BIRD WILLIAMS: You're listening to Bird Means Business Episode 68.

Hi there! And welcome to Bird Means Business podcast. I'm your host Bird Williams and I am honored to share this sacred time, this sacred space in your day with you. Y’all, I don't take that lightly. I know there are a million things you could be doing. And the fact that you're here says a lot about the investment you're making in yourself and in your business. And my friend, you are in for a real treat. I have Starla Garcia on today's show. And when I tell you I could not imagine we would get into all the different topics we did. Whoo, so good. I love our conversation and I know you will too. Let me tell you a little bit about my girl, Starla. She is a registered dietitian and a recent 2020 US Olympic Marathon trials qualifier. Um, wow! You'll hear her share her story about being a collegiate runner, and how her journey to wellness came after battling an eating disorder as a student athlete. It was that experience that served as the catalyst to set her on the path of intuitive eating and developing a healthy relationship with food and exercise. Y'all, this is the story that fuels what she does today, helping runners stop under-fueling to reach their next personal record with realistic and sustainable nutrition. In just the last year, she has built such an incredible and inspiring business as a dietitian. And you're going to hear how she's navigating entrepreneurship and get some really powerful attempts that you can apply today. It's gonna be so good. 

But real quick before we jump in. If you haven't yet heard, I'm hosting an exclusive Goals Realignment Workshop this Saturday. We're going to roll up our sleeves, look at those annual goals we set for 2021, and compare them to where we are right now, at the end of Q1. And we're gonna see what is and isn't working. How do we need to adjust? And most importantly, we're going to get crystal clear on our goals for Q2. So if you can't tell, I'm super pumped about this because I know this is something that so many of us need, me included. Now there are limited spots because I want to make this intimate and practical, and super actionable. So make sure you head over to the link in the show notes to save your spot if there are any left. I'm not sure if at the time of this recording, there will still be spots left. But if you do register you'll automatically receive your workshop workbook, so that you can start preparing a bit ahead of time. And I just can't wait to strategize through a goals refresh with you very soon, it's going to be a lot of fun. Alrighty, let's dive into this powerful conversation with Starla. 

Hi Starla! I'm so glad to have you on the show. 

STARLA GARCIA: Hi, thank you so much for having me today. I'm so excited to chat with you.

BIRD: I'm so excited to have you. I know that there are so many entrepreneurs who are tuning in who will learn so much from your story. I am so inspired by the person you are, what you do in your business and how you've grown your business. So again, I'm just so excited to have this conversation. I think it's going to help a lot of people.

STARLA: Oh, thank you so much. I feel the same way about you. So, definitely excited to chat. 

BIRD: Awesome. So, you are a dietitian, and you help runners stop under-fueling to reach their performance goals, which is really an interesting angle. Even though I'm not an avid runner myself, yet. I'm trying to get there. I'm trying to get more into running. I just really love following your content and I learn so much from all the goodness that you have to share. So tell us the story of how you got into running, and why you became a dietitian, and just a little bit about your journey and how you got to where you are today.

STARLA: Yeah, so this is a really great question. I started running as a kid. The very first race I ran, I was in third grade, and I won. 

BIRD: That’s awesome!

STARLA: Yeah, I was so excited to do it. And I remember being so nervous. And, I remember finishing the race and I remember my dad being there and I was just like exhilarated and you know just like a huge smile on my face. And I remember my dad telling me, you're a runner like this is something that you're good at. And I got a lot of positive feedback from that. And so I'm actually a middle child. I have two sisters, and this was something that I immediately identified as. I became the runner of the family. My mom's side of the family is very athletic, and I always just wanted to fit in somewhere. And so finally having some kind of identity, tied to like who I was, was very freeing for me at the time. And so I started running and I kept running as a middle school athlete, a high school athlete. And then I became a runner, a collegiate runner for University of Houston. So I went all the way through. And I just really loved it. I loved being free. I loved what running gave me. It gave me a lot of confidence, and it just gave me something to work toward all of those years. I did a lot of other sports but running was definitely the primary focus for me.

