If you would like to listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please click ‘Share’ on the player above.

Summary

Helloooo and welcome to this Building The Brand episode of Pour It Out where Maddi Parsons shares her journey as a dietitian and the founder of Sweet Spot Health. She discusses her early interest in food, her struggles with disordered eating, and her path to becoming a credentialed dietitian. Maddi reflects on her early career, the importance of building a personal brand, and the decision to rebrand her business. She highlights the challenges of being a young founder, the growth of her team, and her aspirations for the future, including improving accessibility in her services and focusing on online offerings.

Follow the podcast on Instagram and YouTube.

Join our Facebook Community Group here.

Time Stamps

01:50: How cooking and disordered eating shaped Maddi’s journey to becoming a dietitian
08:05: The impact of a strong personal brand and online presence
09:35: Why Maddi transitioned from a personal brand to a business brand
13:30: How we made Sweet Spot Health stand out in an undoubtedly saturated industry
17:30: Maddi’s experience as a young founder and clinician competing with more established brands
19:30: Key strategies used to communicate Maddi’s rebrand
22:55: How Maddi’s business has changed since the rebrand
28:55: What Maddi would have done differently on her business journey
31:05: What’s next for Maddi and Sweet Spot Health?

Guest Information

Maddi Parsons is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD), Credentialed Eating Disorder Clinician (CEDC) and Founder of Sweet Spot Health – a Sydney-based clinic that helps humans with disordered eating and eating disorders find their sweet spot with food.

Sweet Spot Health uses the principles of Intuitive Eating and non-diet nutrition to help people get it together around food, body image and movement so that they can say a big “stuff you” to diet BS and develop a sustainable way to care for their health.

Her team of dietitians help clients say goodbye to their inner critic so that they can start enjoying a life where their value isn’t determined by what they’ve eaten, how much they’ve moved or the number on a scale. The goal? To help people find the sweet spot where food not only tastes good but makes them feel awesome too.

Website:

www.sweetspothealth.co

Instagram:

@maddiparsons.dietitian 

@sweetspothealth

Podcast:
We Don’t Know Yet

Episode Transcript

Rachel (00:00)
Hello and welcome to Pour It Out, the marketing podcast for health brands who refuse to be bland. I am your host, Rachel Hawkins, and today I am joined by my guest, Maddi Parsons, for another installment in my Building the Brand series.

Maddi Parsons is an accredited practicing dietician, a credentialed eating disorder clinician, and the founder of Sweet Spot Health.

a Sydney-based clinic that helps humans with disordered eating and eating disorders find their sweet spot with food.

In this episode, we talk about Maddi’s iconic rebrand from Maddi Parsons nutrition to sweet spot health and the impact that this decision has had on her business. She speaks about the challenges of being a young founder in the dietetic industry, the importance of being kinder to oneself in business, and also her plans to improve the accessibility of sweet spot health services through the innovation of new office.

This conversation is full of insights for anyone who might be considering undertaking a rebrand this year and will undoubtedly resonate with those founders listening who are currently navigating feelings of self doubt and burnout in their own business

Maddi Parsons (01:16)
Thank you very much for having me on Rachel. As I said, I’m a huge fan of the pod already, so it’s awesome to be a guest.

Rachel (01:24)
You are too kind and as you know I am the biggest fan of you. You are of course an accredited practicing dietitian, a credentialed eating disorder clinician and the founder of Sweet Spot Health. So tell me where did your journey towards becoming a dietitian begin?

Maddi Parsons (01:42)
It’s always so interesting because I think, I don’t know if it’s just a personal thing, but I tend to be so focused on moving forward that I don’t really ever stop and reflect or even think about like the, you know, origins or the past. But I guess my story started when I was a kid and like an early teen, I loved cooking. I loved baking. I just loved everything about food. Like spent all of my weekends cooking, things like that. As I think is most…

It’s pretty common origin story for most people in the nutrition and dietetics field, I would say. I guess then sort of going to when I was in like my late teens, early twenties, I did struggle with disordered eating and through some ironic plot twist, I guess I thought enrolling in a nutrition degree at uni would help me learn to be like, quote unquote, healthier.

and learn all the things that are aligned with health and being healthy, so on and so forth. So ended up enrolling in nutrition and dietetics, or nutrition actually I should say, at the University of Wollongong.

