Podcast

Healthy Habits, Netflix Binging, and Entrepreneurship (Featuring Maria Paula, LifeCycle Nutrition)

December 17, 2018

Show Notes

In this episode, we have Maria-Paula Carrillo as a special guest. She's a registered Dietitian Nutritionist, our next door neighbor, and owner of LifeCycle Nutrition -- a nutrition consulting private practice here in Allen, TX. Today, we asked Maria-Paula key questions regarding her and her business:

On today's episode we cover:

  • Why nutrition is important
  • Diet and nutrition myths
  • Quick tips for eating out
  • New behaviors that changed her life
  • Current Netflix bing
  • Maria Paula's soccer team, Chaos

Transcript

Christian: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to another episode of The Marketing Natives. Today, we have another special episode for you. We have...

[00:00:06] Maria Paula Carrillo. We were thinking about rolling on our - or talking about rolling on R's earlier. She's a registered dietitian nutritionist. Our next door neighbor and owner of lifecycle nutrition which is a nutrition consultant private practice here in Allen.

Christian: [00:00:38] Paula, welcome.

Paula: [00:00:39] Thank you for having me guys I'm so excited. They're just some of the best neighbors I've ever had.

Aaron: [00:00:44] Thank you, we appreciate that.

Aaron: [00:00:45] Nice, how many - I guess you were at another office place because I was thinking you haven't had any other neighbors which would have been rude. But whenever. We kind of talked about this and this - and we wanna - our first question is a really good icebreaker because we were actually talking about it or you alluded to it before the conversation.

[00:01:02] And so...

Christian: [00:01:04] I tried to not ask any question.

Aaron: [00:01:06] Good. So we want to know...Tell us how you started Chaos, your soccer superstar group.

Paula: [00:01:14] Oh no, this means I share way too much information with you guys.

[00:01:18] So Chaos was our soccer team that we decided to start. Because...I guess at that point in my...maybe 5-6 year old was playing soccer? Sick girl team, right? They...uhm...were not very good. So a friend and I were watching our girls just really not play soccer and getting very frustrated and thinking this has to be way easier. So let's show them how it's easier. So we asked a bunch of friends. So we joined a coed soccer league in Allen, adult coed so we figured it doesn't have to be hard. She had played soccer. I had never played soccer, well maybe with my brothers a little bit. Not good at all. So we got a lot of friends that. Some had played, some had not. They got some other friends and we were not very good at all. We truly earned the name Chaos so... Yeah that's how our team -.

Christian: [00:02:16] So was the name picked before or after?

Paula: [00:02:19] No, it was picked before by me. I kind of already knew what we were getting into. I didn't expect to be as bad as we were. So we...We didn't win any games. We usually would - there was a mercy rule. So if you were seven points. Yeah. that game would end.

Christian: [00:02:40] How many of those?

Paula: [00:02:43] About every y'know, other game or so. Within 15 minutes, the game was over.

Aaron: [00:02:48] But you enjoyed it, right?

Paula: [00:02:50] It was fun. Like we had a lot of injuries. I lost lots of friends, I think? So people are afraid when they see me now come like "Don't ask me to play sports." So, yes.

Aaron: [00:03:02] All right. Well -.

Christian: [00:03:02] So this is no longer a thing - Team Chaos?

Paula: [00:03:06] No, we went to kickball.

Aaron: [00:03:06] I think we could revive it, though. Yeah, we could.

Paula: [00:03:09] Sure, I'm all about it. I don't know that I can get many of those people back.

Aaron: [00:03:14] Well, we didn't talk about this and Christian and I have talked this last week. Yeah, getting a kick ball or - yeah, probably kickball would be our best route for a new Team Chaos revitalized. Now she did - Marie- Paula did show me a picture. Maybe we could put it in the show notes of her team. They did look very furious. They had like lime green shirts and -.

Maria-Paula: [00:03:35] We were best dressed. I mean we were, yeah. We had a strong team - looking. We look like we knew what we were doing but it wasn't the same once we got in the field. We tried kickball after.

[00:03:47] It wasn't called Chaos. I can't remember what that team was called because they didn't like my name. I thought it was really great. How creative is that?

Aaron: [00:03:54] I think is very creative and fitting too because at least if anything, the name, is intimidating. So whenever you guys get out there they're like "Oh, dang we're playing Chaos."

Maria-Paula: [00:04:03] So do you think that name is intimidating? I thought about it being funny but maybe that's my ESL kicking in.

Aaron: [00:04:09] I think it's a little intimidating.

