When you meet Robin Glance, you can’t help but smile. She has such a warm, cheerful personality and genuine ability to connect with people. She is a Nutritionist and a Mom Entrepreneur, who has strategically built her community and, as a result, has built a thriving business.
In 2014, she launched her private practice Robin Glance Nutrition. She lives with her husband and two sons, Toby, 8, and Elliot, 6, in Pointe-Claire, Quebec.
Giving up the nine-to-five
I have to say that I don’t think I knew that it was my dream to run my own business until I was in it and started. It was just a little feeling in my gut that I wasn’t ready to go back to working the nine-to-five after having my second baby. I was very lucky to be working a government job at a hospital. I was able to take a second year, unpaid, with my job safe.
I said to myself, why don’t I just dabble in some private practice. By the end of that year, when I was meant to go back to the hospital, once again my gut was telling me “No, this practice is just starting to bloom and go places”.
My manager at the hospital suggested that I take a year’s leave of absence instead of quitting. So I had two full years off with a secure job waiting for me. Having a job to fall back on gave me the confidence to dabble in what I loved.
But, it was really only year three that I started to give it my all. I finally said goodbye to a secure job at the hospital and committed to my private practice. Since that point, things have really started to pick up.
Sometimes I wonder if I would have pushed through those years if I didn’t have a secure job to fall back on and if I didn’t have the blessing of my husband who was able to support us. So I guess I was very lucky.
The importance of listening to your intuition
At the hospital, I was an oncology dietitian working with people going through cancer treatments. It was a very different kettle of fish compared to private practice, where people reach out primarily for weight loss. And quite quickly, I have to say, that focusing on weight loss just didn’t feel natural to me. I’ve never enjoyed telling people what they can and cannot eat. And then, I think, private practice started to become stressful.
As I put myself out there publicly, I felt I had to live up to this image, walking the walk, of being a very much a health conscious dietitian. And I remember, a few years back, when I was preparing for my annual barbecue party. I was at Costco with my cart full of beer and chips and then I ran into one of my clients and felt so embarrassed. And feeling the need to say “oh, there’s a party, I don’t always eat like this”.
I became a dietitian because I love food. With this approach focused on weight loss, I was really not feeling true to myself. I was seeing just how all encompassing it was for my clients even if I wasn’t putting them on a strict diet. I could also see how it was not effective for them. It wasn’t what people needed.
A colleague of mine introduced me to an interesting body of research called the “Health At Every Size” movement. It’s a science based movement that shows that weight and health are not linked and that, in fact, trying to go on diets not only doesn’t work but it makes things worse.
And I was like, yes! This is what my intuition was telling me all along. Since I made that change in focus, I have never been more passionate about what I do.
On choosing where to work
I never really considered working from home with two young kids. I’m a very messy person myself and it just wasn’t realistic. So I started working out of clinics where I could be part of the team and see clients without having to rent my own space.
I work out of a couple of clinics that are nice and close to home. One is Energie EnCorps (a yoga, fitness and wellness centre) which has a great community feel and the same attitude about health and wellness. The other is a medical clinic. And I also do a lot of virtual work as well.
Making a difference through volunteering
I volunteer at the West Island Cancer Center, which is an incredible place!
They offer the most wonderful services, completely free of charge, to anyone who has been touched by cancer. I’ve been volunteering with them for a long time. I run a vegetarian cooking class once a month, which I absolutely love doing.
Even though I love cooking, I never kind of saw myself as being a master chef teaching others. It’s such a lovely opportunity to come together and make a meal together.
On growing business skills
I had zero business skills to start and I kind of realized this pretty early on. Someone invited me to visit a BNI group (Business Networking International) – which is a weekly networking group. So I went out to one of these meetings and it was a little overwhelming. But, I realized that not only was it a great way to network and make connections, but to learn and become a bit more business minded. So I joined and have been in BNI ever since.
The past year, I was President of my BNI group, which was quite exciting. That taught me a lot… the importance of networking and the importance of not being scared to sell yourself when you know you’re doing something good.
