Welcome to the Pursuing Private Practice podcast!
Join Jennifer McGurk, CEO of Pursuing Private Practice, and Amanda Mittman, founder of Happy Valley Nutrition, for a conversation about perimenopause, hormone health, body image, and the role dietitians can play in helping clients navigate midlife with more support, context, and compassion.
In this episode, Amanda shares how her own experience with perimenopause shaped her business, her niche, and the way she shows up for clients who are trying to make sense of symptoms, body changes, and all the noise in the wellness world. Jennifer also shares her own personal experience navigating perimenopause, including what it felt like to search for answers in a healthcare system that did not fully listen to her story.
Perimenopause and midlife can bring up so much vulnerability for clients, especially when their bodies feel unfamiliar or their old routines no longer work the same way. It's important to recognize that hormone health is not just about hormones. It's about sleep, stress, food, body image, energy, identity, capacity, medical care, and the lived experience of being in a body that is changing. Dietitians are uniquely positioned to help clients in this season of life, when people are often being sold more supplements, stricter rules, and one-size-fits-all solutions.
This conversation is a reminder that dietitians do not need to have every answer in order to be helpful. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is listen well, validate someone's experience, provide evidence-based support, and help them figure out the next right step.
Sponsor:
✨ Business School is designed to guide you through every stage of building a private practice: getting set up, seeing your first clients, growing until you're fully booked, hiring a team, expanding your offers—and even learning how to coast when needed. Inside, you'll follow a step-by-step curriculum with the flexibility to choose the path that fits your current stage of business and life. You'll get access to advanced toolkits, templates, and systems for business topics like marketing and finances, but also for counseling skills and client support. Beyond the curriculum, you're supported by personalized 1:1 coaching, weekly office hours, and monthly themes that address the real challenges of private practice. The program keeps you moving forward with built-in accountability that builds resilience and confidence so you feel like a legit business owner.
Learn more and apply here: https://pursuingprivatepractice.com/businessschool/
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📧 Email: Contact Us
Free Resources For Dietitians at Any Stage of Business:
🍎 The Ultimate Checklist to Start Your Private Practice
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👯 Free Workshop: Hire Your Next Team Member
💻 The Pursuing Private Practice Blog
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About Amanda:
Amanda Mittman, MS, RDN, LDN (she/her), is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, body image coach, and adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts and CT State. She is the founder of Happy Valley Nutrition, a group practice of Registered Dietitians specializing in eating disorders, disordered eating, and other health issues from a weight-inclusive lens.
Her current clinical work focuses on supporting individuals in midlife with an emphasis on body image, relationship with food, and sustainable, health-promoting behaviors. And giving the middle finger to diet culture, of course!
Find Amanda on Instagram at @happyvalleynutrition.