In episode of the Mom Owned and Operated podcast, Rita Suzanne and Emalee Corbera discuss raising a family, running a business and remembering yourself.
Emalee is a double board certified Nurse Practitioner, both in Family Practice and Advanced Diabetes Management. She is also a Certified Ketogenic Nutrition Specialist and a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer.
She has worked the last 15 years as a Nurse Practitioner specializing in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism and is the Founder and CEO of Forever Fit Life, A Nursing Corporation.
She holds a special passion for helping her clients harness the power of nutrition and other lifestyle interventions to help control blood sugar, reverse diabetes, and lose excess weight for good!
You can find Emalee on Instagram, Facebook, and on her website, Forever Fit Life
Listen to more interviews by visiting momownedandoperated.com and apply to work with Rita at ritasuzanne.com/apply/
Listen to more interviews by visiting momownedandoperated.com and apply to work with Rita at ritasuzanne.com/apply/
In episode of the Mom Owned and Operated podcast, Rita Suzanne and Emalee Corbera discuss raising a family, running a business and remembering yourself.
Emalee is a double board certified Nurse Practitioner, both in Family Practice and Advanced Diabetes Management. She is also a Certified Ketogenic Nutrition Specialist and a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer.
She has worked the last 15 years as a Nurse Practitioner specializing in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism and is the Founder and CEO of Forever Fit Life, A Nursing Corporation.
She holds a special passion for helping her clients harness the power of nutrition and other lifestyle interventions to help control blood sugar, reverse diabetes, and lose excess weight for good!
You can find Emalee on Instagram, Facebook, and on her website, Forever Fit Life
Listen to more interviews by visiting momownedandoperated.com and apply to work with Rita at ritasuzanne.com/apply/
Listen to more interviews by visiting momownedandoperated.com and apply to work with Rita at ritasuzanne.com/apply/
SPEAKERS
Rita Suzanne, Emalee Corbera
Rita Suzanne 00:01
Welcome to the Mom Owned and Operated Podcast, the podcast about moms and for moms, where we have candid conversations about running a business, raising a family, and remembering ourselves. I'm your host, Rita Suzanne, a single mom of four, digital strategist and provider of no nonsense business strategies and tactics.
Rita Suzanne 00:26
Hi, this is Rita Suzanne, and you're listening to Mom Owned and Operated today. I have my friend Emalee with me, Emalee, thank you so much for joining us. Please tell everyone all about you, your family, your business, all the things.
Emalee Corbera 00:41
Oh, goodness, thank you for having me. It's exciting for me. Um, so I professionally I'm a nurse practitioner specialize in endocrinology, diabetes metabolism. And I worked for a large healthcare organization for the last 15 years. And I just recently a couple months ago, left my post there to pursue my my business full time now. So yeah, that's, yeah, what's going on and all of that, and we can definitely get into some of that. Personally, I'm a wife, a mom of two girls, six and two. And they keep me quite busy. And so the the balance of now, you know, working from home and being with babies is is definitely been a big transition from, you know, leaving and going to the clinic every day.
Rita Suzanne 01:35
Oh, are they are they home with you every day to while you're trying to work?
Emalee Corbera 01:40
They are my older one is in kindergarten. So she's, you know, she leaves during that period of time, but I've got the two year old with me. Yeah. So trying to figure that part of it out. While I was working, we had a nanny, you know, that was with us. And now, now it's me most of the time, other than the times that I you know, obviously have to procure, you know, help, so that I can get something done.
Rita Suzanne 02:06
And what exactly do you do for your business.
