Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Lisa A. Smith, Founder of The Black Health Academy, located in Detroit, MI, USA.

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

The Black Health Academy is an E-learning platform where we prioritize combating chronic lifestyle disease by taking a wholistic and whole-food plant-based approach. We provide live online educational experiences to ensure participants are empowered with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to combat chronic lifestyle disease and mental health challenges. Our education experiences and e-learning platform are complimentary; however, for those individuals who are prepared to do the work in a curriculum-based coaching program, we have two signature offers. PHARM TO TABLE™ Plant-Based Coaching Program is a ten-week group coaching program for individuals battling chronic lifestyle health challenges such as being overweight/obese, hypertension, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, mild cognitive impairment, kidney or liver failure, food addiction, and mood disorders.

I created PHARM TO TABLE™ nearly 5 years ago, and hundreds of students have successfully completed the program. The PHARM protocol for combatting lifestyle disease is extremely effective and is now available for licensing to health coaches and health professionals tired of helping their clients MANAGE conditions that have proven to be reversible. In order to receive an invitation to license the PHARM curriculum, individuals must successfully complete our second group coaching program, The Plant Protocol™. The Plant Protocol™ is a plant-based coaching certification. It is for health coaches and health professionals who are interested in mastering how to take a plant-based approach to combat chronic lifestyle disease for their clients/patients whilst also mastering cognitive behavioral coaching strategies to address behavior change and lifestyle modification. We also heavily prioritize how to run a coaching business, so business acumen is a big part of our curriculum as well. In The Plant Protocol™, we focus on three primary areas: MASTERY of nutrition and lifestyle science, INTEGRITY in your messaging and personal practice of the lifestyle, and CONFIDENCE in your ability to effectively coach your clients through life-changing transformations.

Tell us about yourself

I used to be overweight, and I was extremely self-conscious about it. In January 2012, I decided to stop trying to DIY my weight loss and hired my first personal trainer. Tiffany was great and helped me to lose my first 30 lbs before I had to discontinue our sessions due to me relocating overseas. However, everything that I learned from Tif about exercise, plus the momentum I had being 30 lbs down, kept my motivation and determination high, and I went on to lose another 35 lbs on my own. Losing 60+ lbs was life-changing for me. Not only did it do wonders for my confidence and life expectancy, but it also introduced me to an industry that I ultimately fell in love with. After returning to the U.S., I decided to become a personal trainer myself (I actually went back to work at the same gym as Tif :) It was also around this time that I began studying nutrition and transitioning to a whole food plant-based vegan. Although I lost my weight before becoming plant-based, I 100% attribute my ability to maintain my weight loss AND my sharp cognitive performance to my plant-based lifestyle.

After working at the gym with Tiffany for some time, I decided I wanted to step out on my own and started my first company in 2015. It was called FITCAMP360 and what initially started out as a traveling fit camp quickly pivoted into an online personal training company. After some success, I decided to target professionals (specifically black female entrepreneurs) to help them see how their personal health impacted their professional performance. We began doing business as Professionally Fit. Soon after launching Professionally Fit, I quickly realized there was a segment of the population for whom quality holistic health and wellness coaching was not fully accessible. I launched The Black Health Academy in October 2017.

Every day I'm motivated by our clients and students. I think about them often and how much we owe it to them to show up out of a spirit of excellence DAILY. I am driven by our mission and the vision of what the world could be if we succeed. It almost brings me to tears to think about all of the human potentials we would recover if we defeat chronic lifestyle disease.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment to date is creating the first plant-based coaching certification founded by a person of color. I'm so proud of this because the efficacy of taking a whole food plant-based approach to combating chronic lifestyle disease has been proven repeatedly, but we also know that African Americans are disproportionately impacted by lifestyle disease, often resulting in premature death. This also explains why African Americans are the fastest-growing demographic of vegans in the U.S. Unfortunately, the plant-based coaching and education space has not been moving as quickly. We have repeatedly seen in western medicine the need for diversity, inclusion, and culturally relevant information. I decided to take matters into my own hands and close that gap. My plant-based coaching certification, The Plant Protocol™, prioritizes the unique challenges faced by marginalized communities when adopting a plant-based protocol. To date, 100% of our students have been people of color who intend to service people of color. I truly believe we will make good on our mission to extend the healthy life expectancy of people of color on this planet.

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

The hardest thing about being a business owner is running a business! It may sound odd, but most passion-driven/mission-focused business owners love what they do, and their sector but are not necessarily thrilled about the business side of things. Things like admin, accounting, staffing, marketing, sales, and scaling a business can be overwhelming and really challenging if one has not prioritized learning business as much as they've learned their craft.

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

  1. Niche down from day one and get crystal clear on the problem you're solving and who you're solving it for. A specialist will move significantly quicker and have greater opportunities and earning potential than a generalist.
  2. Remember you ONLY start a business to solve a problem. The problem you decide to solve should be mission-driven, NOT ego-driven. Businesses have a much greater shot at longevity when the motive is selfless and the company offers are genuinely designed to enhance the quality and ease of someone else's life. You'll never have to worry about making enough, having enough opportunities, or losing interest because the mission makes the decisions, not you as an individual.
  3. Learn business! Go out of your way to invest in coaches and continuing education who can teach you how to run a business so that you don't just create another job for yourself and unintentionally become the bottleneck in your company.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.theblackhealthacademy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisaangelsmith1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaangelsmith/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaangelsmith/

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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