20. Creating a Healthy Team Culture: Tips from Functional and Integrative Dietitian Amber Gourley

Also available on YouTube!

In this episode, we’re talking all about health and wellness at work. Something small business owners – and especially female business owners – struggle with often. Joining me for this conversation is Amber Gourley, a Functional and Integrative Dietitian and owner of Heal U. 

We start our conversation by chatting about the importance of prioritizing health and wellness for small business owners and leaders. Amber shares her personal journey from business and human resources to dietetics, and how she started Heal U to empower women to make positive lifestyle changes.

As leaders, it's also critical for us to create a healthy workplace culture by prioritizing the wellness of our team, since employees bring their whole selves to work and cannot leave their sickness, stress, or personal problems at the door. Healthy employees are more productive and contribute more to the workplace, so not only is it the right thing to do, it’s a smart business move, too.

Amber emphasizes the need for boundaries in wellness and shares simple, low-cost ways to support one's own health, as well as the health of the team that can put into practice right away! We also discuss how you can prioritize wellness for your employees, by considering their unique needs and preferences.

This conversation encourages leaders to slow down, take care of yourself, and your team. Because when we prioritize wellness, we create a healthier company culture and have a more significant impact in the world together.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The importance of taking care of one's health and wellness as small business owners and leaders.

• The benefits of creating a healthy workplace culture and how it impacts employee productivity and contribution to the workplace.

• Simple and low-cost ways to support the health of employees.

• The need for boundaries in wellness and how to create a healthier company culture that prioritizes the wellness of employees.

Mentioned in This Episode: 

• Heal U Website - https://healu.co/

• Monthly Small Business Membership: https://healu.co/membership/

• Heal U Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/healuwellness

• Heal U Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/healuwellness/

Transcription for Episode 20 - Creating a Healthy Team Culture: Tips from Functional and Integrative Dietitian Amber Gourley

Ashley Cox  0:05  

Welcome to The Impact Ripple podcast. The go to source for hiring and leadership made simple, doable and fun for visionary female business owners. I'm your host, Ashley Cox, author, certified HR expert and founder of sprout HR. And I believe that you don't have to change who you are to be a great leader because you already are one. Join me as we kiss uncertainty and overwhelm goodbye and say hello to the support and tools you need to grow a profitable, sustainable, impactful team with more confidence and ease. 

Ashley Cox  0:43  

On today's episode, I'm joined by Amber Gourley. Amber is a Functional and Integrative Dietitian with a master's in clinical nutrition from East Tennessee State University. And she's the owner and founder of HealU a holistic wellness center located in Johnson City, Tennessee. With more than a decade of experience, Amber realized that the women she came in contact with were craving more personalized attention. And as she was able to spend more time with her clients, they consistently saw better results. As a result, she decided to leave the conventional medical system and open Heal U where she and her team of registered dieticians serve women by empowering, educating and coaching their clients to make positive and lasting lifestyle changes to improve their health. She has also spoken at multiple medical conferences, and is a certified professional coach. Amber joins me for a conversation about the importance of taking care of our health and wellness. as small business owners and leaders. 

Ashley Cox  1:50  

We discuss the way that many women focus on taking care of everyone else, often at our own expense, and how that's holding us back from the making the kind of progress and impact we want to have in this world. Amber shares how boundaries play an important role in our wellness as women and business owners how to champion a healthier company culture. And she also shares simple, low cost ways to support the health of you and your team that you can implement today. In a world that glamorizes hustle, this episode is a breath of fresh air, one that will encourage you to slow down, take care of yourself and your team so that together you can have an even bigger impact in this world. Now, here's my conversation with Amber Gourley. 

Ashley Cox  2:42  

Hey there and welcome to The Impact Ripple Amber. I'm so excited to have you join me today.

Amber Gourley  2:47  

I am super excited to be here, Ashley.

Ashley Cox  2:50  

Wonderful! So Amber and I live in the same town. And we've been friends for about five years now. And funny thing is we actually met at the grand opening of another local business that was that was happening in town and we just hit it off right away. So I really know Amber well. We're besties. And we talk about business all the time. And we have really had a lot of great conversations around health and wellness, for leaders for teams. And that's what we're gonna dive into in our conversation today. But before I get too far ahead of myself, I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about your career path Amber, and how you came to be doing this work?

