A holistic solution to women’s potential
Sophie Shepherd, FDN-P is the Founder and CEO of SHE TALKS HEALTH, produced THE SHE TALKS HEALTH PODCAST, and is a women’s menstrual and hormone health coach.
Sophie helps women around the globe transform their menstrual and hormone health through a combination of root cause diagnostic testing and nutrition and lifestyle science, so they can finally have straight answers to their most mystifying symptoms.
Sophie’s mission is to educate and empower women about how they can use their menstrual cycle as a superpower to reclaim their health and get their lives back!
Tell us more about yourself and what you do.
As a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner (FDN-P) and health coach who specializes in empowering women with their menstrual health, I talk a lot about periods, hormones, and all the things that influence them. I believe that all menstruating women have a choice – they can either fight against nature, hating their hormones and their bodies, or they can tap into an untapped superpower and work with the natural ebbs and flows of their hormones through the month. The hormonal cascade influences how we act and react, how we show up at work, how we communicate with our partners and staff, and how we tackle projects and deadlines. It impacts everything.
We are in control of the health outcomes we want to achieve. Once we take charge of our health, we can have the world. All we need are the tools to do that. I give women the tools so they can stop feeling held back by their health challenges and get back to thriving.
I do this through functional lab testing, deep coaching, and loving support. Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioners believe that downstream symptoms are part of larger upstream hidden stressors. As an FDN-P, I dig deep into the root causes and hidden imbalances in the body from heavy metal toxicity to mineral imbalances, gut dysfunction, and stealth infections that can cause a woman’s hormones and period to get disturbed.
Once we have the data, I develop a program of customized behavioral, lifestyle, and dietary changes, then coach them through a unique journey. It’s a journey that will not only change how they feel right now but also put them on a trajectory of health and vitality for the long haul.
Most women who come to see me are sick and tired of being sick and tired! They are struggling with brain fog and fatigue that prevent them from climbing the ladder at work. They are dealing with anxiety and depression that make them want to curl up in a ball under the covers. Their periods are either missing, irregular or so unbearably painful that they can’t even go to work, play with their kids, or schedule a fun night out. They are holding onto weight that makes them feel terrible about themselves. They’ve tried every diet, tincture, pill, and exercise routine. They’re at a loss as to why they feel so awful and are desperate to know how they can get back to themselves.
Through their work with me, they get answers to their questions about their mysterious symptoms and those symptoms disappear. But it’s deeper than that, they learn how to listen to their bodies, and transform their lives with the confidence and vitality they deserve. They know they can do anything they want without being held back.
How did you create your brand, and what inspired you?
I created SHE TALKS HEALTH on a napkin in a bar in Astoria, NY with my boyfriend. The genesis came years prior, sparked from my health journey. I’d had years of digestive issues since I was 16. After seven years of suffering through flares from my IBS all through high school and college, the stress in my life toppled my health at the young age of 22.
My hair was falling out; my fatigue was unbearable; my depression and anxiety were peaking; I was overweight and miserable. It wasn’t a way to live. I turned to my doctor for help, and she said, “You are probably just depressed.”
But I knew better, depression couldn’t make me feel like an 80-year-old stuck in a 20-year-old’s body.
I advocated for myself (something I’ve had to do and now teach my clients to do routinely). She ran blood work and found I was hypothyroid, prescribed me medication for my thyroid, and told me I’d be on the meds for the rest of my life.
After about six months on those meds, I wound up back in her office because the symptoms crept back. I wanted a full thyroid panel.
She told me “You are making this too complicated, your thyroid is normal, there is nothing I can do for you, go seek psychiatric medication.”
This is when I decided that I had had enough! I googled, searched, and found a functional medicine physician who listened to me, heard me, and taught me how to heal my body using lifestyle medicine.
That was 9 years ago. I no longer have IBS, nor do I take medication for my thyroid.
Once I healed, I knew I had a responsibility to let other women know they didn’t have to feel this way–with no outlets for support, no resources to know what was going on in their health, and no control over their bodies
And thus, SHE TALKS HEALTH began.
