Ep 16 - Earning As An Authority Figure - an Interview with Ro Huntriss on becoming the go-to professional in fertility nutrition

Episode Show Notes

Hello everyone! I’m Sarah Almond Bushell, and I am thrilled to welcome you to another episode of Beyond the Clinic. Today, we have a special guest, my friend and colleague, Ro Huntress. We’ll be delving into Ro’s inspiring journey from working in the NHS to becoming a leading expert in fertility nutrition and a successful entrepreneur.

In this episode, Ro Huntress shares her remarkable journey from starting as a dietitian in the NHS to becoming an entrepreneur and a respected authority in the field of fertility nutrition. Ro talks about the challenges she faced, the pivotal moments that defined her career, and the strategies she employed to build a successful business. We discuss her work with tech firms, her online platform, Fertility Dietitian UK, and the various ways she supports both clients and healthcare professionals. Ro also highlights the importance of niching down, market research, and passive income streams in achieving business success.

1. Finding Your Passion: Ro emphasises the importance of pursuing what you love and how it can drive your career forward.
2. The Power of Niching Down: Specialising in a specific area, such as fertility nutrition, can significantly enhance your credibility and business growth.
3. Market Research: Understanding the needs of your audience and providing solutions to their problems is crucial for success.
4. Building Multiple Income Streams: Ro discusses how she balances her work with tech firms, brands, and her online platform to create a diversified income.
5. Leveraging Technology: Embracing tech can improve productivity and expand your business reach.
6. The Value of Lifelong Learning: Continually seeking knowledge and skills is essential for personal and professional growth.

1. Best part of your working day? - Ro loves having uninterrupted time to focus on her work during weekends.
2. Why do you do what you do? - The immense satisfaction of helping people through their fertility journeys and working with innovative tech firms.
3. Tech: Love it or hate it? - Ro is a huge advocate for tech and its potential to transform healthcare.
4. How do you stay motivated? - Passion for her work and the exciting possibilities in the field of fertility nutrition.
5. Advice for your former self? - Embrace the journey, learn from every step, and don’t let limiting beliefs hold you back.

• Website: https://fertilitydietitian.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fertility.dietitian.uk/
   

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Episode transcription:

Beyond the Clinic EP16

[00:00:00] Sarah Almond Bushell: Hello everybody, I am so excited to introduce my friend and colleague Ro Huntress to the Beyond the Clinic podcast. We're going to be talking today about Ro's journey in her freelance business and her private practice and in particular, how she's ended up being one of the biggest experts in our field in the fertility space.

[00:00:22] Sarah Almond Bushell: So welcome Ro, thanks very much for coming on the podcast.

[00:00:26] Ro Huntress: Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm really glad to be here with you today. Cause as we were saying just before that, I think we've got like a lot of alignment on a lot of different things and our kind of, our journeys have been in parallel and we've been like alongside each other.

[00:00:39] Ro Huntress: So I'm really happy to be here with you today talking about it.

[00:00:43] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you're absolutely right. We've known each other for quite a few years but only actually met in real life maybe a year ago. I

[00:00:51] Ro Huntress: know, I know, it's mad. And then I saw you, I thought I'd seen you loads of times but actually in reality haven't, but yeah.

[00:00:57] Ro Huntress: Yeah, it's been 20 years, isn't it? We've had a great friendship

[00:00:59] Sarah Almond Bushell: over the years. Yes, definitely. I always like to ask people what their journey has been and how you, you went from, graduating from university to where you are today as a dietician. Do you want to just give us a little bit of a history of the history of Ro?

[00:01:15] Ro Huntress: Sure thing. Okay. So I think, just even in terms of like dietetics, I I fell into that, to be honest, and then like when I found out, I was like, Oh my God, okay, this is great. This is something that I can really get on board with. And when I started in the NHS back in 2011, really enjoyed it.

[00:01:34] Ro Huntress: I did really enjoy it. Quite soon into that, I was like this is good. This is great. But I was always just looking for that little bit more. I didn't feel a hundred percent fulfilled. So yeah, in then. 2013 I set up my business. And it was, I think like what I was craving is I felt that I could give more.