Emalee Corbera 02:09
So I have a, essentially a lifestyle, medicine business, I work with people, on their nutrition, fitness, things like that. But with more of that, I guess I would say, higher level, because I'm a board certified. in family practice, as well as diabetes, I really work with people who have insulin resistance, you know, we're talking full on diabetes, pre diabetes, fatty liver disease, obesity, things like that, that other conditions have, that are all related to insulin resistance, to correct that through nutrition and movement, exercise, things like that, all the other lifestyle things, stress, sleep, all the stuff that plays into it, that unfortunately, in the, you know, kind of the mill that medicine has become we don't have time to do even though these are very powerful measures, you know, that that we can work with. So it's been, it's awesome, because before, you know, 15 minutes, you know, you're scheduled every 15 minutes with somebody and, you know, by the time you adjust insulin or their medications, it's like there's, you know, oh, and you know, try to you know, work on your nutrition and just sort of your your one hand on the door, because you're so busy. And now having that that ability to truly tap into these very powerful lifestyle measures. You know, I've always believed that the lifestyle side of it should be the cornerstone, right? And medicine is necessary in a lot of cases, but I'm not anti medicine in any way. But it's I don't think that that should be the the first line, you know, action or anything like that. I think we should do what we can before that should be the icing on the cake, not the cake. So yeah, that's, that's what I do work with people doing that. And yeah, it's, it's been very rewarding to have more time to do that side of it that I feel more inspired. With. So that's the good part of it. The hard part is,
Emalee Corbera 03:58
I'd say the hard part is is you know, before working with such a large organization, I mean, I'd three month wait to see me and you know, I didn't have to go out and find people to work. It's a whole nother world now.
Rita Suzanne 04:11
I mean, yeah, it is true. Like I think that a lot of people think that when they start a business, it's just about the actual service or whatever they're providing, but little they realize how much you know, backend stuff that you have to do in addition and I mean, I think that you were you did it right, you started off still having your job and then transitioning into it full time. So what Okay, so we didn't mention the name of your business, which is forever fit life. And so what made you decide on that name?
Emalee Corbera 04:47
So yeah, I named it that. Because it was so funny, right when I was starting the business, we were having some construction done in our house and the house we live in is kind of our what we would not get Senator I forever home and you know, it was sort of, we knew we didn't want to be here very long, but whatever. So the improvements we were doing, it was kind of like, you'd go pick the flooring and be like, I like those enough, they're not my favorite, and I didn't want to spend all the money for to get like my very favorite, you know, all that kind of stuff. And so these are the conversations we kept having with like, almost every decision, like, it's good enough for this house, right for this house, like, it's, it's fine. And then I just was noticing when I was at work, talking to my patients, it was always like, this sort of thing of, you know, once I, you know, once this finishes in my life, then I'm gonna focus on, you know, these measures that you're asking me to focus on with it, you know, especially on the lifestyle side of things, it was always just like, putting it off to this other part. And it just really hit me all of a sudden, I'm like, that it's not like a house where we can just, you know, move and move into this new house, like, this is our forever home, right? This is my body yet. And, and so we need to be making decisions like you would for that place, you're going to be in and live it and thriving for the rest of your life. Because it is and so that's where that name came from. Because I want people to view their bodies and take their well being, you know, very seriously, and, you know, hold that sacred.
Rita Suzanne 06:10
Yeah, I think that that's really hard. Because, like, for instance, I, uh, you know, and we talked about this before, my youngest son has epilepsy and all that stuff. And as hard as it is to try to get a little kid to not eat sugar and all of these things, you know, and not that he's not on a keto diet, but I still try to educate and, and keep all my kids from consuming, like too much processed foods, and, but once they and that seems fine, when they're at home with me, but once they get around other people, that's when it becomes more challenging. Do you find that that's true? Like, even with your clients? Like, do they have same problem?
