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Join me as I chat with Stephanie Dorfman, a Registered Dietitian and the owner of Stephanie Dorfman Nutrition. She'll spill the beans on her journey from a self-built website to a professionally designed one by Declet Designs. Stephanie emphasizes the importance of aligning your website with your brand's vision and how it positively impacts client perceptions. We'll also delve into building a successful brand without burning out, finding support within the dietitian community, SEO tips for online visibility, and prioritizing wellness amidst a busy schedule. Trust me, you won't want to miss this insightful and inspiring conversation for aspiring dietitians and entrepreneurs.
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FREE RESOURCES https://decletdesigns.com/free-website-and-branding-resources-for-private-practice/
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STEPHANIE'S SITE: https://stephaniedorfmannutrition.com/
FOLLOW STEPHANIE: https://www.instagram.com/stephanie.dorfman.nutrition/
Websites, local SEO, and marketing strategy for dietitians in private practice. Hosted by Courtney Vickery, web designer and dietitian, helping you build a site and online presence that actually gets you clients.
In each episode, we'll tackle the practical side of private practice: websites that actually convert, tech tools that don't give you headaches, and strategies to streamline your workflow. Whether you're drowning in admin tasks or just starting your practice, we're here to help you spend less time managing your business and more time doing what you love - helping your clients.
Join us as we chat with successful dietitians and practice management experts who've figured out how to make technology work for them, not against them. We'll share real solutions for real practices, focusing on what actually works in the world of weight-inclusive care.
From fixing your scheduling nightmares to making your website work harder for you, Tech Savvy Dietitian: Websites, Local SEO & Marketing for Dietitians in Private Practice brings you practical strategies you can implement right away. Because your time is better spent helping clients, not fighting with tech.
welcome back to the Dietitian Turn Designer podcast today. I'm excited cuz we have one of my previous clients, Stephanie Dorfman. She's a registered Dietitian in New York and has her own private practice. Stephanie Dorfman Nutrition. Welcome Stephanie. Hi. Thanks. We're excited to be here.
Yeah, thank you for being here. I wanted to just start out by talking about the project that we did together. So we did your branding and your website. Can you tell me what your branding website was like before we worked together? Yeah, , definitely. And , I'm so thankful for all the changes and upbeats that we've made because I like many Dietitian that are starting in private practice, they find an easy.
Website to build their own website on. , so I did that and then I was like, oh, this looks pretty, or Oh, this looks nice. But, , design and putting things together like that is not my strong suit. So, , it did what I needed it to do for like a year or two. And then as I was adding or clients and like had a budget to upgrade I website, , I reached out to you and, , we've known each other from Dietitian business.
Mm-hmm. Also, that was like a PC connection and, I absolutely love, the brand colors, everything is just so much more what I want my clients to see and get and my clients to feel when they look at my website. So, you really been able to like, take whatever was in my brain and put it onto a website.
So, , yeah, it was just like a really awesome process. It's so funny cuz whenever I log into Canva I have a folder that I call the land of misfit logos. Like logos that were rejected and yours is the cover of photo. Cuz at first we drew a donut and we decided to go in a different direction.
But I'm always like, I wonder if I could use that donut somewhere else. It's so cute.
I'm like, I don't know how I could integrate that into somewhere else, but yeah, we ended up doing the coffee mugs and I drew a couple different variations, , , I think we ended up doing the little teabag with the heart on it, but I also drew in with your dog and tell us your, tell us your dog's name.
See my dog. All my website. His name is Norman. He's the best. , and the, the Muer with him on it was Sue was super cute. Sometimes fun. Subbury my dog from Yes. I entire life and my birthday general, I went with the more like she narrated one with the teabag at a heart on it.
Yes. Super cute too. Yes. That's so funny. My dog is in here right now too. I don't, you can't see him because he's laying behind me. But yeah, I try to not incorporate him too much for the same reason, because I'm like, he can't, the dog can't be my identity. Oliver's my co-host, so he's, he's back here supervising things.