Amber Gourley  3:35  

So, good question, I'm what we call a second career dietitian. So I actually came to become a dietitian a little bit later on. My first degree is actually in business and human resources, which is really what you and I connected on years and years ago. I had the opportunity to go back to school and chose dietetics as my my path. And through that program, that was about a five year process, going back to school, getting my master's degree and always knew I wanted to work in what we call outpatient. So I didn't work when I was in the hospital, I didn't want to work in a nursing home. To me the real impact was in the community and sitting down with people and having conversations really hard conversations sometimes about their health in their life and, and what changes they can make to feel better. 

Amber Gourley  4:29  

So just a quick little snippet, if you will, of what I've done with my career is I started out in community nutrition, working with very low income very sick men and women and children. I've worked with everything from you know, a baby that was four weeks old to a 99 year old male. So really seeing just a huge variety of conditions and individuals in my in my career. went from there to the VA law my veterans are pretty much work again and outpatient there. And from the VA decided that it was really time for me to do my own thing. I tell people all the time, I'm a terrible employee. And I just really needed to have my own space to make the impact that I really felt like I could make in that you really can't when you are working under a very bureaucratic type of organization.

Ashley Cox  5:28  

Wonderful, it's, it's interesting to see how our careers take us on these winding paths, and nobody would really think about, okay, you know, Amber's a registered dietician, but she actually started off in business and HR and how you got to where you are today. So I know that you do work with a lot of business owners, you work with a lot of high achieving women, both in professional services as well as small businesses. So why is it important that especially as women, we take care of our health as business owners?

Amber Gourley  6:03  

So, you know, many of the women that I work with, especially, you know, in our slightly older demographic come from this background of fill everyone's else, everyone else’s cup up first, and then what's left over is for me, and that is just such a really a backwards way of thinking about things, we can make so much more progress and much more momentum have so much more impact, when we take the time to make sure that we are okay, first. You know, you're not doing anyone any good if you're fatigued all day, if you've got cloudy thinking, if you have pain or migraines that really distracts you from whatever it is you're doing. And as business owners, at least, you know, the the business owners that you and I are and your audience are further ones that, you know, we're not in it to make a million dollars and go live on our yacht, right, we're more in it to impact our communities, to employ members of our community and really see them flourish as well. And how well can you do that when when you're barely scraping by?

Ashley Cox  7:12  

Oh, my gosh. And you know, I've actually worked with Amber and her team on the dietetic side of the business, and I can tell you, you know, as a chronic migraine sufferer, as someone who had a lot of fatigue and brain fog and, and things like that, it takes so much energy to think about those things and deal with those things in your day to day life that it really does drain you in other in other areas and other aspects. So what are some of the things that you are recommending for women to help them start focusing on themselves as a priority? Because I know that is hard, like, it's hard to say, I'm going to put myself first. So what's the first thing that you recommend that women do?

Amber Gourley  7:56  

Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries, that's actually a conversation, usually, in our first session, that is a conversation we have because you will only achieve a level of success a level of health, a level of happiness to the point where you're willing to set a boundary. And so, you know, if if you are willing to make five dinners, and it takes you three hours, that is going to impede your happiness, your health, your mental well being. Not to mention, you know, your ability to focus on anything else. And that's a bit of an extreme example, but I think it makes the point.

Ashley Cox  8:32  

Absolutely. Yeah. It's, it's starting with something else that tends to be hard for a lot of women is setting boundaries, right? At heart, but I know. So. So when we're talking about setting boundaries. Some other examples of boundaries, I think that that we can talk about too, are being able to say no to the things that aren't serving you. And how might someone go about doing that?

Amber Gourley  9:03  

Yes, no, is a complete sentence. For anyone that needs that validation? It's a complete sentence. Yeah, it starts with looking at your day. Right? And I think you and I've talked about this a little bit, actually. So what are we tolerating? What are we tolerating in our life? What are we tolerating in our business? And are those things that don't need to exist or that someone else can do for us? You know, for example, cleaning the house. This was a huge discussion in my house years and years ago, because my husband said, Well, we're capable of cleaning the house. Why do we need someone to come in to do it? Yes, I'm capable. That's not where I want to put my time and my energy. So you know, really making those lists of things that what, what do I really do not need to be doing anymore? And how can I get off those those things off my plate so I can make time to go for a walk with a friend. Meal Prep, go to the grocery store? Sit down and write up menus for the week go get a massage any of those things, you do have to carve out that time. And when you've done that, yes person that like it pretty full.

