We were lucky to catch up with Lisa Agens recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Lisa with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My parents instilled in us the value of earning what you want. Dad worked a corporate job and mom was tight with the bills and purchases, budgeting the family income so that we lived comfortably but not excessively. We never had an “allowance” per say, but did get “paid” for chores. I started working at age 15 and learned the importance of saving money and not living beyond your means. We didn’t get a new car when we got our licenses, we got the hand-me-down and had to pay for our own gas and insurance. I got my first credit card and the rule was to pay it off monthly or don’t have it, in essence, only use it for what you can afford. Even when I wanted my own phone line (yes, a landline phone) I had to make sure I could afford the install and monthly bills. From an early age, seeing how my parents were frugal and smart with money, focusing on making family memories and activities over “things”, I saw the value in the pride of earning what I had and truly owning those things.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I have a passion to get people to learn and apply. It is very easy to Google an answer, but also very easy to get mired down in false information or fads. My goal in being a Nutritional Coach is to not only give people a program that will work for their goals, but have them understand WHY it works and how to apply it in every day life, forever. My clients come to me because most have already tried the things. The fads, products, scams, quick-fixes…and they either haven’t worked or haven’t been sustainable because they are backed in greed, not science. When you understand Nutrition and apply mindset to improve your relationship with food, it actually becomes a part of who you are instead of just a “diet”. Not in a dogmatic way, but attaining the body composition someone is striving for can’t be short term. I work with mostly Obese and Morbidly Obese clients and they need change, not just to lose weight. They need to change their view of food, social events, activity, stress, sleep, etc. When they start learning AND seeing results, then it makes the journey more pleasurable and much easier to become that goal person.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The first quality that is important for anyone who wants to be a leader is the ability to learn. Obviously learn what they need to teach, but also learn that it’s OK to change. The ability to be open to learning gives us the opportunity to grow. That is not just in the purpose of the business, but how the business may be run and learning from others.
It is also very important to be able to communicate. You can learn all the things, but if you can’t spread that word, it’s of no use to anyone else. I communicate with my clients virtually and verbally, but I give it to them straight and try my best to leave nothing on the table for them to have questions about before we are complete for the week or for the program. That communication has to be in various forms for various people, too. Some people do better with written words, others verbal and others graphically. I do my best to communicate across all ways my clients may need to hear, learn and listen from.
The third quality is organization and creativity (although I guess that is two). I want my clients to be able to get what they need in the most direct way possible and sometimes that means I need to be creative in the delivery. In this age of tech, apps and social media, it is easy to get lost down a rabbit hole, so I try to keep things as streamlined as possible, yet still readily reachable, even if there is a small learning curve.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
My ideal client is someone who is ready to learn. Someone who believes they have or can grow into a growth mindset. They are adults who are sick and tired of trying to lose weight, only to yo-yo around or reach their goal and lose that goal quickly. They are typically 50-100 or more pounds overweight and often staring down at some future consequences from that weight. They are ready to be proactive and lose the weight once and for all, no going back! Some are already active, others have yet to start, and some have no intention of becoming active. The more willing they are to learn, the more open they are to the changes that may need to be had.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.YourLeanLife.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourleanlifellc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourLeanLife
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaagens
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/YourLeanLife