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Providing A Platform for Nutrition + Wellness Experts: A Q&A with Shannan Monson
Happy Monday, beauties!
I’m excited to share a new “Real Women, Real Balance” interview with you today.
Shannan Monson is a registered dietitian nutritionist and highly sought-after business coach for health and wellness entrepreneurs.
A former Division I collegiate athlete, she has over ten years of experience in the health and wellness industry as a high-performance coach, nutritionist, metabolic specialist and certified personal trainer.
She’s worked as a branding and community growth expert for a start-up that launched at Google in NYC, spoken to entrepreneurs at Harvard, and taught business and social media strategies to thousands of health and wellness experts.
Her work has been featured in Women’s Health, Fox News Magazine, the Feed Feed, Athleta, Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine, Glitter Guide, Style Me Pretty and many other major media outlets.
I first discovered her through Instagram and thought she would be a perfect person to interview regarding how she maintains a sense of balance in the midst of a busy, full life. Enjoy!
Providing A Platform for Nutrition + Wellness Experts: A Q&A with Shannan Monson
Hi Shannan! Will you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?
The professional answer is I’m a nutritionist, a mother, and the founder of nutrition simply–a platform for nutritionists and wellness experts to share their passion for health and fitness and grow their businesses. On a less profesh note–I’m obsessed with making people laugh, raw cookie dough (controversial–I know), green smoothies, and my 2 babies–not necessarily in that order. I was born and raised in the deep south but I don’t have a deep southern accent, and my family and I currently live in the most adorable old cotton factory alongside the Savannah River in Augusta, Georgia. I also had a very brief stint as a Division 1 volleyball player (if you count sitting the bench for a season, which I do), worked as a personal trainer alongside NFL players (yes, they’re really that big in real life) and oh, I get *really* excited about all things wellness.
What inspired you to start your business?
I’d love to tell you some super inspiring story, but I’ve always said my business was born of desperation not dreams. It was a perfect storm–we were broke, we had a new baby, we’d just moved to a new town–and I knew that if I worked hard enough I could put just enough food on the table to feed my family and still be around when my kids needed me. I’d had years of essentially running my own business as a personal trainer and nutritionist at gyms, and figured it couldn’t be that much harder on my own.
I was wrong, about that of course, but I was right that if you work hard enough and learn to be resilient, there’s not much you can’t do. Since then, my business has turned into so much more than I ever could have dreamed of–we have a beautiful studio space downtown, an incredible team, and our classes and free content reach thousands of women around the world. Which, in my opinion, is proof you don’t need to start inspired or with some big vision, just put your head down and do the work.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I would *adore* being a morning person but for whatever reason it doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me, so I usually wake up about 7am to my four-year-old climbing into bed with me and we’ll make smoothies unless by some miracle we’re up early.
Then it’s the usual dizzy of trying (& mostly failing) to get tiny humans dressed, ready, out the door, and also “please for the last time keep your hands to yourself.” Then, the kids are off to preschool and I’ll walk to the office–my first real moments of peace and quiet for the day.
The next few hours are full of emails, writing, creating and shooting content for the blog and my online courses, team calls, and whatever project we’re working on.
I head home around 4 most days to play with the kids, cook dinner (or, okay, order take-out) then my husband and I switch parenting duties and I head to the gym for spin, HIIT or a yoga class. Because I have a pretty flexible work day to spend more time with my kids (about 10-4), I usually put in a few more hours before bed which also seems to be my most creative hours–if you get a particularly funny email from me, chances are I wrote it after 10pm.
I’m curious, what do you do when you’re not working?
I love stories–and can spend hours (or okay, fine, days) getting lost in them. I’ve always loved reading and still sneak books in wherever I can, but more often these days it’s a Netflix series or show on Hulu. I also love scrolling through Instagram and meeting new people–reading their stories and captions, listening to them on Insta Stories. I’m fascinated by other people’s lives. It’s so comforting and encouraging to know that even on our hardest loneliest days, we’re so connected. There’s so many people in that moment who can relate to you, encourage you, inspire you–and thanks to technology they can be right there in front of you.