Emalee Corbera 06:55
Absolutely, absolutely. You know, some of them the biggest challenges at home some of the biggest challenges out, you know, in, in the world, and, and that's yeah, I'm actually a board certified in ketogenic nutrition as well. And I work with a lot of people who, who do take that avenue for things like epilepsy and stuff like that. But it's, yeah, it I think, the bottom line is, is to realize we don't live in a bubble, you know, and, you know, we live in, in communities and families, and there's just so much more there. But that kind of goes back to my big theory, both and what I try to teach my clients as well as even in business, it's kind of the same thing that I always go back to is this sort of, like, the basics are what really matter. Because I want somebody to master, if they understand why, if you understand mechanism, then you can make choices when life is throwing all of these things at you. versus, you know, if I just hand somebody a meal plan and say, follow this, you know, do this, they don't, they're not understanding why, you know, why I put this and this and this together, you know, why is this the case, they just know how to follow it. And so then, you know, when life which inevitably, will throws that wrench in there, and you can't be at home, you know, cooking these perfect meals, and you have to be out to you know, we recently had a water leak, and we were out of the house for four months, it was ridiculous. But you know, you have to eat out, right, you have to do these types of things. But if you really understand the basics of nutrition, and really understand those things, of the goals that you have in your nutrition, then it's it's actually not very hard to kind of still stay on track, even in those non does not ideal areas. And I find that to be the case in business as well. Because, for me, I'm not trained in business, you know, I'm a clinician, and so that whole part of it is, is been a big challenge for me. And so I kind of took that same theory, and I was like, I just really need to understand the basics of what I'm doing here, and try to stick to that and, and then it will eventually grow the way I want it to. And it's it's kind of fresh, it's not sexy, right? It's like it's it's not that you know, you want we all want that immediate gratification and in everything, all parts of our life, you know, whether that be our health goals, or fitness goals or, or our business goals, you know, we want that and I think our culture sort of, maybe I don't know, indoctrinated to that, yeah, we just want that. But I think just taking a step back and realizing that it's that, you know, it's those small consistent things that you do that add up to the to the big changes and you know, get you there.
Rita Suzanne 09:28
I think that's the hardest thing for everyone is the inability to be consistent in things and for me personally what I have found in all these years and what I've came to the realization to that even just this past week is that I keep piling so much on my plate and then I wonder why is why are things falling off my plate, you know, like, my plate is over full. And, and and yet things just keep falling to the wayside. So I have been focusing on simplicity and really just taking away anything that's not working for me or that I don't love or, you know, it's like, obviously, I don't love everything that I have to do in my business. But I mean, really focusing in on only doing the things that bring me, you know, the joy. And you know, and not just trying to oh, I'm going to add this because I think that people want it in and all of these other things, or maybe I should try this because I had a client ask for that. And I'm like, nope, nope, I'm just gonna do it this way. And I'm just gonna focus in and these are going to be the only clients that I work with these type of, you know, wellness clients, or only clients that I work with, and only going to offer this one thing, and just really focus in and hone in on providing the best service that I can versus trying to give like an ala carte meal plate of here, here's 1000s of things that you can pick from.
Emalee Corbera 11:01
You know, I was guilty of that the beginning. Right, so
Rita Suzanne 11:05
my question was going to be like, so since you're, you're speaking of like that secret sauce, like, what is it business related? Like? What are the things that you find to be the most important things that you've been trying to focus on? Especially? Since you know, this is a new venture for you full time? Yeah,
Emalee Corbera 11:23
yeah. And I think it's once I did start to pursue it full time, because when I was doing it, sort of side hustle, it, I would sort of just take it, I could do that, oh, yeah, I could do that, you know, these little, you know, take these little clients here and kind of work with them on this or work with this person on that. And, and I was a little bit spread thin, but I didn't have that many clients, right, it was just this, you know, small little things, it was almost like a hobby that allowed me to maybe not be as focused as I should be. And then when I started to dive in, more, you know, all of my attention to it, I realized, yeah, I'm just in all different directions, and sort of jack of all trades, master of none right now. And this is not helping anything, I'm feeling like, just frazzled all the time, I feel like I'm all over the place. So I think honing in, you know, as everybody always says, you know, honing into that niche that, you know, you feel maybe the most passionate about, you know, and sometimes that's hard, you know, could be multi passionate, right, and things like that, and I definitely am. But I think when it comes down to it, and I really think