[00:01:58] Ro Huntress: I felt that I could do more. I had quite a creative brain or potentially like the beginnings of an entrepreneurial brain. And I wanted to be able to do something with it. And then also, like ideally I wanted to earn more money. So putting those things together, the natural thing is to do is to Start up a business.

[00:02:17] Ro Huntress: So I started doing all sorts of things really. I was trying to think about, what would people want, what services to people want out in the general public. So I started with just doing things like meal plans. So like I set up a website for it. I, got my head around like accounting and different things like that.

[00:02:33] Ro Huntress: But try different things. I did like clinics with doctors from the NHS that I met. I did home visits, all sorts of things. And then. Like a pivotal moment was actually when I got my first retainer with a brand and I was like, Oh, okay, like this is something that we can do. So then that was when I think things stepped up a bit for me personally within my own business.

[00:02:55] Ro Huntress: And it coincided with when I think I was looking to make my my, my move away from the NHS. I wanted to like branch out beyond that. And I think, a lot of people will know working in the NHS that sometimes there can be if you're doing lots of things externally, there can sometimes be conflicts.

[00:03:10] Ro Huntress: So it's I didn't want to have to close down some of the things that I was doing, because it felt like very much the beginning. So that was that and then that was like growing and then I, alongside that, I then moved from the NHS to a company called Oviva, who are like a digital behaviour change company like health tech and it's like dieticians plus an app type thing.

[00:03:30] Ro Huntress: And I was able to still build my own business alongside that. And then three years ago, I left Oviva and I joined forces with a tech firm. So I actually work as that, work for that tech firm now as their chief nutrition officer. But at the same time, my business has expanded. Greatly since then and then the other pillars.

[00:03:48] Ro Huntress: So I have, a great contract there with that tech firm. And then I work for different brands and businesses and I like it because Some of them are like bigger and well known and some of them are startups so I work with brands in a variety of different ways. It can be A strategy it can be research.

[00:04:05] Ro Huntress: It can be product development. It can be content Sometimes I don't do that many ads now, but occasionally things like that, but yeah, it can be consulting. So I work with brands in a variety of different ways, and that can be in the specialist area of fertility that we'll go into talk about next or just general nutrition and kind of nutrition science.

[00:04:25] Ro Huntress: And then, yeah, the third kind of arm to this is Fertility Dietitian UK, which is My online platform, and we support women, men, and couples on their journey to conception and beyond through making dietary and lifestyle modifications to help them to get there. And that came about I'm, I just feel so lucky and grateful that I found it because I don't know whether we've done like a similar course, Sarah, but one of the courses that I did, it's called beat the algorithm.

[00:04:56] Ro Huntress: Did you do that?

[00:04:56] Sarah Almond Bushell: No, I haven't. No.

[00:04:58] Ro Huntress: Okay. So it was it was one that was actually like around Instagram. But one of the things was find a niche. And then I have just like a general dietitian page, which is just at dietitian on Instagram, but it was. It's incredibly generalist and it continues to be generalist to this day but I knew in the back of my mind, if really I wanted to build something, I needed to find a niche and yeah, for a variety of different reasons fertility just really piqued my interest, namely friends who were struggling to conceive and really wanted to know what they were able to do in the diet and the lifestyle space.

[00:05:33] Ro Huntress: And there was just. Such little support for them there. I was like, oh my god, there's this gaping hole Where people need this support, but there wasn't really the representation from dietetics There and then so I spent I was years. I was years looking at the research Gathering everything together, there was so much.

[00:05:53] Ro Huntress: And then that was when I started in 2020, the online platform. So I started the Instagram initially, just like sharing information, starting to become like a trusted person, a trusted professional in that space. And then off the back of that, it led to. Okay. I can be a service provider here as well.

[00:06:10] Ro Huntress: And it was very much as I was sharing all this information, I was also listening to my audience in terms of. What problems did they want solving? I think I know as a healthcare professional what I want to share with people, but what are the problems and how can I help? So off the back of that, we developed a lot of like digital offerings.

[00:06:28] Ro Huntress: Online courses and e guides and meal plans that basically, serve a different aspect of the fertility journey. So we have ones on like egg quality, on sperm quality, on IVF, on implantation, on PCOS, etc. Because we were just listening to the needs of our audience. And then we've also got an online clinic.