Yes. All right. Some of the things we wanted to talk about today was how to build a successful brand without burning out. I was wondering if you could share your personal journey of building a successful brand and your practice without feeling overwhelmed or burned out. Yeah. Well, it's interesting also because also, I don't know generalizing, but I delete a lot of Dietitian to a lot of different things.
They have their hands on different projects, so. , and safe for me as well. I have a few different, whether it's like counseling jobs or volunteer experiences or, , I actually have a full-time job a alongside with my private practice or the private practice to us, or like a covid it in church when I, was furloughed from my full-time job.
So I just had time to do things and I wasn't sure if I was gonna be asked back to my job, but Bank Clair Prize. So, I started the practice and, , I don't know. I guess I went in with the mentality with like hope that I would build something successful, but at the same time if I didn't, , it would also be okay.
So I guess going in that's just like a very up mindset summit of like, I appear to blur, I am here to just get experience within. Is this as a again, for not top that and spoiled. So I'm still learning, like, I'm still learning how to grow something successful or, , figuring out like why some things aren't working and some things are working.
So yeah, it's, it's a concept parting experience, but I've, I've loved it. Yeah. Yeah. No, I always say that it's, you'll never know everything, and that's probably true in many areas of life, but especially within business, because honestly they're all kind of just experiments. It's kind of like we're just doing the scientific process over and over again, trying to figure out.
You know what clients this all the time too, is to like change that work. I work a lot with, , with clients eating disorders or disorder heating and work non for relationship with fruit and intuitive heating. , so I tell the all the time, which is in the intuitive eating book, to go into experience this curiosity rather the judgment.
So to get curious about why things are happening rather than judgmental, which I also think helps with with filler out because. , rather than being hard on yourself and judging yourself if something doesn't work, like you get curious about it and how can I make this better? What can I add rather than like, what am I doing so terribly?
Yes, definitely.
I wanted to ask you, you know, how did you navigate the process of this learning as we go and kind of embracing the idea that it's okay to not have a rigid plan. I know we talked about curiosity, but was there anything else that kind of helped you in the actual moment of, you know, feeling stressed about like, is this actually working?
Yeah, , I mean it's, it's unavoidable to not feel stressed like he, is this actually working and I question. That often, but, through a Dietitian business school and also just through having a private practice or being involved in DPTs, like at a Dietitian, I've met a lot of my now Dietitian friends that we feed, we talk to, we consult about our problems or talk about why things are working or not working or what's working for you and how can I adapt that.
So help me. , so. It's pleading on like my newfound bread and through this whole process. And,, so that's been, that's been really helpful just to have a sounding board like that. Yeah. And aren't you in a leadership position for the nutrition entrepreneur? Both the chair as in for Fisher and Entrepreneur, so, cannot speak highly enough of interest.
Entrepreneurs, there's so many resources or Dietitian going into either practice or just. Dietitians in general. There's just so much information. I know that you've been a huge supporter above our spring summit of ED and other things. , so yeah, I love the entrepreneurs, so I will be the P chair going into next year.
, I've been at OP with that for almost five years, so on the second of committees, so I love it. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, I always attend the annual summit and it's one of my favorite events cuz I obviously, I love things that are virtual cuz they're easier for me. , because I have two little kids, it's harder to travel, so I just appreciate when things are virtual and it's also set up so well because it's actually really interactive than people come by and visit your virtual booth of things for people that haven't been before.
That was awesome. Can I talk about Spring Summit? But, , it was also a Covid adventure. I was actually the director of Feeds during that year and I was Swiss Sweep Planning. This whole networking event hit Indianapolis, that ever happened. So we, I graded. And, and formed this summit. And if it's really like taken a life of its own and his SpeakUp is like so big and, and like you said, like it's just a full Virgil event where you even also have interaction and communication as if you were quote unquote in person.