Thought I’d just give it a go for a year, see how that went, ended up loving it. I really love science and maths and that degree was quite heavy on both of those. So ended up loving it, sticking out the whole degree. Ended up graduating as a nutritionist. Off the top of my head, the year has escaped my mind, but I’m going to say, maybe 2019-ish, I think.

And then when I did graduate as a nutritionist, I think a little bit naively, I did think I would just be welcome to all of these job opportunities and I’d have a lot of things sort of like beckoning at my doorstep, so to speak. And then, know, surprise, surprise, it was just nothing, it was blank. So I did struggle for that year, ended up actually taking a gap year and traveling Europe with my best friend, which was pretty cool in hindsight. And…

And then at that point knew that I wanted to go back and be a dietician. So enrolled back in uni and ended up finishing my masters of nutrition and dietetics.

Rachel (03:40)
Wow, and you’re so right, that is such a common story. When I speak to those who work within the nutrition industry, whether it be nutritionists or dietician, it’s coming into the industry, typically due to personal interest. maybe it’s that history of disordered eating, maybe it’s another sort of driver there. And certainly that that to the common experience of finishing university and then sort of

not really knowing where to next or maybe they’re being, you know, limited opportunities. Once you did graduate as a dietitian, what did your early career look like?

Maddi Parsons (04:16)
So at that point, alongside my studies, I was actually still working as a nutritionist at a local gym, albeit in a very small capacity. And so I sort of almost had the structure or scaffolds of a business, I should say, in place. So very early career post-diathetic degree, post my master’s, because I already had that scaffold in place. I just thought, you know what, I’ll just give it a go for a year, try and do things on my own.

see how I go if it doesn’t work then I’ll you know apply for a hospital job or apply for another private practice job or something along those lines and because at that point as well I did really want to specialize or go down the niche of working quite exclusively in eating disorders I ended up contracting one day a week at another private practice that did that just so I could

learn the ropes, have that supervision and that mentoring because it was quite a new space and especially as a new dietitian there are a lot of risks there so yeah I did that as well while I was still building up the business on my end too.

Rachel (05:21)
Wow, okay, so how long did it take you to transition from, the business as a side hustle to then working in the business full time?

Maddi Parsons (05:31)
Off the top of my head, I think it was between one and a half to two years. If that, maybe it was one year. It’s a little bit of a blur because even though it was a side hustle, like from a financial perspective, I was still investing majority of my time into it. Like it was very much a full-time gig from the hours that I spent on it. obviously financially I was getting that income from elsewhere as well as bit of security.

Rachel (05:58)
which is so smart, to do that. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to someone who didn’t sort of grow their business gradually like that because of course we need to make ends meet and ensure that there’s demand there before you sort of transition to working in the business in a full time capacity and getting paid for it. Did you always sort of plan to start your own business or was it more just a natural sort of

Maddi Parsons (06:11)
Yes.

Rachel (06:26)
progression, I suppose, of what you were already doing.

Maddi Parsons (06:30)
very much a natural progression. So even reflecting on this, it actually initially started as I wanted to be a sports dietician. So I interned for a professional sporting team during my degree and I was really hell bent on doing that. And then at some point along the timeline that then transitioned into corporate dietetics. So going to big organizations and workplaces and doing workshops and talks and what have you.

And then that then at some point, again, I’m not quite sure on the timeline transition to doing like the whole outpatient private practice. I think as well, I do love the entrepreneur business side of it. I love all the marketing. I love sort of learning all of that, even though I, you know, more often than not feel completely out of my

So, I think that definitely helped me realize that that’s, that’s the space that I wanted to be in.

Rachel (07:19)
Okay. Sorry. know that I’m sort of probing into this like a beginning of your career. I’m just so fascinated because I feel like this is something that we so often don’t hear founders talking about. And it sounds like you had so much variety in terms of the work that you were doing before you eventually founded what is now Sweet Spot Health. Tell me how big of a role did building your personal brand

Maddi Parsons (07:38)
Yes.

Rachel (07:47)
play in the early stages of your career. Because when I first connected with you online, I knew you as Maddi Parsons dietitian on Instagram.

