The first time I remember vividly getting in trouble was when I snuck back to the art table in kindergarten. And here I am again, sneaking back to that table again in entrepreneurship (except now I don’t get in nearly as much trouble). The Cultivated Vision wasn’t born from a one off decision, it was developed, created, and grown throughout my life to become what it is today. I am lucky enough to live my passion, to integrate what I love with what I do everyday to support people just like you. I am grateful everyday for the opportunity to use my knowledge, skills, and creativity to help other women build their businesses’. If you learn anything throughout this blog, it’s that if I can do it, you can do it too – you can cultivate the vision of your dream business and life.

Where We Started

Don’t worry, I won’t take you all the way back to kindergarten but what you should know is that I was in advanced art classes through high school and even applied for college as an art major. The most unexpected thing you would never guess, is I ended up with a science degree. I got my bachelors and masters degree in Nutritional Sciences and became a Registered Dietitian.

Now you’re probably thinking, how did I go from art to science!? What happened?

This might be seen as a huge detour on my path to developing a powerful creative business, but it was actually just the next step in my development as a person and as an entrepreneur.

I had the typical thought going into college as an art major, thinking “what am I going to be able to do with an art degree.” I looked around at my options, but when I landed in a nutrition class as an elective I was sold.

I had struggled most my life with my weight. I was very active, I wanted to be healthy and I felt like I tried everything. Once I learned the science behind it, I was not only able to help myself but I knew I could also help all of the people around me that I knew struggled with the same challenges. That grew a passion like no other and when I decided I would open a private practice after I had all of my certifications and credentials.

Our Private Practice

At Wellbeing Fitness & Nutrition we supported women in losing weight and developing healthier habits with science-back nutrition and exercise. We specialized (get this) in the creative application of healthy habits into each individuals life. Since each person had a different life, different preference, different thought patterns, I loved being able to apply things that were boring and basic in a creative way to each person’s life. My creativity was always the key to whatever I have done successfully, even science.

I do have to say, when we started, all we knew is that we could help people. We had no knowledge or experience in business, no idea how to market or what to sell.

Every mentor, business coach, even friends and family said something along the lines of, “all you need to do is post on instagram and you will get clients.” So I had the credentials (MS, RD, LD, cPT) and I had the instagram – I had what I needed to start a successful business right?

Unfortunately, it was not as easy and straightforward as that.

I invested a lot of time, energy, and effort (and $$$) into trying to book clients through social media. Not to say I didn’t get clients here and there but it was never with the consistency that I felt like I was building a “successful” business. Now I have to say, that business was successful but the way I was running it – was running me straight into the ground.

Trying to keep up with the constant content creation, make sure I was posting at the right time, had the right strategy and being at the will of the ever changing algorithm, was exhausting. Also for kind of a private person, I really struggled with feel like every part of my life was becoming content.

Safe to say, I burnt myself out.

Luckily at that time, I was also finding myself getting inquiries about helping other business owners make their creative elements because they loved the way mine looked.

This is when everything started to change.

The Turning Point

I knew I couldn’t keep working the way I was, I felt like I was pushing a boulder up a hill most days. I had helped a few of my friends who were also entrepreneurs design their social posts, their slide decks, their sales pages even some logos here and there – when my business coach stopped me and said I needed to start charging for that.

I was stopped in my tracks – because that never felt like work. I thought, that’s the actual fun part that goes with the work right? Then I figured out, most people dreaded that part…I LOVED it!

I started to charge for each project I was asked to do and ended up making 6x as much in my first month than my normal monthly income – without a social media, without a website, without a nailed down offer.

This is when I knew, this was it. This was what I wanted to do – the work that didn’t feel like work. The projects that felt fun for me and brought my clients so much joy because suddenly they were even more proud of their business and excited to show everything off.

Not only that, but I was also connected with this wonderful woman who did the branding for amazing brands like Versace, The Met, Stuart Weitzman, and American Express. She took me under her wing and taught me her process and I got the opportunity to work with her.