Christian: [00:04:10] It can go both ways.

Aaron: [00:04:12] But Chaos just seems like they show up there and you guys are all matching - lime green. You start warming up a little bit but you don't see them really doing anything like the people who look really good at warming up.

Maria-Paula: [00:04:24] We're hiding our skills.

Aaron: [00:04:25] Right. So the for the first game of the year, you know you can really intimidate somebody until word gets around. You know. The league is like, "Hey, don't worry about Chaos" or -.

Maria-Paula: [00:04:34] And true that was about what it was, the first game was probably one of our best games. And then it was all downhill from there.

Aaron: [00:04:40] Nice. Well, started on a good foot.

Christian: [00:04:44] That's fine. All right so let's get let's get down to business now that we got that very interesting question out of the way. So we want. You to tell us about - LifeCycle Nutrition. What kind of services you provide? What are you all about?

Maria-Paula: [00:04:59] OK, so I'm a registered dietitian nutritionist and I always like to mention that because there's a lot of confusion out there - what's a registered dietitian? What's a nutritionist? Everyone is usually looking for a nutirtionist but in this day. Anyone can call us outside nutritionist without much education at all, if any. So we always say every registered dietitian is a nutritionist but not every nutritionist is a registered dietitian. So we pride ourselves in being nutrition experts and having enough education and background and being able to provide what we call medical nutrition therapy or nutrition counseling. With our education at least a bachelor's degree in nutrition and then having an internship and passing a registration exam. So uhmm...I provide education - individual counseling. So whether it's families or individuals and working kind of one on one with them and helping them achieve their nutrition goals whether that is healthy eating habits, improving their health or maybe helping someone with a medical condition and helping children grow or children with food allergies or requiring specialty feedings like whether they have a feeding tube or some type of the feeding difficulty. I called my practice LifeCycle Nutrition because I kind of work with the LifeCycle a lot of my experience comes from working in pediatrics. I was at...I've worked at Parkland in the ICU with really preemie babies and I worked at Children's Medical Center for about eight years working in the gastroenterology department. So that was a big chunk of my experience and knowledge and I'm very thankful for having had that. But. Then transitioning to private practice with other dietitians and and now on my own for almost three years. It's...I feel like LifeCycle kind of fit. It was actually one of the classes that we took in school too, it was called lifecycle nutrition so I'm just kind of like that and I like how to encompass the whole family and can I really my goal is like hitting nutrition for the stage of life you're in. Those things usually change, some people become more active or tend to be less active. Illnesses come and go as well. So kind of addressing it that way.

Aaron: [00:07:25] Yeah, I guess one of my questions is: Why...why did you start LifeCycle Nutrition if you were already working at a hospital. You're already working at, you know, one of the most well known hospitals for children in the area. So obviously you were filling a need there. But why did you leave that to go start LifeCycle Nutrition?

Maria-Paula: [00:07:46] So...I really...I would say that every job that I was in...one, I loved it so much that I never thought about leaving until something made me change that. Children's Medical Center was again probably some of my major preceptor in life. My mentor was there. I learned so much from her. She trusted so much in me. But medical care is changing and I really wanted to provide a little bit more and take more time with my patients and be able to...at that point I had become a mom and working with families and working with children. I knew that people wanted a little bit more and sometimes I felt uncomfortable having to feel rushed. So kind of looking into that but also having a little more flexibility. I'm a mom of two little girls so that kind of runs my life too. So I like having that flexibility. So kind of went into practice with another dietitian for a period of time but then decided again. I wanted to do things ,to have more flexibility for me and for my family. And that's what fit into my life that time. And so it's been kind of one of those things that you never thought about doing and things evolved and here we are.

Christian: [00:09:01] What you think has been one of the biggest challenges with transitioning from nine-to-five to being on your own and being able to balance, you know, what you're talking about being able to have time for family and...

Maria-Paula: [00:09:15] Probably that being your own boss makes it the harder boss that you've ever had. And maybe the misconception that. You really have a lot more flexibility because whatever time I'm taking a break I'm probably going to have to make it up at another time. So it's never ending. It's really hard to stop the workday and transition to life at home and not continue to do that. So probably that I would say that's one of the hardest things as being my own boss.