Maddi Parsons (07:58)
Yeah, honestly, creating a personal brand and having quite a strong online presence as a personal brand was, it was imperative to my, you know, revenue and the business and the success

I had definitely noticed a difference at the start of me being a little bit more online, perhaps not showing my face as much more so doing, I guess, the graphic style posts and things like that.

as opposed to when I was speaking in front of the camera, more showing my face, more running in person and online workshops that were behind, as my name and things like that. Yeah, a massive difference. think being a personal brand or having a personal brand, I should say, is so imperative.

Rachel (08:37)
think for those who, don’t know, we connected online through, through Instagram, as I say, and you reached out to me at a stage where you wanted to essentially rebrand from Maddi Parsons nutrition to sweet spot health. We’re at the beginning of 2025 right now as we’re recording as we spoke about, off mic.

Maddi Parsons (08:41)
Yes.

Yes.

Rachel (09:01)
this is a time of the year where often business owners have goals for their year ahead and what changes they want to see and perhaps rebranding is a part of that plan. So I think there’s a really interesting conversation to have on this topic. Can I ask why did you initially decide to rebrand from Maddi Parsons Nutrition, which was your personal brand, which sounds to have served you quite well in the early years of your career.

to sweet spot health.

Maddi Parsons (09:29)
Mm-hmm.

I to slide into your DMs to reach out on Instagram because I knew I wanted to rebrand away from a personal brand. And I don’t mean to contradict everything that I just said because having a personal brand is still very much a part of my business model and still very important.

But I knew I wanted to rebrand just solely away from myself as the dietitian under the business to Sweet Spot Health because I wanted to have a team. I wanted to expand out. And as I said, I love doing the business side of things. I wanted to have more time to be able to do that and see less clients. And therefore, know, moving away from just my name to more of a, I guess, under a team. under, you know, what came to be Sweet Spot Health seemed to me at that point in time, like the way to go.

Rachel (10:14)
And like me personally, I’m like, my God, rebranding is a no small task for those listening. How did you feel about making that change? Were you excited about it or was it something that was a little bit overwhelming and daunting for you?

Maddi Parsons (10:19)
No!

felt all of the feels. I felt all of the emotions. I think at the core, was really, really extremely nervous. But I did wholeheartedly at the same time, trust the decision to outsource that rebrand to yourself. And just as someone that I knew and liked and trusted, because I had been following you for a while, we had been sort of chatting or I’d reached out for a few things over the years at that point in time.

Rachel (10:32)
Hehehehe

Maddi Parsons (10:55)
So I kind of knew you in an online capacity, I should say, and I trusted you and I saw what you had done with similar brands. So while, yes, I was extremely nervous, I still backed the decision to do it. And that really helped in those moments of, you what the heck am I doing? Is this the right decision?

Rachel (11:14)
I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but you, as you say, you had been in my online community for quite some time. You were a name that I, you know, would always sort of see pop up here and there. And I was overseas at the time I received your inquiry. So technically not working. And I remember Michael and I were doing a sale Croatia and I was like, my God, I’ve just gotten this query from Maddi. And I was so excited because

Maddi Parsons (11:37)
yes.

Rachel (11:44)
I think one of, I suppose the, advantages of having like an online presence is I would sort of see these names in these, what I would talk to my friends about as being these like newcomers or up and coming sort of names within different industries. And you were certainly someone that I identified within the dietetic industry as someone who I was like,

this girl is going to be successful, like at whatever she does. And so when I saw your inquiry come through, I was so excited. I’m like, I have to work with her. And I remember doing up the proposal and I had the dodgiest internet connection and I was trying to record this online video. It was like a 10 minute proposal. It kept cutting in and out and I did the dodgiest sort of job of like editing it all together. And I’m like, I just need to send it even though it’s a little bit, you know, D class level.

Maddi Parsons (12:22)
Hahaha.

you

you

Rachel (12:37)
because

I don’t want to miss out on this opportunity and you know, I’m so grateful to you to have worked with you. Let’s talk about, I suppose the rebrand and the work that went on behind the scenes because yes, I drove, you know, the project, but it was a really collaborative, project as, you know, let’s talk about the name sweet spot health. Where did it originate? Can we talk about that?

Maddi Parsons (12:55)
for sure.

Yeah.

think it was you from the top of my head. I believe it was you that brought it and as soon as I heard it, was like, something just clicked. I was like, yes, that’s it.