Like it's, it's a very cool thing. Speaking of learning as we go and growing, as a weight inclusive Dietitian, what are some strategies that you've used to maintain your sense of balance and avoid that pressure of feeling like you have to continuously grow?
Yeah, well something, something else I've picked up and I feel like everything I've learned in terms of diet business side, the thing is that business full, but that is okay to coast and it's. I, it's okay to stay stagnant for a little bit. You don't have to have this constant road. And, , and it could, it could partially be because I do have a full-time job and I do have a salary, like a stable salary, which I doubt a lot of Dietitians in private practice do not.
So there is that constant mindset of what could I be doing? Because time is funny. You kind of in a worry. . but also understanding that Cosea is okay, it may impact your success or the way that you present to your clients. If you continuously feel this cuts at feed for growth yeah, definitely. And also just kind of letting yourself celebrate the successes that you have. I feel like I need to personally do a better job of that myself, because I tend to be like, okay, what's next?
Instead of just stopping for a minute and saying, wow, this is amazing. And you know, everything that I'm doing, I'm enjoying and I'm working with so many great clients, I just need to take a minute and breathe it in. Yeah, I know. And I, I was luck back on like, what I say to clients too is , yeah, appreciate all of the wins.
TH's too small to celebrate. you just appreciate where you're at now and how you got there. And then of course we can think about the be jerk. Don't let it be all-encompassing. It's on an all or nothing. Yeah. And then you mentioned the coasting. That made me think the other thing that Jennifer talks about in Dietitian in school, or now it's business school, a lot.
, is having a parking lot of ideas because, I am that person that's like, Ooh, that's a good idea. That's another good idea. So I use click up and I actually have a parking lot list where I just go and I dump that stuff there because if I don't, I will try to do it all at the same time.
Yeah, no, I currently have, but I, I don't use an app for it, but of course you can't, you can't get to everything and you can't expect yourself to get to everything cuz
There's too many, there's too much to do. Yes. Definitely. Yeah. I, I actually did the episode that came out. The one before this one when it comes out, , was about systems and workflows and automations. And I just kind of nerded out about click up and a little bit about notion and stuff.
So I use them both and I talk about why I use them both in that episode, but I do use both of them. Yeah. Yeah. There's so many, that many system is so put in place. Yes. So many choices. Speaking of systems and software, we talked about SEO obviously during your project, and I know that that can be challenging for a lot of Dietitians cuz it's not something that we obviously learn about.
Can you provide any, tips or insights into what you feel like you have found as help to increase your SEO and visibility online? It's such a new thing for Rita be considering, but I think having my website. That you help me with at WordPress has been really helpful in terms of SEO related blog type things.
So there are those plugins that you could use and they give you like red lights or pre lights of you are doing good or if you could be if, if you can improve anything for seo. So that's been really helpful. Sometimes I'll go on those free, domain authorities, sites to see where I stand or if I have any, if I'm right for any keywords or.
, things like that. So I, I know it's a process and I know with time it also helps. , I also keep that the back of my mind, but with time, it'll naturally improve. But, I know if there's a ton of things that I could be doing to help with seo, like be putting her plot coat in, or, , reaching out to bo providers on fighting.
Articles or something to get more back, like to my website. So there's, there's a lot of things on my list that I want to do, but again, like staying curious and staying light and, knowing that there is time for this, I love that because I think sometimes people, and you know, I've had people say this before, like I'll build their website and like a month later they're like, I don't see it when I Google, you know, this area nutritionist, and I have to explain.
That it takes time. And also when I build your website, I'm only doing the foundational pieces. So kind of think about it like building a house. I have just set the foundation and the website should be a living, breathing organism almost in a way so that you know, you're printing out quality content, but there's also other reputable people in the website linking back to you so that Google recognizes your authority in this area.