Ashley Cox  10:11  

Goodness, yes, it can. And I think we feel an obligation to say yes to way more things than we actually have the capacity for, would you? Would you agree? Do you see that in your work? 

Amber Gourley  10:23  

Yeah, for sure. I see a lot of our female clients with us primarily who I've worked with who have made or they're running all over the place, they've taken on a lot of tasks, a lot more than they should. You know, another good example is, you know, say my husband stepped into a role that was previously filled by a woman, and he's looking at all of the things he's expected to do, going, you know, 75% of these, she should have said no to to begin with, but she did say yes, yes, yes. And no wonder if she's burnt out. No wonder she left. So saying no, having good boundaries, it's so important.

Ashley Cox  11:00  

So important. And that's such an interesting perspective, you know, having a man come in behind a woman and say, Wow, you shouldn't have been doing 75% of these things, and probably will not be doing those 75% of things. Not. So it's looking at our roles, looking at our commitments, looking at the things that we've said yes to and really assessing. Is this leading to the kind of life that I want to be living? And if it's not, how can I reprioritize? How can I look at ways to take things off my plate? Whether we just delete them altogether? We delegate them or, you know, we decide to push that project back or push that that yes, to a later date? Because sometimes that's a possibility as well.

Amber Gourley  11:50  

Yeah, I tell my clients a lot of time, either you make a conscious choice to give your body what it needs, or your body will force the choice later. And I guarantee you, you don't want to get to the second one. Because there there's no going back.

Ashley Cox  12:07  

No, no. Well, and I think probably every woman who's listening can remember a time when she took one entirely too much. And then her body was like, yes, no, we're going to be sick now. Because you need to stop, you need to slow down, you need to rest and your body will find a way to create that rest with or without your permission.

Amber Gourley  12:31  

You know, and I think from an entrepreneurial standpoint, right, because your audience is mostly small business. You know, I remember in the early What 2010 To 2015 It was very wholesome hustle culture, right? Very male very pro, very work. 1,000,001 hours, he who shall not be named was very popular. And so we got into this, this mentality of if we're gonna make the money that the big boys are making, then we can't rest, we can't stop, we've got to work 20 hours, you have to hustle to build, build build. That is just not true. I mean, I'm in a multiple six figure business. And you guys are there times I'll work on the weekends. Sure. It's mostly by choice. I don't stay up late at night. I don't get up at six in the morning. 30 you do not want to see me at five or six the morning trying to work or soccer happen. So you don't have to do those things to be successful. And I think part of is that mindset shift to letting go of this hustle, bro culture is not necessary to have a healthy, thriving business.

Ashley Cox  13:38  

Yes, I love that you bring that up because it's it's leading from that more feminine energy. It's leading from a place of ease, it's leading from a place of intention of being able to decide and choose. And it goes back to boundaries. Like we were just talking about, you know, all of these things are me saying, Are you saying this is when I will work, this is when I will rest and just being able to do that is so incredibly empowering, as a leader, and especially not only as a leader of a business, but a leader of a team. So I'd love to kind of switch gears a little bit and talk about why is it important for leaders to not only care about their own health and well being but the health and well being of their teams, their employees? 

Amber Gourley  14:24  

Yeah, so culture, right, that a lot of that really comes back to culture. So first and foremost, you can't expect your team to engage in healthy habits and lifestyle if they see you modeling something different. It's the same as parent this child. So no, I think and that's really why we started talking to leaders first, right? For a team, you're not hiring someone to get 50% of their effort, right? You're hiring someone for what they can bring to the table and what you can create ate together. In when someone isn't feeling well, when they're not taking care of themselves, when they're coming to work with a migraine, not only are you not getting 50%, you might be like you're getting 25%. And, you know, I think a lot of employers really overlook the financial benefits of having very healthy employees. And as a whole in this country, were not very healthy. And I blame a lot of that on the historic emphasis on work and hustle in the workplace. I mean, long before entrepreneurial, stuff really took off. But it's, there's not been much priority there, unfortunately.

