The Nourished CEO Podcast

Laura Schoenfeld

The Nourished CEO is the podcast for ambitious coaches, wellness practitioners, and online business owners who are done choosing between success and self-care. Hosted by business strategist and mentor Laura Schoenfeld, this show is your permission slip to build a wildly profitable business and a deeply nourishing life. Each episode dives into the strategies, mindset shifts, and behind-the-scenes realities of what it takes to grow a thriving business while honoring your energy, your values, your family, and your life outside of work. Through honest solo episodes and inspiring guest interviews with industry experts and real clients, you'll hear powerful stories and practical insights about what's actually working to create sustainable income and impact without burnout. Whether you're in the messy middle of growth or refining a business that already supports your lifestyle, The Nourished CEO will help you design success on your own terms, and love the life you're living along the way.

  1. 2d ago

    Feeling Behind on AI? What Actually Matters for Established Coaches + Practitioners

    AI for coaches and practitioners can feel like a moving target. Every week there is a new tool, a new search update, a new automation, and another persuasive argument for why you should be doing something differently before you get "left behind". During a recent mastermind call, one of my clients asked a much more useful question: how do you run a successful online business when the environment is changing faster than any normal person could reasonably keep up with? We talked about what actually deserves your attention, why human judgment becomes more valuable as information gets cheaper, and the trap of using AI to brainstorm and optimize for hours while very little gets shipped. In This Episode Why "keeping up with AI" is an impossible standard for most business owners How to decide which AI changes deserve a response from your business Why spreading yourself across every new platform or opportunity can weaken execution The parts of human expertise that become more valuable as information becomes easier to access Why showing how you think can matter more than simply sharing more information How AI can quietly keep you stuck in ideation mode The mental boundaries that help you use technology without letting it take over your attention Why strategic mentorship matters even more in a fast-changing online market Timeline Highlights [04:03] The mastermind question that started the conversation: how do you handle the pressure to keep up with AI? [04:49] Why I would stop using "keeping up" as the goal entirely [05:22] The social media analogy: what happens when you spread yourself across every possible opportunity [07:14] Using AI itself to make small, practical improvements instead of creating a massive implementation project [08:02] Why serious buyers still want human perspective, context, and experience [10:22] The hidden value of knowing which questions to ask when the client does not know what they do not know [11:32] Why content that demonstrates how you think can support sales more than information alone [15:19] The pendulum swing away from AI novelty and back toward real human connection [17:18] The productivity trap: endless AI brainstorming that feels useful while nothing gets shipped [22:36] The filter I want established business owners to use when deciding what deserves attention now Top Quotes from the Episode 1. "I would not have the mindset that you're trying to "keep up with AI", because I don't even know if that's possible right now." 2. "Trying to keep up might actually make things worse if you end up spreading yourself mediocrely across everything." 3. "Somebody who is serious about getting a result is still going to want human perspective on their situation." 4. "If someone doesn't even know what questions to ask, how is AI actually going to be helpful for them?" 5. "People want to know how you see a problem. Good information alone is not enough anymore." 6. "You can literally get stuck in ideation mode for weeks and feel productive without actually shipping anything." 7. "There are probably a lot of cool things I'm not doing. That's okay. That's not what people are paying me for." 8. "You do not need to keep up with all of this. You need to know what actually matters for your business right now." Links & Resources What's Your CEO Type? Quiz Free Training: How to Build a Signature Offer That Sells, Scales, and Gives You More Freedom Explore ways to work with Laura If AI has been creating more mental noise than useful leverage lately, this episode will give you a clearer filter for what to do next.