about who I truly believe I can help the most, it does kind of bring it down, you know, and realizing that, you know, kind of stopping the shiny object syndrome situation, you know, a lot of stuff comes out. But what I do is I keep a list of other ideas I have as things come up, and I have that in my planner, just like this page, I just jot all this stuff down, and it's there. I'm trying to be digital with this, but it's really hard for me, I like paper, like, you know, just see it. So I have that list. And when I do do I do set about once a month, the sort of, you know, I plan out my calendar, at least roughly of the things and there's definitely like those days that are going to be my, my planning days and things like that. And sometimes, if a project kind of moved on, or a particular client moved on, and I have a little bit of room and in a particular area, I go to that list, and I can kind of look at him and be like, hey, like, this is something I want to start focusing on now instead of doing it, but in the meantime, I literally keep it like I can't do that I'm doing this, you know, and it's just that discipline of doing that. But it has given me so much more peace of mind, or so much more peace of mind focusing on that one thing. And I also I think probably another thing that I did in the beginning was I evolved with my patients, or I'm sorry, I keep calling in patients, because I'm used to being a clinician, with my clients. Where if their needs, you know, maybe they started in this place, have that sort of ideal client that I would start with, but then they, you know, started kind of, you know, gaining skills and things and then now they're needing something over here. And I could help them with that. That's something that I have a skill set for. But it's such a far distance from this core kind of curriculum that I really like working with people on. And I realized that that's not good, because every one of my clients was branching out in a different way. And then I started again, going back to this kind of craziness of different things. Yeah. And so I think bottom line is I had to come to the conclusion that I actually want my clients to outgrow me. And I'm going to work on this. I'm going to help people who need this and there are so many people who need this right this to those foundational basics right? i This is what I'm going to focus on. This is what I feel passionate about. And you know, all of those other things. They're all great, but there's going to come that point where I'm gonna be like you've mastered this right and it's not that our work is ever over in any aspect of our life, right? We can always keep going. And maybe that's starting to collaborate with other people that I can either pass them off to or, or, you know, kind of set them and say, you know, I think that you're good on this, you know, maybe we could if they wanted to do, you know, maybe follow up things every once in awhile have like a little touch base of like, hey, you know, let's check in or something like that, but they're not going to be my, you know, my my weekly coaching clients that I would work with or something like that. So letting go. And that's really hard, it's really hard because you want to keep all the business.
Rita Suzanne 15:23
And I get that. So I and I was gonna say, then you should find somebody to collaborate with who will be good resource for them, because you want to make sure that you're on the same page to with the people who they're going to be working with. Next, but I so for the longest time, I've always worked with what I would consider like female entrepreneurs, even though a majority of my clients have been coaches, and just this couple of months ago, I want to say I listened to this book, this audio book, and it's called the 100 million dollar offer something like that. And even though I'm always trying to help people, like with their branding and niching down and finding this one target audience, and it's, it's really important, right? It's super important, and I and it helps you with your copy and how you're going to market yourself and your colors and all this other stuff, right. But it was so hard for me to finally come to the conclusion. And by listening to that book, there was something in it just just clicked for me with as far as like the offers. And so what he was saying was the analogy was something like this, like, let's say that you as the nurse practitioner, you can offer a you could create a course. And it could be a generalized course. And it could You could sell it for $100. But what if you created that same course, and it was specific to a certain group of people? And you could charge $1,000 for it? Wouldn't it be better to charge that $1,000 and work with, you know, less people and less, you know, struggles and all of these other things. And the content is exactly the same, but who you're selling it to is different. And it just, I was like, Why in the heck did this take me so long to get through to my head? And then on top of that, hey, you know, I was like always, like, what you're saying is like, Oh, if somebody comes to me, like, yeah, I can do the thing, I'll just charge you X amount of dollars. But what or like, instead of helping a wellness client, then let's say that a creative person, you know, service provider comes to me and wants to work with me, His thing was like, Well, you don't work with them. You send them on their way to work with somebody who is best suited for them. Because your clients are these particular people over here. And I was like, and the reason why is because once you start working with these other people, then it dilutes your message. And it also dilutes your process. And I thought, well, what am I doing? Exactly?