Ashley Cox  15:42  

Yeah, and one thing we talk about a lot, at least in sprout HR, and on this podcast is that your your human, we need to look at our people, as we're bringing the whole person to work, there is no such thing as work Ashley, and home, Ashley, you know, it's Ashley, all the time, it's Amber all the time, it's whoever that is on your team, all the time. And so they can't just leave their sickness at the door, they can't just leave their stress at the door, they can't just separate their physical body, from their, their mentality, or their or their genius that they bring to work. So we have to really focus on making sure that we're creating spaces, and environments and workplaces where people can be their whole healthy self. So I'd love to know, what are some ideas or suggestions that you have for how leaders can create a healthy workplace culture, because that is such a newer thing, I think that we're really starting to dive into and today, we have the opportunity to create radically different workplace cultures for our teams.

Amber Gourley  16:53  

Absolutely. So, you know, interestingly enough, as part of this conversation, is that your specifically your Gen Z and your millennials, and probably everyone that's gonna fall below those generations. Value wellness in the workplace. You know, our our boomers are our diehard work ethic, said upside down, they don't quite see the value the way that the younger generations do. And I think there could be a really broad spectrum of what wellness means to each person in your company, right. And knowing the generational spread, is definitely important, because it's going to be different to different people, some people are going to want more flexibility in their time off and in their schedule. That's what defines wellness for them, you know, as the ability to you know, have a mental health appointment in the middle of day or go to PT in the middle of day to be able to prioritize their needs without a feeling like they're letting their employer down, being feeling like they're going to get yelled at. And see, they can still show up and do a great job. In fact, they're gonna do a better job because they're not stressed, they're gonna get yelled at for taking time off. 

Amber Gourley  18:10  

So, you know, that might be what is important to your workforce, it could be arranging afternoon walks, or, you know, saying, hey, any point in the day, go take a 30 minute walk, you know, no worries. It could be something as simple as if you have a lot of young moms making sure you have a breastfeeding area for them and providing snacks so that they could keep their breast supply, not supply at, you know, little things that you might not think of as being wellness oriented. But that would really make a long way. And like you said, like, you're not just bringing half of a person into the office, you're bringing a whole person and snacks. And it doesn't start finding great every once in a while. But making sure that you've got something fresher in that mix, as well, to keep people sharp and really alert during the day. I mean, those are just a few ideas that I have. I'm curious, what are your ideas Ashley? 

Ashley Cox  19:11  

Yeah, no, I love these ideas. I think that sometimes we overcomplicate health and wellness, right? We make it be something that's big and not possible for small businesses. It you know, a lot of times when I work with clients, they'll immediately say, oh, I need to offer health insurance benefits. And I'm like, Well, maybe maybe not. The best place to start, like you said is to look at your workforce who is on your team? What are their specific and unique needs, and even the benefits and the insurance providers that I partner with? will say, ask your people, what do they need? What do they want? What would be valuable to them? Because you might have a totally different set of priorities than they do. So I think to you know some of the things that you meant should that resonate with me or are kind of going on those walks and to kind of add to that schedule walking meetings, you don't have to sit and be on Zoom for every single meeting, you can get on the phone, you can pop your earbuds in and you can go for that 30 minute walk together, I know that energy or exercise is a great way to boost your brainstorming powers to boost your creativity to get fresh air in our bodies that we need to oxygenate our brain so that it thinks better. 

Ashley Cox  20:30  

So that's one way I think, especially with remote teams, you know, some of the suggestions are for in person, some or for remote teams. And I know we have a whole mix of people tuning in to listen. So even if you're hearing an idea, how can you create that idea in a way that fits your team or works best for your team. If you are thinking about, you know, providing snacks, maybe you don't have an office area where you can provide snacks in person, but you can send snack baskets, I think one of my favorite places is nuts.com. This is not an ad, I just actually love them. They're great. Yeah, and I was gonna say, Amber, you're the one that got me on to nuts.com. So you know, that's a great way to send your team member a little snack basket every month that they can use throughout the month to stay full and satisfied and healthy in the workplace. So there are things that we can do that don't cost a fortune that won't break the bank that will encourage that kind of healthy lifestyle. And something else I thought that is just brilliant that you're doing amber with your business is your small business membership program. So I want you to tell our audience about that. Because maybe you aren't local to Amber. But maybe someone in your community is offering something similar. Or you can kind of strike up a deal with someone who can offer a similar type of service.

