only person like me, Melissa, who supports what I do, and then I've got like an accountant, so I don't do any of my like finance end of year stuff, but how do I split my income? I do have a private clinic where I might spend like maybe 15 hours a week. So two days a week. And then the other times it's split between mainly I'd say creating content online for brands, mainly Instagram reels and stories.

[00:13:09] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I write regular articles for magazines and online health websites that I get paid for. I also do a lot of non paid journalist quotes, but that's just promotion. I co run, co founded the Nutri Tribe, so I've got an online freelance course with Ro, which is a great source of passive income. And most recently I launched a book, which is being published in July.

[00:13:36] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: So that's like a new income stream, which I'm putting lots of time into now. So it's really varied. And I honestly never know really what's around the corner, but. As the years have gone on my work's changed. I sometimes have like yearly contracts with brands where I create content for them or for me.

[00:13:55] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: For example, Lloyd's Pharmacy did a load of work for them on their YouTube page. So it's really varied and I love working with the brands and I love how it's different. I think I'm someone who I get like bored and I get itchy feet. So I, yeah, I love the variety and I like the creative side as well as the clinicals.

[00:14:13] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And I feel like my clinic keeps me grounded and it actually helps my content elsewhere. Yeah,

[00:14:19] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: absolutely. So let's dive into this working with brands part, because I think. You're one of just a handful of dietitians who actually do this a lot. So I'd love to get your top tips, really, if somebody is listening to the podcast and is thinking, you know what, I really do fancy working with brands.

[00:14:36] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: How can they get started with that? I

[00:14:39] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: think what the first thing to do is to create your social media page. And I'm not very active on things like Facebook and Twitter, mainly because that doesn't generate me an income, it's mainly Instagram. Start creating content. When I started out, I never knew that you could make money from doing something that you enjoy.

[00:14:57] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: So I think start creating content that you enjoy making and that you would want, your audience to consume. And then, I started out, I worked for free for about a year. I would do brand reviews for free. I'm not advocating that anybody work for free. I'm just saying that was where I came from in 2013.

[00:15:14] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And then I basically got so busy that how did I decide where I put my time? So I then started to charge. I got some advice from someone I realized that you could charge. And from there really, the busier that you get, the more you charge. And I think how I've done it in the past is that I think if a piece of words come in and I'm absolutely drowning and I think, do you know what?

[00:15:34] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I actually can't do this right now. I might throw back an absolutely ridiculous figure saying, look, I'll do it for this amount. And then they come back and say, yes, I'm like, all okay. So I may have been undercharging for the last two years, which is what I've done in past times and working with management, I've realized how much money you can actually get. And just remember that brands aren't just paying for your time to create that real hour or two or even less. They are paying for your decades worth of clinical experience your authoritative figure, which you've been spending time creating online, the other free content that you're putting out there.

[00:16:11] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And also then if they're then create, creating an ad from what you've done, you then need to charge for that. So like a percentage of the fee. And I never realized it when brands first started saying, Oh, like we're putting 20 grand behind this post to boost it. I was like, Oh, great. I'll get more followers.

[00:16:26] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Does not work. I have never, honestly, I've had hundreds of thousands of pounds put behind posts and it's never brought me in a single follow up, maybe less than five. So you need to charge for that. And I've had advice from people who aren't in our industry, but are in the social media game, which has been very good.

[00:16:45] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And they've just said, look, if they're using you as a human billboard, you deserve to be paid. And just, to look out for contracts, if it says the word perpetuity. I think that's the word how you pronounce it. That, that means forever, which I didn't realize. Make sure that brands don't own your name and face forever.

[00:17:03] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Put a time limit on it. If I'm doing a quote for a brand, which I charge for, I'll put a three month circular on it. So if they want to use it three more months they pay again. And yeah it's really good. And I think loads of dietitians come to me saying, how much would you charge for X? I tell them what I would charge and it does depend on follower number.

