We had the good fortune of connecting with Lia Pinelli and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lia, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Ha! I don’t think I really had a “thought process” around starting my own business!! I don’t really feel like I chose my business but rather my business chose me. I once heard Sandra Yancy say “The difference between a dream and a calling is that we give up on dreams all the time, but we can’t ever give up on a calling because a calling never gives up on us.” This resonated so much with me because being a small business owner is hard! And I have thought about giving up in the past, but I just can’t imagine it. This is my life’s work– my mission, and I’m called to do it everyday. This is what I was meant to do– so I can’t not do it. It chose me.

I also have learned along the way that I love the freedom and creativity that entrepreneurship affords me. I love being able to set my own schedule and, most of all, I love not ever having to do anything that I think is a waste of time like I did in my previous profession. I was an educator for 15 years and while I loved working with teens, I hated the bureaucracy and arbitrary rules that I didn’t agree with. Being a business owner I can decide what’s important and do only that. I love that.

What should our readers know about your business?
It’s no secret that dieting is a waste of precious female mental real estate. That’s why I’m on a mission to help busy, smart women simplify weight loss from the inside out. My program 90 Days to Food Freedom teaches what every other weight loss program doesn’t, which is brain based solutions to stop overeating and end self-sabotage, for good.

What sets my work apart is that I teach women how to lose weight by increasing the pleasure factor in their lives, which certainly does NOT include more dieting, willpower, or self-control.

Becoming a successful business owner was’t always easy, but it’s been totally worth it. For the first 3 years of my business I had a full-time job as a high school administrator. I would get up everyday at 4:30am to work on my business before heading out the door by 7:00am. Sometimes I had 6am clients! I would take clients in the evenings after work, and even on weekends. I was hustlin’! But it has all paid off. I now work for myself full-time, starting my day after taking my son to school and working out. I’m able to set my schedule to pick him up and be done with my day by 5 or 6. I don’t work weekends anymore, although I do love to spend a Saturday learning new skills to improve my business– I’m still an educator at heart! I love learning.

I’ve overcome challenges in two ways: 1. I get coached weekly. I’m bias, of course, but coaching has completely changed my life because it keeps your brain on point. Our thinking is what creates our results, so you’ve got to be diligent in keeping your thoughts clean and clear to get to where you’re trying to go. 2. I have a work-bestie that keeps me sane! If you work alone, get yourself a like-minded work-bestie ASAP!! It’s a total game changer.

What I want the world to know about my brand is that there IS such a thing as food freedom and when you find it you will also find yourself with so much more TIME and capacity to create the life you crave. If you struggle with overeating and self-sabotage, just know that there is nothing wrong with you! You just don’t have the information and tools you need to change that. I can help.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We just moved here last year in the midst of COVID so we haven’t explored as much as we’d like, but when my bestie comes to town we are definitely heading to San Diego’s Little Italy! I’m Italian-American and come from parents who live to cook and eat, so my bar is high when it comes to Italian food– not to mention I’m from San Francisco which has some of the best restaurants in the world. However, when it comes to Italian food San Diego’s Little Italy beats SF anyway. My favorite spot is Tavola Nostra, followed by Davati Enoteca. We would book a room at the Hilton in the Gaslamp district and spend the day hanging out at the beach followed by lots of good food and drinks.

On another day we would head to the little town of Julian to walk around, look at the cute shops, and then get lunch at Queco, which is an adorable Mexican restaurant with beautiful back patio area and BOMB homemade tortilla chips.

Since we live equidistant between LA and San Diego I’d also spend a couple of days in LA wandering around the Getty and then getting lunch at Grand Central Market.

Then one final day we would hang out in Carlsbad just wandering around the beach and shops.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ll never forget the moment I decided to get serious about building a business: I was reading the book Compound Effect by Darren Hardy and he said that we are the sum of the five people we spend the most time with. I did a quick mental assessment of my five and realized that they were my husband, sister, and then random coworkers. My husband and sister are amazing humans, but they weren’t doing what I aspired to be doing– building a thriving business– and my coworkers were just there by default. I realized I hadn’t been intentional about my relationships, so I immediately sent a message to my friend, Jessica Miller. We met in our life coach training program and she and I hit it off right away. She was a real ambitious go-getter just like me. In my message I said to her that I was ready to get serious about my business and wanted to lock arms with other women doing the same. She immediately responded with a “Hell yes!!” and we have been work-wives and souls sisters ever since. Building a business can be isolating and lonely, so having Jess by my side everyday, for every up and down has been invaluable. We have talked nearly daily for the last 4+ years via Voxer and she has become one of my best friends, in addition to being a phenomenal business coach. The funny thing is, we’ve still never met in person! She lives in Boston and I’m in SoCal! But she’s hands down my ride-or-die business bestie. I can’t be more grateful.

Website: https://www.liapinelli.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liapinelli/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liapinellicoaching/

Other: Free 17-min training: Eating Without Fear https://liapinellicoaching.com/eatingwithoutfear

Image Credits
Courtney Yee Photography

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