I believe when you put your true self out into the world, the right people and things come to support you. That happened for me and now I have found myself being in that position for other people. I had a client just the other day tell me that she put out into the world that she finally wanted to get her business off the ground and get her website launched with ease – the next day she had an email in her inbox from a collaboration I was doing. The rest is history!

Cultivating a Brand

We are grateful that The Cultivated Vision was built out of a natural progression and desire to work with us. Now it was our time to build the brand with the business. This time, this business, it was bigger than us. This time, it was us. It was our clients and I from the very beginning and it was my goal to build a business and a brand strong enough to support our growth and the growth of our clients so we could flourish.

Our name speaks directly to what we do (we’re not shy about being straight foward). A brand is not build in a day, it is continuously built over time. You have to plant the seed, nourish it, adapt and adjust at times – it is the process of growth.

Planting the seed is developing your strong brand roots – what you stand for and your mission.

We believe that every woman can have the opportunity to grow the business of their dream and live the life they truly desire. We have a deep passion for self develop to support you and those around you – most people do not know their true potential and it is our mission to show them what is possible for them.

Nourishing is providing your business with the right fuel and environment to thrive – your marketing. Your positioning, your pricing, your ideal clients, your messaging, your marketing channels. This is how you are creating that ideal environment for your business to grow. We do this through thoughtful and strategic cultivation.

Our approach is to start with your strongest skill set and creatively applying that to choose what methods to begin with or add first. Then we actually measure what is working and amplify our energy into that and look at what isn’t and we adapt, adjust, or use a new method so you can continue to grow. Where do you naturally thrive? Why wouldn’t we start there?

Harvesting is receiving the benefits of what you have created and your hard work – your sales and revenue.

You have to cultivate to be able to harvest. We want you to enjoy the successes of your work and all of the effort you put into supporting people with your business. We have an intentional approach to sales that empowers your clients into buying your services.

Our approach is simple.

Plant. Cultivate. Harvest.

We cultivated the vision of your dream business.

The Role of Conversations and Collaborations

Today, a lot of us are sold the idea that we can just post on social media and make money. That we don’t necessarily need to talk to anyone and we can kind of hide behind our computer screen and be wildly successful.

(Yet, I also find it interesting that most people who are selling “How I made X amount of dollars with faceless marketing, are using their face in the video…”)

I think we are missing the point. Business is about helping other people, solving a problem for someone else.

It is not about us. It’s about them.

I hid behind my social media posts for years, not to be too vulnerable – because what if I failed? what if people were mean? what if, what if, what if?

Well a lot of those what if’s happened, and guess what happened because of that – nothing!

You know why I was successful in both of my businesses, it was because of people. It was because I was having conversations.

In my nutrition business, I didn’t get clients from posting on socials – I got clients from connecting with my network, getting word of mouth referrals, partnering with gyms, workout studios, other health professional. It was in these conversations that the conversions were.

That is what made transitioning into my second business so natural as well, I just talked to people about what I was doing, that’s why I didn’t need an online presence to start.

As your business grows there is a time and place for most marketing methods, but you do not have to be an influencer to be an impact maker and grow a successful business. You will find me on socials (I’d love for you to send me a message. Find me on: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Youtube), but it is not the foundational strategy for me to get clients – conversations always will be.

Social media is just one opportunity to start those conversations.

Our marketing strategy support is focused on how to make more sales without depending on social media – we focus on getting you into more conversations so you can make more connections and more sales.

You have so many opportunities for growth, it is just finding the right creative application of methods to grow your business.

Envisioning the Future Together

In each of my businesses my core values have never waivered – I only want people to feel more confident in themselves because they deserve it. Whether that was through their physical health, or now, through developing a beautiful brand that they are proud to show off. What it really came down to was that growth it takes for you to become that person who gets healthier, or builds that business. That personal growth is something that no one can take away, no matter what challenge you are facing, that growth allows you the courage to do things you may have thought were possible for you before, achieve things beyond your wildest dreams, and creates a positive ripple effect to those around you, so you can create more of an impact on this world.

The future of The Cultivated Vision is one where we grow together and support more incredible women to create the success and the impact they truly desire.

It’s going to be fun! We will see you there!