We recently connected with Jill McLaughlin Grunewald and have shared our conversation below.
Jill, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
As they say, your mess is your message. About 30 years ago, I was in my 20s, seemingly healthy and living an exciting life. But something was off; I was fatigued, had some brain fog, and was getting less enthusiastic about going to the gym. Although I’d been raised on healthy food (my mom cooked nearly everything), I was largely eating what the media told us was healthy at the time…low fat-this, low-fat that. But I didn’t feel great.
I went to a licensed herbalist for help and come to find out, she was also a nutrition expert. One conversation changed my life. She gave me a book on whole foods nutrition and I think I devoured it in a couple of nights. I took it all to heart and started feeling better immediately—in addition to the stubborn 5 lbs coming off, my energy went through the roof and the brain fog disappeared.
Friends and family saw a change in me, I started getting vocal about about my newfound love for nutrition, hormones, and herbs, and found myself giving advice to people who in turn got similar results that I did. I started to be a go-to and loved helping people.
I have a degree in architecture, but was getting a little disillusioned with my career and was looking for a change. In 2005, I enrolled in nutrition school in NYC and loved every minute of it. I started my health coaching practice right away, educating about whole foods nutrition, the importance of an anti-inflammation diet, and the significance of a local, sustainable food system (I’m a farm hugger).
In 2008, I was diagnosed with mild Hashimoto’s, which is autoimmune hypothyroidism. The diagnosis came as a surprise and as the doctor pulled out his pad to write me a prescription for thyroid meds, I said, “But…if this is an autoimmune condition, why wouldn’t I work to balance my immune system vs. taking hormones?”
That’s exactly what I did—and my Hashimoto’s was reversed that fall. I dug deeply into immune modulation, the endocrine/hormonal system, and the cross-talk between the two and everything changed.
I thought, THIS is my purpose. I need to be teaching people how to reverse their Hashimoto’s and balance their hormones. As they also say, we teach what we most need to learn.
A few years later, I co-authored the bestselling Essential Thyroid Cookbook: Over 100 Nourishing Recipes for Thriving With Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s. Around the time of publishing, the alopecia I’d had off and on since the age of 13 came roaring back, worse than ever. I was half bald for two years, distraught and questioning my authority as an autoimmunity expert. But after a lot of digging and working, I got my hair back and began also focusing on alopecia in my practice.
Today, I’m directing my energy towards MAS, or multiple autoimmune syndrome (some experts call it the kaleidoscope of autoimmunity), given that the majority autoimmune sufferers have more than one manifestation.
I’ve worked with hundreds of clients and students from all over the world and I’m so honored to do this lifechanging work. My mess really has been my message.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’ve recently pulled back in focusing specifically on Hashimoto’s and alopecia and have a great deal of passion about MAS, or multiple autoimmune syndrome. So many people are devastated and overwhelmed to discover that they have more than one autoimmune condition, but autoimmunity is one disease. I wrote a blog post by the same name in 2016 and it’s one of the most-read posts on my website. In other words, the same immune modulatory approach can work to help manage any manifestation of autoimmunity (Type 1 diabetes is the exception), with some specific considerations for that type of autoimmunity. For example, thyroid-specific support or hair follicle-specific support.
I love taking the edge off of my clients’ negative and self-defeating emotions around this and showing them that underneath it all, it’s a dysregulated immune system. Let’s focus on that. I’ve seen many autoimmune conditions, like psoriasis, clear up as a result of modulating the immune system as a whole.
Once people can exhale and realize that they don’t need to chase their conditions by artificially suppressing symptoms, everything changes and they move forward with optimism and empowerment.
I’m soon launching a brand new program called MAStery: Mastering Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Speaking professionally vs. personally…
Early on, I knew that being an impeccable communicator was going to set me apart. I’ve always been a decent writer, but it took on a whole new level of importance once I launched my website and started writing blog posts and newsletters. While I don’t believe in perfection, a mentor told me years ago, “One typo can undermine your authority.” And I wanted to be seen as an authority.
With this, I knew that rushing was going to slow my growth. As excited as I was to start my practice and educate my readers and clients, I was patient and methodical in my approach and took the time to launch my website very carefully and to do enough research for my posts that they were meaty without being overwhelming. I never wanted to write fluff, but I also didn’t want to lose people with the science—striking that balance is a skill that has served me well for 19 years.
Thirdly, I’ve stayed in my lane and followed my gut. I’ve put my head down and focused on my business development, my areas of expertise, and taking great care of my clients and students. Sure, I follow influencers in the health space and many of them are my friends, but I haven’t let what someone else is doing make me “should” on myself—I’ve followed my own intuition in how to grow and serve.
If I could share my strongest piece of advice to anyone starting any kind of business, learn how to write and communicate well. And make sure your team knows how to communicate well. I can’t tell you how far it will get you. In the early days of my practice, in addition to my own content, I was writing for four food blogs and online magazines, which catapulted my business far beyond what I could’ve done on my own at the time. I know that we’re now living in a world of AI-generated content, but it will never be a substitute for your voice, your perspective, and your heart. It doesn’t get nuance, rarely understands humor, and it makes mistakes. While I don’t think it’s all bad, if you publish an AI-generated piece and there are errors, the onus is on you and it will undermine your authority.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
This is such a fantastic question. Overall, I believe that we should go all in on our strengths and delegate things we aren’t as proficient in. For example, because I have a background in design (architecture), I have a decent eye for graphics and layout and have done some of my own logos and ebook covers. But I’ve belabored them—it’s not my brilliance and I’ve spent way too much time tweaking. Now, my graphic designer does all of my branding and design.
That said, many years ago, a successful business person told me that you want to have a hand in every part of your business—you never want to be ignorant of any aspect of it. He clarified that you don’t have to know the exact ins and outs of each part or perform those specific tasks, but you should never turn a blind eye to any facet of your operation. I’ve never micromanaged anyone on my team (you can ask them!), but I do have general oversight over everything.
I’m all for investing in improvement, but only to the extent that it doesn’t become a law of diminishing returns, where you’re doing too much IN your business vs. ON your business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.healthfulelements.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthfulelements/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/healthfulelements/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillgrunewald/
Image Credits
Headshot: Gina Zeidler