[00:06:46] Ro Huntress: A girl Claire that works for me she delivers this for us at the moment. And then then because on my page, I have a lot of nutritionists and dietitians and healthcare professionals who follow me as well. And they were like, Oh, I'd really love to learn about this. Where did you learn?

[00:07:02] Ro Huntress: How can I learn? And I was like I was self taught but then that was my calling to put my course together. The fertility nutrition course for healthcare professionals, which has been in. I think it launched 22, November 22. So yeah, it's been going for over 18 months coming on for two years now.

[00:07:22] Ro Huntress: And it's been amazing to be able to educate so many people and it's not just dietitians now. So there's dietitians, nutritionists, we have embryologists gynecologists, doctors, midwives fertility nurses, acupuncturists, it's been absolutely incredible. So as part of this fertility space, we've got like the patient we've got the patient facing stuff to do, but I actually love the healthcare professional education as well.

[00:07:46] Ro Huntress: Cause it's just, we're obviously looking at the same topic, but it's just coming at it from a completely different angle. And I've always similar to you, Sarah, being a huge advocate of career development. So I really like actually supporting people on their, In the development of their own careers and adding this as a string to their bow.

[00:08:03] Ro Huntress: So yeah, in a nutshell that's where

[00:08:05] Sarah Almond Bushell: I'm at the moment. Amazing. That is such an inspirational story. I love all of that. And I just love the fact that, you said early on, you recognized that you needed to niche down, which is absolutely right, because it's really hard to talk to lots of different people.

[00:08:22] Sarah Almond Bushell: And then the other thing that you said there is actually, you did your market research. You went and listened to what their problems were, what they were struggling with, and then you, Provided solutions to that, because I think one of the things that I find certainly with a lot of my clients is we come into our freelance businesses, knowing what we want to help people with, but often that isn't what they want help with.

[00:08:43] Sarah Almond Bushell: We come to it as a healthcare provider, rather than thinking about what they actually. Want and how that impacts on their everyday life. So I love the fact that you did that. And like you say, you've seen the success of that. It's really has had a massive impact. So tell me a little bit about how so you've got your, you've got your clinic that you do with couples.

[00:09:04] Sarah Almond Bushell: Or people trying to conceive and then you've also got your course. Is the course that you do for healthcare professionals, is it self paced or do you do that live or how does that look?

[00:09:18] Ro Huntress: Yeah, so basically I am always The kind of person who wants to make things as easy as possible. And for me, my main barrier with everything, with progressing my business further, is always time.

[00:09:31] Ro Huntress: It's always time. So the way in which I've set this up is that it requires As little time, as little of my time as possible going forward, obviously there was a lot that went into it at the beginning. And actually one of the things that we do is we've just done an update for 2024. So all of the like the research, like new research that's come about over the past 18 months we've now added that as well.

[00:09:52] Ro Huntress: And people get that free of charge, but basically it's all pre recorded. So there's different modules and People can, they can literally then utilize it however they want. So they can go and blitz the whole thing in a weekend, if they wanted to. But what we tend to advise is do do a module per week.

[00:10:10] Ro Huntress: Cause there's really is a lot and there's that, there's additional reading as well. So there's a lot for people to take in. So yeah it's pre recorded it's evergreen, it's open all the time. And it just seems to be a model that really. That really works. So there's like video There's slides for each of the modules.

[00:10:29] Ro Huntress: And then I talk over, I present the slides and that, that's all recorded there. And then we just have different downloads available in each of the different modules.

[00:10:37] Sarah Almond Bushell: Brilliant. And do you do like office hour Q and A sessions or is it completely self paced to just do their own thing and come out the other end, having done the course?

[00:10:46] Ro Huntress: It's completely self paced. People may email me to ask questions about particular things, but yeah, it's very much like self served.

[00:10:55] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. Love it. So it's proper passive income stream, isn't it? Yes. It's passive

[00:10:59] Ro Huntress: income to a T.

[00:11:00] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. Yeah. Brilliant. And so tell us actually, you've been asked to do something rather special off the back of the success of that course, haven't you?