Christian: [00:09:44] Yeah. I mean you're mentioning that and it's like a parallel with our business and the way that you know we've been doing things too. Even yesterday, Aaron I had a conversation about, you know, like we need to set our hours and like try to stick to them, you know? And psychologically we need to say like, you know, from 9-5 or 9-6, you know, we need to do our work and finish our work within that time. Like if we allowed ourselves to say, you know, this is the time that we're going to work then that's the time of the work. If you think about it as, you know, "Oh, I just have all the time in the world I can work from home, I can do whatever." So you know, tasks just get longer and the things just get longer because in your mind you have that extra time which you really shouldn't.

Maria-Paula: [00:10:27] True. You guys are my neighbors and you guys are always here.

Aaron: [00:10:30] Well, and our goal is to hopefully not have to be here all that time because I mean like Christian said, once you get to that 9 to 5, 9 to 6 and you know, there's always going to be exceptions to that rule and obviously we're recording this on a Saturday. But that just means that we're getting more work or we're not being efficient so we either need A) higher or figure out more systems that are going to help us because those are the two things that at least for us, there shouldn't be more work necessarily, we should be becoming more efficient or if we're getting more business, we should be hiring people.

Christian: [00:11:06] So we're talking, we're still talking about sort of the business side of things with LifeCycle Nutrition.

[00:11:12] Do you see yourself like growing into a bigger practice? Hiring people, Aaron mentioned just hiring people. I mean is it something that you think you have in your future or you plan on sort of staying the way you are right now?

Maria-Paula: [00:11:24] No, we're definitely ready to grow. And I don't know that necessarily - that's the way - and that's really the way that I maybe envision it. Like I said this was not something that I had in my mind. Like "Oh, I was going to start my own business." So...but it's really getting to the point that I'm comfortable where I am but at the same time I really love the service that we can provide. So why stop? Right? And if we can find the right person to continue helping our practice, it's great. We do have an office manager who is my really dear friend Amy Anchee. She's also helping us and schedule clients helping them, you know, with quick questions that they have, helping our physicians with referrals. And that kind of stuff but we need another dietitian so that's going to be in 2019, coming on the books.

Aaron: [00:12:16] Awesome.

Maria-Paula: [00:12:18] So a new neighbor you better be nice, I'll keep you in line.

Christian: [00:12:19] Always.

Aaron: [00:12:21] We will. So Marie-Paul gets some discounts for these RX bars so maybe this one will give us like discounts for Epic Bars or something. Dang that's exciting. No, we haven't talked about that before and being neighbors. You know, we talk about business but also talk about life so that's exciting. I mean literally doubling your dietitian or doubling your office size for a dietitian so...super excited for it.

Christian: [00:12:47] I think that links to kind of like also what Christian was saying like what's the hard part? It's like for me what I do is my job. I love being a dietitian so I like see my patients. But then that makes me not be able to work on my business, right? So I've learned this from someone that said you know you've got to have some time to work on your business but also in your business so the changes would hopefully allow me to transition to both.

Aaron: [00:13:11] Don't worry it's I think it's that's a conversation we have with every business owner, even ourselves. So it's very normal but it's a good question and a good problem to have. So let's get into some stuff which is super exciting about nutrition in your practice and one question here is: What are some of the common myths and common myths about nutrition and diets? Probably Christian and I are messing up right now anyway. But we're just curious.

Maria-Paula: [00:13:41] How much time do we have?

Aaron: [00:13:42] Give us your best.

Christian: [00:13:45] I guess the most common one or two. Maybe one or two.

Maria-Paula: [00:13:49] I think you know. Probably this...that's really my, one of my biggest dietitian pet peeves is just how much nutrition has become kind of and in some ways complicated but also just like, just like the word of mouth on the street. Everyone wants to talk what's the right thing to do or not. Without people having prior knowledge to what they're talking about, right? So I always like to emphasize that nutrition is a science and science has to be understood to be able to talk about it. So now we all eat. And that's a good thing, right? But I think people are trying to make it too complicated. So I think and I would say one of the biggest and composite of all is like that "one food group is bad for you." Right? Whether it's carbohydrates or whether it's animal protein or whether it's dairy or grains, specially gluten, and you know you just fill in the blank. It's not good for you, it's...it causes damage in your body so you know really sometimes we simplify to moderation and balance. But that's...that's the bottom truth is there are specific people that cannot tolerate certain foods for a good medical condition but that also has to be truly addressed and studied and seen and diagnosed in some ways to be able to say "Yes" and then taking a whole food group out of your diet or maybe even several groups out of your diet can cause damages that you might not really be able to see firsthand on a day to day basis. But it might take a little bit longer to become deficient in certain nutrients so I think that's probably one of the biggest ones, I would say myths that are out there. You know it will be interesting to see what 2019 brings as to what's new...