And it's a long game for sure. And also, you know, I think people need to think too about like where are they getting their , clients from? Like is it referrals, is it social media? Like I can tell you that for my nutrition practice, I've gotten one in three years, I've gotten one client from Instagram for nutrition.
Yeah. Yeah. That is not Instagram and social media is not my tracksuit and I with that content creation in general, it's not my strap suit. I. I feel like I gripe a lot or with these kinds of like conversation whether virtual or in person or with clients or central referral sources. it's funny because I think that Instagram is almost more businesses because I do get a lot of people from Instagram for website and branding stuff.
Yeah. So it's been interesting cause this, it's the reverse. So for my practice it's a lot of referrals and local Google SEO searches. But for my design studio it's is social media a lot, so, yeah.
So speaking of coasting and being curious and kind of not putting too much pressure on ourselves, can you talk about some ways that we can prioritize wellness and self-care, especially since you have a full-time job and you have your practice?
What are some ways you are able to incorporate that? Yeah, I mean, self-care is super important and of course everyone has their own definition of, of health, of wellness, of self-care in whenever they. Prefer to do, , something that I find extremely beneficial for, for myself now that the weather's getting nicer, I'm in beach work and it's gorgeous and sunny and it's up the summertime.
I like to get outside. In the morning night. I'll walk, I'll walk Norman to the park or I'll go for a front or , just some, something fresh air or something that's just for be, and then it helps me kind of get into a better place to start my day rather than. Just like opening my eyes, like brushing my teeth and then sitting in front of my computer, you know, like doing something that's a bit for b that I appreciate and make sure that and I have some quickness.
And so starting my day off like that has been really helpful. but for some it could be like taking an afternoon brie and go like, faking time for lunch or whatever. So it, it totally depends on, what you prioritize in terms of self-care, but, Yeah, it's a, it is important or sometimes like play days will be light with meetings.
And do I want to be kiy goo? Yes. But do I also appreciate the time and tell myself to appreciate the time that I have to breathe or maybe sit on my couch and watch tv. , I love my couch and I love tv. I love taking that time for me. Also decompressing, like that's a cartoon. You don't have to be doing everything all the time.
So now you have to tell us what your favorite shows are currently that you're watching. I feel like a lot of things have just ended and now I'm like, , well I've actually just finished the last season of Better House All, which is like the spinoff on breaking band. Mm-hmm. That was really excellent. And I'm also watching the last days of Maisel, marvels this pail Hutch what are you want Jay? Well, I have two children, so I'm watching Bluey and a Spidey and his amazing friend.
I will say on Mother's Day, I got to watch, uh, what I call adult TV for an hour. , yeah. Yeah. It's so yes, A lot of time. , I watched a Firefly Lane. That's what I'm watching right now feel like I don't typically get emotional of those things, but, oh God, that, that book, that show it really
yeah. I'm preparing to cry a lot in this last season cuz I'm already Yes. Get ready. Yeah, get ready. Can't wait. , it seems kind of similar, I know we're getting off but a little bit, but it seems kind of similar to the ending of that show with Christina Applegate. , dead Me. Dead to me. Yeah. Yes, but similar but like, We're sad.
Like it's so sad. Yeah. Oh, well, can't wait. I know. It was extremely well done and I loved, I loved the show and the actresses, but, and the book too is so grief, but yeah. Really sad. Yes. Get ready. Oh, perfect. I'll have to save that one for like a night when the kids are like already asleep. Is that Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
If they would ever go to bed, that would be nice. Oh, so coming back to business stuff. , so let's talk a little bit about community and connection. So I talked about this in the last episode with, , Sarah Petty, and we talked a lot about, you know, making sure that we are communicating effectively and thinking about the different intersections of people that are consuming our content.
So I'm just curious, how do you approach creating meaningful connections with your clients and your community? Yeah, community bias. Again, I mentioned having like my community from nutrition entrepreneurs and that actually, , I reached out to a bunch of people from d business school cause I thought that they would make like really good executive committee members.