You’re also incredibly likely to find me at the beach, the pool, or anywhere there’s sun. I’m a true foodie and love trying new restaurants and eating all the things, and of course, if I’m not working there’s a good chance I’m working out. It’s my therapy, my friend time and my entertainment–I can’t say enough good things about finding a type of exercise and an exercise community that you love. It changes everything.
As you know, The Balanced Life is all about empowering women to approach health & fitness with a balanced mindset. How do you handle the pressure as a woman to look or act a certain way?
When I was 18, I started working as a personal trainer, and from my very first day on the job, my paycheck and the way I looked became connected. That’s an immense amount of pressure for an 18-year-old, feeling like your success is tied to how small and fit you are (or are not). But the more and more I worked with other women, first as a personal trainer and then as a nutritionist, the more I realized how crippled we all are by this bizarre message that a) how you look determines your fate and b) you don’t look good enough the way you are.
So, I started being my clients’ biggest cheerleader.
I pointed out all their strengths, shouted their praises from the rooftops and always reinforced the message that “YOU LOOK GOOD.” And when you see something long enough in other women, eventually it’s impossible *not* to see it in yourself as well. Eventually I stopped feeling the pressure, it still creeps back every once in a while, sure, but it’s overpowered by the positive messages I feel from the women I surround myself with.
What does balance mean to you during your current season of life?
I think there’s an immense pressure right now for women to have it all. You look at social media and it seems like all these women are so calm and collected–they’re all successful at work, they’re all perfectly decorating their homes, their kids are perfect, they’re balancing life perfectly.
My current reality (and probably most womens’) couldn’t be farther from the truth.
My home is a mess, I don’t cook dinner every night, I have no idea where my kids’ underwear is…you get the picture. Balance to me means recognizing my highest priorities and focusing as much of my time and energy as possible on *only* those priorities. My family, my most valuable project at work (not all of them) and letting go of almost everything else. And most of the time balance to me means calling in help, lots and lots of help, and often.
Who/what inspires you to keep living well?
There’s so many! One of the job perks of running nutrition simply is being surrounded by such an incredible wellness community. We have hundreds of inspiring nutritionists and fitness professionals in our programs, thousands of empowering women in our community, and more blogger and influencer friends than I ever could have hoped for. It’s hard to have a job like this one and not be inspired. 😉 Plus, I have an amazing community locally at my fitness studio–Oxygen–as well. I can’t say enough good things about surrounding yourself with good people. It makes all the difference in the world.
What is your best tip for maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the midst of a busy life?
Don’t overthink it. Collagen and ashwaganda root and 4-hour meal prep days sound inspiring, but for most of us, it’s not reality–nor does it have to be. You don’t have to eat like a model or train like a Hollywood star to feel amazing in your body (and honestly, nor should you.)
Squeeze in quick, effective workouts whenever you can, drink lots of green smoothies and quick, healthy on-the-go meals and snacks, and set yourself up for a *lifestyle* not a quick fix. If you can’t sustain it, it’s not gonna work. Being healthy doesn’t have to be a full-time job. And life is entirely too fun to miss out on! 😉
What projects are you currently working on that you’d like us to know about?
We recently launched an Instagram course–Insta Studio–that I’m soo excited about. We all joked on my team that it was a bit like birthing a child, and I have to say, there have definitely been some parallels! Ha. It’s a complete Instagram strategy course, with 7 on camera video units covering everything from how to create a compelling profile, iPhone photography and video, collaborations, hashtags, growth secrets and more. The number one question I’ve gotten in the past year or so is “how did you grow your Instagram?” and I’m so grateful to be able to pass along what I’ve learned. Instagram completely transformed my business–it got me my first partnerships with big brands, helped me land my first TV commercial, and has introduced me to some of the coolest, most influential and big-hearted people in the world (like Robin) and being able to give that same opportunity to other new entrepreneurs is life-changing. You can sign up for my free iPhone photography class and learn more here.
Thank you, Shannan! It’s an honor to have you here on the blog today. Thank you for the work you are doing to inspire others!
You can keep up with Shannan on her Facebook & Instagram accounts, or check out her website for more ideas and inspiration!
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