Speaker 1: (00:00.214) Welcome to the Dietitian Business Network podcast. I'm Maggie Doherty, your host, dietitian and business coach. In today's episode, you are going to be a fly on the wall in a business coaching session with me and Jana Weaver. Jana is the owner of Radiant Nutrition, a team of five dietitians out of Argyle, Texas, who specialize in insurance-based nutrition counseling. Today, she came with the main question of how do I take my practice to the next level without burning out or becoming the bottleneck?

Speaker 1: We had a really great conversation about talking about how to scale a team. How do you structure and motivate a growing team without losing your brand voice or culture along the way? And as you scale, how do you manage your own time in your schedule when you wear so many hats in the practice? We also tackled topics like retention and different seasons of life that come with a business and what it looks like when you have a team of one, a team of five, or a team of 10. I think you're gonna really like this conversation if you are a dietitian looking to scale your practice or in the middle of scaling. Tune in and listen to this fun chat.

Speaker 1: (01:14.914) What's kind of your story of going from one to five?

Speaker 2: Yeah, so I like a lot of people started a business right before the pandemic. I started… I got credentialed with insurance carriers and kind of just started the ball rolling in 2019 and really saw my first clients at the beginning of 2020. Then, you know, things shifted and I went all virtual working from my home and ended up just building my practice alongside my corporate—I was in corporate wellness. And at the end of 2020, I actually started seeing clients out of my home office in person and grew from there. We've been in this office location for about three years now. I started with myself, I was seeing clients like six days a week. I was like, this is a lot. I need help, support. I had an intern that was helping me in an admin role. And then she ended up working for me as a dietitian, one of my first dietitians. And it really has just gone from there. And so we do have one remote dietitian and then we have had a team of four in our office.

Speaker 1: Okay, and are they full-time, part-time?

Speaker 2: (02:48.718) They—the three dieticians in our office—have been full to part time. I would say full time because they've been over 30 hours each person. So the remote dietician is part time.

Speaker 1: And with hiring those dieticians, have you been able to see less clients or are you still seeing clients six days a week?

Speaker 2: It's kind of enough and no. I was definitely seeing less clients. I think I saw too few last year and had to kind of pull back in to find that balance with the revenue. I am not seeing clients six days a week anymore though. I am seeing clients on a solid schedule about three days a week at this point.

Speaker 2: But I do think that working more on my business last year helped me be able to, you know, change up systems and really take some steps. But then also it kind of put me in a tight place—not working at all in my business as a practitioner financially—it put me in kind of a tight place. So I took a step back into seeing three days a week of clients. And it really made me remember too, and reminded me of why I started this. So it's been, even though it's been kind of a back and forth of working on my business and in my business, it's really been great this year to remember and meet with clients and have new clients and just be reminded of why I'm doing this. So it's been really good.

Speaker 1: (04:43.406) It sounds like you made some decisions of like, yeah, that's why I'm doing this. Because the worst is when you're making decisions and it's, why am I doing this? What is this worth?

Speaker 2: And I think that the hard times can be hard and very challenging, right? And a lot of times—that's what a lot of people don't see on social media. You don't see the long hours or working clients six days a week in the beginning. I had some really big challenges last year personally and in my practice, but taking steps and just continuing to take those steps and being reminded of my passion for helping individuals—it was exactly what I needed this year. And it really also helped me see as I changed…

Speaker 2: I don't—definitely don't have it all together. I really am excited to hear more. I'm not at all, but that's why I'm here, Maggie. That's why I'm here. But I've done something right. I've made a lot of good steps. As I've made changes and then gotten back into my practice, I think we have to recognize there's different seasons of business, right?

Speaker 1: (06:25.350) And what it has also helped me do is see where there's gaps and where I need to reset policies or—this morning I was writing down, I need an automation for this specific workflow. It's helped me dive back in.

Speaker 1: You know, when you were saying you went through a lot of challenges in the past year—I feel every single business lesson that’s helped me make better decisions has come from a challenging time. You don’t learn much from the easy hires and the easy months; you learn from performance plans, letting someone go, debt scares—the terrible moments that later reveal the lesson.