Christian: [00:15:41] New fad diet.

Maria-Paula: [00:15:43] Yup! But the good thing is that they've done reports. And then year by year, still the Mediterranean diet which is actually a really big balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, healthy fats into the diet is still the number one, right? So a lot of these things I usually think is if you can't follow it for a long time, if you can see yourself doing this for the rest of your life then it's probably not. So that's why I'm big into moderation and being able to fit all foods into your daily intake.

Aaron: [00:16:18] So with that...is there...so how long have you been a dietitian right now?

Maria-Paula: [00:16:24] About 15 years.

Aaron: [00:16:25] Wow. OK.

Maria-Paula: [00:16:26] So that was when I was five.

Aaron: [00:16:28] And you're barely able...Hopefully this year, 2019, we'll be able to take you to the bar and you'll be able to drink.

Maria-Paula: [00:16:35] If you guys would see us standing up right now. I just...I feel like...

Aaron: [00:16:39] Maria-Paula is like six foot and I'm like 5'7". No, I asked because 15 years ago the internet was barely out. So do you think that like...I guess I'm just curious, like were all these fads or all these topics like still out there then? And it just wasn't as much because of the internet or is it a lot more now? Or is there a lot more now? So was there more previously? And is there more...or was there more now?

Maria-Paula: [00:17:07] I love that you asked that because when you say that I always think so too. So when I actually decided to become a dietitian, I was in high school and I was maybe like 14-15. I don't know if I truly decided to become a dietician then. But I would read my mom's magazines, right? Just like Good Housekeeping or whatever. I was in Ecuador, so they were a Spanish magazines, I don't know. But they all have like a little "health section" or you know the whatever, right?

[00:17:39] And each month or whatever, she would buy these magazines, I would read these things and in one week it would say one thing and the next time it would say something else and then another time it would say something else.

[00:17:49] And my mom took me to see a registered dietitian in Ecuador. And to see the way that she incorporated everything into a meal plan was kind of surprising, right? So when I started seeing all this I thought "You know what? It can be like this." So that's actually what led me to look into nutrition as a profession. The fact that "Why can't everyone just talk about something and change so much?" It definitely cannot be like that, there has to be really like a baseline on this. So I think whether now on social media before it was the newspaper, magazine, TV, so it said more available now and said has it exploded a little bit more? I think probably, yes. Has it always been around? I think so. I think there's always been that...a fad one way or another. Maybe not as changing as it is now, it seems like now, you just turn around and there's something new. You know?

Christian: [00:18:50] Yeah, yeah. And I guess the internet social media has just, you know, expanded on. You know, like you're saying like what used to be, you know, magazines. They used to distribute that type of content over magazines and now they just do it over social mediaa and the Internet and they do it in a snap of the fingers. Obviously that's going to be a lot faster. So I guess people are more educated and at the same time more like less educated because there's just so much input. Like you're saying like they don't know what to make of it.

Maria-Paula: [00:19:17] And if it's in the Internet it's, right? Right? Right.

Aaron: [00:19:20] This is going to be on the Internet and everything we say on this podcast is true.

Maria-Paula: [00:19:24] I want to add and to clarify some things then.

Aaron: [00:19:29] We are the best marketing agency thank you for joining us.

Maria-Paula: [00:19:32] I am a great soccer player.

Aaron: [00:19:34] Chaos did go undefeated, not defeated.

Maria-Paula: [00:19:38] Didn't bring that T-shirt.

Aaron: [00:19:42] All right. So we're actually recording this around the holidays and probably something a lot of people are going to be doing right now. And I mean, I do a lot more normally anyway is eating out. So can you give us some tips for eating out. What is it like finding those healthy restaurants or other healthy alternatives at places so what do you get? What do you do or what do you recommend to people who want to eat out but still eat healthy.

Maria-Paula: [00:20:05] I think you should take me out with you. I think that would be like number one. You know I can...

Aaron: [00:20:09] Do we have to pay for your meal?

