My career as a dietitian saw me work in very specialised areas. Initially, I spent 7 years as a diabetes dietitian in the public sector. It was the BEST job and I loved every bit of it. A sea change saw me move to the private sector, but still in a salaried job. When I started, I was the only dietitian and 5 years on when I left, I had become one of 5 dietitians. The business went through major growth whilst I was there. I have now been coaching dietitians to start and grow their private practices for nearly 5 years and here is my story from the past 12 months as a dietitian business coach. 

12-14 months ago, I was working PT for a surgical weight loss company.  I was doing The Ambitious Dietitian part time, doing some clinical private practice at local medical centres, and I was a mum to 4 under 8. I knew something had to give. What was it and what was going to make me make that final decision? I didn’t want to be in my salaried job but I didn’t have the time to grow The Ambitious Dietitian and my private practice whilst I was working PT as well. Surprise, surprise, I was really at a roadblock with I have to choose one or the other.

So I got a promotion, decided to stick at my salaried job and quit my private practices – all three of them. Had my last day on the Friday, had a good weekend, then went to work on the Monday & Tuesday, had enough and quit. So within 3 business days, I’d walked away from 2/3 of my income. WTF? I won’t lie, there were moments of doubt.

I worked long hours, often 9am-8pm, weekends were a regular occurrence, as were “information nights” where I wouldn’t get home until after 9pm. This was something I was doing when I had 4 kids under 5 and I commuted between 45-60 minutes too and from work each day. There were days when I came back from mat leave where I didn’t see my kids for 24 hours (because we can’t count checking on them when they are asleep).

Days that surgeons were there were particularly crazy. We’d go from returning from lunch at 1pm through to 7pm with new consults back to back. I remember being pregnant with the twins just hoping someone wouldn’t show up or would be running late just so I could go to the toilet and fill up my drink bottle.

Several times I called my dad, who has a very strong work ethic, you know the kind where you have to be dead to call in sick for work, who has been self employed or in a contractor role his whole life, who drilled into me that I needed to have a “secure” “safe” “salaried” job, to tell him that I was going to quit. And several times he talked me out of it. I had a large family. I had a mortgage. I needed that regular income……. Then, yet again, one day I called him to say I’m going to quit and he didn’t say anything. Just to call him tomorrow and let him know how it went.

So I went to work and I walked into my bosses office and I said “my time here is up”. Driving home from work I called dad and I said, why didn’t you try to talk me out of it like you have every other time and he said, “I knew you just had to do it this time”.

On the other side, my mum had been telling me for years that I should just quit and I’d find a way to make it work but I didn’t have the courage to do it.

Daniel, luckily, was supportive of what ever my choice was. He just wanted me to do what I felt was right and what would make me happy as long as we were going to be “ok” financially as a family.

I have had to ask myself a number of times, what was the one thing that held me back all this time now I know what was/is possible.

• Have my mortgage paid for 6 months in advance to give myself a buffer
• Have all my credit cards paid off
• Be debt free
• I needed a bigger house, who thought having twins was a good idea? We outgrew our house the day our family went from 4-6 overnight! I needed a mortgage to get a bigger house, I wouldn’t be able to get a mortgage if I didn’t have a salaried job.
• I needed a security blanket

But in actual fact, I didn’t need any of them.

I jumped and there was no plan B. There was no other option than to succeed.