  2. Oct 6

    How My Dietitian Client Pre-Sold $35,000 in Group Program Sales Before Her Launch Even Started

    What does a group program launch strategy look like when an established business is getting more applications but fewer sales? One of my private dietitian clients has now pre-sold 10 spots in her $3,500 program before her public launch even starts. She already had a multi-six-figure business, a strong Instagram presence, a podcast, and years of experience helping clients. She also had three young kids, roughly 12 hours a week to work, and a demanding personal season. We needed a strategy that made better use of what she'd already built and fit the capacity she actually had. I'm walking you through how we refined her messaging using real buyer data, moved from evergreen enrollment to cohorts, and built a pre-launch runway around the beliefs her best-fit clients needed to shift. You'll also hear how her waitlist allowed ready buyers to reserve a place, and what we're preparing for the webinar that's still ahead. In This Episode Why growing applications weren't translating into more paying clients. How we refined an established niche using buyers and best-fit client data. Why evergreen enrollment was creating more pressure in her business. How her podcast and Instagram served different roles in the pre-launch runway. The waitlist deposit strategy behind the 10 pre-sold places. The three categories of beliefs she's addressing in her webinar. How we're adapting existing assets into one cohesive sales process. Timeline Highlights [00:00] – Ten pre-sold spots in a $3,500 program before the public launch. [01:03] – Applications rising while conversions fell. [06:18] – Refining a niche that was already established. [09:13] – Using application data from buyers and best-fit clients. [11:23] – Moving from evergreen enrollment to cohorts. [14:58] – Creating an intentional pre-launch runway. [16:17] – Why the podcast became the content priority. [19:38] – Testing messaging on Instagram and offering waitlist deposits. [22:44] – Preparing people to recognize why the webinar is relevant. [24:11] – Core premise, supportive beliefs, and blocking beliefs. [29:33] – Connecting follow-up emails, the sales page, and applications. [33:52] – Free training on a signature offer that sells, scales, and gives you more freedom. Top Quotes From the Episode "The problem was that her applications were going up while her conversions were going down." "Sometimes you just need to make the business you already have much more precise for the outcome that you actually want." "It was the same niche, but just that micro adjustment of how she's speaking to those people so that the right people are moving forward and they're able to say yes even faster." "What's really misinterpreted is this idea that evergreen enrollment magically makes your business more nervous system friendly." "I don't like using the term 'no-brainer' because it's not about not using your brain when making a purchasing decision." "The kind of belief shifting I'm talking about is the beliefs that actually affect what somebody thinks is the best way for them to solve their problem." Links and Resources Free training: How to Build a Signature Offer That Sells, Scales, and Gives You More Freedom What's Your CEO Type? Quiz Explore working together Share this episode with an expert whose program is getting interest but fewer sales than it should.

  3. Sep 29

    Running a Business When Life Is Hard: Building for the Capacity You Actually Have

    What if the quieter season you've been waiting for isn't coming anytime soon? I've had to ask myself that question lately, because I realized how many business decisions I was putting off until life felt more predictable. My two kids started preschool this August. I expected a little more breathing room, and in some ways I got it. I also got a different set of things to manage. It has pushed me to look more closely at what my business needs from me, what I can take off my plate, and how to make room for the work I actually want to build. In this episode, I'm sharing six things I'm doing to keep the business running and move it forward while life is still very full. The point isn't to copy my schedule. It's to consider what you would change if you planned around the capacity you have now. In this episode Why I stopped planning for a more predictable season of life The space I needed to create before I could decide what I wanted next How I'm protecting my physical energy and quiet time What made my "ideal" content plan too much for this season Why changing the audience for an established offer means rebuilding its messaging How I'm choosing one offer to focus on while I consider a future group program Why I hired a mentor again after a difficult previous coaching experience Timeline highlights [00:00] The question I've been avoiding: what if life doesn't settle down soon? [03:18] Preschool brought a new schedule and a different kind of mental load. [06:20] The unexpected tooth appointment that took half a workday [09:26] Why I'm done postponing business decisions until life feels easier [17:24] Creating space to think about what I want, beyond managing what already exists [23:18] Prioritizing physical care and the energy I need for work and family [28:33] Waking up earlier to have time before anyone needs me [31:32] Choosing necessary work over the ideal version of everything [40:00] Rebuilding messaging for a more advanced audience [44:44] Focusing on one offer while evaluating a return to group delivery [49:27] Getting support from a mentor and examining my own blind spots [56:21] Planning around current capacity, with room for life to interrupt Top quotes from the episode "I knew that if I wanted to do the things I wanted to do, I needed more space to even ask myself what I wanted for my life and my business." "The real point is that I'm giving myself some space before other people need anything from me." "I can't be committed to everything right now, so I just had to make a decision about what I am going to be committed to." "If you change who you want to work with, you have to revisit how you explain the value of your offer, even if you have years of experience doing that work." "No matter how experienced you are, it is almost impossible to have an objective perspective on your own business. You're too close to the work." "I don't want to keep waiting for things to get easier to get back into growth mode. So I am doing it now, even with all the chaos around me." "What would you do differently in your business if you planned around the capacity you have right now instead of the capacity you hope to have in the future?" Links and resources Free training: How to Build a Signature Offer That Sells, Scales, and Gives You More Freedom What's Your CEO Type? Quiz If this brought a particular business decision to mind, take some time with that question before filling the space with another task. And share this episode with a friend who might need some encouragement in a busy season.