I still struggle with talking about money. Asking for money and for my worth is very uncomfortable and I think it is for other female entrepreneurs that I know. But don’t be shy to ask for the worth of all your experience to get to where you are.
The importance of networking
I do believe in getting out there and networking. I’ve always said to myself to not say no to opportunities. To not say no to going out and giving free talks. You never know what kind of doors things will open. Make those connections. And that means not waiting to perfect every last bit of your image or the product you’re selling. But just get out there and start making a conversation.
We could get caught up in the details and we could hold ourselves back in this fear of feeling like we’re not enough. In recognizing that we all, in each of our professions, have so much that we can offer and we should not be shy to spread the word about what we do.
Making a commitment to your marketing strategy
Honestly, my biggest helper has been Facebook. I perhaps started at a time where the algorithms were a bit easier to understand. The first thing I put forward publicly was my Facebook page. I said to myself, I’m going to commit to doing two posts a week and post some real good, authentic content that’s meaningful to me. And it kind of grew.
People would reach out through Facebook. And people who have wonderful communities on Facebook, like the mom groups and the West Island community groups, would reach out to me too. It’s just been incredible how wonderful people have been to put my name out there.
And, I would say, that Facebook is still where the majority of my clients come from. But, it’s hard. This is my fifth year and there have probably only been about two weeks that I haven’t posted a couple times a week on Facebook. It’s hard to do when we’re busy or we’re feeling down. Some people suggested to just keep Facebook on a schedule but I like my posts to be real and authentic.
Outsourcing to maintain focus
Sometimes I take on students – dietitics stagieres (nutrition students doing work placements) – and then, after, have employed them to help me with some projects: setting up my CRM, with MailChimp, or some things that I didn’t have the time for but are useful. It is something that I’m starting to recognize the importance of doing.
We need to remember to focus on what we do best and we need to focus on putting ourselves out there. When we get caught up in all the details of business, we miss out on that. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money and I’m in that process of recognizing that.
On making connections with local media outlets…
Some of my connections are very old connections, such as from when I was working at the hospital. Every now and then they needed someone to do a nutrition bit for the news and I was usually the only sucker. So, some of those connections followed me.
But, some were literally me just sending an email and saying “hey, I would love to come on and here are some talking points that I have”. And I guess something resonated.
Sometimes, we think we need connections everywhere. But, some of it can be a little bit of getting ballsy and saying “can I do this?”. And that’s been great for me. Because once you’re in and your name gets in there, other people will reach out when they have an interview or a radio show spot to do. So just write and ask, you never know!
Advice for Mom Entrepreneurs
Get a clear vision of what you want, where you want to be and what it is that you can offer. And also, how are you going to differentiate yourself from what’s out there.
And then, also, tie that vision in with the kind of balance you want for your life. I initially started my private practice to have more time with my kids but then things got very busy. If it starts to take away from quality time with your family, ask yourself how important is it for you? Setting clear boundaries of where you want to be professionally and in your home life is a good first step.
The next step would be to start looking at your competition and see what people are doing. Don’t be threatened to look at your competition! Sometimes people avoid it because they’re intimidated, because they don’t want to know that people are doing it better. But there’s so much to learn.
And, and even one step further. I remember reaching out, reaching out to people who are doing it. Go and say “can we have a coffee? I would love to pick your brain” because most people who are really confident in what they’re doing are super happy to share and to share their success. So don’t be shy to ask and get inspired.
Final words of wisdom…
Advice I heard is “entrepreneurship is hard and you never quite feel you’ve arrived”. But I’m starting to think that’s maybe a good thing because there’s always so much to learn.
Entrepreneurship can be lonely and you can doubt yourself a lot, so find your people… find your core group of people. Make time to get together and share success stories and challenges.
And never forget to build yourself up because entrepreneurship takes takes a lot. And I think a lot of people suffer from feeling like they should be doing more and there is always so much more we could do. But remember why you’re doing it. And, also, remember work-life balance… sit back some times and take those breaks and pat yourself on the back! This is a path that not everyone has the courage to walk.
Thank you so much, Robin!
Photos courtesy of Robin Glance.