159: Building a Health Food Giant with Tammy D'Onofrio

Hi, I'm Natalie Jill, fat loss expert turned high performance coach. When odds are stacked against us, how do we shift and create everything from nothing? How do we level up when we aren't feeling it yet or we've had a big setback? On this podcast, I'll be talking to some of the most inspiring and courageous men and women on this planet who at their worst, learned how to achieve success greater than they ever dreamed possible. Leveling up and creating everything from nothing. Tammy d'.

Onofrio.

She grew up in the Midwest where the only fresh and natural things in their kitchen was, as she says, corn on the cob. She said that she ate a lot of processed foods and rarely saw fresh fruits and vegetables. She was also raised by overweight smokers. However, she had a grandmother who was ahead of her generation. Tammy said that she would often find her grandmother exercising at 5am eating strange things like all natural peanut butter, wheat germ by the spoonful, and plain yogurt. She even grew her own vegetables. Now, Tammy spent hours with her grandmother growing up, helping her weed the garden and plant flowers. She was always talking about moving your body, and Tammy listened. She learned about eating healthy, wearing sunscreen, and moving. Tammy says that her grandmother was by far the most profoundly positive influence in her life. Now Fast forward to 2010. Tammy was suddenly a single mom with a 2 year old and a 5 year old. And this is actually when I met Tammy. We met at the park and we bonded over our new divorces, being newly single moms and our love of health and fitness. And we quickly became fast friends. Now, Tammy, as I did, quickly figured out that, well, we needed to find a way to support ourselves and our babies. So she started offering group workouts and personal training to the moms in her community. She counseled them on nutrition and would even bring snacks to the workout sessions. Now, the granola she made, it was a huge hit and ultimately her clients convinced her that she needed to market it as a health food product. I was actually one of her first customers. Thus, Fitchic Granola was born. She launched in 2014 in San Diego at a tiny little local grocery store. But today she has over 50 retail partners. Now, join in today and learn exactly how Tammy d' Onofrio leveled up and created everything from nothing. Oh, I'm so excited. I'm here with my good friend Tammy d', Onofrio, and it's been too long since we've caught up Tammy. So thank you so much for being here.

Oh, thank you for having me. Are you kidding me? I pretty much idolize you at this point.

Oh, gosh. There's nothing to idolize.

I'm so proud of you. You are. You are amazing. Like, I'm in your office looking at all these things, like you're literally famous. Oh, my gosh. So thank you.

Well, that's how I feel about you.

A little.

A little background information, y'. All. Tammy is a friend of mine. We actually bonded after we both got a divorce. We were both new single moms with young kids. And we met at the park. We literally met at the park. And we were going through all of our stuff together. A lot of our stuff. Navigating being a single mom, navigating, being newly divorced, navigating a lot of stuff. And being. Navigating financial stuff. And the reason I wanted to have her here today is Tammy has become this incredible success store. You walk into any food store where we live here in San Diego especially, and you see her fit chick granola in the stores. It's unbelievable. Beautiful packaging, an amazing product, super successful with this. This company has taken off, and it literally was something that she built from nothing. And I want to dive in today on how that even happened.

Gosh, I don't even know. My God. Where do we start? I mean.

Well, let's start with, like, who were you when I met you? Like, who were you? What were you doing? What were you believing? What were you doing for work?

Oh, my gosh. First of all, I was a broken down human when I met you. Okay, so divorced and two kids, and I had been a stay at home mom for years, and it was kind of thrown into this, okay, I'm a single mom. I have to support my kids financially, and, you know, all the emotional stuff tied with that, you know, So I was pretty lost. I started. I had been a personal trainer previously, and so I started to try to do that again and, you know, slowly, like, getting, you know, clients, like moms in the community.

You did boot camps. I remember you were doing boot camps.

I did, I did. My gosh, it was hard work and I. I slowly built that business up and it took, you know, one client at a time, you know, and then we, you know, at some point, I ultimately had like 30 women who were training and, you know, under me, and we would just go to the beach and, like, work out. And I was just winging it, like, okay, like, what are you doing here? You know, and just trying to. Literally trying to make ends meet, you know, so that's pretty much what I. That's who I was. When I started. When I started hanging out with you.