Speaker 2: It's so true. With age comes wisdom and experience. Being an entrepreneur has challenged my character, but it's been so good. It's wild how often we're going through similar things at the same time. I was listening to something about growing in the struggle—“I'm struggling; I'm growing.” We have to hold onto those moments and see opportunity; otherwise the overwhelm wins. There were times this past year I felt like I was revamping my entire business. I’d heard people get to this place; I didn't want to be there…

Speaker 1: You wanna know a secret? It's always a work in progress and it’s always being revamped. We tell ourselves “Once I hire X it’ll be easy. Once we promote Y it’ll settle.” But growth brings different problems: benefits, PTO, more volume, more issues. If you grow internally—boundaries, delegation, automation, values-aligned choices—you can be proud of the growth rather than buried by it. Most people start groups to gain time at home, more money, and work less. Then they feel guilty for working less. But that was the point!

Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. That ties to brand and culture—one of my questions.

Speaker 1: Yeah, let’s dive in.

Speaker 2: As I’ve grown, I’ve worked on personal growth—people-pleasing, boundaries—because they affected the business. Leadership books say personal growth precedes professional growth. I'm proud now to hold boundaries like not seeing clients on Fridays. But leading while still seeing clients is hard. How do you structure or motivate a growing team without losing your brand or culture? Letting people go is hard even when it's right—for them and for us.

Speaker 1: (14:06.764) I’ll flip it: from one to five, how have you motivated the team while keeping your authentic voice and brand? Or where did you veer off-brand?

Speaker 2: I’ve let fear lead sometimes. In-person hiring has been tough—fewer local RDs. If I hired today, I’d wait longer for the right fit rather than filling fast from need. Leading while seeing many clients is challenging. I love socializing with the team—we did a murder mystery dinner for our February birthdays. I want people to feel I care about them as much as clients—but you still need structure. I’m still finding that balance as my own growth continues.

Speaker 1: How would you describe your culture and brand?

Speaker 2: Compassion. Because of my health journey and personal trauma, we sit with clients beyond the surface. We listen well, meet people where they are. I want everyone who walks in to feel they’re in the right place, welcomed, supported.

Speaker 1: (18:00.684) With that, make sure training and onboarding preserve it. Have a checklist covering mission/values: “We lead with compassion—here’s how.” Give examples. Have them shadow welcoming clinicians (and you). Lead by example more than by policy docs. If you love personal celebrations (birthdays, etc.), systematize them so growth doesn’t erase the fun: quarterly mixers, monthly happy hours, annual holiday party—put dates on the calendar now.

Speaker 2: (20:27.246) Yes—hold onto the fun and appreciation; we spend so much time together.

Speaker 1: Re: resetting culture without losing people—early on I hired lots of friends, so it felt like a hangout. As we grew, we needed more business structure. I didn’t always defend my core values and the culture drifted. When I restarted, I stayed closer to my values. Key: as you grow, ensure the growth steps align with your values—or they’ll get lost in the shuffle.

Speaker 2: That leads to client retention. I rarely had cancels early on; if they did, they rebooked. I reached out and pursued them—people want to be prompted. As we grew, retention varies. We’ve trained on what worked for me, but not all RDs see the same results. What strategies have you used to help RDs keep clients engaged in an insurance model?

Speaker 1: Typically the founder has the best retention—that’s why you had to hire. Teach your system, but also crowdsource: team meeting where each RD shares their top retention tip. Track metrics: define a practice benchmark. Anyone below it gets support—shadow a high-retention RD; have the manager (or you) shadow them and give feedback. Make it two-way learning.

Speaker 2: That makes sense. Working in vs. on the business, switching EMRs, delegating—you can lose visibility. I agree: set expectations and metrics; have conversations; guide and teach. Part of my dream is raising up the next gen of RDs.

Speaker 1: Have you done retention trainings? What did they include?

Speaker 2: Yes—email and text templates; outreach cadence. I get to know clients’ family structures and realities. A client today had seen two other RDs and returned to me. I help RDs learn birthdays, roles, ages, and preferences to tailor care—it improves retention.

