Nathalie Garcia is a Holistic Nutritionist and Co-founder of Practice Better, an online client management platform built specifically for Health & Wellness coaches.

 

What do you do? How do you help wellness entrepreneurs?

I have the best “job” in the world. Although I continue to see clients as a Nutritionist, I spend most of my time working on Practice Better, my passion project. Practice Better is an all-in-one, Client Management Platform created for Health & Wellness Professionals. It supports Health & Wellness Practitioners so that they can save time, help more people and make more money.

Our users can manage their bookings, payments, forms, documents, session notes, and even keep clients accountable right from the platform. I am so thankful every day that we get to support these awesome practitioners!

 

How did you come about doing this?

So as I mentioned, I’m also a Holistic Nutritionist. Before I even finished my nutrition program, I realized that juggling the nutrition side of things and the admin work was going to be a huge challenge. This became a reality after taking on my first clients.

Things, like booking appointments or finding documents that were buried in email threads, took too much time. There were so many hurdles that were going to prevent me from getting ahead and succeeding.

I started looking at online tools to help with scheduling, forms, and payments. Although some of these were useful, it just meant I had to go to yet another place to manage all of my tasks. There were still many unresolved issues even after implementing these applications. Then I looked at systems to help manage my business. The truth is, they weren’t geared towards Nutritionists or Health Coaches, rather medical doctors, chiropractors and everyone else! Not to mention most of these tools were priced way outside of my small budget.

Graeme, our IT wiz, and I started talking about creating something that would solve these problems for other practitioners like myself.

 

 It feels like yesterday we were sitting in a restaurant mapping things out and the dream felt so far away. It felt like this would never happen. And now I’m sitting here talking to you about it all.  It’s pretty surreal and insanely fulfilling to create and share something you’re so passionate about.

 

 

What have been 1-2 of your biggest challenges or learning lessons so far?

No one who knows me would agree but I’m a shy person! And running a business means putting yourself out there for the world to see. By far, my biggest challenge has been stepping out of my comfort zone.

I’ve never let the nerves stop me but they certainly do test me. I find that the nerves help me deliver. I push myself to seek opportunities that take me out of my comfort zone. I’ve learned that if I wait until I’m “ready”, I’ll never be ready.

 

Did you have any notable influencers in your life?

During the different phases of my life, I’ve been very fortunate to be influenced by many wonderful people. It would be impossible to name them all.

Most recently, since becoming a mother, my daughter Gisele is my greatest influencer. She teaches me and inspires me every day. As she’s learned to crawl and then walk I’m reminded that you have to put in the time. You don’t just wake up one day running. Anything worth doing is going to be hard at times, but that makes it all the sweeter when having the wind blowing in your hair (she hardly has any hair yet) and the sun on your cheeks. She reminds me to be patient, curious and to work hard.

 

What certifications do you hold?

• Applied Holistic Nutrition Diploma
• Metabolic Balance Certificate
• Bachelor's Degree in French/Second Language Teaching

 

What are 3 things not many people know about you?

• I’m the proud mama of the most amazing and inspiring 1-year-old.
• I was a flight attendant! ...That was fun! 🙂
• As a child, I was totally set on be a hairdresser when I grew up.

 

What is the one thing that annoys you in our industry?

One of the things that frustrate me most is the number of restrictions put on us. These change state to state and province to province and can make it really difficult sometimes to meet our clients’ needs.

 

Discover more about Practice Better here