In terms of being a dietitian. I actually became a dietician. I started studying nutrition, my first year of college, the second semester. And it wasn't really like in my peripheral, to be honest. A counselor had actually encouraged that I pursue that route after studying biology and I was just not happy studying that. I didn't find it fulfilling. I couldn't really find my place there and it didn't feel aligned with who Starla was at all. But she had known that I was very interested in eating well and like you know, being an athlete and so forth. And so she encouraged that I pursue nutrition and it would also be a great way for me to be able to pursue other health professions as a prerequisite, or like one of the courses that I could have. And so I went that route and to be honest, it was a very selfish, also, like personal endeavor that I took on. I wanted to learn more about how to stay thin. How to eat to perform. And how to be a thin runner, because I want me to identify further as a collegiate athlete. And so through that process, I ended up finding out that in order to be a dietitian, there is a lot of hoops I had to jump through. And by the end of my collegiate years, I wasn't really sure if I wanted to jump through that hoop anymore. I didn't know if I wanted to pursue an internship. If I wanted to like work with athletes or anything like that. I had gone through an eating disorder all through college. And being the dietitian and learning the nutrition part of it kind of fed that a little bit. And so I really wanted to just get away from nutrition. So I actually went and kind of pivoted a little bit and instead started studying health education in my graduate work. And I wanted to get more on the research side. But what ended up happening was going through recovery, doing all the research work, I started to really see that there was a gap in a lot of the literature around minorities and health and nutrition. And I started to learn about health disparities and what was happening. And I started to see, we're not talking about this enough. Why didn't I learn about health disparities and how this was affecting people of color, Hispanic and Latino populations? It's not the food that I need to be afraid of. And I don't need to cut out things that make me me. I need to, like, reduce poverty. I need to be part of the solution, not just band-aid the solution. And so I really started to see like this was exactly why I needed to be a dietitian, was to be part of the solution. And so doing the research was not enough. I needed to do something more fulfilling. And so through that process and also like having a job with a doctor, I woke up one day and I decided you know I'm gonna apply to the internship to be a dietitian at UofH. And I have nothing else to lose like I don't know what's next for me. I had just finished my graduate work. This was back in 2014 and I applied. I started my internship in 2015, and I finished and got my license in 2016. So it was a very quick process that I went through and I kind of played it in that way cause I wanted to, I mean I was also 26, so I didn't have health insurance to be quite honest. I was like, I need to find a job and get health insurance. And how I got to where I was, was, I remember I was coming back to running cause I had taken a break. I had done two marathons already. 

BIRD: Whew!

STARLA: I know. I didn't know how I just jumped in right after college. I don't know. I didn't even do a half marathon. I didn't really race 10Ks. I just went straight into marathoning. 

BIRD: Wow!

STARLA: Yeah, I actually would not change that process at all. I'm glad it happened in the way that it did. But I think I really just like really knew that I wanted to help runners after that. And I remember telling Freddie my partner that I just wanted to work with runners. That was my calling and that's what I became a dietitian to do. And I started to really see how all of my experiences in college and my professional experience were going to help runners one day. 

BIRD: Gosh, such a powerful story, Starla. I've never heard that story and so I'm really glad I asked. And it's powerful because to me what I hear is there's so much purpose in it, right? I mean, from you being in third grade and running and your dad affirming that. And to you, dealing with your own eating disorders and having to look at how you think about your diet around that to just loving running. And it’s just like purpose really woven through that whole story, which I think says a lot because I've talked in the past about the difference between passion and purpose. And how we can have a passionate moment where we want to have this specific business idea that we want to launch. But it's different when you’re purposed to do it and it's more than just you, right? It's more than about you. So that's really beautiful and incredible. So did you always know going into getting your degree, like, okay I want to make a business out of this? You said you always knew you wanted to help runners. How did you think around the business aspects of things?

STARLA: I wasn’t. I wasn't thinking about being an entrepreneur, which is wild. When I was going through my nutrition work and like just being an undergrad student, I mean I was like, in the depths of my eating disorder which is what I tell people too. So like I was just focused on surviving at that time with like being a collegiate athlete, being a runner in a sport that is predominantly white, and women not looking like me, like just navigating being a young collegiate runner. And but I remember thinking, many, many times like when I get through this, I'm going to impact a lot of people. There is a reason why, like I'm going through this. And I always say that because I like truly remember like thinking, there's a reason why this is happening to me. Like it just like there has to be other people like me that are struggling that are women of color or just like female runners. Why isn't anybody talking about this? And I just knew that, like it was going to come full circle one day. 