[00:11:09] Ro Huntress: Yeah. And I'm so again, so grateful for this. So in, I think it's the majority of dietitians who listen to this podcast. So many will be familiar with the manual of dietetic practice. So the big blue book that we all used to lug around and yeah, just as, There was never, and still is not, any fertility, nutrition, education on the curriculum for dietitians.

[00:11:34] Ro Huntress: There wasn't anything in the manual either. So for the first time there was going to be a section on fertility nutrition in the manual of dietetic practice and they invited me to write it. So yeah, so I'm very happy about that. I think it just it maybe shows me that like the work that I'm doing is.

[00:11:52] Ro Huntress: is being noticed. And also, something that's very much at the center of what I do and what we do as dietitians is that what we talk about is evidence based. Because there's been issues in terms of like nutritionists or people who aren't even nutritionists just talking about fertility and nutrition online and some of it's nonsense and that can actually be like quite dangerous.

[00:12:13] Ro Huntress: So in all of the communications I do, whether it's on Instagram, whether it's in newsletters, whether it's on the course, it's it's backed by research, and I think and hope that was noticed and potentially these are reasons together why I was asked to do the chapter.

[00:12:26] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, that is so amazing.

[00:12:27] Sarah Almond Bushell: Congratulations. It's a real testament to your expertise and being, the top person in dietetics in the field of fertility. So that's really good. Congratulations. Would you mind just digging into how you sell the course? So I'm really, I love the fact it's evergreen because I'm a total passive income, queen.

[00:12:48] Sarah Almond Bushell: That's how I really want my businesses to run as well. And I have various evergreen products in my business as well, but I'd love to know how you, how, What does your customer journey look like? How do you go from people not knowing you or just finding out about you for the first time to actually becoming a customer?

[00:13:06] Ro Huntress: Yeah. And I think, to add here, we've also got a course, which I think we're going to like revamp and change the style of it a little bit, but a similar kind of course for patients with that, it's called the fertility food formula. And that was really like heavily dependent upon launches to, to sell.

[00:13:24] Ro Huntress: And I don't know about you, Sarah, but I find launches really quite exhausting. Yes. Really exhausting. So the fact that I don't have to launch this, the Healthcare Professionals course is just great. Sometimes I will On my Instagram, so if people come and look at my profile, I have pinned posts and one of the pinned posts is about the course for healthcare professionals.

[00:13:47] Ro Huntress: And just to note as well, which I think is really useful to have, it's been endorsed for CPD by the British Dietetic Association and also like the Association for Nutrition, which I think are great things and important things to have it. I think this is one of the things that helps. People build trust in you, even if they don't know you.

[00:14:04] Ro Huntress: They're like, Oh, okay. These two important bodies have that. So it was, all of the content has been reviewed, so it, it has to be,

[00:14:11] Sarah Almond Bushell: yeah,

[00:14:11] Ro Huntress: good. Yeah, exactly. It has to be, it has to be of high quality. So yeah so that is there, but I think Generally, it's, I try to position myself as like a credible source of knowledge of information and that people could learn from me.

[00:14:27] Ro Huntress: And a lot of the content that, I discuss, as I say, it's evidence based, but it's, I have to make it relevant for patients, but also so healthcare professionals can learn from it as well. So people find me in a variety of different ways. So it may be via Instagram, but also the SEO on my website, I would say is it's pretty good.

[00:14:46] Ro Huntress: I know I've got like room to improve, but I think it's in it. It's in a good place right now. So I have people from, all over the world. Come and find me and come and find the course and they find me via Google. So it can be that way. And then the other ways are like doing events. It might be that I'm doing a webinar or an in person events where, the audience may be.

[00:15:07] Ro Huntress: A potential future audience for my course. So it's yeah it's a mixture of different things. Let's say for example, when it was dietitians week in June, I did, I don't often do offers. It's quite rare that I'll do like an offer across the board, but what I did, so I think sometimes We can utilize particular weeks as well.

[00:15:24] Ro Huntress: And it can be a useful tool, especially when something is evergreen and it's open all the time, because then, cause there's no urgency. But if you have a. A coupon, if you have a coupon code, a discount code, and that's done in two weeks, then people then have that incentive. So that, that can be a useful thing.