  4. Sep 22

    Instagram for Introverts: How to Use Social Media Without Burnout with Madelyn Victoria

    You know social media can help people find your business. But does using it effectively really require you to constantly post, film yourself, follow trends, and essentially become a content creator on top of everything else you already do? I'm joined by fractional CMO and social media strategist Madelyn Victoria to talk about a much more sustainable approach to Instagram, especially for introverts, busy founders, or anyone who doesn't want social media taking over their business. Madelyn shares why "attention is not the same as trust," why going viral isn't necessarily a useful business goal, and how to create a consistent presence without posting every day. We also get into practical strategies for making content easier, including repurposing, B-roll, case studies, pinned posts, Instagram Stories, batching video content, and tools inside Instagram's Edits app. In this episode, we cover: Why visibility doesn't require constantly being "on" What matters more than going viral Why two or three strong posts per week may be enough How to repurpose blogs and emails into Instagram content Lower-pressure content formats for introverts How to create stronger case studies Simple ways to make filming and editing easier Why your audience's questions are already content ideas When to actually start paying attention to your analytics Why you shouldn't abandon a new strategy after two weeks About Madelyn Victoria Madelyn Victoria is a fractional CMO, social media manager, and ShowIt website designer who has been helping six- and seven-figure service providers and coaches with their marketing since 2019. She's also a self-described huge introvert, giving her firsthand experience building visibility without wanting to constantly perform online. Get Madelyn's Playbook Want to see what these strategies look like in practice? Follow @madelynvictoriaco on Instagram and DM her the word PLAYBOOK to get her behind-the-scenes resource featuring real content examples and the strategy behind them. Build a Business That Can Grow Without More of You If your business still depends heavily on you personally delivering, selling, explaining, and holding everything together, watch my free training: How to Build a Signature Offer That Sells, Scales, and Gives You More Freedom Go to lauraschoenfeld.com/scale to watch.