Emalee Corbera 18:10
I know, that's gold right there. Because I Yeah, it took me so long to realize that. And the other side of it, too, is as a mom, right? Like, as a mom, we're trying to do so many things. And the reason I'm stepping away from, you know, a clinic practice where every 15 minutes of my life is scheduled. And then there's so much work afterwards, you know, it's reviewing lab tests, and you know, calling all that you know, prescription refills, and like all of these types of things, right, and then all the patient calls that came in during that day, like, that's all on my own time after I already spent eight hours seeing people, right, so you're like, Whoa, it's so much time, and I want to be with my babies more, right, there's a part of, you know, not just for my own fulfillment of enjoying my work more, which I like that side of it. But also I want more free time, and to be with my family. And if we're so all over the place, that way we're doing we're being everything for everyone. That's just going to pull all your time that way. Whereas like you said, if you can fine tune that message and that all of that the curriculum, your you know, your course, like every, whatever it is that you're doing, it's like, it becomes so much easier, because you're not recreating the wheel all the time. And they were, you know, it frees up your time. Right. So it's yeah, it's that's been the biggest revelation for me as well.
Rita Suzanne 19:30
Right? Because then you become the person known for the thing and then people will come to you for the actual thing, which, you know, I think that these are just lessons that sometimes you just have to work through. And, you know, being an entrepreneur sometimes there well, almost always there's a lot of self discovery that comes along with that. And if you have a lot of stuff going on in your personal life, I think that that can just really create so many more No speed bumps for you to, to overcome as you work through the process,
Emalee Corbera 20:06
for sure, for sure. I agree. Yeah, and I think keeping a list of what I what I had done was really, really helpful as I was counseled to make kind of a list of, of your, I don't want to say like your deal breakers or whatever that would be, you know, like, you're the thing that to keep you on target, right? So then when other opportunities come to me, I sort of run it by that list. And like, does it really make sense with this, your mission, like your focus, you know, if it's a mission statement, or an elevator pitch, or whatever it is, or, and then also, those kinds of things of, like, for me, it was something that doesn't take me away from, you know, the kids, since they're so young at this time, you know, when they're older, I would want to expand that, but at this time, you know, something's gonna take me away from them for more than two days or something like that, you know, like, you just make it literally specific list of that. So when things come at you, you can do that, like I was recently approached to become a speaker, you know, sort of a national speaker for a particular specialty, to go educate other, you know, nurse practitioners and doctors and things like that on on metabolic health and everything like that. And I was, like, salivating like, the old me, like, the before me that before kids me would have been like, Heck, yeah, you know, like, let's do this. And I wanted to, but then I looked at it, and I looked at it against my list, and I'm like, I would be traveling all the time, you know, all over the country, I would be gone for, you know, sometimes a week or so or that that type of thing. And it's also not that honed in thing that I'm working on with my course with my clients, stuff like that right now. So it's also good to say like, Those are awesome things, and they're hard to say no, to. They're so hard to say no to. But it's, I just say, it's just not the season for that for me right now in my life and my business. And but there could be that one day, right? And to realize that it's not, we don't want to say no, because I think we're just like, I just want business, I just want business and these things. And we have to realize that, you know, there's seasons for everything, I think, particularly as a mom in business, and being able to let that go and realize that it doesn't mean known forever, it really doesn't mean no forever. And we can kind of evolve as our lives evolve, and you know, our time and things like that get different as kids get older and stuff. But yeah, so that would probably be a biggest thing for me, you know, to, to other moms are kind of stuck in that place. You know, it's really hard to say no to those great opportunities sometimes, but, you know, it's when I think of the logistics of that, and what that would look like of me trying to organize that between childcare and everything, like the stress goes through the roof for me to just be gone to do this thing. And I go, Wait a minute, you know, this is, this is counterintuitive to what I'm actually trying to do.