[00:15:41] Ro Huntress: And say if I'm doing a talk, then I, I may give a discount code for a week after or something like that. So yeah, I think I think all of these things help, but I just think like getting yourself known, it's when loads of dietitians did FODMAP and they'd either do Monash or they'd do kings College. It's like people knew that those are the people that they wanted to go to. So I just want to, keep myself there, in that position as as that trusted source and the person to go to, and somebody who is ultimately going to enable, the expansion of somebody's own either clinical skills or business.

[00:16:14] Ro Huntress: And another thing that I've done as well, so like my course is like 695, but there's Another course that's like an Australian one, which is three times the price. So even though it might sound expensive, but everything that you get there for a really niche area of fertility, it's very competitively priced and much cheaper than other options that are out there.

[00:16:35] Sarah Almond Bushell: So what I'm hearing is actually what you're doing is you're almost targeting people who are solution aware. So they are actively looking for the CPD the solution to their problem. Their problem is they want to learn more about this area. So you're actively targeting them.

[00:16:52] Sarah Almond Bushell: And because they are in that stage of awareness and they're by a journey, you don't actually need to do much in the way of a sales campaign. You can write your blogs and get them in through your website that way, and then they just click and buy. Or you can create a social media post and they can click into your bio and buy that way.

[00:17:11] Sarah Almond Bushell: So you're not actually having to, you've got no funnel essentially. You're targeting people right at the very bottom of the funnel.

[00:17:17] Ro Huntress: Yeah, I know. I'm like, yeah, cause I've done different courses and other things like that on funnels and we have funnels for like the patient facing stuff, but with this, like people just and then they just go for it. So it's, yeah, it's a really nice audience.

[00:17:32] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, cool. And you're what, so what does it look like in comparison to your course that you have for clients? So with that one, you said you needed to do the live launches. So one of the things I'm noticing now in, in all aspects of business is that the funnel is a lot longer.

[00:17:49] Sarah Almond Bushell: The buying journey has changed. And so previously, we could do a couple of weeks of social media posts. We could then invite them to a webinar. We could pitch on the webinar and you would get sales. Now I'm seeing that's a lot longer. What's your experience been around selling to customers as opposed to other businesses or professionals?

[00:18:09] Ro Huntress: Yeah. So actually where we see our. Where we see our greatest, so we've got three, three options. We've got the virtual clinic, we've got the meal plans and guides, and then we've got like online course. Yeah, and the one I think that probably works the best at the moment is the meal plans and guides.

[00:18:27] Ro Huntress: Yeah. It's a really nice price point. It's like they're 39 to 49 pounds. So it's not something that's like too much for people. And there's a lot of value in them. And I find that people can either find us, online or we've started it. We used to be really quite bad about Telling people what our services were.

[00:18:45] Ro Huntress: We're a bit better with that now, but it's also like finding that balance of not being too salesy. But the issue that we have is so we've got like those guides, but then, I feel like, the next step is missing. And this is why, like with the patient facing course that I've got, I do think that I want to redesign it slightly.

[00:19:03] Ro Huntress: I think like in hindsight, I designed it like similar, exactly what I said at the beginning. Like I'm going in there with like my own thoughts and I've got ideas as to how I can make it into more of a, like a patient friendly journey. Even though like everybody goes through it and they love it.

[00:19:20] Ro Huntress: I feel that there could be enhancements that I could make that could then lead it into a funnel. So going from the guide and then to the course. Yes. Yeah. So in terms of like the funnel for that, that those are still things that we're like trying to figure out the, The best journey, I would say that's probably like a like one of the things that we could improve is that we can be like, people can come and they have a consultation or they have two consultations and then they go, or they buy a guide and then they go.

[00:19:45] Ro Huntress: So we need to think more about like retaining that client and kind of Yeah. Supporting them on a journey as opposed to just

[00:19:51] Sarah Almond Bushell: like one off. Yeah. That whole Ascension model, isn't it? Yeah. Where one thing leads to the next. And that is how you make a lot of money because you sell multiple things to one customer and it's much easier to upsell and cross sell than it is to attract new people all the time, isn't it?

[00:20:08] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. Yeah. This has been amazing. I've loved this chat. Can I end our conversation with five quick fire questions? Yes. Yes. Yes. Brilliant. That's great. Thank you. I'd love to know what's the best bit of your working day?