Maria-Paula: [00:20:11] Yes and my services. No? No? No. Never mind. No I think you know eating out has become one of those things that...I always talk to my clients. It's used to be a special thing, right? It used to be like the magazine like things evolve. People used to go out for a special location or you know it was someone's birthday. Now it's like part of day to day, right? Families are so busy, they're eating out a lot more. But yes, during the holidays, right? People are celebrating so they feel like they should indulge a little bit more. And I agree with that. And again moderation. So a few tips on just to how to eat out is always reviewing the menu. So kind of look, see there's anything new. I always like to say make your plate colorful. So try to see if...what kind of veggies you can add, if you can substitute something in, you know, instead of getting like a double starch, maybe adding some extra greens or even a side of fruit into your plate. And you know even if you have to look into the kid's meal for some reason they offer those and the kid's menu but you can look into that. Ask them how meats are prepared or how those entrees are prepared because they usually can do a lighter option. So for example, asking for grilled meats instead of fried or asking for sauces on the side. So if it comes with a cream sauce or even your salads. Try asking for the dressing on the side, that's a really kind of quick and easy tips. If you're getting a steak ask for that to be dry grilled, right? So you know usually I've had someone bring me a nice steak and I saw a hand come from behind and pour about like a quarter cup of butter on my steak.

[00:21:47] I was like "No, no, please don't." It already tastes so flavorful and they're you know...Usually chefs can make really good meals, that's why they're part of that restaurant. So they usually can and substitute or kind of change things up to making a good meal, so try something different, try some some fish this is - a lot of people don't like to cook fish at home or they don't know how to. So I usually say that's a great time to get some of those healthy fats into your diet, so salmon and tuna and ordering those when you're eating out.

Christian: [00:22:18] Is all of this kind of like engrained in your system now everytime you go out to eat? I mean you're mentioning all the things that make a lot of sense and that are sort of easy but I don't see myself like remembering any of this stuff like when I get to the restraunt, I'm like "No, I want that big fat juicy burger with fries." Like is it something that you have to like, you're sort of like always like self conscious like "OK let's figure out what can we...".

Aaron: [00:22:43] Marie-Paule before you answer that. I don't know if you want to answer this question or not but I know you've told me about something that you want to do at least here locally. Do you want to talk about or we can just - you can answer Christian's question but it does relate exactly to it.

Maria-Paula: [00:22:57] Let's say that I come back and share with you guys what's coming. But no, I think. You know, I think that's the other thing, right? It's like if you think about it I just gave you several tips and then maybe start with one right guess if all this is new to you then just start with "Hey, every time I'm going to eat out, I'm going to try to order veggies or I might try to order fruit or I'm gonna and you know choose something different like I'm not going to go for the burger every time. I like burgers and burgers are good and to be honest you know usually when people say we're dietitians, we're the ones getting judge. Everyone wants to look at our plate. It's like "Let me eat alone. Don't look at my food", right? But I think if you expect to just change at all at once it's hard you know so it just you know sometimes when we go out to eat a burger. We really want a burger and fries with it and the only veggies that might be there might be what's on that burger. But you know so sometimes it's good to take a step back and just look at your diet in general. But you know set one small goal don't go for you know for the top of the mountain yet just kind of...so what's it going to be Christian? More veggies for you?

Christian: [00:24:10] Yeah I think so.

Maria-Paula: [00:24:11] Yeah?

Christian: [00:24:12] Yeah.

Maria-Paula: [00:24:12] What about you, Aaron?

Aaron: [00:24:14] I didn't know about the steak. I know that every steak that I get, they do it's always like whether I get it roadhouse or salt crust.

Christian: [00:24:21] I didn't know that adding butter to a steak was something until I moved to Texas. Yeah, like I mean in Puerto Rico yeah, we cooked steaks and stuff but we never added like a stick of butter on the top of it.

Maria-Paula: [00:24:31] Like if you cook at my home you don't know better, right? And they taste really good.

Aaron: [00:24:36] So I'm probably better than the restaurant, I'm just saying I'm pretty good.

Maria-Paula: [00:24:41] I see a new business thing coming on here. So it's not going to be your thing?

Aaron: [00:24:46] No, I'll only stay laser focused. We just do advertising and website design here.

Maria-Paula: [00:24:52] I mean not getting butter on the steak.

Aaron: [00:24:53] Oh that's super easy. Yes, that's I mean that's super easy. That's a good excuse to order more steak. Right?

Maria-Paula: [00:25:01] Moderation.

Aaron: [00:25:01] Moderation. Yeah. Eight ounces instead of twelve, so...

Maria-Paula: [00:25:04] That's a good start.

Christian: [00:25:07] Speaking of eating out. Do you have a favorite restaurant around this area that you know I guess offers like you know good healthy options and things like that.

Maria-Paula: [00:25:15] You know there's lots of good options.

Aaron: [00:25:18] No, your number one.

Maria-Paula: [00:25:19] My kids would always say Zoe's Kitchen. I just love the variety. I love that most of their dishes come with lots of veggies and you know they have lots of grill options and lots of fresh fruit like food feels fresh there.