BIRD: It reminds me of that meme that says, “You've been assigned this mountain to show others it can be moved”. Like it’s just powerful. Sometimes we go through things and it's just like, gosh, this is really hard. But maybe I'm going to be the one to overcome this and help people get through it. And that's why it's so beautiful that we share our stories. And I mean, before we even move on to the business stuff, I want to know what you would say to anyone out there, whether it's an eating disorder or some kind of addiction or any kind of hard thing that they have kind of looming over them that they're dealing with. How did you work through that? How did you get through that? Was there a process or something that you could share?

STARLA: Yeah I really went to, I guess like a practical thing that I did was like I went to therapy, like years of therapy. That was an investment that timewise that I made. I was so lucky that the University of Houston athletic department supported me through that. But I really think for a lot of people, because a lot of my clients, there's sometimes there is a mental health issue that they are struggling with. And like you know entrepreneurs, like we deal with a lot of pressure and stress and anxiety. But I always encourage a lot of people that if they're working through something, it is because you haven't yet reached your full capacity. Like, you're still working through that. That doesn't mean that it's not possible for you to ever attain your full capacity or your fullest potential. It just means that maybe there's just a roadblock that you may need help with, and that is okay. Because when you get through it, the possibilities are endless.

BIRD: Yes. Ooh yes. I love that so much. I love that perspective and I love that point on therapy and how powerful it can be. We don't have to do these things alone. You know sometimes, especially as entrepreneurs, we're self-starters, we're perfectionists, we're go-getters. So we're gonna, I'm going to fix it. And it's like sometimes you need someone to hold your hand, someone to kind of guide you and walk you through that, and a therapist is great for that. So I love that you brought that up. 

So when it comes to as a dietician, you know you're helping fuel people's bodies so that they can optimize their performance. You talk a lot about fueling your body of course as a dietitian. I love seeing your posts around what to eat and what to not eat. And it always being opposite of what you think sometimes. At least for me. I'm like okay, there's some freedom there. It's not so strict. It's much more of a lifestyle than it is like a diet because that's not sustainable. So, anyway, in terms of fueling people's bodies, for the entrepreneurs who are tuning in today, I want to help kind of fuel, some of those businesses for optimal performance too. So, what did the phases of building your business look like? I know that that wasn't on the forefront. Like you said you were just trying to kind of get through school. But when you did begin to say, okay I want to work with people and, and created a business out of this, how did that look, and what were the different phases?

STARLA: Oh, that was a lot of trial and error, so kind of like seeking or seeing what the community wanted and needed like doing your market research, right. Like, I think that one was a big one and I actually started a blog, like, immediately after getting my license because I was so really just wanting to give to people. It was even before I thought about making money or turning it into a business. It was like, I want to connect with people and I want to know and be with my community. Like that was the first thing that I did was my market research. And I think at first it was really hard for me to even know that I wanted to work specifically with runners. I thought it was going to be more like general wellness and just like nutrition really, the things that I was going to be sharing. But then I started to find, this is so interesting too. Like this is a side of the story that I don't share very much. But I actually would go to different studios, and just like kind of see like you know what was the community like. Like did I fit in there? And I will say, I didn't fit in much places. Like it was not reflective. I didn't feel like it was inclusive. And the only place that I ever really felt included, and like worthy of being, which was so interesting was like my writing community. And that was a place that I felt most at home, but I really knew, like how to navigate, like my running community. Even though when I was younger, it was so hard for me to navigate. But as an adult, and like just being an adult runner, now in this new phase of my own running lifestyle. I definitely found my niche. And I knew that’s where I felt most comfortable and confident. So I really started to pivot some of my content when I was blogging and like pursuing things through Instagram or like trying to get some deals and stuff like that. It was more geared toward running after a while. And so I really knew like, yeah, like this is possible to actually, like, work with just runners. And everybody I remember like, I would bring it up through conversations with other dieticians or other sports dietitians that were on the higher end of the hierarchy or like the career hierarchy. And they would kind of tell me, well, you should actually like counsel or work with all kinds of people because not everybody is in training cycle. And I just kind of thought well, they also need nutrition help in between those training cycles. Like are we preparing athletes for what's next, or what's in between? There's so much more there to talk about. And like there's so much like food guilt and there's so much stress and like overthinking that actually needs to be talked about. Why aren’t we talking about this? And so I started to see more and more pockets of that come up just in conversations through my blogging. And I think when it really started to be more around for nutrition for me. I was actually in the end stages of like when I was working full time. So I really started to hone down and seek more help around like how do I make this a business,  now that I know that I want to work with this specific niche. I kind of know what hurts, what's happening, and the struggles. Like how do I put that into practice? So that's when I invested in my very first coach. I saw a friend had started to work with a business coach. And she was leaving her job and I was like, I want to do that too. I want to do something that I want to do. But I didn't know the potential. Like I had no idea what the potential was to being an entrepreneur and being online. So when I got into it I will say I jumped in with to it very blindly. I had no idea what was going to happen and this was actually back in 2018. Yeah, so I had actually tried to do it, and I was still struggling with my messaging, like having a very clear niche and so forth and talking about struggles and pain points and all those things that we learn in marketing strategy, right? So, when I started to first invest in my first coach, I mean, I learned a lot about how to process payment online, how to take payment, how to book a call, how to execute a sales call, and so forth. And that was, that was a lot to take in as somebody that jumped in with two feet very blindly. And I will say, my money mindset was not there. I think I was ready, but I was not ready to receive. Yeah, I was ready to give, but not receive. 