Did you have any vision at the time for something more? Like, did you ever, in your wildest dreams, know you would create a product that would be in stores?

No way in hell. I mean, I. I was so lost, literally thought. And this sounds. I'm embarrassed to say this now, but I'll just put it out there because I know other women can understand this. I literally was like, well, I'll just have to marry someone else so they can take care of me.

Oh, I get it. I get it.

I'm like, okay. Like, now me, who I am now, I'm like, that is the dumbest sort. That's not a plan.

It's definitely not. Yeah.

Because, I mean, sure, ultimately there's a lot of guys out there you could probably like, okay, yeah, you can take care of me, but you're never. You're still going to be, you know, dealing with the same issues or whatever. So, you know, you kind of have to, like, pull yourself up and say, okay, what am I gonna do? Anyway, So I never thought in a million years that I would ever have a product that I could go and see on a shelf where people would actually buy it. Yeah, no, I. First of all, I didn't have that. I didn't think I was that valuable. I didn't think I had anything to offer, honestly, you know, because of how I just, you know, kind of how I grew up. Like, I realize now it wasn't conscious at that point, you know, like, how. How I felt about myself or how I viewed the world. But it is night and day.

Isn't it amazing? I feel that there's so much in our childhood, so much in how we're raised affects our belief system.

Well, it is your belief system. You are literally programmed to believe certain things about yourself and about the world. And until you start to ask yourself those questions, you kind of just are on autopilot. And I've seen that with a lot of people, like, in their behavior, and then I saw it in myself. You know, I would repeat the same mistakes often. And I don't know what it is. It's something about, like, women getting into their mid-40s and having to, like, take care of themselves and having to raise children. That is so empowering. And it really gives you an opportunity to. To change or transform, you know, but you. You have to dig in and you have to take a hard, hard look at yourself and realize, like, you might be kind of messed up, which we didn't.

We thought it was Everyone else's fault. When we met, we would sit, we'd go to lunch or dinner and we would just talk about everybody else that was to blame.

I remember are out and drinking many cocktails. We had a couple nights that we did that, didn't we?

We definitely did. But isn't that fun? Remember those conversations that it was, it's like what was done to us, like we were the victim.

Oh my gosh, yes. I mean, I'm embarrassed to say, you know, I mean I am not, I am a product of that environment. But then, you know, you have so many opportunities to like to you. You have a decision to make. Yes. You were born with this, this, this, this. I mean I grew up in a home that was, I mean I wasn't raised, I was just, I don't know, herded, I guess is really more a way of describing it. There was, there was abuse, there was neglect and you know, I don't want to say anything against my parents. I think my parents were really young at the time, you know, when I was growing up. But they were not able to be there for me and they were not aware that I was being abused. They don't know all that stuff. And then, you know, I've pretty much been on my own since I was 16 or 17.

Wow. So being on your own, on your own, 16 to 17, what was your future? Did you believe that it was just, I'm going to get married, be a mom? Was that I'm not that that's just, that's an amazing thing. But is that, was that your initial vision, that that's what you thought it would be there, go there or did you have this desire to be a strong businesswoman?

Well, I couldn't see myself getting married and having children. I really couldn't. I didn't think that anyone would value me enough that I would actually get married, you know. And I grew up in the Midwest where everybody gets married really young. However, you know, I grew up in this really nice community because I, I live with my grandma a lot growing up and you know, she was in this really nice, amazing community in Indiana, Zionsville, Indiana, for anybody out there listening. And she was a self made millionaire. She was extremely successful. Anyway, growing up, seeing her do that and she was always like, you can do it, you can do whatever you want. I was like, could I? You know, she was so independent. She was single. Like she literally went from 1950s as a single mom and created her own whatever her life, basically it was in.

Your blood and she believed in You?

I think so. And I look now like this. Certain habits I have, like waking up at 5:30 in the morning, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I have my grandmother. So I never thought I would. You know what, though? I knew I needed to go to college, you know, So I think that was like a big turning point for me because no one was really pushing me to do that. And I, you know, being, you know, sometimes, you know, your peers become very important as you're growing up. You know, all my peers were going to college, and I'm like, I need to go to college, you know, And I'm in this house where, like, nobody goes to college, nobody's looking at my grades. I can't remember. I mean, I was like, literally, like, just scraping by with like, grades and things like that. And. And so I, you know, I just. I figured out a way to get to college. So ultimately, you know, I went to college, but I still, at that point, I was like, well, everybody's getting married now. Like after college. Everyone's like, okay, let's get married, you know, and that kind of doing the.