[00:20:21] Ro Huntress: The best bit of my working day? This is probably like a random answer, but I actually really, because Monday to Friday, I honestly feel like, because I have so much going on, it's like firefighting, firefighting.

[00:20:34] Ro Huntress: It's It's it's chaos, but in a good way. So the, actually like my favorite time to work is sometimes when I have a period of time when other people aren't working. So it's if I have a slot on like a Saturday afternoon or a Sunday morning where I can just sit there in peace, absolutely like blitz things I actually really enjoy that.

[00:20:54] Ro Huntress: And. People say, Oh, like it's eating into your weekend. Like for me, my work and building my business is also my hobby. I genuinely enjoy it. I love reading new research. So yeah, that, to be honest, that's It's just time that I really enjoy.

[00:21:09] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I love that phrase, if you do something you enjoy, it'll never feel like a day's work in your life.

[00:21:16] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Brilliant. And that probably leads us into question two, actually. Why do you do what you do?

[00:21:24] Ro Huntress: Especially With the fertility stuff, it is the most rewarding field to work in when you actually stop and think what you are helping people to do. And if we, we've spoken about like the healthcare professional side of this but it's like ultimately, what are they then going to be able to do?

[00:21:42] Ro Huntress: They're going to be able to Support people to bring new life into the world. And like, when we're supporting, patients through an IVF journey, they've had like infertility for six, eight years and we help them to make those tweaks. You can't put a price on that, like that satisfaction.

[00:22:01] Ro Huntress: So I actually really hope that until I retire, that I will always work within the fertility space within some context. But, also like in I just, I have there's great value in terms of working with brands. I love working with big names and big brands that I've known ever since I was tiny, and now I'm working with them and helping them to progress their business.

[00:22:23] Ro Huntress: It's just, yeah, something that makes me happy. And I also love getting new startups out to market and helping them to, science proof what they're doing. And with tech like with the app that I work for, it's like the scope. Even some of the things that we've achieved now in the scope of what we could achieve with tech, with AI, it's just it's really inspiring.

[00:22:46] Ro Huntress: It's really motivating. Like our app, it's had 17 million downloads worldwide. So it just goes to show, some of these things that we're doing in the background. The potential impact is just huge. And that's why I really love doing all three things. And I'm not ready to say goodbye to any of them.

[00:23:03] Sarah Almond Bushell: Which is why I

[00:23:03] Ro Huntress: have to work

[00:23:04] Sarah Almond Bushell: on weekends. Oh and I think that actually probably leads us quite nicely into question number three. And I think I probably know the answer to this already. And it's tech, love it or hate it.

[00:23:14] Ro Huntress: So obviously, yeah, I absolutely, I have to love it and I do love it. And one of the reasons for me leaving the NHS and moving into tech as well, again, it was just seeing the potential of what, God, what it's been able to do already, but now, with things like GPT and AI and things like that, yeah the potential for it is just so huge but also, yeah, I'm very like aware of, Things that I could bring into my business, like tech solutions, I can bring into my business to improve productivity and things like that.

[00:23:46] Ro Huntress: And I'm sure that there are things that I could, more things that I can do to make my business even more efficient. So yeah, always on the on the lookout for things

[00:23:54] Sarah Almond Bushell: like that. Yeah, definitely. I totally agree with you. I think it is definitely, the way forward and in. In particular in our businesses, it's what buys us the freedom.

[00:24:04] Sarah Almond Bushell: For anyone who's listening, who's frightened of the tech, please don't be, because honestly, it'll be the best thing you ever do is to learn to love it. Question four, how do you stay motivated? Because you're incredibly motivated. I can see this passion, just exuding everything you're saying.

[00:24:21] Ro Huntress: Yeah. And I think that's probably like one of the important things. It's do something that you're passionate about. And yeah, fair enough. When you go into the NHS, it might be okay. Like I'm getting my first job or I'm doing this. And then like after that you then have the choice, you can decide where you go and work.

[00:24:35] Ro Huntress: And yeah, hopefully you can tell like fertility, is something that I just have huge passion for which makes it really easy to be motivated. And similarly, like with the work that I do in tech, that really motivates me as well, because I just find it really exciting. So I maybe if you're in a position or if you're in a working environment that doesn't motivate you, then maybe challenge it.