  5. Sep 15

    How to Make Your Signature Offer a More Reliable Source of Revenue

    If your signature offer gets great results but still isn't a particularly reliable source of revenue, it's easy to assume you need more leads, better marketing, or another launch. But that may not be the real problem. As your expertise gets deeper, your offer, messaging, and sales process don't always evolve with it. You understand why your approach works and how all the pieces connect, but a potential buyer looking at your work from the outside doesn't automatically have that context. I call this the translation gap. When that gap gets too wide, you end up filling it yourself by explaining the value on sales calls, creating more customized support, or relying on launches that require a huge amount of your personal time. In this episode, I'm walking through my Signature Offer Scaling Plan to help you figure out what may actually be keeping your signature offer from becoming a more reliable source of revenue. We'll look at the offer itself, the positioning and sales path around it, and whether enough of the right people are finding and moving deeper into your work. Most importantly, I'll show you how to find the first meaningful constraint so you don't walk away thinking you need to rebuild your entire business at once. Timeline Highlights [04:01] – What the translation gap is and how it shows up in an established business [05:36] – Why your expertise is not too nuanced to scale [08:45] – Why knowing more doesn't mean putting more into every offer [12:57] – The question to ask before you scale the business you already have [13:55] – Distill: the right buyer, right offer, and right client journey [18:15] – What your best-fit client actually needs from the offer [22:35] – Why simple does not mean basic or low value [27:12] – Position: why better copy alone may not solve the problem [32:35] – Why useful content and sales content are not the same thing [38:27] – The leverage test for your sales process [43:12] – Why more traffic may not actually be the answer [44:02] – Why nuanced expertise needs a bingeable body of work [49:54] – Helping someone move from consuming your work to choosing you [54:40] – The leverage question across the entire business [57:11] – How to find the first meaningful constraint [59:47] – Choosing what deserves your attention over the next 30 to 90 days [1:00:36] – How to get Laura's help implementing the plan Top Quotes from the Episode "Your expertise is not too nuanced to scale." "Knowing more doesn't mean I have to put more into every offer." "Does this work" and "is this how I want to run my business" are not the same question." "I don't think you should scale more of something that you actually secretly don't want more of." "Simple does not mean basic or low value." "Teaching something useful and helping someone make a buying decision are not the same job." "Fix the earliest meaningful constraint first, and then move on to the next one." Do This Next If you want my help figuring out what needs to change first in your business, DM me FIRE on Instagram and I'll send you the application to work together. If you enjoyed this conversation, leave a review, and send this episode to an experienced coach or practitioner whose signature offer still requires too much of them to grow.

  6. Sep 8

    The Rookie Niching Mistake I Made This Year and How I'm Correcting It

    Earlier this year, I made what I can only describe as a "rookie" niching mistake. I built my new positioning around something my current clients talked to me about constantly, people responded really well to it, and some even reached out about working together. Then the conversations with new prospects kept ending with, "This sounds great. But I'm not ready yet." That pattern forced me to look at the difference between what my current clients value after they've worked with me and what prospective clients already know they want before they hire me. In this episode, I'm sharing how I missed that distinction, the data that finally made it impossible to ignore, and what I'm changing about my niche, messaging, and the backbone of The Foundry curriculum as a result. The deeper work around building a business that fits your strengths, personality, capacity, and life still matters to me. I just realized it wasn't the right thing to lead with if I wanted new clients to understand why they should work with me now. If people are responding to your content but your sales conversations keep stalling at "later," this episode will help you figure out whether you have a sales problem, a messaging problem, or a niche that's asking people to want something they're not ready to pay for yet. And if you're an experienced coach or practitioner whose work already gets results, but your signature offer still takes too much explaining or selling, this conversation is especially relevant. Timeline Highlights [00:00] – The rookie niching mistake: choosing a topic before validating buyer demand [03:47] – Why I decided to move upmarket and speak to more advanced entrepreneurs [08:17] – The client conversations that shaped my messaging around strengths, burnout, and business fit [15:02] – Where the strategy broke: people liked the outcome but didn't want it enough to buy [16:38] – The sales data that exposed the mismatch between positive response and buying intent [21:33] – Why current-client insight can miss what prospective clients already know they want [24:32] – The role messaging and positioning must play when trust hasn't been earned through delivery [29:26] – How I'm rebuilding my niche around value, skill, joy, and active demand [34:35] – The experienced coaches and practitioners I'm choosing to serve now [39:01] – Why personality and strengths remain part of my perspective without leading the offer [45:44] – How to diagnose a market-demand mismatch instead of blaming the market [47:51] – The offer, sales system, and marketing plan behind the next version of The Foundry Top Quotes from the Episode "People saying 'this sounds great' isn't the same as people wanting it enough to pay for it." "I was speaking to what my clients valued after working with me, not what prospective clients already knew they wanted." "If 'I'm not ready' keeps coming up, you have to consider whether you're leading with a problem people want solved right now." "Your messaging has to earn the trust of people who haven't had the chance to experience your work yet." "A profitable niche comes down to what people will pay for, what you're exceptionally good at, and the work you actually want to do." "Being ahead of the curve is helpful until you're so far ahead that people admire your idea but aren't ready to buy it." "The mistake isn't the problem. Refusing to look honestly at why something isn't working is the problem." Links & Resources Join The Foundry waitlist Take the What's Your CEO Type? Quiz