Things you thought you were supposed to do. Like, I'm supposed to go to college and now I'm supposed to get married. I'm supposed to do these things.

Yeah, I'm supposed to get a good job, you know, and I'm supposed to. Yeah, all those things. So, yeah.

So when you got a divorce and we go back to that time you got these young kids, you're struggling to make ends meet. How did you even come up with the idea to break out of that with something else? And I want to back up to. I remember talking with you when you were doing the fitness training and you're doing the bootcamps, and originally you had an idea that you're going to do workout clothes, if I remember correctly. So I knew you had something in you that was. You were being entrepreneurial. You had this idea. What happened with that? And how did that shift into what you're doing now?

Okay. So, yeah, I think I thought that was probably a natural transition, but I have to be honest with you, it's not something I was passionate about. You know, I don't. I don't know anything about making clothes, creating clothes, whatever. I just, I mean, the thing. The reason why it actually ended up being something totally different is because I. I mean, my clients were. Those were. I was. They're like my kids. Like, I was like, oh, like, here, try this. And I would bring little baggies of granola and Be like, okay, here, try this. Like, you actually have to, have to create some sort of product of this, because this is amazing. I was like, well, I am passionate about it, because, I mean, I love, I love cooking. Like, I love creating. Like, my, My idea is that no food is off limits. You just have to create a healthy version of that food.

Yeah, you teach very much like what I teach with nutrition. Unprocessed, natural, real foods. Like, how can we use real ingredients? And I remember she used to make me that granola. She would make this on a big tray. I remember it. I was like, what are you putting in this stuff? It's so good. But never in a million years knew you were turning that into a business.

I mean, I have no idea. I mean, I literally had no idea what I was doing. I mean, I've had a lot of people help me along the way, honestly.

Well, let's talk about that. So you're making this product, you're giving it to all your friends, you're giving it to your clients, You're. Your kids love it. Which, by the way, it's like allergy, pretty much allergy free. It's like, it's made from almonds and coconut. Doesn't have any of the other nuts in it. It's. It's gluten free. It's all. It's all the good things.

It's.

And it's yummy. It's like in crazy yummy. But so how does that even go from, this is something yummy that I'm making that I should somehow do something with to, like, how are you in stores? Like, what were those steps? How did. What did you have to ask what you have to learn?

Wow. I mean, I literally had no idea. And I have to be honest with you, if anybody had told me how hard it would be to do it, to be where I am now, I would never have had the courage to do it because it does require a lot of patience. I literally just asked one of my clients, she was a graphic artist, and like, hey, can you put a logo together? And she's like, oh, yeah, sure. Okay. So it started from there. So she helped me out, and then I started talking to. I knew a couple other people that, like, basically we're making products. And I was like, hey, well, how do you do this? What do you need to do? And where do you get your stuff to make it? And where do you make it and all that stuff? You know, so. So it was a lot of calling and asking huge favors, you know, so. And A lot of people have to be honest with you. A lot of people will tell you all the reasons why you can't do it.

Is that what was happening to you? Would they tell you that when you would call?

A lot. A lot. You know, mostly people, like, outside of that actual business, most people. Most of those people that tell you you can't do it are people that have never had the balls to do something themselves. So when you really start to. When you back it up and you're like, oh, well, they're telling me this is a stupid idea. Like, I literally had someone say to me, well, you can't make money doing that.

Really now? Did you have to fight yourself from believing people? Because I know I struggled with that. So I'm wondering, like, when. When I want to do something and someone tells me why I can't, I eventually come to, I can do it anyway, but I sometimes will take a step back, like, maybe they're right. Did you ever struggle with that?

Of course I did. I did. I would think, well, maybe I can't do this. But there was. There was something inside me. And I don't. I don't know what it was. I just. I think it was just because I had to be. I've always had to be so scrappy and really, like, defend who I am as a human being.

Yeah.

And I just. I couldn't let go of it. It just was something I knew was it was good. People were gonna love it. If they can only get. If I can only get it in front of people, they're going to love it. So if anything, it motivated me because I was so sick of people telling me not to do it.