Rita Suzanne 22:46
I love that, I love that. I think that that's a great idea to have that list of things. Because it's so easy to say, oh my gosh, this person who maybe you admire who maybe is like an influencer or something wants me to do their thing. And it sounds like such a great opportunity. But if it doesn't align, then it can absolutely take you off track. And I think that having that list is a great idea. I should probably implement one of those. You know, the shiny object is just, it's just really hard to to not get distracted by it. And one of the things like you, I have an ongoing list that I have of ideas that you know, just come to me and I used to have a notebook. But then I ended up having like multiple notebooks, and it goes through the notebooks. And so I use click up now and I have all my stuff in there. And then whenever I feel like I don't have like a planning day or whatever, but let's say that I have an idea. Oh, okay, I want to make a new freebie, it's time for me to do this, I will go and look at my list and say and I'll go through them and I'll be like, Nah, I don't like that. And I do the same thing with like, let's say I see somebody's ad like a Facebook ad that I like I'll go ahead and you know take a screenshot of that and put it in there just for inspiration and same thing with you know, emails and and all of these other things because I think it just helps you to see what's possible if you just keep that and after we get off here I'm going to show you my my little thing it's it's so it's so helpful especially I definitely believe like you should create your workflows and your automations and all these things before you bring on your team. And so this little template that I have so great anyways, oh no now now that you are at home working with the baby like how how does your like what's your typical day looking like like are you able to do stuff for yourself like, how is that working?
Emalee Corbera 25:01
It definitely was hard. And it, it was a big culture shock, you know, I joke with my husband, you know, I'm like, I haven't peed alone in like four months. Well, while my job was stressful at the clinic, it's like, I could go to the bathroom alone, or I could, you know, actually drink coffee, you
Emalee Corbera 25:22
know what I mean? Kind of a thing, right? And you're back into that, that total chaos, because kids, young kids like that, it's really hard to have that schedule. So what I have found works for me the best, and it's a work in progress always. Right, it's, I'm still kind of trying to fine tune this. But is to kind of batch days for particular things, right. So I have somebody who comes on Tuesday now, and is with usually one daughter, because the other ones in school, and she can play with her, she I know, she's not, you know, I'm not gonna just like turn on the iPad and let her have all the screen time just so I can get something done, right. So I'd have somebody come and even though not leaving the house, I can lock myself away, you know, I know that those things are getting taken care of. And that gives me a good, you know, four to five hour chunk on a Tuesday, right? Like, that just works out for me. And my babysitter, like, that's good. And then my husband and I have worked out where, you know, certain days of the week, you know, I count on him working late on those days. So I'm just not planning to do much with my business. And then on the days that it's like twice a week that I know, he can get off a little bit earlier. And then he can come home and kind of take the brunt of the kids situation. And so then again, I can have that more concentrated time to do that. And, you know, there's the ideal of like, I'd like it to be okay, it's Tuesday and Thursday that I get, you know, my time and those are the case. You know, of course, you know, life throws things in and that's got to be modified and stuff like that. But I think if you try to stick to somewhat of that schedule, because for me, and I don't know if it's just because I am like, I'm a Virgo, I'm severely Virgo, like, ridiculously. If you read like, what a Virgo is, it's like, yes, yes, yes, like kind of ridiculous. But I need, I guess the way to say it is, if I am just kind of at a free for all, and I'm just gonna be like, oh, when they go down for a nap, then I'll get on the computer and do that. That's what I used to do. And then I realized that I was never fully present for any of it. Because I keep waiting for that moment to have for me to work on my business or me to get something done that I just take care of myself or for me to work out or whatever that is, right. And I'm just like, Okay, I'm waiting for that moment. And so every time like, they start to play with something I'm like, Is this my moment is this my and then you start to do it, and of course, it gets interrupted, and then you get frustrated. And it was just this like play and then I realized I'm not really actually playing with them, I'm not actually being present with them. And, you know, doing the crafts and the baking and the whatever it is that I want to do with them taking out, you know, to have experiences and stuff because I'm just waiting for that moment for myself. And that was making me miserable, it was making me miserable with at home, you know, to be there, I wasn't enjoying it. And then it was making me feel frustrated that I wasn't getting the things done that I wanted to get done. And so moving more towards this like thing where I can count on I know Tuesdays are, you know, I get the majority of my day. And then I get those two moments at the end of those two days at the end of the week. As like a solid, like I