We have great pleasure in sharing our latest Mompreneur interview with you. Alasen Zarndt is a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who has specialised as a Nutrition Doula because of her own journey back to wellness after the birth of her first child.
What’s a Nutrition Doula?
Find out in this inspiring video. And you’ll want to watch till the end because Alasen also gives out brilliant free advice for Moms who are struggling with overweight or underweight postpartum.
*Please note: the interview below is not a transcription of the video interview above. You’ll find golden nuggets in both her written answers and the video.
An Interview with Your Nutrition Doula
Lauren: Lovely to meet you Alasen, please describe what you do for a living.
Alasen: I help women regain their mental and physical health after having a baby through individualized nutrition, in an easy to implement, stress-free way that the whole family loves.
Lauren: If you wear many hats in business, which of these do you love most, which takes most of your time and which brings in the most income?
Alasen: I definitely love working one-on-one with clients the most, because we really get to dive down into the details for them and watching their incredible transformations just makes my heart sing.
That is also what brings the most income in right now, which is a nice bit of alignment there.
The tech side of my business is what takes most of my time right now – I’m trained as an INHC and my background before that was in engineering, not computers!
So I’m spending a lot of time right now learning the ins and outs of online business tools that I need to keep everything running smoothly.
Alasen on Entrepreneurship
Lauren: When did you decide to become an Entrepreneur?
Alasen: April of 2017
Lauren: Why did you decide to become an Entrepreneur?
Alasen: Through my own journey becoming a Mom, I developed a passion for helping others through this crazy transition in life.
I wanted to fill the gap I felt for others out there, so they wouldn’t have to go through such a hard time. Ultimately, my new passion won out over my traditional career and I decided to take the leap!
Lauren: What prompted you to start your own business? How did you come up with the idea?
Alasen: I went through my own, pretty serious struggles with pregnancy, postpartum weight, and breastfeeding and while I was “in it” I couldn’t find ANY help out there.
We shy away from teaching moms about nutrition because “pregnancy isn’t a time to worry about weight” – but nutrition isn’t only about weight, it’s also about helping your body function optimally.
So I had to go it alone, do my own research and learning. Once I figured it out, I was thinking,
Why isn’t this information readily available? Am I the only one who needed this???
I had a fledgeling idea about starting something to help other moms who were also struggling (while I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep one night), but that imposter syndrome or ego or whatever you want to call it was like
No, that’s a dumb idea. There’s no market for it or someone else would have done it already. You’ll fail.
So I sat on it for a few weeks, but the idea for The Nutrition Doula just wouldn’t leave me alone. I finally got the courage to talk to a few trusted friends about the idea and the response was OVERWHELMINGLY positive.
Their encouragement prompted me to start talking with hubby about going back to school to make this a reality and the rest is history.
Lauren: Who did you have in mind? Who do you serve?
Alasen: I help pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding moms go through all of these phases without damaging their own health in the process.
Or, if you’ve already been through these things and have toddlers running around, I help you to replenish your body and get you back to feeling great!
Lauren: Is this your first entrepreneurial pursuit?
Alasen: Yes!
Lauren: What advice would you give someone just starting out as an Entrepreneur?
Alasen: Take the time to learn the in’s and outs of online business operation BEFORE you decide on what your signature product/service will be.
Having a solid foundation in marketing tools, online payments, different business structures, etc. will make everything go so much smoother once you are ready to create a product and sell it.
Lauren: Do you feel you chose an easy path or a difficult one?
Alasen: This is definitely not an easy path, but I also don’t view it as a constant struggle.
Yes, you have to put in the work. Yes, you have to remain consistent.
But eventually, the work and consistency become more like habits and it becomes a much easier path than at the beginning.
Alasen on Motherhood
Lauren: What has been the greatest challenge for you to overcome as a Mother?
Alasen: I had PPD/PPA with my oldest, but it went undiagnosed because I thought it was normal for new moms to feel overwhelmed like I did.
That was a huge blow to my confidence as a Mom overall, and it took a lot of healing to overcome that.
Lauren: What do you love most about being a Mom Entrepreneur?
Alasen: I get to see my kids in the mornings now, and we have a much more relaxed start to our day.
When I was working full time, we had to leave the house by 6:15am for daycare dropoff.
Now I get to let the kids eat breakfast at their own pace, play a little, and all of that because school dropoff isn’t until 8am. That hour and a half that we got back is the best part of all of this.
Alasen – Meaning, Mission and Message
Lauren: If you were to die tomorrow, would you be at peace knowing you had lived a full, happy and meaningful life?
Alasen: This is a tough one!
Looking back over my life, I know that I have done the best I could with everything leading up to this point.
But I don’t know if I can say that I would be “at peace” because I know that I have SO MUCH MORE to offer the world.
I really believe the best is yet to come and I want to be here for it!
Lauren: Do you have a message you would like the world to hear?
Alasen: Oh, so many messages!
I really want women to learn the TRUTH about nutrition and weight loss and how their bodies work.
Most everything we are taught or “know” that’s put out there by the diet industry is incomplete or straight-up wrong.