BIRD: You’ve got to work through some of that money mindset as well.

STARLA:  Oh yeah 100%. That one was really difficult. 

BIRD: And by that, you mean like pricing your services and valuing yourself as a price point that you were worth, and asking for that.

STARLA: Yeah, I think there was a lot of guilt around like the pricing when I first started. It was really really difficult, and a lot of imposter syndrome, across the board, because I didn't see anybody that looked like me, and I still don't. But I think because I've worked through a lot of it, it's gotten me to where I am today with my business. The money mindset piece is a huge one.

BIRD: Wow, that’s awesome. 

STARLA: Yeah, I will say like the money mindset was so hard to work through because as dietitians, we're kind of trained, when we're in undergrad to know that we're not going to get paid very, very well. And so I had always read like you don't do it for them and you do it cause you're passionate about it. And then you're kind of just told that in undergrad. Like this is what the pay is gonna be. And like nobody really tells you what the cap is there or how far you can get until you actually are in the field. So like there is a limit as to what is available for a dietitian or the growth opportunities there. And being a collegiate athlete, I needed a carrot in front of me at all times. And I did not know that jumping into my career path, which is a little bit unfortunate. But which is also unfortunate now for me because I think I had to really understand that part of my personality. 

BIRD: Yeah, that's very interesting you bring that about money. I have a client who we've been working through strategy sessions and she comes from a nonprofit sector. And it's the same messaging. You know it's a nonprofit, you're there to serve. You're supposed to give stuff away for free. You're supposed to work yourself to death. And she has had this transformation and it's incredible to see what she's doing now in her business of like, no I'm draining myself giving so much. And there should be some progression in price over time as you hone in on your services and as you become better. And so anyway, it's just really interesting. I've never known that about the dietician world too. But I want to just make sure I point out a couple of other things. You said when you started your business you thought about the people you were serving and being a part of the community which is so profound and huge. Because I think so many people will focus on so many other things like their logo, or their website or lease things which are awesome and important and great. But like, let's start with the core with the foundation with the people you're serving to understand their needs like you said. And you pointed out, blogging, which is basically you sharing your experiences and giving, in the sense that people are learning from you. I share that when we launched The League, Terry had blown up on Twitter. Twitter was like the hot social media at the time. And he gave so much information, he'd have like tips and all kinds of stuff. So when we launched The League in 2013, so many of those people who followed him for all those years, came and supported the launch. And it was so profound to me because it said something to how much he was willing to connect with people in a real authentic way before he was ever asking for anything. Just like I want to know you and understand you and share some of what I know to you and help you be better and then that helps grow our business in a very profound way. So anyone who's out there listening, thinking about building a business. It's not always diving into the external stuff, the look. And again, branding is huge. But there are stages to that. I even talk about that in my episode on my rebrand and how when I first launched Bird Williams, I did my website myself. A friend of mine did a logo. I didn't focus on that so much. It was more like who are these people that need help launching their businesses? How do I serve them? What are their questions? And then I ended up rebranding like six or seven months later when I could afford to go through that process. But it's not all about all of that. So I love that you brought that up.