Rachel (13:09)
I think actually from memory, was sweet spot is what I proposed to you. Yeah. Yes. So I know that, you know, one of the challenges that we sort of had was how do we set your brand apart from other players in the industry? because you undoubtedly work in a really saturated space I think anyone sort of thinking about, okay, how, how am I different to these hundreds of players?

Maddi Parsons (13:13)
Yes, it was sweet spot. Yeah.

Thank you.

Rachel (13:37)
would be really overwhelming. And so we sort of broke that down and we came up with the idea of talking about finding your sweet spot with food as opposed to I help you develop a healthier relationship with food and the name sweet spot initially is what I proposed to you. And you came back to me and you said, actually, no, I like sweet spot health. So it you that drove the help. Yeah.

Maddi Parsons (13:50)
Yeah.

You have a better memory than I, sorry. Yes, yeah, it was collaborative,

it was collaborative. I believe from memory, the health part of me wanting to include the health element was to, because down the line, I think it would be really cool to perhaps like expand our service offerings and the professionals that work under the Sweet Spot Health brand. So yeah, I think that was why, but yeah, I’m really glad that it stuck.

Rachel (14:25)
me too. you know, undoubtedly, Sweet Spot Health has such cut through. In addition to the name, how else did we ensure that your brand really stood out from your competitors? Let’s talk about.

Maddi Parsons (14:39)
Hmm, visually, I love this question visually the colors and the bright coloring definitely stood out from competitors And I also think still stands out as well, like looking sort of at what is out there, particularly in like the non diet or ED space. So really the really bright coloring from a visual perspective for sure, and like the bold typefaces.

from the messaging perspective I think you really wanted to harness which I love and I think it’s been like the best decision ever I do have quite a dry and sarcastic sense of humor so really harnessing that really harnessing like that frankness and that familiarity. I can never say that word. And just, it’s so hard.

Rachel (15:18)
Me neither. It’s hard.

Maddi Parsons (15:23)
And just moving away from such a traditionally conservative and clinical space so really just you know, humanizing it I guess, if you will.

Rachel (15:30)
Absolutely. And I think, you know, when we looked at who your target audience was, we identified, two different groups. So it was those who, I suppose fit into the disordered eating category and those who have, clinically diagnosed eating disorders. And when, you know, we were doing the competitor research, some really common themes stood out. And it was that those who were sort of targeting, disordered eating

clientele, they tended to be younger practitioners with strong personal brands, quite pink, quite feminine, used a lot of quite soft language, as you say. it was, know, heal your relationship with food, nourish your body, find peace with food, food freedom, et cetera. That’s exactly right. And then those businesses that, supported the clinically diagnosed eating disorder tend to

Maddi Parsons (16:14)
Food freedom. Yeah.

Rachel (16:25)
to be more traditional brands, more experienced clinicians, but business brands as opposed to the personal brand. So we really wanted to position you smack bang in the middle of that market. We wanted you to be someone who, appealed to those two different target audiences as a business brand, but was much more human. And I think that’s what the, more traditional

Maddi Parsons (16:30)
Yes.

you

Rachel (16:51)
clinical brands really lack, they lack that human element. And you’re exactly right. Incorporating your own tone of voice in there, that frankness, that playfulness. it’s something that no one else had done in this space and then as you say coupled with your really bold, bright, vibrant visual brand it just had such cut through

Maddi Parsons (17:01)
you

Yeah, yeah, no, it’s been amazing.

Rachel (17:17)
As a younger dietician, a younger founder, respectfully, how did you feel about essentially competing and positioning your brand against those who were more established in your industry?

Maddi Parsons (17:22)
you

This is a really good question. to be completely honest, it’s still something that I’m grappling with. But at the time I was definitely quite nervous and I still am. I definitely feel like there is quite a lot of ageism does exist in professional industries and I don’t think dietetics is any exception. So, what I guess I’ve found that people might and whether or not this is my interpretation, right? But I have from my…

experience, I guess, I felt like people look down on me in because I am quite young and I am doing what I’m doing. And, I guess sort of doubting my capabilities from a business point of view, but also from a clinical, like, you know, as a dietician as well, like not having, you know, so many years under my belt in the clinical world and that sort of stuff. I didn’t really articulate that right, but I hope that makes sense.

Rachel (18:22)
think you articulated yourself perfectly and that’s going to be something that a lot of listeners will resonate with. And I say that because I have this conversation so often with, people in many different industries. It’s that real imposter syndrome, right? And I think there’s almost two separate conversations here. It’s, that doubt around your own clinical abilities versus, you know, you as a founder.