[00:17:25] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: It depends on engagement, but sometimes it's like the wild west. And honestly, like that's what I've heard from someone who used to work for the talent agency. with is like the Wild West. And sometimes there's no rhyme or reason. It's just whatever figure that influencer states. So know your worth.

[00:17:44] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And obviously it depends on the brand, L'Oreal versus a startup. And it's very sad that I don't work with a lot of startups. Like anymore or now, but it's just because I don't have the time. Like it's a, yeah, you've only got a fine amount of time and I don't want to be sacrificing the balance of life and work that I've got right now.

[00:18:04] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And also I don't want to be putting that many ads out. So I choose my work very carefully.

[00:18:10] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, absolutely. And I think, what you're saying there about the money side of things. It's, for me, it's always been really useful just to remember that they're paying for your highly targeted audience.

[00:18:21] Sarah Almond Bushell: And of course, because you're a registered dietitian, there's an instant trust there and it's far deeper trust than it would be if it was a celebrity endorsing that thing. So brands will pay and I think. You're also right about, that potential of undercharging, because if you think about it, some of these big businesses are multi million, several million, billion businesses.

[00:18:44] Sarah Almond Bushell: They're not going to think twice about us sticking an extra. A thousand pounds on our quote or whatever. So yeah, I think it's really useful just to and I think it goes back to what we were saying before about that whole fear factor and little bit of mindset.

[00:18:57] Sarah Almond Bushell: It's about being confident to work out, what it is that would make it feel like it's worth it for you. And I know that I don't do anywhere near as much brand work as you do, but I know that whenever I get asked for something, I often think how much is my time worth at this particular time of the year when, it's coming up to the school holidays and I want to go abroad and we've got all these other things coming in.

[00:19:19] Sarah Almond Bushell: I'm probably going to charge more because I've got other priorities. So that figure, like you were saying earlier about what the talent management company said, it's like the Wild West. It is a bit because actually it's your time and your worth and your, what you could be doing instead of that.

[00:19:39] Sarah Almond Bushell: And of course they are paying for your years of expertise as well.

[00:19:43] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Yeah. And sometimes I think, would I be happy for this to let go? And do you know what a brand one said to me, do you want to work together on a gifted basis? Sometimes I accept gifts. Most of the time I don't. I just say, I'm no, I'm really sorry.

[00:19:57] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I'm only working on, paid stuff for now. And I remember one brand, I won't mention any names, but I gave them a figure very competitive from my point of view. And they said, you know what? We don't have budget for that now, but I'll get back to you. And I thought at the time, oh, do you know what?

[00:20:13] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I'll probably never hear from them. No joke. Three months later, they were like, Nick, we've got the budget to work with you now. Wow. So I then, I often, I work with a videographer who I pay fairly for her time. So now when I produce content, it costs me money. So I now have to factor that in.

[00:20:31] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And yes, I try and bundle filming Three lots of content in a day so that I don't like waste time, have three days of payments for the videographer. But yeah, I say to look, if you want a professionally shot reel, it's not gonna be worth my time unless I charge X. So

[00:20:47] Sarah Almond Bushell: yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:20:51] Sarah Almond Bushell: So I just want to tap back into what we said at the beginning of this bit about working with brands about, you mentioned about social media. And if someone's wanting to get started. You, your advice is really to focus on your social media. And that's because any brand work that's coming forward is potentially, it's going to be posted on your social media, isn't it?

[00:21:11] Sarah Almond Bushell: So you have to make your accounts look attractive to them to have. Have the engagement, have the followers. So one of the things that I often do when I work with clients is work out, what it is that they want to be known for. And that's the kind of stuff that they then post on social media. So they're attracting quite a niche and highly targeted audience, really.

[00:21:35] Sarah Almond Bushell: Is that how you've managed to grow your social media accounts?

[00:21:39] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I would say that Nick's Nutrition is not very niched at all. It's very, healthy and wellness and that's because I did try and niche it. So my clinical background is bariatrics. My, my interest is weight loss. However, whenever I try to weave in weight loss, it's not very well received.