  7. Sep 1

    How to Make More Without Dropping Insurance: A Dietitian's Signature Offer Makeover

    Most health experts who take insurance have been told the same thing. If you want to make real money, drop insurance and start selling high-ticket cash pay programs. I like a good cash pay program. I also think that advice gets applied to practices where it makes very little sense. This episode is a real coaching conversation with my client Angelina, who owns an established, heavily insurance-based dietitian practice in Ohio. She has clients, she gets referrals from gastroenterology groups, and her reimbursement rates are solid. The most important question for her business was never whether to blow up a working model. It was how to make that model more profitable, more differentiated, and less dependent on adding sessions to her calendar. We build a hybrid offer in real time, where insurance covers the clinical sessions and the client pays separately for the testing, messaging access, and resources insurance was never going to cover. We get into pricing, continuity, boundaries around access, and how to position a practice so the big insurance-based platforms stop being competitors at all. If the only two options you've been given are more 1:1 sessions or stop taking insurance, this conversation gives you a third option that's got serious potential. Timeline Highlights [00:00] – Why "stop taking insurance" is the wrong first move for an established practice [08:16] – Angelina's setup: buying a twenty-year-old insurance-based practice in Ohio [12:57] – How a hybrid offer works and what the cash portion actually pays for [15:51] – Competing with Nourish, Fay, and BerryStreet without competing on price [20:44] – Naming the specific result: healing IBS and IBD instead of managing symptoms [29:08] – Building a low-ticket continuity offer so clients don't disappear at month four [33:10] – What belongs on the cash-pay side: testing, meal plans, supplements, portal resources [37:40] – Pricing the hybrid when insurance already covers part of the total [42:44] – Why graduating every client costs you revenue and costs them results [48:40] – Setting messaging boundaries before you need them [55:45] – SEO, GEO, and Google reviews for a practice built on local referrals [1:04:41] – Doubling income without adding a single session Top Quotes from the Episode "You can't out-price a company with venture funding and insurance leverage. The move is to build something they aren't even offering." "Nobody stands in a parking lot deciding between McDonald's and a good gourmet burger. Those aren't the same product, and your practice shouldn't be the same product as a platform handing out free sessions." "Insurance teaches people to buy an hour of your time. A signature offer teaches them to buy a result." "The cash portion of a hybrid offer covers everything insurance was never going to pay for, which is usually the part that creates the outcome." "Not everyone wants to be graduated. I've worked with the same trainer for eleven years because I like having the help, and your clients are no different." "People overstuff their deliverables and then spend years on the hook for all of it. The better question is what's the least amount of support someone needs to get what they came for." "Set the boundary before you need it. Renegotiating access after someone has already crossed the line is a much harder conversation." "This model lets you earn twice as much from the same number of sessions, or keep the income steady and cut your session load in half." Links & Resources Take the CEO Type Quiz Practice Better (EHR, client portal, messaging, program delivery) If this one landed, follow the podcast, leave a review, and send it to a practitioner who's been told insurance is the reason they aren't making enough.

