Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sam Finkelstein, Co-Founder of Beyond Measure: A Wellness Collaborative, located in Redwood City, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Beyond Measure: A Wellness Collaborative is a collective of therapists and dietitians committed to non-stigmatizing wellness care that is truly inclusive. My Beyond Measure co-founders and I have strong experience in eating disorder treatment at all levels and are passionate about changing the conversation around well-being. All of the work we do aligns with two primary treatment philosophies: Intuitive Eating and Health At Every Size. We know that most people do not get to hear about these concepts until their relationship with food is so strained that they end up in eating disorder treatment.

Our goal is to let our audience know that you don't have to be diagnosed with an eating disorder to reject diet culture and begin pursuing your well-being through a big-picture lens that does not focus on weight loss as the goal and instead encourages body trust. Our approach prioritizes health-promoting behaviors, which can look vastly different from person to person, and may even include stopping or reducing behaviors we often hear associated with "health," like consuming vegetables or engaging in exercise, and it may strongly emphasize historically less traditional ways of caring for our health, such as seeing a therapist for mental health support.

We serve many different populations through individual treatment, all through a weight-inclusive approach. Our clientele can fall anywhere on the spectrum, from those seeking outpatient eating disorder treatment to those merely curious about nutrition or therapy and looking to work with a highly skilled and compassionate team. In addition to our expertise in eating disorder treatment, our team offers strength and knowledge in other areas as well. Our therapists can support patients with eating disorders/disordered eating, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, life transitions, relationship problems, occupational stress, and more.

Our dietitians support patients through eating disorders/disordered eating, Intuitive Eating, nutrition-related disease management, general gentle nutrition, sports nutrition, perinatal nutrition, and early life/pediatric nutrition. We work with patients across the lifespan, and we have experts among our team, including those certified or skilled in Intuitive Eating counseling, Family Based Therapy, PCIT, EMDR, and more.

In addition to our individual work with patients, we love connecting with our community through presentations and workshops. We have had the pleasure of presenting at schools, libraries, workplaces, and parent groups. These presentations provide another great opportunity for us to share the message of body trust and Intuitive Eating prior to any eating disorder diagnosis.

Tell us about yourself

I formed Beyond Measure alongside my business partners and co-founders — I like to emphasize this, firstly, because I did not do this alone, and second, I know our organization would not be what it is today without these partnerships and all the unique qualities each person brings to the table. I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and often envisioned forming my own practice. I feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to form this group. My partners and I were working together in corporate healthcare and felt perpetually undervalued and overworked. As a result, our patient care, and self-care, suffered. We knew we believed firmly in the work we were doing to support patients but wondered if we could do more in a different setting. We also found working with one another to be the absolute greatest part of showing up to our jobs every day, and we did not want to lose that.

With a desire to offer more to our patients and continue working with one another, and with a knowing that the way we, as a culture and society, relate to our bodies and each other could use an overhaul, Beyond Measure was born. In many ways, our team itself is what motivates me, personally, to keep going each day. But creating this team is also something that allowed me to slow down, find balance, and heal my burnout. This has allowed me to deeply reconnect with the mission of our work, which has always been to share the message that we are all inherently valuable and deserving of care.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment as a business owner so far is getting to leave my job in corporate healthcare and prove to myself that it is possible to thrive out here on my own. Healthcare providers are chronically undervalued, and this work makes us all prone to burnout. I love that I get to be an example to anyone in a system that makes them wonder if they deserve and have access to more. In the near future, we will also be able to offer mentorship to those early in their careers looking to follow a similar path. I am really looking forward to being able to share what my BM team has helped me find.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Being a business owner has its ups and downs, and anyone who tries to make it sound like that isn't true is being dishonest. It can always feel scary to have lulls or periods of reduced income, and it always feels hard to accept the slower seasons when they come. It has also been challenging to make mistakes as a business owner and know how many people can be impacted by them. My goal this year is to get really grounded in the idea that I AM enough, even when I make mistakes or am confronted with my own imperfection.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Work with a team — I can't recommend this highly enough. It was life- and career-changing for me to partner with other people who have strengths in areas I never will and help me see the strengths I do have when I'm having trouble feeling my worth. While business partnerships may not be right for everyone, I strongly support any source of community you can find in your work.
  2. Be patient with yourself. Starting a business is a long game, and comparing yourself to others on the entrepreneurial path isn't fair to you. You'll get there if you keep putting in the time and remain open to learning.
  3. If you can, set yourself up financially before taking the leap. For me, this meant saving as much as I could, reducing my spending, and being on the same page with my partner at home in regard to what we would do if this didn't work out. Having a savings buffer has been a tool to help me put my mind at ease when business was slower, and knowing I had moral support at home has been invaluable.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.beyondmeasuresfbay.com/
Instagram (Personal): https://www.instagram.com/samthedietitian/
Instagram (Company): https://www.instagram.com/beyondmeasuresfbay/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samfinkelsteinrd/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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