Yeah.

And some of those people now are like, oh, hey, can I buy you coffee? Like, nope. That's funny.

So, okay, so that's. That's super cool. So you did your research. You dug. How did you come up with money to do it? Was that scary for you? Because here you are, like, put things together. You're scrapping, you're being conservative. Like, that's scary. Like, you had to almost focus not on the circumstance, but on the vision.

You do, because, you know, you can really get overwhelmed with financially, like, how do I start this? And instead of for me, what worked for me, instead of looking at the big picture, you just have to focus on, okay, today, how can I move this forward today? Because financially, like, we had no money. We had no money. We had no backing. It was just me. And I, you know, I was barely scraping by anyway, you know, so like, you know, I don't know, a couple bags at a time, honestly, like, that's really how we started and getting people to, I don't know, get in. In front of other people, you know, And I had one. One guy in, you know, in San Diego, where we live, who gave me a chance and was like, hey, we can get it on the shelf here, you know, And I was like, oh, my gosh. So it was Seaside Market, Cardiff. Like, John, the owner, is still one of my good friends to this day. He's super supportive of me. He's become an incredible mentor to me, and he gave me some great advice. He's like, drown out the noise. You have a great product. Don't go taking money from a bunch of other people. You own this 100%, slow and steady, because that's how he's built up his business.

Wow. I just got chills. For those of you who don't know, Seaside's a local market here in San Diego, and that's pretty cool. Like, that you being connected and having friends and being vulnerable and sharing what you were doing. You got this opportunity because I'm assuming before Seaside, were you just selling it to friends?

I was literally putting it in my basket and my bike and driving it around.

I honestly remember that because you used to deliver. You delivered something to me and Brooks.

Selling it to the moms, and that's so funny. Yeah. And just like.

So when you get it in his store, you must have been ecstatic. Like, what a break.

I got in my car and I started crying because I. There was a small voice in my head that was like, don't they know I'm just a small town girl from Indiana? I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm a loser. Like, those thoughts were in my head. It's like, I can't. I have no idea what I'm doing. And I literally have to fight that sort of that every day. Like. Like, I get a. I get a. Like a milestone, you know? You.

Yeah.

You know, something good happens or whatever. You're just like, really?

Wow.

It's hard to sit with the. I mean, I'm a. It's weird because I'm a really positive person, but it's so hard to sit with the accomplishments because you're always like, okay, well, now I have to do this. And now I have to do this. So.

So how did you know when it was a success in Seaside, and then how did you start getting into other stores?

Just really taught. I have to be honest with you. Like, I. I just started putting it out there. I just started becoming more, like, vulnerable, you know, like, with my clients. Like, okay, well, here's my product. I would give it to them, like. Like, oh, my gosh. And then I had one client that was like, oh, hey, I know somebody who owns another retailer, you know, and then they had five stores. And so someone did me a huge favor. Again, it's just about, you know, putting positive out there. And they're like, okay, let me help you out. Because we. Because she was like, I think you're amazing. And they loved it. They were like, this is an amazing product. We have to get it in the stores. And then there was another. This larger retail company out of Los Angeles, you know, and they're like, oh, my gosh. We found this at these other stores. And I just. They're like, I can't believe these numbers are so. I've never seen numbers like this. Like, really? My granola, like, is there. You know, there's tons of granola. When you go on the shelf and you look at granola, you're like, oh, you know, it's like. Can be a little overwhelming. But the reality is, like, our product is above and beyond any of these other products.

You know, by the way, something else you all. You can't see her packaging right now, but it's this.

It's.

She's totally in line with what I love. It's this pink and yellow packaging, and it says, fit chick granola. And she said.

She.

You mentioned earlier that she was advised not to use that packaging. It's too girly, whatever. But she went with her gut and her instinct, and that's what made it stand out. I think a lot, too.

Yeah, I definitely think so. And I think having, you know. You know, I'm just being me, you know, Fit Chick granola, like, it just. It's. It's me. It represents the product. It's a free. It's a really healthy product, you know? So.

So how did you go from, like, so initially you're making this in your kitchen, and you're putting it in bags, and you're driving around on your bike and you're delivering it to people. I'm assuming once you got in a store, you had to go to a commercial kitchen.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What was that like? And how did you figure that out?