So I've brought a few of those, , onto our executive committee. That's been a really nice community to have a just people to bounce ideas of 'em and talk to and just be there in terms of creating, , content for clients. , I've done some work with, with some student interns are like students in college that are interested in nutrition or, learning more about becoming a Dietitian or weak list of practicing.
And so sometimes I'll ask that like, what, what do you press in? Or what do you want to learn? Because I feel like there might be an clientele of sorts or who the people that I want have be reaching. So that's been really interesting to learn from. And also just from other amazing s and anti professionals on Instagram.
I love, like anything that stands out to me, I sent out a monthly email, and I. Choose my top 10 post that stood out to me on Instagram every month and I sent it out to my listserv and with hopes that my clients will start following these people and maybe change their algorithm on and social media a little bit to start getting a bit more we inclusive nodes and , messages on their feeds.
, but also to show that there are formerly inclusive providers out there than than be think, , and also statistical. Just say thanks. That better, that be like, they just, and they, they have the way with the words and rules. I don't, so I appreciate when someone's like, I'm like, oh, this is exactly when I've been trying to say to people, yes, such a, and then then, , freeze up other, wait the zoom and, and they died.
Depress us too. Yeah, I know. That's a great idea. I love you call it your Instagram roundup, right? Yes. So sign up for Stephanie's lister. Yes. So you can get the Instagram roundup every month. Yes. So let's talk a little bit about, , can you share a specific example or maybe an experience where embracing that weight inclusive approach positively impacted your business?
So basically I'm asking, Since we are weight inclusive businesses, I think that our, you know, we're very values-based and that's different than, you know, someone that, maybe not that all businesses aren't values-based. I always feel a little weird saying that, but I, this is a little different because that is the core of our business and I think that kind of makes our approach to marketing and all those things a little bit different.
So have you noticed in a way, like what makes you unique and how you approach marketing with that in mind? Yes. And both. I love when I get those clients where I can tell they're so frustrated by the diet industry and they're so frustrated with what dieting and that mentality have done to them or has not done for them over the last X number of years of their life.
So when they come to me and they're like, well, I want X, Y, and Z, and then I also wanna, right? And I just validate that and normalize it, that it's totally okay to have those feel liked but similar to what you were saying in terms of like, we're very value based.
I tell them like, I don't have a crystal ball. Like I don't know what's gonna happen in the future. We're not gonna focus on them first, like, which is, , we're that way to divine link what success, whenever that means. But we're gonna kind of take a step back and get curious about things of how. Things feel that our body and maybe how that may impact your, your own values of how you see banks or view yourself or view others.
So, , yeah, just focusing more on being okay with not knowing what's gonna happen , but understanding that it's probably gonna be better ONTs the island, you're not so focused on dieting and numbers and. So concerned with the size of your body and you have more time and more space and more energy to put into things that really break joy and bring others joy
yeah. No, I like, that. Reminds me, , with my clients, I do what I call a pie chart exercise, and I have them kind of just, you know, pay attention for a week or two and then come back and fill out that pie chart of. How much time are you spending in what areas of your life? And is that what you want your life to look like?
Yeah, I asked Pi that too. I'm like, how often do you think about budin? So many times they're like, so much, like all the time, every day. And I like think about how much energy and how much brain space you can have by the balance.
Yeah, exactly. So you talked about working with students. I wanna ask this in two ways. , first, what advice or steps would you give to students who are interested in going into private practice as a weight inclusive Dietitian? Yeah. , I would say find, people webs on Instagram or through your dietetic internship or online or through, like if you're a part of HR entrepreneurs and you come to the Spring summit, find people where you can ask questions and sometimes you two have to hey, for some sort of like professional mentoring service, , just to bounce ideas.