Aaron: [00:25:33] Is it like a Mediterranean place, right?

Maria-Paula: [00:25:35] Greek.

Aaron: [00:25:37] We ate there one time, remember?

Maria-Paula: [00:25:38] Mediteranean.

[00:25:40] We went together we got in line to go to Tiff's Treats and we got all those ice cream cookies and then we're like "Oh we need to go eat something healthy." And we were in Richardson so we went to go eat at Zoe's.

Christian: [00:25:49] I don't even remember that actually.

Maria-Paula: [00:25:52] Well we should all go out to Zoe's then and go eat some. But there's a lot of good little healthy places around here. We're lucky to have a good variety.

Aaron: [00:26:02] And luckily look like some fast casual healthy too because you and I went to Freshie and that's kind of one I like Modern Market, that's pretty good.

Maria-Paula: [00:26:12] Yeah, that's a good one too.

Aaron: [00:26:14] They actually put all the calories and stuff on there.

Maria-Paula: [00:26:16] We went to Exquisite Cafe the other day too, just like a local little - and they had like a good - and that's the thing. I think most restaurants are now having that kind of a healthy, lighter menu. And if something they'll put the nutrition information on that one, so you know again just always start there and start looking. Especially if you're trying to make some better eating choices.

Aaron: [00:26:39] Awesome.

Maria-Paula: [00:26:39] Yeah.

Aaron: [00:26:40] All right let's transition here into some more I guess life slash business kind of stuff. All right so here. What do you wish you had known when you first started out that you know now but you didn't know when you were starting out? I mean, there's got to be quite a few things with starting your business that you're like this is the number one thing I wish I would've changed in the beginning.

Maria-Paula: [00:27:07] It's a good point and I think. Maybe. Being able to know like the kind of care that patients would require like as a follow up, right? So sometimes like when you see someone, they always have questions that once they get home whether how to address something or whether, you know, can they have some things. My goal is really to empower people to be able to make choices based on their nutrition on their own. That's really to educate, right? My goal is for people not to need me at some point unless they -something is changing in their life and they're in a different stage of life. But you know that adds to the time of seeing someone so maybe scheduling things differently. I think again. Maybe knowing how much work it takes outside your "business hours" and how much you are on - you're constantly on. I tend to be on - my husband says "How's your phone?" And I'm like I'm on my phone because I'm not on my computer, right? It's like I'm usually on my phone doing things that are not - and you know I'm not chatting with friends I'm usually checking my e-mail or catching up on responding to someone, right? So I think maybe that starting on my own, that was one of the biggest things - it's how much time it takes to work on the business and in the business and being able to separate that and yeah. When you go to school to be a dietician. You don't - many of us don't learn business management.

Christian: [00:28:51] Yeah I mean that's across the board with I'm almost every profession where you know we hired recently someone who went through business administration and like...even myself, like I went through you know marketing and marketing classes and all that stuff and like half the stuff is top level or surface level type stuff that doesn't really teach you the nitty gritty things that you need to know on how to run a business. It's two completely different worlds. So speaking of businesses, starting your business. What do you think is something. And these are the harder questions now. So if you need some time to think just...

Maria-Paula: [00:29:32] I can feel the light like going...

Aaron: [00:29:33] We can always edit this part out if it takes you like...

Christian: [00:29:40] Yeah, absolutely. What do you think is something that you have failed at?

Maria-Paula: [00:29:45] Oh, I definitely had more failures than successes and I will say be more and I'm embarrassed to say that I probably can't look at him, I'm gonna close my eyes and say like social media marketing and social media exposure and podcasts and blogging. And it's something that I'm extremely aware. That it's important not just for my business but for my profession. And I'm big into supporting our profession and supporting dietitians. And I feel like we have we've had some amazing dietitians kind of pave the road for us - for the ones that are in practice now. But also our profession is growing tremendously. And like we said earlier, everyone talks nutrition and as registered dieticians and the nutrition experts, we need to be the louder voice. But again I think. The fact that a lot of my time goes into providing care for my patients I've let a big part kind of fall through. So I it's like a big roller coaster and I'm in that downhill of social media exposure and social media - but I know people that can help me.

Christian: [00:31:07] Right, it sounds like you need little bit of help from your neighbors.

Maria-Paula: [00:31:10] Coming for like not for a cup of sugar but a whole bag of sugar. I would say that finally that's a big I dunno if failure. But it does it does feel like...

Christian: [00:31:25] Like you could be doing more.