have that right and I can pull on that has made me so much more present on the days that I'm not having that time, because I'm not expecting to have that be done at that time. And then weekends are easier. Because again, I can block out a time and say, hey, you know, you know, my husband might take the kids to his parents or something like that, right? Like, and I can again, have that block of time again, so that I can get things done. So for me, it's all planning and knowing that I can count on that. And like I said, you have to be flexible, I get it, but for the most part kind of sticking to that has made all the difference in my house, like my happiness. And just feeling like I'm being a good mom when I'm mom, you know, and but then I'm also very present for, you know, what I want to do for my business and my clients and stuff like that. So that's been kind of the flow that we've figured out. And I'm sure that's going to look different for everybody else. But don't be afraid to ask for help, you know, is the thing and to get that help, you know, if it's however many days a week that you need to have to devote to it. And I'm not devoting as much time as I'd like to right now. But again, what's the season for me right now? And what was my goal and leaving my clinic practice was to actually be present more with my kids and be there. So I'm not attempting to be super full time quite yet. Even though I have all this aspiration and drive to do it, and I'm so used to doing that, right. And so to step back and be like, you know, I'm going to do this 2430 ish hours a week and that's it right now. And that's my hard stop until, you know, whatever my youngest maybe starts her preschool and then you know, I can open that up again. So it's just really kind of understanding where you're at in your season. So you can have those expectations. So I guess would be my
Rita Suzanne 30:01
I love that. I think that that's super important because I don't think that a lot of people realize that they go in real hard when they first start their business. And one thing, especially when you're a service provider is that you don't work on your own business, you work on other people's businesses. And so what I used to, I do the daily things to like, every day has a different thing that I focus on. But when I was doing my projects different, it would be like, Okay, so for at least an hour today, first thing before I do anything else, I'm going to work on my stuff, and then I can go off. And that helps me to like, answer my emails, do all the little basic stuff, and then I don't feel guilty, right, I don't feel like, oh, they don't think I'm responsive. You know, at least I can add mental because I don't keep my email on my phone or anything like that. Like, that's a boundary for me that I just refuse to give. But when I first started and I was married, my husband he used to either on Saturday or on Sunday, he would keep the kids and then I would leave the house. And that was part of our schedule was similar to what you're saying. And I think that that works really well when you have younger kids because the other parent can step in and in he would do that one day of the week also. So that gave me like, Okay, I know, this time this day, I'm going to be able to focus on on and that way I can tell my clients to like, Okay, on this day, I'm going to be able to actually get right. So I think that that makes it a lot easier. Because when I started my boys were, I want to say four and six. So yeah, I know what it's like, but I was so busy trying to prove myself to everybody that I had my laptop on my lap, I've missed out on all their stuff. They're sitting beside me, just wanting to be close to me. And you know, it's like, I but you know, I did break off and do things with them. But like you said, I was so guilty of really just focusing in on my work and not spending time with them. So not I mean, I was there, but I wasn't present,
Emalee Corbera 32:22
I get it. Because that's that's how it was. And even in the clinic practice situation. That's how it was because I'd come home from work and I'd still have to do all of that, you know, get the notes done, get the prescriptions and the callbacks and stuff. So it'd be like I physically came home, but now I've got my computer out. Right? You know, it kind of hit me, you know, one of the things that really motivated me one of my whys, you know, was when my older daughter was was younger, she was I don't know, she's probably it was like, one and a half or something like that. And I walked into the kitchen and my computer was sitting on the table and she was sitting there like to do it. I'm like, What are you doing? She goes, I worked like mommy like, you know, like they that was her thing of like, that's what Mommy does. You know, that's all mommy does. That's all I see is Mommy and computer.
Rita Suzanne 33:01
Emalee, I have a one up are on that one because my son started drawing pictures of me with my laptop in my lap and told everybody like when they would ask, like, what does your mom do work? What do you like, with your mom, she just works. My mom works all the time. You know, so that was really, you know, crushing because it was multiple pictures with my laptop. Or my phone in my hand. And I'm like, but I was reading you know, because I switched from like reading books to reading on my phone. Because when they were younger, they wouldn't let me hold a book in my hand. So, you know,
Emalee Corbera 33:38
I totally get it. Like to pick up my phone and started like she was dict because I dictate, you know, a lot of the clinic notes I would dictate and she'd be like, did it up period next line.
