Specialist Mental Health Dietitian Erin Adams is passionate about providing nutritional support to women struggling with depression, anxiety, binge eating disorder and general disordered eating. After starting her business in the UK, then moving to Canada, she has now brought her skills and experience home to New Zealand, where she offers online consultations through Erin Elizabeth Nutrition. Here she talks about the inspiration behind her business and her goals for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Because I wanted to have more fun and be more creative! So much of healthcare is safe, and can be pretty bland. Having the ability to decide which projects I want to focus on, and the freedom to try new things, really lit me up. I also really wanted a business that I could take anywhere. I started my business in London, UK, took it to Canada at the start of 2020 and then brought it home to New Zealand last year.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Picture a tiny wee flat, on the 4th floor of a brick London council estate. I had a little desk in my bedroom and some nice pictures on the wall beside me.
My very first clients were coached via Zoom at that very desk, with the laptop facing the nice-looking wall to look more professional!
I built my own website, commissioned a designer to design my logo and opened some booking slots online for people to book in. The business today is very much an evolution of those original days, and everything is still online.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Finding my focus. While I was working in London I had an amazing opportunity to work in both Women’s Mental Health and Child and Adolescent Mental Health. It was in these jobs that I really found my passion and decided to pursue mental health further. Since the beginning of 2020, my business has been almost entirely focused on providing nutrition support for women struggling with depression, anxiety, binge eating disorder or general disordered eating.
I feel so privileged to get to work with these people and have an impact on their lives, that’s what it’s all about!
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
This was so hard in the beginning! The first 2 years of my business I was working 40-50-hour weeks in my day job and coming home to start my clinic for 2-3 hours in the evenings. Thankfully, I have since learnt how to structure my time better and now have whole days and evenings blocked off to just relax. A big thing for me right now is not doing any work on the weekends. Weekends have always been such an important time to make sure I get out and do things I enjoy and catch up with friends. If I don’t protect this time, I get far too overworked and tired.