That's something get about just because you don't learn about this in school. So a lot of the stuff that you're gonna learn is so valuable. But you can only get it from like, you know, Laz or other Dietitians that have been through with Gore. And just be open to learning. If that's something that you have to start right out of your internship or right outta school or anything, you can get professional experience, you know, build any up to it until you feel ready to take that lead burp, start it on the side, or you know, build it up a bit or slowly, like it doesn't have to happen.
All that fun. So like, again, that blacker blank thinking or all or not burping. Thinking. , It can, it could be a slow, a slow process. Mm-hmm. And then would you say that you have any kind of different advice for someone who is out of school and works a full-time job and wants to start a private practice?
Yes, because that was me. I mean, granted yes, weird, a weird covid Time and time was not real at time. Time is still not real. It's not real. It wasn't fake. So though, uh, But yeah, if you were, if you have a full-time job and maybe it's not your, your passion project, like if that what you find you're the most joy in of, then, then yeah.
I mean, look into it. Start burning slowly if you have the time. But again, like going in with curiosity, what pressure, , and habit be something that's, that's fun and enjoyable. It shouldn't be something that's added core stress to your life. It should be something that, that you're excited about. Do wig, .
But also not all Dietitians need to have private practice, right? Like, you don't, you don't have to do that. You don't have the time where you have a family or you have other projects going on that are not interested related. Like, that's fantastic. Like it's, it's nice to have different branches of thick that you're interested in rather than just one sign of thanks if I need to order bond out or whatever.
Yeah, I dunno, going in with the MICA thing, you don't have to have a private practice. If you do want to then, I dunno. So we're listening to some podcast or explaining some fucks or, , just like simple things on the side to get your brain in a di space. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Oh, I was gonna say, I'm, I feel like I'm the poster child for kind of having a variety of things that you do because I have like three or four jobs. So it's, that's to say, , to people out there that have a lot of different interests. You, like, she just said, you don't have to do this one track thing. , if you enjoy doing other aspects or other types of things, then you should do it because if it brings you joy and it's feasible and you know, , something that you can actually, you know, have the time and the resources to do, then go for it.
Yeah. My like for Nipple my friends and I go, , I have this awesome dawn community in my building, so I met a lot of new friends through Happy a dog and like Norman has all this, or friends that I do like more dog preps and sp but Wet Bever like, We was just open doggy daycare. Yeah. We haven't lived like all these different ideas, so who knows?
I'll be, Ooh, Dietitian. Have a daycare who, yeah. No, that would be awesome. , Oliver used to go to doggy daycare when I worked like outside the home. Every day he would go to doggy daycare. I mean, if lock the play, I take that in Orbi, like he, he locks it there, but also like, I don't know, just be cool. Yeah, like chilling and doggy dick.
He could, he could be like little mascot. We could do a new Lozo Wood Norman in it for real. Go in the day, Hannah. I will be re hatchy verb my lipsy. Ooh, that would be so fun. See, and that's another thing, like of course I make websites for Dietitians, but when I get people that aren't Dietitians, it's exciting too because I'm, I get to do something different stuff.
Yeah. It's nice to have. Variety. Yes. I swear every time I get a new client and they send over their Pinterest board, I'm always like, this is gonna be my favorite project. But I say that every single time because I'm always like, that's amazing. I'm always like, I love this. Yeah.
So can you tell us where everyone can find you? Yes. , you invite me on Instagram at Steph Need period, dophin Period Nutrition, and my website is stephanie dorfman nutrition.com.
Hey, everywhere. You can book a freak discovery call with me. There you can download some freak resources. You didn't do my little. Are you ready to become an intuitive PDO quiz, which is really fun and interesting, I thought provoking. I'll have that. You can sign up for my eval letter. It's all on my wonderful website that Courtney is a So should be.
The menu for me is on my stephaniedorfmannutrition.com and pictures of No. So you did it all? Yes. Awesome. Alright, well thank you so much for being here today. I enjoy chatting with you and we'll see you next time.