Rita Suzanne 33:52
I love it.
Emalee Corbera 33:54
I know those moments, right? They just hit your mom heart like so hard and and you realize and it's not I don't think it's bad that we show them that we're working right like I especially being a mom of girls, you know I want to show them and I want to show them taking time for yourself too like so I kind of have that hard line is like first thing in the morning they know like I'm going to work out and you know sometimes my my older daughter will be like Mom can you just please like help me get dressed and I'll be like, maybe you know how to get dressed you know and I might walk in her room so she feels seen and heard like okay, these are the clothes you're gonna wear but can now I'm going because my my workout system the garage like now I'm going into the garage or whatever and, and I want her to see me kind of draw those lines even with them. Because I'm making sure she's okay, I'm making sure she's seeing she feels seen and heard. But I'm also drawing kind of a hard line and taking care of myself and I verbalize it that way I say you know Mommy has to take care of her just like she takes care of you because I need to be strong and healthy to be your Mommy or that you know, whatever it is, you know, or, or even you know, mentioning that I have, you know certain goals or something like that right and See, if it's working, not working out or whatever, you know, whatever that is. And I'm kind of drawing that line with them sometimes because I want them to be able to do that I want them to and kids do what their what they see modeled, and I want them to see that you don't always you want to prioritize self care, you know, you want to prioritize those things. And it, it doesn't mean you don't love somebody doesn't mean that you're not, you know, just because you're not jumping at every hat that you're, you know, whatever has to be done. So it's a fine balance. It's really hard. But I really do want them to see me prioritize self care as well.
Rita Suzanne 35:34
Yeah, I think that that's super important. Like my kids. I don't go to the gym until 3pm. So then my kids are like, well, you're never here when we get home. Okay, but you're in middle school, I think that you'll be fine. Once I get home, though, then I'm able to spend time with them and cook dinner and all of these things. But more often than not, they just want to talk to me for a few minutes. And then they want to retreat to their own space. You know, though, it's fine that you know, but they know okay, well she went to the gym, she's, you know, here, she's there or whatever. And my kids are older but my my boys especially love working out, you know, and I think it's because of, you know, I even since my little one was little going on hikes and working out in the house trying to lose all my weight and you know, it is you got to do what you got to do. So who would you say are is since we talked so much about your ideal clients and stuff like that? Who are you most excited to work with at this point right now?
Emalee Corbera 36:44
Yeah, I would say people who have either themselves or they know they have a strong family history. And so they're assuming that they may have, you know, a predisposition to blood sugar issues with diabetes or pre diabetes. Women who have polycystic ovarian syndrome is a sign of insulin resistance, non alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity, in general, having quite a bit of excess weight, things like that are all signs of insulin resistance. So I really, really work with science backed methods to to get that nutrition and the movement and the lifestyle stuff in line. There's so much hormonally that we don't tap into by just throwing medication at it. And I really am passionate about that. So I would say those would be my ideal clients, anybody who's dealing with any of those things, or strong family history of that, and they just really want to optimize their own metabolic health that way. So yeah, that's the the crux of it.
Rita Suzanne 37:44
So where can they find you if they want to connect with you and see if you're a good fit?
Emalee Corbera 37:49
Yeah, so my website is foreverfitlifeco.com. And that's it. I'm on Instagram and Facebook, I'm not as active as I would like to be. That's one of my my big business goals that I need to branch out into a little bit more. But you can definitely find me there and message me there. And that's again, foreverfitlifeco is where it is.
Rita Suzanne 38:12
And on on Instagram and Facebook, you're under the same. Okay. All right. Well, thank you so much, Emily. It's been a pleasure. Yeah,
Emalee Corbera 38:20
of course. Thank you.
Rita Suzanne 38:24
And there you have it. I want to encourage you to remember that being a mom who runs her own business is not easy. We all struggle, but just keep moving forward. And don't forget to make time for yourself. As moms, we are usually the first thing to go to the bottom of the list. If your business is overwhelming you and you need real solutions, not just some sugar coated suggestions apply to work with me at ritasuzanne.com/apply.