Jovanka Ciares is a former entertainment executive turned Wellness expert, detox specialist, nutrition educator and author. She is the creator of the Wellness Smackdown™, a proprietary detox and weight loss program for natural weight loss, which was featured on the first season of ABC’s “My Diet Is Better Than Yours”.
- [00 : 33] - She studied nutrition with best-selling author Dr. T. Colin Campbell at Cornell University and life/wellness coaching at the Spencer Institute.
- [02 : 30] - Jovanka took her life experience to make it very relatable to women.
- [03 : 08] - In her early life, Jovanka made drastic changes that lead to a new life that she is living now and a career that’s she’s in now.
- [03 : 29] – She is from Puerto Rico. She went to US later and she fell ill. Started changing diet from her typical diet that she grew up with to the standard American diet.
- [04 : 00] - She went to graduate school, started working and climbed the corporate ladder very quickly in a large corporation.
- [04 : 30] - She was travelling the world and managing an enormous budget and it was taking a toll on her.
- [04 : 50] - In the process of finding alternatives to the smack down, it led her to the discovery of a new passion that is not mainstream.
- [06 : 38] - How do you take your past experience and turn it into a business and make it a sustainable business model? How do you start from concept to really monetizing the business?
- A mindset shift has to happen. Transmit the timeframe. Use skills that I have learned from the corporate world to transmit to my business plan. Plan logistically and financially. Reducing overhead to a minimum for at least the first two or three years.
- Clarity about how to grow the business and how to access the market as well as the people.
- Aligning myself with people in this industry. I have two mentors who are instrumental in getting me to where I am today.
- [10 : 50] - Fitness and nutrition programs are normally one-on-one. How do you structure those group programs?
- Started off selling one-on-one.
- Hired a coach in creating programs for the internet. Started with a small program. Now I have published 3 books, 5 or 6 products online and a membership community.
- [13 : 40] - It took four years after she left her job before the products started to be profitable.
- [15 : 58] - How did you write the first book and build your credibility further through the book? – I have written three books and they were all self-published which I did on purpose. I asked people what they wanted in the book which I was going to write. My second book is a cookbook that complemented the first one.
- [20 : 31] - You are known as a detox specialist and this word can be confusing. Can you explain this to the listeners? – No one should be afraid of or concerned about the detox process. What we do depends on the level of comfort of the client.
- [25 : 55] - Three strategies to influence your hardest clients to focus on their health:
- To determine what works for them and this can be different from what works for me.
- Embrace the day-to-day, e.g. this analogy - if there is a flat tire, fix the tire and keep going. Don’t go back to your old habit. The end of the road is the end of your life.
- It is part of the journey of your life. The destination is death. Your journey does not end when you reach that goal of weight loss, etc.
- [30 : 54] - How do you take time off for self-care? – Self-care is not negotiable. Find time to go for vacation and give back to the community.
- [35 : 10] - Last words of wisdom – Ensure that there is joy in the process every day. There will be days that are hard but you must remember why you are doing the things you do. Be reminded of the things that will bring you joy when your goals are achieved.
Website: http://WellnessSmackdown.com
Freebie: http://sexybodyreset.com/ (Actually called the Flat Belly Reset)
Social Media Links:
http://facebook.com/JovankaCiares
http://twitter.com/JovankaCiares
http://youtube.com/user/JovankaCiares