Maddi Parsons (18:28)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Yeah.

Rachel (18:47)
and a business owner. I think that sort of, you know, interla, it is very much interwoven rather. it’s like the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. And I think you are evidence of someone who you always take action, regardless of, you know, those feelings that you may have and, you know, look at the brand power that you have built.

Maddi Parsons (18:58)
Yes.

Yeah.

Rachel (19:13)
in sweet spot health from doing

it would be interesting to talk about the communication of your rebrand. What strategies did you sort of adopt or use to communicate your rebrand to your audience?

Maddi Parsons (19:28)
Yeah, this is a really good one. And obviously when we were working together through the spritz, was something that was a really big part of, now that we’ve got the rebrand and what it looks like, how are we actually going to roll it out effectively rather than just like plopping it onto the face of the internet, you know, only for crickets to sort of happen. And so we did, or you did, should say, we collaboratively came up with this launch period. So from the top of my head, it was all about content and marketing and a plan around

that and the two main platforms that we did majority of that on was Instagram and email marketing and so there was a bit of a plan obviously teasing a rebrand in the works and the lead up.

And the rebrand happened and putting that out into the world, is all of the feels, but it was awesome. Like looking back, it was such an exciting time. And then post launch as well, just sending out a few bits and bobs to remind people like, Hey, this is what I used to be. This is what I am now. So people aren’t like who’s sweets, what help? Like who, when, when, when did I start following them? Who are they? You know, that sort of stuff.

Rachel (20:33)
For sure. And how was the launch and rebrand received?

Maddi Parsons (20:38)
Honestly, better than I could have ever imagined. Like I was more than over the, like I was so over the moon personally with it. But then again, putting something new into the world, you’re always a little bit unsure about how people are gonna take it. But it was better than I could have ever imagined the feedback from both colleagues, like in the dietetic and in the health space, but then also obviously friends and family and clients as well. It was just across the board, positive feedback.

The only perhaps potential negative thing, think a few people questioned the name, but in saying that it would have been like two people out of a hundred. So, you I stuck to my guns and I am so happy with it.

Rachel (21:17)
Did you ever get any feedback on the choice of, I suppose, the brand personality and the tone of voice that was used?

Maddi Parsons (21:25)
The only feedback from the Toner boys was from my mom and look, she’s not my ideal client. So I took everything that she said with a grain of salt. And I also know that she’s got my best interests at heart. But I think she obviously knows or thinks of a dietetic brand as, what is the norm? What is the tradition? And obviously, because mine is quite polarizing to that. I think she was a little bit unsure with how it might resonate with people, but

Rachel (21:29)
You

Maddi Parsons (21:52)
Again, over time she’s come to love

Rachel (21:55)
It’s so interesting like this always I’ve never asked you that but I have always wondered because obviously it is so so disruptive your brand. But when we are sort of developing something new there’s always going to be people who do provide you know constructive feedback that maybe would not make the same branding choices that you would make but

Maddi Parsons (22:18)
Yes.

Rachel (22:18)
I think

it really comes down to, you you know your brand, you know what you’re trying to build and really sticking to your gut, you know, taking the feedback on board, but also, following through with your vision. And, again, this is, you know, proof of what happens when you do do that.

investing in brand development, investing in digital marketing, as you know, it is a long-term investment. Yes, you know, you do get some immediate ROI there.

but it is something that will continue to give back to your business in the months and years to come. we’re talking 12, 18 months down the track from when you rebranded maybe.

Maddi Parsons (22:49)
Mm.

Yeah, I think near about 18 off the top of my head.

Rachel (22:58)
Yeah, so can you talk to us about how your business has changed?

Maddi Parsons (23:02)
Yeah, for sure. look, as I said before, it’s the best investment I’ve ever made and I guess as well, like up until we had worked together or even just outsourcing, sort of the rebrand side of things, I had invested in so many other programs and services that just were really costly and didn’t necessarily bring the ROI that I had anticipated. investing in something like this, was the best decision. The ROI has been far greater than I could have.

ever imagined and as you said, it’s still an ongoing thing. The shifts, I guess, with the rebrand was we’re definitely attracting more of our ideal customers we’re not getting as many outliers or random inquiries we’re very, think, and then I guess that sort of backs up that our messaging is really aligning with our ideal client as opposed to trying to be a generalist for everyone. Like we’re really sort of niching into what we do and what we’re passionate about, which is awesome.