Oh, my gosh. And again, I just started asking people, hey, do you know. Hey, do you know. Do you know anybody? And somebody I knew happened to know somebody that owned a kitchen. They're like, oh, and I had to have that to be in stores. You know, you have to have these certifications or whatever. And so they introduced me to this woman, and she, like, totally helped me out. I even. I saw her. She doesn't even own the kitchen anymore, and I saw her, like, a month ago, and I'm. Thank you so much. Like, you literally helped me. Wow. So much. I just really appreciated it. And so that's. I mean, that's pretty much what I.

What did you learn about people through this whole process?

You know what people really like to help. Honestly, like, if I. If I reach out to someone, they're like, oh, yeah, how can I help you? I mean, by and large, of course, there are. There are naysayers or whatever, but I tend to. I tend to really bring in people that have positive energy, because I have positive energy myself. So I've been extremely blessed with people helping me in many different ways.

Isn't that amazing? Because I. I know where you and I are similar is we had this tough girl act before. Like, we don't. We don't need to ask for help. We got it. I'm assuming you learned from that.

Oh, my God, I was such a badass a couple 20 years ago. Yeah.

Like, I don't need your help. I got it.

I mean, it's. It's silly, you know, I mean, I. Of course, I'm not that person anymore. I'm, like, literally. I'm just literally like a big ball of goo. I'm like, I don't know. I mean, can you help me? Like, I'm trying. I'm struggling. Like, just like all of us are struggling, you know, And I'm not tough anymore. I mean, at all. I mean, I'm strong, you know, I. Obviously, you have to have a certain amount of strength to keep going forward, because there's so much risk involved in having your own business, especially if it's a product. You know, there's. Financially, you're just. And you. You're just. It's just. It can be overwhelming.

It's so. It's so cool to see. I see this story over and over again where people that have been successful with business, they had to get to that point of being vulnerable and authentic and asking for help, and that's what gets them to the next level.

Yeah, it kind of ebbs and flows then. Because then what happens? I don't know if you've experienced this, but when you. When you start to see success, you can. You kind of get this. There are people that kind of shun you a little bit.

Oh, yeah.

And that was really surprising to me because considering, you know, I'm also like, I write, you know, a healthy recipe blog. I write this, like, you know, what is it? It's basically like, what I would consider, like, mental health blog about, like, your struggles, you know, how you talk to yourself or whatever. And so I'm always trying to put positive out there, you know, and I. And I'm also very honest about financial struggles, how my life is not easy, you know, co parenting, like, aging, like, all of these things, you know, like, it's really, really challenging and think. And some people I have found, like, you know, they just kind of. They. They kind of push away, you know, and maybe. Maybe that's good because then you, you know, you really can just surround yourself with people who get it, who. Who, you know, want the best for you, you know.

When did you know, wow, this product made it.

I still don't know.

Oh, my gosh. I had a feeling you were gonna say that.

I'm like, what are you talking about? Why?

Wait? It's so crazy. Like, as much as you've been successful, it's still that conversation of that. Of that lack. That's interesting.

Okay, so, okay, let me tell you this story. Like, about a year and a half ago, this bigger retailer from LA called me, you know, and they wanted to bust us out. Louisiana. Orange county, the Santa Barbara, Palm Springs. That really puts us on the map more than just in San Diego. Okay. And it's also just. It's given us more national presence, you know, because, you know, you. You literally, people see it everywhere. You know, I have a couple celebrities like, oh, my God, I love your product. You're like, oh, my God, that's crazy. Yeah. But I remember when I. They first reached out to me, they found my product, and I was like, I can't do this. There's no way I can do this. Like, I don't have the money, I don't have the manpower. I don't have the infrastructure. You know, all these things right to circumstance, so. Exactly. So I started asking people, and they were like, you have to do it this way. You have to do it this way. You have to do it this way. And I was like, well, I can't do it that way. And what we ended up doing is I ended up basically pushing back on the company and saying, I can't do this unless we do it my way. Which is. It's a. I won't go into the boring details, but it's Basically you. You're shifting a whole business model. But I couldn't do it that way because I'm just me. I don't have investors, you know, and they were like. And it was like crickets for like three weeks. I'm like, oh, my God. I just threw away this whole deal. I'm such a loser. Oh, my God. And then I got an email. Okay, let's do it. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. Wow. I was like, they really want my product. Like, it was like, amazing. And I felt like, wow, I love that.