[00:21:58] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: So I have tried to go down that route, but actually I've quickly backtracked. And I have actually worked out that I actually can function Nix Nutrition without a niche, because I've got quite strong messaging, I always say the 80 20 rule, so people know what I'm about. Whereas Mummy Nutrition, it has got a niche, it's new with like motherhood bit of lifestyle. I do talk about food analogies and actually All you have to do is look at my two accounts. Look at the number of times I've posted. Mummy Nutrition has grown a lot quicker. I started Instagram for Nick's Nutrition in 2012. Mummy Nutrition was six years later in 2018.

[00:22:37] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And actually the two accounts almost on a par. Separated by just like 10, 000 followers. Yeah. Niche accounts do grow faster, but ultimately it's about creating content and posting regularly. Something that I've fallen off the bandwagon with. A couple of reasons. Firstly I've been ill recently.

[00:22:53] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Secondly, I've been writing a book. So my time, energy and focus has been elsewhere. So I'm now trying to get back on that bandwagon and that's the really, that's a really hard part of freelance work. And sometimes, and I feel bad for saying this, but I actually love it when I'm just doing clinic. Because it's already there for me, I've got my patients, I know what I'm doing, I can just do a little bit of clinic admin, whereas my freelance work, it actually requires creativity, it requires doing an article that, I've got like four, look at my to do list, I've got four articles due in July.

[00:23:25] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Have I started them yet? No, because it's not July yet. Should I have done? Yes, but Instagram, I've got like a timeline planner, but because I'm not managed anymore, I sometimes might skip a day and I know that is not good for Instagram growth. So I actually need to give myself a little bit of a kick, but I do find it really hard.

[00:23:46] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: And I think that you're a big believer in having a plan. I was listening to one of your podcast episodes this morning and it is so true. If I do not have a plan, I become. Lazy. I might spend a little bit longer getting ready on a morning. I might do a workout after I've dropped off my son and then, oh dear, it's time for lunch and then it's time for clinic.

[00:24:04] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I have missed three hours of freelance work that I could have been doing stuff, but actually I was lazy and I procrastinated and because my deadlines weren't due. So yeah, that's a major flaw and that's the hardest part I think of working for yourself and doing freelance work, that constant motivation and it's just, yeah, it's planning out your week in advance.

[00:24:24] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: But whilst you're well. So I think, yeah, when I'm unwell, I love the fact that I can cancel X, Y and Z, email around, I've actually, I've had COVID recently, email them saying, Oh, I've got COVID, text a few patients, move them. But yeah, I do find it hard to then reignite the fire.

[00:24:39] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, absolutely. And there is something about accountability, isn't there?

[00:24:43] Sarah Almond Bushell: And there's, I think from the research that I've read is there's actually four personality types and three of them need accountability in order to get stuff done. And I was chatting to somebody recently about what makes you motivated? And she said to me, screw the word motivation.

[00:25:00] Sarah Almond Bushell: It's about discipline. And I thought, you know what? You're so right. If you were an athlete, You would be disciplined to achieve where you want to be and that, I just thought that is a word. I've written it down and put it off my desk here because it is so true. If you've got something, a goal you want to achieve, something that you want to really do in your life or your business, you've got to be disciplined in order to do it.

[00:25:23] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah,

[00:25:24] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I'm gonna write that down as well because yeah, that's what I need. I need discipline and just doing a little bit. I think I sometimes get overwhelmed. I've got a long list of social media content that I need to create. I can't do it all in a day. I often overestimate how much I can do and then I beat myself up when I don't do it.

[00:25:40] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: So actually, this morning I filmed one thing, this afternoon I will do another, and then I will be happy with filming those two bits of content, ticking off some of the little bits, and then tomorrow's a new day. Because believe it or not, filming Instagram content really takes it out of me. And it takes a lot of time, setting stuff up, thinking of things, then you're doubting, oh will that look good?

[00:26:01] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: So yeah, I just need to post myself.

[00:26:03] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, absolutely. And I'm also a fantastic believer of done is better than perfect.