STARLA: Yeah, so I really focused on that 100%. And like, I think, for me as a runner, and I knew being a dietitian, and wanting to work with runners, I was going to have to be in the community. Like runners are not going to trust people who write on runners if they are a non-runner. Yeah, like any doctor PT that has ever worked with a runner, if you're not a runner, we're not trusting you. That's just how it is. Runners are special people. And I knew that. Going in, I just knew that that's what I wanted to do and I wanted to be part of the community because I was also on my own running journey at the same time. So, going back to community. I shared a lot over the last two years, about my running from the time that I got into Boston, my training through Boston, my training after Boston, leading up to my huge breakthrough race in California for 2019, sharing my goals to qualify for Olympic trials. I shared so much. And I shared so much of like my journey going through like food freedom and like letting go of under-fueling and like what all of that has been like. I've shared what it's like to be a woman of color in these two spaces that are now like sitting right in between of running, like the athletic community, and the like being a dietitian, in this space. Like what is that like? I share a lot of those things. So I try to be as transparent as possible. When sharing like my business now but not like my personal business. There’s a difference there. Like your business and your business. So, which is probably a whole nother podcast right. But I think yeah I think that was like something that I have always been very very good about. 

So when the pandemic hit. I was now no longer working in the hospital setting. I was working in a private practice setting under someone else. And so I started to see like little pockets of the community needing help. And I think because I felt like I had been preparing for so long for this kind of moment. I felt like, and maybe this was a limiting belief of mine at the time. But most people were not receptive to online nutrition coaching. It was very much of, okay, well can I come in and see you. And it was like, Well I can't afford an office, right? And so I was faced with that barrier, being a woman of color. Like I didn't have the means to create a whole like thing around the business that I wanted. So I took to the online route. Unfortunately, I don't think people were ready or maybe I was not ready either at the time. But for whatever reason, I ended up working under private practices and the pandemic hit. I saw it as an opportunity to now pivot. So I stayed ready, the entire time. And then I just saw that my community needed me. So I gave every single day. Like I made a promise to myself that I was going to give every single day to my community. And I think this is where the passion and purpose comes back in because I thought about the person that was going to be struggling. Like if Starla at 19 would be struggling in a pandemic, what would I need to hear from an older Starla? And so I showed up for that person, every single day.

BIRD: Right, ooh girl I love that so much. Beautiful and powerful. I do the same thing with thinking about where I was when I launched my first business and all of those mistakes I made, and what I wish one person would have just whispered to me. And I’m trying to whisper those things. And that's why I love having entrepreneurs like you, who have gone through a process and can say, hey look out for this and think about this. Which really leads me to my next question which is wanting to understand how different your business looks today versus when you first started, and how you can encourage anyone who's just starting out. What do you wish you would have known? That sort of thing.

STARLA: I think some things I wish I would have known is like finding a professional community that are going to support you like no other. That was something that I felt like I was missing in the time that I worked with my first coach until I launched. I started like really like in the pandemic because I started my business at the end of April. So I'm coming up on a year really quickly. In like the blink of an eye is going to be here. But I think like, at that time, like between the pandemic hitting like in March through April. I was in this interesting phase where I knew that I was gonna have to make the jump soon and letting go of the job that I had as a contractor under another private practice. And I also just felt really lonely at that time. It wasn't the pandemic that was making me feel lonely. It was the community. Like I needed a professional community that just saw me for me and was just going to support my goals to the very end. And I think that has been one of the biggest things that has led to the changes that I've made. 

I think the money mindset was a big one too like that was a huge game-changer for me. And I think for anybody that's listening, like, that is probably number one is really diving into, why do you think you don't deserve it, or what are you afraid of? Cause it's now it's not actually like overcoming the personal struggle, it's more like getting out of your own way. That is the next step because I think once you unlock and like you tell yourself every single day that you are worthy of X amount of money per month, or X amount of money per year. You're going to do everything in your power to get to that number.