And it's such an example of a both. And like, it doesn't have to be an instant no because of the way someone asks you, like, you figured out, okay, they want my product. Let me at least position how I can make it work. And then it's a choice from on their end.

Well, yeah. And again, if I had listened and I talked to a lot of people who were, who were in food business, who were in, you know, the grocery business, who knew the ins and outs, and they were like, you're gonna have to do it this way.

And what was this way? Was that meaning, like you'd have to preload a bunch of product and put a lot of money out and then in hopes of. I'm.

Well, they wanted me to pay distribution to do it for me.

Got it.

So that basically takes all my profit. So basically then I'm working for free. And I'm just.

Your ego. Like, I'm just gonna be in the stores, but I'm working for free.

Yeah. And I'm like, I can't do that financially. I'm not able to do that. And you know, just integrity wise, I'm not going to give someone else that. So we're gonna do it my way.

And what was your, what was your way?

Just, I. No distribution. I am distribution.

Does that mean you're personally driving it up to the stores?

You're doing not well. Well, we have, we, we, we negotiated a deal with them so that we deliver it to one spot. But yeah, ultimately we do it. All of it's in house. Me or my employees actually do it. And so we don't have to deal with a lot of that red tape. You know, we're just like, it's a good product and we're gonna take it.

Wow.

So, I mean, I have a picture on my Instagram of like, me between, like, and I have my, my, like, truck. Yeah, my truck where I put like my kids, like, soccer gear and stuff. Like, we're loading it up and like, delivering. And I'm like, we can. This is how we're doing it. You know, we're bootstrapping it. It's so cool.

What have your kids learned from all this?

Oh, my gosh. That they're embarrassed of me.

I'm sure they're like, completely proud. I mean, you really have taught them a great lesson.

I think they are. They are proud of me. I think they're proud to see, like, the kids at school, like, have their. Have the product and they see it. Y. You know, I think that might come out later, you know, because they are teenagers now and I think they're so, like, into their own, like, thing and like, I think they're kind of embarrassed. Like sometimes we'll go to a store and they see like a display and it has a picture of me and they're like, jeez.

All I know is every time Brooks are in a store and see it.

We'Re like, oh my gosh.

It's like such a cool thing.

Oh, that's so nice. Thank you so much.

Does it get now at this point, do you still call stores to try to get on their shelves? Is it all word of mouth now? What's your. How do you keep expanding?

Well, ideally, yes, I would be proactively selling, you know, and that's, that's where, that's where we're turning now because, you know, I've. I've come outside of the. The actual production of it. You know, I have employees who help me do that and I. They are amazing, like, loyal people and I couldn't live without them. So. Yeah, I mean, I'm actively trying to get that, but I'm also. We're also really trying to build the online store. We've grown that a lot this year and it's harder to do with in this type of business, but I mean, we're committed to that. I think that's where we want to be. That that's the only way we can really grow nationally. Yeah. You know, because, you know.

So what's so amazing, Tammy? I'm listening to you. This Midwest, as you described it. I was a small town Midwest girl that didn't know what the heck I was doing. But, like, you figured out how to launch a business, get it in stores. How do you just even how to launch a business, get employees figure out all that stuff is hard enough. But there's get a food, get the license, get it in stores, get it distributed.

It's.

That's incredible. And it's not something many people have done.

Thank you so much. I. I don't. I mean, I don't feel like. That is incredible when you go back and look at it, because, you know, I. I've had some, you know. You have some. You just. You have situations where you're like, people don't believe I can do anything. Like. And I think. I don't mean to say that, like, to sound like a victim, but I remember, like, when I was leaving my marriage, like, literally, like. Like, you're gonna be nothing without me.

Well, you know, he sees it on the shelves now. Eat my granola.

Whatever. I'm gonna plead the fifth on that one.

I love it. Gosh. What are your future plans for Fit Chick Granola?

What do you.

What do you want to happen? What do you see happening?