[00:26:09] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Yeah. Yeah. I need to get that into my head as well. And actually a lot of people prefer that slightly raw content,

[00:26:15] Sarah Almond Bushell: it's real life. Yeah. Brilliant. That's amazing, Nick. I've got five quick fire questions, if that's all right with you.

[00:26:25] Sarah Almond Bushell: So I'll kick off with those. So number one, what's the best bit of your working day?

[00:26:29] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: The best bit, it's an overall thing. It's the flexibility. It's the fact that if something fun comes in, like a TV opportunity, I can just say yes. It's saying yes to things that I didn't have planned in because of the flexibility that I've now got.

[00:26:42] Sarah Almond Bushell: Amazing, love it. Number two, why

[00:26:44] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: do you do what you do? I do what I do because I want to make a difference and Yeah. I like to help. I like to help

[00:26:52] Sarah Almond Bushell: people. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's often why we all do what we do, particularly, working in dietetics or in healthcare. It's all about helping people.

[00:27:02] Sarah Almond Bushell: I

[00:27:02] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: think I love it when people become less confused. So they're confused because of all the amount of social media nonsense. And then I do something and then I get feedback and say, Oh, do you know what, Nick, you've made it make sense. Or I finally feel at ease with eating that piece of chocolate cake. So that, yeah, it gives me a great sense of achievement and I've done that.

[00:27:20] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, brilliant. Love it. Number three, tech. Love it or hate it?

[00:27:25] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I love it, but it takes me a long time to get around to using it. It's like that chat of GBT. Honestly, not even used it. Sorry, I started using it a week ago, and it's been out well over a year. So yeah, I'm very behind with certain stuff.

[00:27:39] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, it's there to help us, but it does involve learning a whole new set of things, doesn't it?

[00:27:44] Sarah Almond Bushell: Number four, I think we've already done actually. How do you stay motivated or how do you stay disciplined? We should say.

[00:27:50] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Writing a to do list and prioritizing it. That's how I do it. And I have a lot of online plans, so I'll map out my social media for two weeks. And that is the only way that, that's how I stay accountable.

[00:28:02] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. Planning ahead. Yeah. Brilliant. And final question. What's the one thing, now that you wish you could tell your former self when you were just starting out in business?

[00:28:12] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I wish I could tell myself to not wait too long before you jump onto something. So for example, I was late to joining Instagram professionally, I was late to giving stories a go, I'm now late to chat GPT, and I think it's just a confidence thing.

[00:28:26] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I'm late to using green screens, I've never used one before, and finally, I'm late. I'm going to use one this week. So I think it's just saying to yourself, just give it a go. So I've now realized that I need to just take these opportunities in these new things that come along, apply it to what I do and just give it a go.

[00:28:43] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: So yeah, that's something that I'm telling myself now. And I wish I would have said earlier on, just give it a go.

[00:28:49] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. And that's brilliant because that links into so much of what we've already talked about, about, doing this better than perfect and the whole fear of just jumping in and doing it.

[00:28:59] Sarah Almond Bushell: So yeah, amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much for your time, Nick. This has been a really brilliant conversation. Where's the best place for people to connect with you?

[00:29:09] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: I think the best place is Instagram, Nick's Nutrition, N I C S Nutrition, and check out my book, How Not to Eat Ultra Processed, if you want to hear.

[00:29:18] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: what I've been preaching about for the last 15 years and also find out about the nuances to do with ultra processed food. So that's my new little niche that I'm going to be falling into.

[00:29:27] Sarah Almond Bushell: Excellent. Brilliant. I can't wait for that book to come out. I'll take it with me on holiday in July and give it a nice little read by the pool.

[00:29:34] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Yeah. And of course I'll be seeing you at the book launch party as well. Yes.

[00:29:37] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. Looking forward to that. So I will put all of those links underneath anyway, so people can click directly on them, but thank you so much for your time.

[00:29:46] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Thank you so much for having me Sarah, I really enjoyed it. See you later.

[00:29:50] Nichola Ludlam-Raine: Bye.