Maria-Paula: [00:31:26] I could be doing more. I definitely could be doing more and I have you know like you say like you said this goes but because you keep working through the day's, right? Things kind of go on, Aaron has seen my calendar and he said "Oh, it says social media. Why are you noy doing it?" Something else kind of comes over. So I would say that's probably one of the biggest and probably getting a little bit more organized. And again I think that fine line between what I said earlier. Part of the reason that I went on my own was to have the flexibility with my family so I think rightfully so many times I'll just drop anything for my kids. So anything will - my family will take priority over anything - so you know they kind of still like to be with me. So you know...

Aaron: [00:32:15] Enjoy that time.

Maria-Paula: [00:32:16] Yes I know it's coming, when you're a 10 year old is getting to be almost as tall as you, it's starting to feel a little awkward.

Aaron: [00:32:22] She is taller than you.

Maria-Paula: [00:32:23] No not yet. I'm the dietician, I get to measure her. She's about inches. But it's a fun time to be with them and be able to enjoy that. But also cutting those lines because I also know once I go home, it's a lot harder to do things during their awake time. So either I'm cutting into my rest time or into the time with my husband or maybe I should just stay at the office and work a little bit longer and be more productive during that time. So I would say those are probably two things that I'm still - in process.

Aaron: [00:33:00] We should definitely do a follow up episode for many reasons in the future but also to hear some progress about that because you're on a podcast right now so I feel like that's a big step in the right direction.

Maria-Paula: [00:33:09] Yes.

Aaron: [00:33:09] Congratulations.

Maria-Paula: [00:33:10] Thank you.

Aaron: [00:33:13] All right. This one's again kind of...

Christian: [00:33:15] I don't know the answer to this question or how to think about it.

Aaron: [00:33:20] To the what you failed at?

Christian: [00:33:21] No, to number 9?

Aaron: [00:33:22] Oh, to this one. All right. So what purchase of a hundred dollars or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months or recent memory if you can't think for six months maybe like last week.

Maria-Paula: [00:33:35] With a hundred dollars or less. Is it for me or for anyone, like just overall?

Aaron: [00:33:42] Yeah, like 100 dollar purchase that you made for your husband, maybe you bought them a pen that was worth you know...

Maria-Paula: [00:33:50] That takes another whole podcast.

Aaron: [00:33:52] To give some background. We were talking a little bit about how Maria-Paula has some struggles buying her husband gifts. So anyway, what's a hundred dollars that you spent that has changed or impacted your life?

Maria-Paula: [00:34:07] But it has to be very recent? How much time did you give me like?

Christian: [00:34:10] Six months but it doesn't have to be, just whatever you can remember...

Aaron: [00:34:12] Or recent memory, your recent memory maybe three years.

Maria-Paula: [00:34:15] You know, I guess I just when I kind of think about I think about like...Anything like that has to do with like running. And that's probably more than six months or three years. But you know the friendships that I've made through that, how it has impacted my life or that sense of accomplishment or setting goals and being able to achieve those - the example I'm setting for my kids. And again the relationships; putting myself out there. And as we discussed earlier, I have never been the most athletic person in the world so I always tell my children that I was the last one at school at everything.

[00:34:56] I tried every sport. I was afraid of any kind of playing mechanism apparatus that would come heading my way. So volleyball, I was awful I could not do gymnastics or ballet. I begged my mom at I think nine years of age to take me out before the teacher kicked me out. And so I tried all. I tried soccer and I think it's like some somebody said but I'm from Ecuador and my dad said soccer was for boys so and so I didn't, right? So I didn't. I didn't do a lot of these things and so I didn't start running until after my kids. I mean in elementary school, really everyone wanted to race me because they would know they would win. So after having both my daughters, one day I met some friends and I was you know trying to kind of get back into my old self and started being more active and becoming more active and. I had a friend that invited me to go run with her and we just went running and you know we ran two miles and then we ran three miles and I was like wow. And then so one time I tried to go do it myself. I tried to go with myself and I'm also not the best geographically oriented person.

Aaron: [00:36:12] These are all follow-up questions for the next podcast.

Maria-Paula: [00:36:15] So I got lost and I ended up running like a little bit over four miles so that was a huge thing. And I was so happy I ran for miles and you know so little by little then I joined a running group and they were you know I think the first time that I met with them they ran like five mile so you know those are things that I clearly remember the first time I ran 5 and 6 and 7 they were huge. You know huge accomplishments and it's given to me a lot more than just the physical benefit of exercise, so I would say my running shoes.