Okay. You know what I would love? I'd love, love, love, is that we could. We could have a couple more products to go with Fit Shake, you know, because. Because my real passion is creating these amazing products, you know, because, like I said, like, my idea is to basically educate. Well, it was always women, you know, I was always just training women. But it's. You know, men buy my product too. You know, they're like 40% of the people who are purchasing my product. So just really educating people about how you can eat anything you want, you can enjoy amazing food, and it can be good for you.

Yeah.

Like, I refuse to eat food that tastes like shit and is bad for you.

Yeah.

Like, starving or not, I'm just not gonna. I'm not gonna sacrifice it. So. So for me, what I would love to do is have this brand. Fit Chick Lifestyle Brands is kind of. Kind of. Or the brand is under Fit Chick Granola is under that, and create all these other products. You know, I'm always in my kitchen making stuff. Like, isn't that. Wouldn't that be great if I could just, you know, like, make cool, like, amazing food? Like, that's.

And you can. I believe that you will.

Thank you.

I believe that you will. What do you want the person listening right now, that's the mom that's in the spot that you were in, or whoever is in that spot. And they have not yet stepped into their power of creating something. What do you want them to know?

You may feel frozen, and sometimes when you feel frozen, it's hard to make a step. And for me, what has helped me, because I spent a lot of time being frozen. I spent. I wasted a lot of time feeling like, I can't do it. I can't do it. There's a million reasons why I can't do it. I would say to those people, because a lot of people reach out to me and they're like, hey, I really want to start my own business. And I've talked to a lot of women. I can say that 90% of them don't end up starting their own business for whatever reason. Just take the step. Drown out that noise of people that think you can't do it. Even if we fail tomorrow, something happens, something blows up or whatever. I've given it all my effort. Maybe you pivot, Maybe you have to go do something else. Maybe you create something different. But you have to try because if you don't try, you always will be thinking, well, maybe it could have worked out. Maybe I could have done it.

Yeah, that's really powerful. Do you consider yourself a different person now?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Like, I kind of laugh at, like that chick. I mean, it was probably 10 years ago that we met. I laugh at her. I'm also have a lot more compassion for her, you know, because I know that she was really struggling and she had, you know, so, so much pain and heartache and like, feelings of like, self loathing that. Yeah, you know, I kind of want to hug her, you know, and like, say it's okay. What was that?

Well, I think you answered it, but I guess you would tell that you. What would you tell that person? You would tell her it's going to be okay if someone's listening that's there right now?

Well, I would say it's gonna be okay, but you have to take action.

Yes.

You cannot sit and wait.

Yeah.

I don't know, there's something about, like divorce and being a single mom. Like you kind of feel like you're on the lowest. The lowest common dental. The lowest. I mean, that, that group of women, that group of people is like literally like the most impoverished in the country. Okay. So you could be there.

It feels super self defeating when you're there.

It does. And it's really scary.

Yeah.

To take the step.

Gosh, that's so cool. What would you. If somebody's listening right now and they're in their own personal rock bottom, whatever that is, so maybe they are that mom that you were. It could be something totally different if you were to give them advice, just what you know now so they can start shifting out of that, leveling up and creating everything from nothing. What would you tell them?

All the crap that you feed yourself about how you're not enough is bullshit because you Are you totally are. Because you were born. You have the right, you know, do you have the right to be loved? You have a right to be successful? You have a right to be anything that you want to be. You just. You know what, you just have to. You have to believe it. And I know it's hard. Like, I remember, like, thinking, like, you know, there was like this tiny little voice. It was like, there's more, there's more, there's more. And most of us hear that tiny little V, but then they're scared, you know, make. Have the fear be. Be like your fuel.

Yeah.

Like, I'm so scared, but I'm going to do it because do you ever know, like, do you ever know, like, like when you're afraid to do something, like you're nervous, whatever, and then you do it. Like I did it. Like, it. Yeah, it really does, like, transform you. Oh, for sure.

And I think that fear can truly be your guide too. I think some people stay stuck in that fear, but. But you leaned into it. You let it be your guide, and I believe that's what brought you out of it.

Yeah, I mean, I'm still scared a lot most of the days, but you just like, okay, I'm afraid. And you start to worry about things. You're like, okay, just one thing at a time.

What are the. Did you do any. What are the tools that helped you change that mindset? Was that what. What did you take on? Read, do, listen, to, surround yourself with to get there?