[00:24:55] Ro Huntress: Is it the right, is it the right place for you?

[00:24:57] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah, I totally agree with that. And just linking back to what you said right at the very start, when you were describing your journey about feeling as if, You know, you loved your job, but actually it just wasn't enough. I get that because that's what I felt for 22 years.

[00:25:11] Sarah Almond Bushell: I can't believe it took me that long to be able to do something about it. But it just felt as if there was more and I didn't know what that more was yet.

[00:25:20] Ro Huntress: Yeah, exactly. And it's a good point that people can do this at any change, people can set up their own business straight away or they can be in the NHS for 20 years and then still go and create this like absolutely, incredible business.

[00:25:32] Ro Huntress: So it doesn't matter at what point of your journey you're at, if you feel that you could or should be doing something else, go and seek it.

[00:25:39] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yes. Yeah. Love it. Brilliant. And my final question for you is, what's one thing you know now that you wish you could tell your former self when they were just starting out in business? I

[00:25:50] Ro Huntress: quite like the fact that I didn't know anything.

[00:25:53] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yes.

[00:25:54] Ro Huntress: Because obviously at university they don't teach you anything to do with business. I wasn't, and I'm guessing it was the same for you, like we just, we weren't trained that way. We were trained clinically. So it's like everything that I've. That I've done or I've figured out.

[00:26:08] Ro Huntress: I, I, something's taken me there. So actually I don't think I necessarily would have told myself anything because I feel that I've either asked the questions or gone and explored something or I figured out the answers to get me places. And I think it's actually a really nice part of the journey.

[00:26:26] Ro Huntress: And I still think now, There's loads of things that I haven't figured out. So like with, we've had conversations about ads, that isn't something that I've explored yet. I haven't found the answers to that yet, but I like the fact that I don't know them right now, but I'm pretty confident that I will be able to find them.

[00:26:41] Ro Huntress: And that's something that makes the journey really quite exciting for me. And also. You can, it's that sense of reward, like when you get there okay, I, I figured it out. But I think one reflection is like thinking back to my early days or just like when I was in yeah, when I was in the NHS earlier on, I definitely have limiting beliefs because I was like, I looked at, like the agenda for pay, like the pay scales is it agenda for change?

[00:27:08] Ro Huntress: Pay scales. Yeah. And I was like, okay. So I'm in this band now. So the top of it's that, and it will take me one year to go up each rung. And then it's like going there. And I was like, Oh, so I can be earning that by that age. And I was like but I literally thought that was it.

[00:27:24] Ro Huntress: Okay. I'm here. I'm here. That is going to be my potential like earnings. And I believed that for a little while. And then I was, then I really started to explore things. I was like no, there is so much more out there and available. So yeah, it was just an interesting reflection that I did have a limiting belief, but I.

[00:27:41] Ro Huntress: worked through it and actually with the help of like audio books and I think like also surrounding yourself with people who are ambitious, successful risk takers, but in a good way. Yeah, definitely. Because I think it opens up your mind to to possibilities. And it yeah, motivates you to go in that positive direction.

[00:27:59] Sarah Almond Bushell: Yeah. Brilliant. So it's really about enjoying the journey, isn't it? Yeah. And lifelong learning, it doesn't have to be lifelong learning with a clinical hat on. It's a much wider a wider scope. Oh this has been brilliant. Thank you so much for your time, Ro. Where can people buy your course and where can they connect with you if they want to learn a little bit more about what you do and how you can help them?

[00:28:22] Ro Huntress: So on Instagram, I'm at dietitianro and then my fertility page is at fertility. dietitian. uk so come and find me on there. You can also find me on LinkedIn. Roe Huntress. And yeah, if people are interested in fertility nutrition then you can find details of that on my Instagram page or on my website, which is fertilitydietician.

[00:28:42] Ro Huntress: co. uk.

[00:28:43] Sarah Almond Bushell: Fantastic. And I will put all of those links in the show notes, so they're clickable and easy for people to access.

[00:28:49] Ro Huntress: Amazing. Thanks so much, Sarah.

[00:28:51] Sarah Almond Bushell: Thanks for coming.