As well as I think people who are now inquiring are more further along that readiness to change journey. they’re maybe not as pre-contemplative or contemplative, they’re more in that action sort of stage of change, which is amazing.

As I said earlier, like that increased brand interest or that increased feedback from people around and that overall visibility, both online, but also in our local community too. So, you when people are referring to a dietitian, they know that that’s what we do. We’re not just a dietitian that sees, you know, every condition under the sun.

Rachel (24:36)
that’s a really incredible insight. And it certainly sounds like that brand recognition has consistently been building over the time and that brand authority, as you say, being recognized as the experts in, what you do. I know that building a team, as you mentioned, has been really important to you. Can you talk a little bit about how the business has grown from that standpoint?

Maddi Parsons (24:49)
Yeah.

Yes.

For sure. So we were lucky enough to hire two new dietitians and one new administrative assistant I call her my admin powerhouse because she does like absolutely everything behind the scenes. yeah, again, it’s just really helped me take off wearing all of the hats in the business. Something again, I am still grappling with and still coming to terms with just as you know, a bit of a control freak by nature, but.

Honestly, I don’t know how I did what I did without them. I’m so grateful for my team. It’s been the best change.

other changes off the top of my head last year. I was able to take two months off the business which in my wildest dreams I don’t think I would have ever imagined which was really, really cool. And, know, the business didn’t implode when I was away, the lights are still on things are still running, which was, yeah, it was amazing.

Rachel (25:55)
That’s incredible. I feel like that is so many, you know, business owners dream to be able to step away from the business and, you know, it to continue humming whilst they’re gone. I’m super interested in, I suppose, talking more about your reflections as a founder. Can you talk a little bit about some of the challenges that you’ve faced over the past 18 months?

Maddi Parsons (26:12)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, first thing that comes to mind is burnout. Still working it out, still navigating it, but definitely a whole lot better at implementing boundaries. as I said, just acknowledging that I don’t have to do all of the things. I don’t have to wear all the hats. I’m getting way better at delegating. But that definitely has been a huge, huge challenge and still is, but I think it’s getting better. And for me to…

I guess have that insight and be putting things in place this early on in my career. I know that it will, it’ll get better.

Rachel (26:53)
I think burnout is just, you know, such a common issue among healthcare practitioners. I know that your founder’s lifestyle was really important to you. Can I ask a little bit about, you know, what does your ideal sort of business look like in terms of the lifestyle that, that it affords you?

Maddi Parsons (27:14)
Yeah, and when you say that, do mean in terms of like a week to week, say?

Rachel (27:19)
Yeah,

or you know, those bigger overarching goals as well. Like I know travel is so important to you.

Maddi Parsons (27:26)
Yes, yes. So more travel, more working holidays. So being able to, obviously the luxury of being able to be a bit more online affords that, which is amazing. And as well as that, just less client facing hours is a big sort of go, founder’s goal of mine. So reducing how many times I’m seeing clients, not just for myself, but also so I can show up better for my clients too. So not burning out, not feeling so fatigued, as well not

relying one of our big goals at the moment and has been for a while but we really want to channel more into this this year is moving away more so from the face-to-face sort of relying on that face-to-face appointments for most of our income and looking more to the online space to generate some of our revenue.

Rachel (28:17)
That’s fascinating. Any insights

into what that sort of looks like for you or is it very much a work in progress?

Maddi Parsons (28:24)
It’s still a work in progress. do have two core programs or online programs, I should say, at the moment. Last year and completely on my end, we didn’t run them as many times as I would have liked, but the feedback from each and every launch has been really, really positive. And the people who have enrolled in the program or the courses and carried them out have spoke so highly of them. perhaps looking more into how we can run them more through the year for people, particularly from an

accessibility standpoint, but also I guess innovating as well because it’s been a while since we’ve actually looked at what those offerings entail and the inclusions in them.

Rachel (29:05)
That’s incredible. Thank you for sharing that insight with us. Reflecting on your business journey now, is there anything that you wish you had have done differently along the way?

