Nicole Putzel, Founder of Putzel Kitchen
Names: Nicole Putzel
Founder: Putzel Kitchen
What's your elevator pitch?
I’m a certified nutrition coach and classically trained chef who helps individuals achieve lasting health and wellness through personalized coaching and custom nutrition plans tailored to their unique goals.
What's your story? Share how you got to where you are and WHY it is you do what you do.
I am a classically trained chef who teaches cooking and loves fitness, food, and gardening. Creating recipes is fun way for me to ensure that recipes meet my personal nutrition goals and fitness goals. From here I decided to become a certified coach enabling me to inspire others and share my knowledge. I love helping others incorporate what they thought was impossible into healthy habits that make them feel their very best.
What does BEING a FoundHer mean to you?
I'm excited to be part of a group of interesting and inspiring women who share ideas and success stories to help each other. I love that Lindsay says “no gatekeeping” and has so much to teach me to grow my business and learn how to level up my weaknesses.
How do you support other female founders and women in business?
Networking is my forte and I'm always willing to share ideas and collaborate about both failures and successes. It's fun to promote other women's businesses.
What podcasts do you listen to that have helped you with your business?
Dr Gabrielle Lyon Show
Mel Robbins
How I Built This
How Success Happens
The Dr. Hyman Show
Smartless
Who is a female entrepreneur you look up to and why?
Ina Garten. She is authentic, relatable, and warm. She presents both cooking and entertaining so that it is not intimidating. Ina is self-taught and followed her heart to pursue her passion.
What are the first five things that you did when you were starting your business?
1. Set up a website
2. Created business cards
3. Started an email list
4. Taught cooking classes out of my home
5. Shared my wellness journey with others
Who is someone who has helped change or shape your business for the better and what did they do to help you?
My college friend Alyssa. She helped me become more organized and mission oriented. We rewrote my content, mission statement, bio, etc. I set up a coaching app with all of my content and she beta tested it. In exchange I coached her and she followed the program achieving success. Her feedback helped me bring things to the next level.
At what point did you make your company a full time gig? How did you know the time was right?
It's still part time. But I really ramped it up about 6 months ago. I felt confident in my coaching skills and my content was ready to share. The few clients I was working with had success and improved self confidence which was the feedback I needed to know it was working well.
What lesson or skill did you take with you from a prior job to help you succeed in your role today?
Be my authentic self and it will inspire others. I also realized that I no longer wanted to be on my feet cooking for hours on end and it was time to make the change.
Let’s talk social media—who handles it for your company (you, an internal team member, an outsourced solution?) and what is the secret to making it successful? What is the biggest challenge?
I handle my social media and utilize Canva, Later and some packages that allow for editing. It is the biggest challenge for me as it is my least favorite task. Planning ahead and sticking to a calendar is the secret to it being more consistent for me, but I can not say that it is successful yet. This is part of why I signed up to be a Founding Member.
How did you land your first client?
She knew me as a cooking instructor and saw me change my own body to become leaner and more muscular. I told her that it was not hard and I could help her. Inspiration.
What is something you do differently from the industry standard?
I inspire my clients and meet them where they are in life. Everyone has different schedules, challenges and goals. I listen to my clients and create a plan that works for them. From there I inspire them to stick with it until they reach their goals.
What would you do differently if you were starting your business today?
Learn social media first.
What are three strategies you use to market your business, grow brand awareness and generate bottom line growth?
1. Social media
2. Word of mouth
3. Presentations
What was an obstacle you overcame to get your business where it is today? Please share the story behind it.
Getting my first few clients and their testimonials after succeeding.
What are three actionable tips you would give with other women who want to start a business or are just getting started?
Go for it. It does not have to be perfect when you start. Things evolve as you learn and grow.
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