Speaker 1: (29:54.594) And chart it. Insurance-required notes matter, but also chart small personal details so you can follow up next time (“How was your wife’s birthday?” “How’s Pluto feeling?”). Even for coaching clients, I chart those details so I can meaningfully follow up when my caseload is heavy.

Speaker 2: Exactly. I even keep quick phone notes about people I meet—details matter. I want our care to feel human and relational. Some RDs are naturally outgoing; others can learn. I value the variety of personalities and strengths.

Speaker 1: That’s a great hiring screen: in interviews, do they connect easily? If not, yellow flag for your brand fit.

Speaker 2: Let’s hit time management—working in vs. on the business. As practitioner-owners, we bring in revenue but also must lead and build. I enjoy being back in the clinic, but balance is essential. I noticed in your intake forms things like greeting processes—office manager vs. part-time support. Admin is a big expense. What’s worked for you balancing admin support with profitability?

Speaker 1: Great—two parts: your time management, then admin. First, list every hat you wear (founder/CEO/RD/manager/marketing/admin/insurance/billing). It’s easy to stretch too thin—errors, misses, burnout. Many of us default to doing it ourselves (faster, “right”). The fix: prioritization + time blocking.

Speaker 1: (39:36.110) Take your to-do list and bucket it (Client Care, Admin, Billing, Marketing/Outreach, Personal). Then mark H/M/L priority. High = must be done in ~24 hours or real consequences. Medium = this week. Low = no deadline (often the “fun” tasks). Start the day with the single highest-impact High task and time block it. If you only finish half of one High, that’s still a win—because it’s the right work.

Speaker 2: Guilty as charged. Boundaries with my schedule are key. This week my list skewed to client-intake tasks (holiday week, OM out). Time blocking is my challenge—especially when I’m seeing 25 client hours Tue–Thu.

Speaker 1: 25 client hours is a lot for an owner. If 70% capacity is client care, 10–20% admin, that leaves ~10% to work on the business (training for retention, hiring, outreach). If you love 25 hours, fine—but name it. Otherwise, consider rebalancing.

Speaker 2: I’ve kept 25 hours mainly for revenue. As we’ve added admin expenses (EMR/CRM/billing team/office manager), I’m trying to figure out where to trim or better leverage the support so I can step back clinically without crushing margins.

Speaker 1: Admin can unlock revenue (you see clients or you grow the business) but it raises overhead. Typical office manager bandwidth can cover ~1–10 clinicians depending on scope. If your OM supports five, your admin % will feel high until caseloads fill or you add another RD. Sometimes the answer is not cutting OM but filling schedules (or hiring) to dilute overhead.

Speaker 2: End of last year I flipped EMRs for more automation, added a CRM, moved billing/benefits to a billing team, and increased hourly admin. Costs are higher, but the foundation runs without me. I’m in that 4–5 RD “middle” where overhead has jumped but we’re not yet at the scale that makes it feel light.

Speaker 1: Exactly—the “valley of scale.” The good news: you now have a business that functions if you step away—scheduling, billing, care delivery. Next move: a hard look at financials and throughput. Book two hours next week for a numbers review: P&L, balance sheet, line-item expenses. Trim low-ROI tools; optimize calendars (raise retention, fill schedules); allocate time or budget to marketing/provider outreach; consider one more RD if OM bandwidth allows so admin % drops.

Speaker 2: Agreed. I’m grateful for my bookkeeper. The next step is making decisions from the data—cut where needed without compromising growth.

Speaker 1: I love it, Jana. I have to wrap us up—this hour flew. I’m excited to watch you and your team grow. If people want to follow your practice, where can they find you?

Speaker 2: (56:46.812) They can find us at radiantnutrition.com or on Instagram at radiantnutritionrds.

Speaker 1: Thank you for spending time with me today.

Speaker 2: You are—you’re amazing. I’ve admired you for a long time. It’s so good to sit with you and talk through this. I love the expertise you shared. Thank you. I’m super appreciative.

Speaker 1: You’re so sweet. Thank you.