  8. Aug 25

    Why Your Sales Keep Dropping Back to $10K Months (and the One Asset That Fixes It)

    Most coaches and practitioners who stall out somewhere between 8 and 12K months assume the fix is more visibility, better credentials, or harder work. The actual gap usually sits somewhere else entirely, and once you see it, the income rollercoaster starts to make a lot more sense. In this episode, I'm breaking down the single asset that separates businesses with predictable revenue from businesses that reset every month. I call it the sales bridge, and it's the connection between everything you publish and the offer you want people to buy.  I'm also walking through what happened with a client of mine, Chris, a UK nutritionist who had been in business since 2009, podcasting since 2015, and selling high ticket one-on-one with no trouble at all. His group program was a different story. Two launches, £10,000 of ad spend on the second one, refunds, and almost no profit later, he was ready to shut the whole thing down. What we changed was smaller than you'd expect, and his revenue doubled in a year when a lot of businesses were shrinking. If your income has been resetting every month no matter how much effort you pour in, this conversation will show you exactly where the leak is and what to build instead. Timeline Highlights [00:00] – The income rollercoaster: 8 to 12K months, the occasional spike, and the reset that always follows [03:25] – Why sales that run on manual effort and good timing can never compound [04:49] – The asset that sells for you every day, including the days you don't show up [05:32] – What a sales bridge is and how it links your marketing to your paid offer [07:58] – Chris's situation: ten years in business, easy high ticket sales, and a group program nobody wanted [11:35] – Why his one-on-one had demand baked in and his group program never did [12:26] – Two launches, £10,000 in ad spend, a discount strategy, and a wave of refunds [18:59] – The podcast mention that produced six sales in a week and what it proved about his audience [23:33] – The three changes we made: a hybrid offer, thesis messaging, and getting discoverable again [29:25] – Everything we deliberately left alone, including his niche, his prices, and his podcast [32:24] – The outcome: doubled revenue, 4,500 to 13,000 followers, and a four-day week [39:27] – Who the one-on-one sales and systems audit is built for Top Quotes from the Episode "If nothing connects your marketing to your offer, your income will reset every single month no matter how much effort you pour into it." "Chasing people in the DMs and spending forty-five minutes on a call explaining your offer is what happens when nothing else in your business is doing that work for you." "You want people arriving at sales conversations with one foot already in your offer, needing one last touchpoint from you to say yes." "Demand you don't have to create is the most valuable thing in your business. Chris's one-on-one had it. His group program never did." "Lowering the price is what people reach for when an offer isn't landing, and it's almost never the thing that moves it." "Your thesis is the set of beliefs that, once someone takes them on, make your offer the obvious next step for them." "Chris didn't have a traffic problem, a skill problem, or a work ethic problem. He had marketing on one side, an offer on the other, and nothing carrying people across." Links & Resources Take the "What's Your CEO Type?" Quiz Work with me DM me the word SALES LINK on Instagram Chris Sandel, Seven Health Full case study interview with Chris: Read it HERE or listen HERE. If this one landed, follow the podcast, leave a review, and send it to someone whose income keeps resetting every month.

Trailers

4.8
out of 5
90 Ratings

About

The Nourished CEO is the podcast for ambitious coaches, wellness practitioners, and online business owners who are done choosing between success and self-care. Hosted by business strategist and mentor Laura Schoenfeld, this show is your permission slip to build a wildly profitable business and a deeply nourishing life. Each episode dives into the strategies, mindset shifts, and behind-the-scenes realities of what it takes to grow a thriving business while honoring your energy, your values, your family, and your life outside of work. Through honest solo episodes and inspiring guest interviews with industry experts and real clients, you'll hear powerful stories and practical insights about what's actually working to create sustainable income and impact without burnout. Whether you're in the messy middle of growth or refining a business that already supports your lifestyle, The Nourished CEO will help you design success on your own terms, and love the life you're living along the way.

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