Welcome to the Pursuing Private Practice podcast! Join Jennifer McGurk, CEO of Pursuing Private Practice, and Amanda Mittman, founder of Happy Valley Nutrition, for a conversation about perimenopause, hormone health, body image, and the role dietitians can play in helping clients navigate midlife with more support, context, and compassion. In this episode, Amanda shares how her own experience with perimenopause shaped her business, her niche, and the way she shows up for clients who are trying to make sense of symptoms, body changes, and all the noise in the wellness world. Jennifer also shares her own personal experience navigating perimenopause, including what it felt like to search for answers in a healthcare system that did not fully listen to her story. Amanda's Path Into Hormone Health (05:07) Amanda explains how her own experience with perimenopause, including sleep struggles, joint pain, and anxiety, shaped her niche and helped her connect more deeply with midlife clients navigating similar changes. Being Dismissed in the Healthcare System (10:54) Jennifer opens up about her own health journey after having her third baby, including being told her symptoms were likely mental health-related rather than hormonal. Why Private Practice Care Matters (14:50) Jennifer reflects on how her experience in the traditional healthcare system deepened her appreciation for dietitians, private practice providers, and the time needed to truly understand someone's story. Cutting Through the Noise in Midlife Wellness (18:23) Amanda recognizes how diet culture shows up in perimenopause messaging and explains why simple, foundational support often matters more than trendy interventions. The Supplement Pressure in Perimenopause (21:26) Jennifer and Amanda discuss how vulnerable women are targeted with expensive supplements and products, and why individualized care matters more than generic recommendations. The Dietitian's Role Beyond HRT (26:08) Jennifer and Amanda cover how dietitians can support clients with food, body image, labs, referrals, sleep, stress, and day-to-day decision-making, even when they cannot prescribe hormones. Identity, Capacity, and Career Pivots in Midlife (30:39) Jennifer and Amanda explore how midlife can bring new confidence, fewer worries about outside opinions, and a clearer sense of what needs to change in life and business. Getting Started in Perimenopause Work (40:49) Amanda encourages dietitians interested in this space to seek supervision, learn from diverse perspectives, and trust that they do not need to know everything before beginning this work. Perimenopause and midlife can bring up so much vulnerability for clients, especially when their bodies feel unfamiliar or their old routines no longer work the same way. It's important to recognize that hormone health is not just about hormones. It's about sleep, stress, food, body image, energy, identity, capacity, medical care, and the lived experience of being in a body that is changing. Dietitians are uniquely positioned to help clients in this season of life, when people are often being sold more supplements, stricter rules, and one-size-fits-all solutions. This conversation is a reminder that dietitians do not need to have every answer in order to be helpful. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is listen well, validate someone's experience, provide evidence-based support, and help them figure out the next right step. Sponsor: ✨ Business School is designed to guide you through every stage of building a private practice: getting set up, seeing your first clients, growing until you're fully booked, hiring a team, expanding your offers—and even learning how to coast when needed. Inside, you'll follow a step-by-step curriculum with the flexibility to choose the path that fits your current stage of business and life. You'll get access to advanced toolkits, templates, and systems for business topics like marketing and finances, but also for counseling skills and client support. Beyond the curriculum, you're supported by personalized 1:1 coaching, weekly office hours, and monthly themes that address the real challenges of private practice. The program keeps you moving forward with built-in accountability that builds resilience and confidence so you feel like a legit business owner. Learn more and apply here: https://pursuingprivatepractice.com/businessschool/ Connect with Pursuing Private Practice: 🎉 Instagram: @pursuing.private.practice 📧 Email: Contact Us Free Resources For Dietitians at Any Stage of Business: 🍎 The Ultimate Checklist to Start Your Private Practice ✨ Free Training: Get Clients Now 3-Day Challenge 👯 Free Workshop: Hire Your Next Team Member 💻 The Pursuing Private Practice Blog 🎙️The Pursuing Private Practice Podcast About Amanda: Amanda Mittman, MS, RDN, LDN (she/her), is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, body image coach, and adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts and CT State. She is the founder of Happy Valley Nutrition, a group practice of Registered Dietitians specializing in eating disorders, disordered eating, and other health issues from a weight-inclusive lens. Her current clinical work focuses on supporting individuals in midlife with an emphasis on body image, relationship with food, and sustainable, health-promoting behaviors. And giving the middle finger to diet culture, of course! Find Amanda on Instagram at @happyvalleynutrition.