BIRD: Yeah, oh yeah. And I think a lot of reframing needs to come around what it means to make more money. It's as if a lot of us have been programming, me included, from a younger age like from certain groups of people that wanting more money, like wanting to be rich, was bad, greedy, or you want to be all-powerful. But there's so many things you can do with the money, right? It's not like you want to get rich, as an entrepreneur to go get a private jet and whatever. And even if you want a private jet, that's awesome. But you know what I’m saying?  It might be that you want to be able to give a lot more and donate to charities that you really love or just have the freedom to not have the debt that you have or to be able to go on vacation when you want. And that's okay. That's actually great and healthy. 

STARLA: Exactly. I will say the mentor that I'm working with now, who's also my business coach as a dietitian. What he did for me was he actually had me write a letter to myself. And every time like I doubted I had to go back to that letter. What I also did from like working with my first coach and back in 2018. That coach taught me to write down a specific amount of income I wanted to make every month. And like I saw that number. Like it was in my head that it was possible. Every single day, even when I was no longer working with that business coach, I had that goal. And when I finally reached it in the summer I was like, Well, like I had been manifesting this income for that long. And I didn't give up. And I think that's another one that a lot of people, like, feel like it doesn't go off right away. But like, if you know that there's a huge purpose to your life. Why are you going to give up on that purpose? Like you're never going to feel fulfilled in anything else in your life if you give up your purpose. It's just not going to be there. And I think that was just one of those people that like knew very very early on that like my life mattered, and that there was a huge purpose to me living and breathing today.

BIRD: Yes. Oh, yeah yes. So powerful. I love it. I love it so much. So your brand has really taken off. And I know we've talked kind of about some different things that you would kind of attribute to your personal development in your business. But what would you say are maybe like a few things that attributed to your business growth? Would you say having those coaches? Would you say specific things you did in terms of how you structured your packages? Or anything that you would say around what would attribute to the growth that you've seen and how you kind of met those goals that you set.

STARLA:  Oh, that's a great question. So, there's like five things for sure.

BIRD:  I love it. I love it. 

STARLA: Yeah, like there's a coach for sure. I've had coaches my entire life. I've had support systems my entire life. I've been on a team my entire life. So I didn't expect myself to walk this new path without support. Like I knew I was gonna need somebody. And I’ve always known that about myself too. I don't do well solo. I do better with a support team because I've always been on teams. I was an athlete so I've always had a team. It just made sense that I was going to need a coach. So I had a coach. 

I also restructured my programs. I have a three month and six months. And then I did a year program launch, at the end of Thanksgiving to December. And that actually went really well. So, I even did that one. But my main programs are a three month and six months. 

The other things that I did was I increased my pricing. That was another one. Because I knew what my goal was and I didn't want to work myself to the ground. 

So I also invested in my mental health a lot over the last year. And just like my emotional health and that could mean like, I got injured back in June and so running is part of like me being physically, emotionally, and mentally really healthy. And I got to a place in my business where even though I was injured, I had the ability to take care of myself. And I can say like my business had allowed me to support and invest in myself tenfold because I like did those three things first. If I hadn't done that, I don't know how I would be feeling now. But I was able to hire a physical therapist to help me. I was able to purchase a Peloton and not worry about it. And I think those are things that money can buy. But what you feel from it. Money can't buy that.

BIRD: So so good. So having a coach, restructuring your programs, and increasing your prices. You would say those are the biggest things that's led to your growth.

STARLA: And I’d say investing in my personal development and my mind, my body, like all of those things. I will say also, I think one of the last things that has been really really helpful for my business growth is like, and you kind of touched on this in one of your podcasts too, where you don't just like want to have your business on Instagram. But having to friend flows of clients coming in. So, has like also generated more income, like through email campaigns, through Facebook. And even just like connecting more with local professionals has really really helped a lot. And I will say you don't know who's watching. It may not even be your ideal client, but a professional is watching, and they're gonna send you a client because that has happened to me many times.