Maddi Parsons (29:15)
that’s for many things

Rachel (29:16)
yeah

Maddi Parsons (29:19)
being kinder to myself first and foremost just enjoying the journey a little bit more not everything has to be done overnight and that’s okay And again, that’s just a big characteristic of me, like not just in business, but in personal life as well. like once I want something done, I want it then and there. so being a little bit more patient particularly in business as well as I guess outsourcing you know not thinking that I have to do all of the things So outsourcing and really prioritizing what I do when I outsource

especially at the start of a career when funds are quite limited. doing that, I would have done that a whole lot more or a whole lot better, I should say.

And I think as well, just the final reflection would be just being a little bit more open to failure think being a little bit of a perfectionist at heart, I thought that every time I did something, it had to be right and it had to be a success. So just being a little bit more open to, know, failure is good, failure teaches us things and it helps us keep moving forward.

Rachel (30:17)
absolutely what do they say? fail fast learn fast So true. But I agree. failure is that it’s uncomfortable, right? As you know, the type A perfectionist, that’s what we sort of like want to avoid. But you know, it is, ultimately what helps us grow. Are there any moments that you are most proud of?

Maddi Parsons (30:20)
Yeah.

yet.

expanding our team, that was amazing. As well as, I think I would have said it to you when we first started working together, but I knew and I had envisioned what I wanted the business to look like, but I couldn’t articulate it. I didn’t know where the heck to start to execute it. So just the fact that that has actually come into fruition and it’s been very well received and it’s helped me, you know, do all the things that I want to do in my life. Like that’s freaking amazing.

Rachel (31:02)
That’s incredible. You should be so proud of, of that and everything that you’ve achieved. just, yeah, look at you with such admiration for you as a founder and a clinician. And I think you do such important work. So I’m really excited to see what this year has in store for you. Can you, I suppose, finish up by, you know, sharing a little bit about what is next for, you know, you personally, and then, you know, also sweet spot health.

Maddi Parsons (31:30)
So for Sweet Spot Health this year is all about refining and improving like our processes and our systems so that our clients have the smoothest journey from start to finish with us, improving communication and all the boring backend stuff, as well as that accessibility is a really big one. Cost of living, obviously everyone’s feeling the pinch and we want to be able to give more support to people who might not be able to afford traditional eating disorders.

of treatment which is really costly. what that looks like we’re not 100 % sure as of yet but it is a big focus for this year. And from a founder’s perspective I’ve got a wedding to save for this year so it will just be saving but you know in the future more holidays, more travel, more flexibility.

Rachel (32:10)
Hehehehe

That’s incredible. Thank you so much. You are amazing, as I say, and I really appreciate you coming on the podcast today to share a little bit more about Sweet Spot Health and your experience rebranding the business and growing the business as a founder. So thank you.

Maddi Parsons (32:33)
No, thank you for having me on. It’s so fun to talk about, especially, you know, almost 18 months down the track looking back at things. It’s really cool.

Rachel (32:41)
Absolutely.

Now for those who would like to connect with you online, where can they find you?

Maddi Parsons (32:46)
You can find us on our website, which is sweetspothealth.co, no And then on Instagram, it’s maddyparsons.dietitian, I believe, and also Sweetspot Health.

Rachel (32:58)
And can we mention your podcast as well?

Maddi Parsons (33:01)
Of course, of course. So because I can, you know, I’ve got so many ideas and I can never just do one thing at one time. I’ve also got a podcast that I run with my good friend, Zeb. He is an osteopath. And our whole mission is just to break down the barriers to good health, one episode at a time.

Rachel (33:19)
Amazing. We’ve got a lot of allied health practitioners who listen to this podcast. So we might link that in the show notes for everyone to connect with you guys as well. You’ve got an amazing Facebook community where you offer free professional development every month, I believe.

Maddi Parsons (33:32)
We do,

we do, we do. Not as of 2025 yet, but definitely in the future. But I’ll link all that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, it’s definitely in the works. But yes, we’ll definitely link all of that for sure.

Rachel (33:39)
Sorry, just spoil that.

Amazing. Well, Maddi, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. And for those listening, thank you. I do hope that you enjoyed this episode. Now, if you would like to support PORRT Out, there’s a couple of things that you can do. Number one, leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify. Maybe tell a friend or two about the show. And we would like to be tagged online too. know, Maddi’s just shared her handles.

can find me Rachel Hawkins Co and also pour it out. Alright that is it from me thank you so much for listening I’ll see you all next week.