I really want Moms to understand how AMAZING their bodies are and to learn how to care for them so that their food works FOR them rather than against their biology.
Lauren: What are your hopes for 2020?
Alasen: This year is really about growth for me. I want to have helped 100 women through their nutrition journey by the end of the year!
Alasen’s Mentors and Courses
Lauren: Who has been enormously helpful to you? Do you have mentors in business?
Alasen: Yes! When I was just starting out, I met my friend Katie who was very much like me, but about 2 years further down the entrepreneurial path.
Katie introduced me to some super solid mentors (shout out to Landon Porter, Gabe Arnold, Tori Reid and the Gorillas) that were incredible and really helped me learn the business side of the house.
Then there is my friend Meredith, who is also a health coach and business owner. She’s the one who encouraged me to get started way back in 2017 and she has been great with helping me keep a level head when I got impatient in business.
And I’m in Amanda Daley’s Mastermind that is specific to health coaching business, which has also been amazing because I’m with a tight-knit group that is at the same point as I am right now, so the support there is really important to me.
Lauren: Are there any courses or studies you feel have been essential to your success?
Alasen: My Initial training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition is essential because it is what lets me DO nutrition coaching.
I can’t speak highly enough about their program!
From the business side of things, Landon’s training around sales and getting clients (called LeadsLab) was a great fit for me.
Tori is my go-to person for learning copywriting, and Gabe teaches more about business structure, mindset, and scaling.
And Amanda’s Upswing Mastermind is what helped me to put the pieces together specifically for the health coaching industry.
Does this describe YOU?
Lauren: Who is your target market? If I were to give you a referral, who would I be looking for?
Alasen: I work with pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding moms or moms with young toddlers who feel like they have tried everything under the sun to get back to their ideal weight.
They’re feeling weak, tired, like a shell of their former selves. Moms who are tired of feeling like a zombie (or mombie) on the hamster wheel of life.
Moms who
- Struggle to maintain their ideal weight
- Suffer from postpartum hair loss
- Have postpartum depression and anxiety
- Feel they are going through life as a mombie
- Can’t tell you the last time they felt rested
- Moms who feel like a shell of their former selves
- Moms who would give anything to feel like THEMSELVES again
My clients turn into moms who
- Easily maintain their ideal weight
- Enjoy a great night’s sleep (regularly)
- Wake up feeling rested even after their kids woke them up
- Have the energy to keep up with their demanding jobs and toddlers
- Banish pregnancy-brain for good
- Find joy in motherhood, their jobs and their lives again
Want to get these amazing results for yourself?
Sign Up for Alasen’s signature course, Healthy Eating Made Easy
Or, start with Alasen’s FREE Fruit and Veggie Challenge
Connect with Alasen
I have seen my sis-in-law having trouble shedding her weight post delivery. How I wish she had received this help, all those years ago!
Moms need it–help in every form–especially after delivery, for they are too busy looking after their little ones and their families. They hardly prioritize themselves and this is what leads to all the health issues later on in life.
So true, Shilpa. I’ve been there myself, looking for those answers. Having someone to guide me postpartum would have been incredible, when selfcare was the last thing on my agenda.
It’s a brilliant initiative to help women at a time when they need all the support. I am glad you didn’t let doubts stop you from realizing your dream. I actually had signed up for on call coaching after my delivery where the coach would guide me about nutrition and fitness. It’s a free service provided by the state in Australia, helping women in their post partum journey
I have seen how my sis-in-law struggled to regain her old weight after delivery but in vain. This concept of sur-thrive sounds fantastic and so helpful for new moms in getting back their old selves. And usually, moms tend to put themselves at the bottom of their priority lists, so sur-thrive will definitely help them put the focus back on them. Well, if moms don’t give themselves the importance they deserve, no one will!
This is a brilliant idea. I actually had signed up for on call coaching after the delivery of my baby. It is a free program provided by the state in Australia. It was so helpful in guiding me with nutrition and fitness. I am so glad you are helping other women when they really need all the support.
That is so cool that there is this type of coaching in Australia. I’m really glad to be bringing it to the US too!
Nutrition is the cornerstone of good health. Lack of proper nutrients result in various ailments and problems. Alasen’s work as a Nutrition Doula in helping pregnant, post-partum and breast-feeding moms to get back to their ideal weight is so wonderful. Thanks for sharing her awe-inspiring work and journey.
Thanks for reading Shilpa! I’m really glad the message is helpful.
Sur-thrive! What a cool concept. It is not easy for new moms who naturally feel overwhelmed at the sudden change in their lives and the added postpartum woes do not help. Sometimes we are not even able to recognize what we are going through because there is so much to do.
I loved reading Alasen’s interview — great tips too. I read recently that women and men burn calories differently because of the difference in metabolism.
I’m so glad your found the tips helpful. Here’s to sur-thriving together 🙂
this is a great initiative taken by Alasen to help moms and to be moms. it feels good to pursue your passion and you see it grow. best of luck to Your Nutrition Doula.
Thank you so much for listening in!