Okay, so I definitely got into therapy. I was like. Because I had to take ownership for where I was in my life, and it wasn't a good spot. I mean, 40 years old, divorced, no financial security, you know, having a co. Parent, it's just. It was horrible. It was really, really awful. I felt like such a loser. I really felt like I had, I'm not. I have not accomplished anything, you know, So I started doing therapy. I. I had a lot of trauma growing up, so I ended up doing this thing called emdr.

We talked about that. I've done that too.

Okay, so was your experience positive with it?

Yes, it was.

It was really helpful for me. It really. Basically, you, I don't know, you reprocess your trauma. So I did that for about six months and I, I literally. It was hard. It was really, really hard. But I came out on the other side really almost feeling like free and liberated from it. Like I had it like the, you know, the trauma that I experienced, it will always be a part of me, but yet I'VE I have survived.

It's like you changed the charge around it.

Something. I don't know, just. It literally. It worked for me. It was really transformative. And then also, I have to. I have to be really honest with you. Like, I. I pushed a lot of people out of my life because they were really negative, you know, Like, I just, you know, no, I'm. I can't. I can't do that. And I, and I, then I started opening up. You know, I went through a lot of really like, horrible relationships. I think I was still just like re. Redoing all the same mistakes I'd always made. And I just, I stopped doing that. I stopped doing self. I was. It was almost like. What's the word I'm looking for? Like. Like I'm destroying myself. Like I'm beating myself up. Like I'm treating myself like shit. Like I'm. I'm putting myself at this level where I'm just. I'm not ever going to be good, you know? And you put people in your life who are reminding you every day that you're not good enough. And then I just. One day I was like, that is enough. You know, and then I have to figure this out. I have to fix myself, you know, I have to, you know, and so within that, I did. And then, you know, I have to say, meeting my husband, I've been married now for three years, really transformed me because I didn't really understand that having a significant other who is kind to you, that was like a foreign. Wow. Foreign concept to me. I had never dated one single person who was ever kind to me. Wow. And that hurts me so bad when I think about my, My daughter. Like, I wouldn't. I mean, I would never want her to have that experience.

That's so interesting. Now I have a question. Unrelated, but to that I'm wondering, did you find yourself ever pushing his buttons to like make him not kind to you? Because that was a pattern.

Of course I did. I pushed back him away for years. And I, I've seen you do that also. Like. Yeah, I mean, it's a. Yeah, it's a.

It takes a special person to put up with that and break through that with us.

Exactly. You know, he saw like my hard exterior and he, he knew there was me inside there and he cracked it open, you know, he was like, she's amazing. She's been you and you. And I think for a long time. I was like, what is he saying? I'm amazing? Like, I'm not amazing. Like, slowly Like, I really do believe, like having someone love you unconditionally is so healing and the only way that you can let that, you just, you have to let it in. You have to say enough is enough. You know, I believe you also attracted.

That attracted him because you had started working on yourself and being responsible and being accountable and you were in a different. You weren't looking for someone to save you.

No, I definitely wasn't. I wasn't, I wasn't looking for anything. I mean, I, I literally was like men are. I'm so over that. I mean, so, I mean it was, it's life changing. I really do believe that. And it doesn't have to be necessarily significant other. It can be a friend or whatever. Just, I mean, my husband happens to be my best friend, so that's incredible.

Where can people get your granola if they're not in San Diego?

They can go to www.fitchickgranola.com and you.

All must try it. It's so good.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

And where can they find you on social media?

At Fitchic Granola on Instagram. That's pretty much it.

Yeah.

Oh, I. Well, we do a Pinterest. It's the same thing on Pinterest.

Amazing. You all must try her granola. It's so good. Her packaging is so cute. And now that you know her story, I'm sure you're dying to learn more and want to try. Thank you so much, Tammy.

Thanks, Natalie.

Thanks for leveling up with us today. Please share this episode if you found it helpful so others can join in. And don't forget to hit that subscribe so you don't miss out on future shows. And if you would leave me a five star review, I appreciate those so much. I read all of them and it's how I know that I'm giving you information that you find valuable. And come interact with me over on Instagram at Natalie Jill Fit. I read all the direct messages and comments over there. Make it a great day. Creating everything from nothing.