BIRD: Whoa, that is so good. Yes, that episode is “Is Your Marketing Strategy Just Social Media?”  I cannot tell you how many times I hear, I'm launching a business and I think I'm going to start with setting up my Instagram page. And I'm like, okay, that's one way. Instagram is great. But there's so many more ways to market your business, right? And I love what you said about connecting with professionals and connect like local partnerships. And again it kind of depends on the type of business. But that's been very powerful for our gym business. And so yeah that episode I kind of break that down. And I really love what you shared about tapping into your personal needs. When I think about holistic business, which is what I'm all about. That's a big component of it. Like it's not just your marketing strategy and your financial plan and your team that you're building. It's also you, especially if you are so directly connected to your business in terms of it's just you, as a solopreneur. Or if you're the face of the brand. But even if you're not. Like with The League, I'm more behind the scenes. But the extent that I am well, the business will be well. Because everyone's gonna feel it. Our team's gonna feel it. Clients are going to feel it. All of our vendors. So you have to make sure you're okay. You have to feed yourself and not work yourself into the ground. And people so often forget the, oh I can raise my prices as a piece of the solution to what I'm dealing with. They think of everything else other than maybe you just need to increase your prices just a little bit and look at how the numbers flush out then and what more you can do for yourself and on and on. So those are great points to bring up.

STARLA: Yeah, yeah. And you know, kind of going back to like what you said earlier too. It's like, you can buy all the beautiful Louis bags, right? But they're not going to make you feel good, or they're not going to make you feel good 10 years down the road. And I think I've always known that too about me, about myself. Like I'm not a flashy person. But like my mental health and all of those things like, I need that to function. If I'm not functioning at my full capacity, my business will never ever flourish. It's gonna barely take off and like not go anywhere. So I need to be at full capacity. And the way that I see money is like freedom. It allows me to set my schedule. It allows me to sleep when I need to. It allows me to do the physical therapy that I need to do so I can go out and go running, pursue the passion that I have. And like in that letter that I wrote to myself, I wrote, you're going to be running in all kinds of places. I’m not going to have to be worried about, are you going to be able to pay for the flight, because that's not going to be important. You're just going to be able to go and experience a beautiful face because you want to fall.

BIRD: Beautiful. I love that.

People think the possibilities and having that at the forefront and like you said. Here you are actually achieving your goal like whoa, this has been front and center this whole time and here that is. That is powerful, girl. I loved our conversation. I mean, and honestly, it went in an even better direction than I thought. And so I know this is gonna be so incredibly helpful for so many entrepreneurs out there. And I'm sure that as they're listening, they're gonna want to know how they can connect with you online. Where's the best place they can reach you, follow you, support you, learn from you? All of those good things.

STARLA: Yeah, so a couple places you can find me is my Instagram handle is @starla_shines. My Facebook group does Nutrition for Runners with Starla Garcia. And then my website is thehealthyshine.com.

BIRD: I love it! I will make sure that I tag each of those in the show notes. Folks, y'all can just scroll right down and click the link and get to following Starla. As you can tell, as you hear, she is such a powerful businesswoman. I am so inspired by her. And I really just look up to her in so many ways. And I'm so glad I know you, Starla. Thank you for sharing so much goodness on this week's episode. 

STARLA: All right, thanks, guys.

BIRD: What a powerful story. I just love so much, how she reframed a hard time in her life to help so many others through it today. Like, how she took what she could have been defeated by and turned it around to create a thriving business that serves so many other runners. Amazing! But I said, I so admire Starla and I really appreciate having her on the show. You should totally learn more about her and follow her online. I'll make sure that I link all of her information in the show notes. 

And as a reminder, you'll also find a link in the show notes to this Saturday's Goal Realignment Workshop. I forgot to mention it earlier but I'll be actually holding each participant accountable. And I'm going to be checking in on these goals we set at the end of Q2. So yeah, I'm structuring this in a way to put a loving fire under your butt, so you can make real progress over these next three months. I cannot wait to connect with you on Saturday. 

As always thank you so much for tuning into Bird Means Business podcast. Make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcasts. And I would love it if you left me a review so that Bird Means Business podcast can increase in the rankings and more entrepreneurs can learn how to navigate their entrepreneurial journey. You can also follow Bird Means Business on Spotify. And make sure you tell every entrepreneur you know about this episode so that they can be motivated by Starla’s story too. Talk to y'all next week.