Amber Gourley  21:53  

Yeah, so we have what we call our small business wellness membership. And it was really born out of some conversations with some other owners, locally other entrepreneurs. And, you know, their desire to keep their team healthy. And, and the more I thought about it, the more that really resonated with me. And as a small business owner, it's very important to me that we keep our small businesses healthy. Healthy businesses are profitable businesses, profitable businesses, make impacts in their community, in their families, you know, in whatever area they choose to support. And like we said, actually, you know, the success of those really comes back to the people in the business. And so we offer right now we do a 90 minute massage, or we have float tanks, two floats per month. In addition to sessions in our infrared sauna, and our vitality booth, which is a red light of the salt therapy halotherapy combination product. We also do a done for you meal plan that members can subscribe to. And it's something that small businesses can invest in for themselves, they can invest in for their teams, they can offer it to their teams, they don't have to actually pay any portion of it. And then we make it very flexible for them to offer a very low cost membership that people can enjoy every month and get know some very real health benefits out of whether it's mental health benefits, whether it is physiological benefits, whether it's a combination of both. And that's very, we've had some really great feedback from effect to keep adding to the program as we continue to expand and grow.

Ashley Cox  23:47  

I love that. So think creatively get outside of the box. If you have a local business that you think man, this would be really amazing to connect my employees with create that connection. A lot of times businesses will be willing to, you know, give you a deal. If you are bringing in a bulk number of employees. And that may even look like two or three or five employees. It doesn't necessarily have to be 500 employees. And it never hurts to ask, Hey, do you have any small business specials? Do you have any group discounts? I think that's something that don't expect a business to give you a discount. But never be hesitant to ask, is there a promotion? Is there a program because I would love to offer something like this to my employees? And I know Amber, you really got that idea and that information from our community from people saying, Man, this would be something that I would really love to offer my employees. Yeah, I did. So it's okay to ask. It's okay to ask. Advocate for yourself, advocate for your team members, and think of ways that you can offer a benefit that is of value to them, but within your budget, because that's important too. We don't want you to cannibalize your business by over x Spending yourself and adding way too many expense or cost to your plate when it comes to health and wellness. But there are simple, low cost easy to implement things that you can do today, just like we've talked about. So it's time for our final segment of the show. Imagine the impact, which is quickly becoming everyone's favorite and has always been my favorite. But this is where we get to envision what it could look like for you to take action today. So Amber, I would love for you to help us paint that vision for the impact that our listeners could create through one key thought or takeaway from our conversation today.

Amber Gourley  25:39  

Gosh, so I hope I'm gonna get this right. I don't want to butcher your your final segment. But you know, I think it's very important for business owners to really visualize where their production is now. versus where because I guarantee every business owner out there is probably thinking that my team is not performing like I wish they would you'd love your team, but they could perform better. And what would it look like if I could increase that performance by 25% by simply implementing some sort of workplace wellness activity. And, and that's what I haven't leave you with.

Ashley Cox  26:24  

Love it, love it. Imagine the impact if your business performed 25% Better than it is today. 15% 10% For such a small investment upfront, you can truly create impact that is going to drive profitability and sustainability and impact forward in your business, in your community and in the world. So Amber, I'd love for you to share with folks where can they connect with you learn more about you and Heal U?

Amber Gourley  26:56  

Sure so you can find us on all the socials, Facebook, at Heal U. Instagram, we are Heal U Wellness, and then it'll Google at healuwellness.com. So pretty, pretty simple, almost the same across all platforms. And you can follow us any any of those places.

Ashley Cox  27:16  

Wonderful. And that is heal H E A L and the letter U,  Heal U. So we'll make sure to drop those links for you all down in the show notes. So that way you can just click and follow Amber and her amazing team and all of the work that they're doing to help us live healthier, more fulfilling, more impactful lives. So thank you again, Amber, for joining us today on the impact ripple podcast. This has been such an inspiring and encouraging conversation that truly feels accessible for every small business owner.

Amber Gourley  27:50  

Thank you so much for having me, Ashley. And you know, I would love it if your listeners messaged you with what they're going to implement. I would love to hear that.

Ashley Cox  27:58  

Yes, yes, challenge that Challenge accepted. On our end, right listeners, share in the post, wherever you're finding this whether it's LinkedIn or Facebook or Instagram or all the places, share what you're what you're going to implement. We would love to know your takeaway your ideas, if you came up with something different, and you're interested and willing to share that with us. We would love to hear it. But for now, I hope that you at least are feeling inspired to start thinking about how you can implement a wellness culture to support the whole human that comes to work. As always, it's an honor and a privilege to be here with and for you on your leadership journey.