Today, I do anything and everything I can to empower and educate women through my various programs and resources. I have the SHE TALKS HEALTH PODCAST where I interview top doctors and practitioners on all things women’s health.
My 1:1 VIP SHINE HEALTH EXPERIENCE is designed for powerful, hard-working female leaders and moms who are sick and tired of having their health hold them back. Over 6 months, these VIP clients get hands-on support from me every single day, where I guide them through a customized holistic lifestyle plan based on their unique lab work so they can stop letting hormonal chaos run their world.
I also have an incredibly exciting new offering – EmpowerHER, a 12 week Gut & Hormone Transformation group program. I partnered with Kylene Terhune, another incredible FDN-P, to give women a community + the lab testing to get to the bottom of their digestive and hormone imbalances.
We are always creating new things at SHE TALKS HEALTH, and are super excited for our new DONE FOR YOU courses which will come out in 2021, for women who need to take the health journey at their own pace.
What is your giveaway idea?
I’d love your readers to access my free seed cycling guide so they can start supporting all phases of their menstrual cycle with one easy lifestyle change!
Be sure to grab your free Seed Cycling for Hormonal Balance, a generous food guide that can help lead you back to happy, hormonal health from SHE Talks Health.
What challenges did you face as you build your brand? What challenges do you face daily?
When you become a health coach, they don’t teach you to “niche down” or how to balance a budget or market yourself. You think, okay, I’m here. I’m ready to help people….and Nothing Happens.
This happened to me. I had this deep desire to help women, but I didn’t know how to get my message out. It was a rough couple of years, working 4 part-time jobs including being a health coach until I hired my business coach, Kristin Thomas, of the Health and Wellness Business School. She taught me how to run a business not just as a practitioner but as a CEO. How to grow, expand, and reach my audience so that my message can reach thousands of women who need this.
I also had to deal with my challenges. You see, personal issues ARE your business issues. I had money mindset issues, self-worth issues, and so much more. I hired another coach, Ani Manian, who works on changing the subconscious mind. He helped me work through all my limiting belief systems that were holding me back from feeling like I had something to offer!
Now, my day to day challenges are very different – mainly it’s time and growth. My company is in the position of exponential growth. Figuring out how to grow and still meet the standards of our clientele and manage a team of three women who are all committed to the mission of SHE TALKS HEALTH is a challenge. One of my dreams is to hire junior coaches who are just as scared as I was when I started my business, and give them a haven to hone their skills.
How do you manage your business finances? Were you funded?
Ha! Funding would have been nice! No, this is all self-funded. One year ago, I had a choice. I could keep playing small or dive in completely. I chose the latter which meant investing in my business, and in truth, investing in myself.
I used low interest or 0% APR credit cards to finance my incredible coaches. Once I learned how to do marketing and sales, I’ve been able to steadily save, pay off debt, and pay my team. The most incredible thing about my income is that it’s from women whose lives I have the privilege of helping to change. There is no better reward than that.
What’s your future vision? How far do you want to take your business? What is your next level dream?
I dream of massive ripple effects with SHE TALKS HEALTH. I want to continue to be on the cutting edge of the future of functional nutrition and women’s health. I want our brand to have the finances to invest in period advocacy worldwide, to help women in impoverished areas have access to women’s health education. I dream of a world where SHE TALKS HEALTH funds sex education that includes a section where boys and girls are taught the beauty of the woman’s menstrual cycle, and that it shouldn’t be something shameful or to be feared. I dream of a world where our brand can help train employees and CEOS of the power behind using the menstrual cycle to leverage productivity in the female workforce.
What message would you like to give to anybody who has a plan of creating something of their own and making a living through it?
If you have a fire in your belly and a dream in your heart, you can do anything. Just keep going. You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to. Thoughts and intentions are everything. Create a gratitude journal, do manifestation exercises, and get out of your way – the only person holding you back is you.
SHE TALKS HEALTH
Website: www.shetalkshealth.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/shetalkshealth