Aaron: [00:36:49] Right. That's - I mean it's amazing when you mentioned that you said I mean you started with running and all that. Like I played a little movie in my head of you going into a store. Buying shoes. And then like all these great things happening from that you know like you're getting healthier you're setting an example for your daughters. You're meeting new people. Healthwise you're getting better, like all these repercussions and effects from doing a single action of buying shoes. You know it's just crazy and amazing that all of that can happen from a tiny little change.

Aaron: [00:37:23] Right. And thinking you are speaking of our last question here is kind of like a little movie in Christian's head but it's more geared towards you is: What is your current Netflix binge or what's the most recent one? Maybe you're not bingeing something right now. But you know, we can find out a lot about somebody by what they watch on Netflix.

Maria-Paula: [00:37:42] Can you give me any good? We're like stuck so I don't really watch a lot of TV during the day obviously. So usually it's before bed. And it's with my husband. So it has to be something we both like. And we kind of like, what do you call like murder mysteries, crime kind of stuff. So like, we love Law and Order Special Victims Unit and we watch all of that. But I think the latest one that we watched was I'm trying to think we watch - The Staircase? You guys watch that documentary?

Aaron: [00:38:16] I heard about that.

Maria-Paula: [00:38:17] Is he guilty or not?

Aaron: [00:38:19] I haven't watched it but I hear my friends talk about it all the time and they're like "Oh my gosh I can't believe he's not guilty."

Maria-Paula: [00:38:25] We were watching right now but I didn't like it so I would say that latest one that we watched as we watch the Ozark season two. And we're waiting. We're waiting for the Ozarks Season 3 and we're waiting for Better Call Saul.

Aaron: [00:38:41] Oh yeah, I watched Better Call Saul.

Maria-Paula: [00:38:43] I liked Breaking Bad Better. It gave me a lot of stress. I don't think that that was the best thing to watch before bed because watching someone make bad decisions over and over again being blasted on TV. Even though it's not real. It gives me a lot of stress.

Aaron: [00:38:57] You got sucked in for sure.

Maria-Paula: [00:38:59] I was screaming to the TV in jumping up and down. So yeah.

Aaron: [00:39:02] Dang, so one that's kind of controversial but it is very well made is that How To Get Away With Murder. Have you heard of that?

Maria-Paula: [00:39:13] Uhmm...no.

Aaron: [00:39:13] Check that out watch like the first episode. But they have - the thing that they do very well is they do the best cliffhangers probably in TV.

Christian: [00:39:23] Did we start watching it together?

Aaron: [00:39:23] You told me about it.

Maria-Paula: [00:39:23] But it keeps going? So does it give you an answer?

Aaron: [00:39:26] Yes. Yes. So not to give too much. Things work in reverse. Where you find out more information as each episode goes on.

Maria-Paula: [00:39:35] What's it called again?

Aaron: [00:39:36] How To Get Away With Murder.

Maria-Paula: [00:39:37] How To Get Away With Murder. OK. Yeah, we were watching watching Cold Justice but I didn't like it. So they basically look at cold cases and then they bring a new team and they try to figure it out. Kind of what happened. And they cannot do. But you don't know who these people actually ended up like if they were actually...

Christian: [00:39:53] There's no resolution.

Maria-Paula: [00:39:55] So then I'm just like...So it's kind of like not listening to the next call up.

Aaron: [00:40:00] Then you'll like this. It's definitely a you and your husband - not you and the little ones watching. But it's a good it's definitely good episode.

Maria-Paula: [00:40:09] Awesome. I'll be watching. All right. So, thank you for your time. For one, this was awesome and I don't think we've ever had all three of us a conversation like this. I'm sure we will when we go to Zoe's but how can our audience find out more about you and LifeCycle Nutrition. What's the best way for them to get a hold of you?

Maria-Paula: [00:40:26] And so you can visit us that LifeCycle-Nutrition.com. Or you can check us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now because I'm saying that I will keep you up to date on all of those and maybe look up for our blog coming in the New Year.

Aaron: [00:40:43] All right that's coming soon. Awesome. All right. Thank you guys for tuning into another episode of The Marketing Natives. We hope you really enjoyed this episode with Maria-Paula. She is a good friend of ours, obviously very knowledgeable. And we encourage you to reach out to her. Next week, we're also - hopefully next week - we'll have another guest as well. But if you guys like these episodes please let us know and make sure that you go over to Instagram and shoot us a DM and let us know what you're thinking of the podcast and make sure that you hit that subscribe button and we will talk to you guys next week.


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