Automated Transcription
Richard Matthews 0:45
Hello, and welcome back to The HERO Show. My name is Richard Matthews. And I’m live on the line today with Amanda Love. Amanda, are you here?
Amanda Love 4:38
Yes, I’m here.
Richard Matthews 4:39
Awesome. So glad to have you here, Amanda. You’re coming to us from in Arizona, up in the mountains. Is that right?
Amanda Love 4:47
Yeah.
Richard Matthews 4:48
Awesome. And for those of you who are following along with our travels, we are still stuck in our shelter and play stuff in Florida while we’re traveling so we’re pretty excited about our piece of paradise we’re stuck on here. So before we get started Amanda, I’ll introduce you to our audience for those people who don’t know who you are. So Amanda Love is a registered holistic nutritionist. And while you were always drawn to health and nutrition, your passion really arose after you became diagnosed with fibromyalgia at the age of 20. And the path that you chose brought awareness to you and apply to so many others who suffer. And you basically help. They’re not being paid to help people who aren’t getting help from the medical profession. Is that correct?
Amanda Love 5:29
Yes, that’s correct.
Richard Matthews 5:31
Awesome. So to start with, why don’t you tell me a little bit about what it is that you do now? What’s your business like? Some of the services that you might offer, who you serve that kind of stuff, what is it that you’re known for now?
Amanda Love 5:42
So I’m known for working with people with fibromyalgia so they have extreme pain and fatigue and their sleep issues and multiple issues, of course, and what I do is one-on-one consultations with these people. But the first thing I do is offer them a free 45-minute phone call, where we could discuss what their health concerns are, what they’re going through. And then at that point, I’ll tell them about my services. And then we go on to – they schedule a 90-minute call, and it’s a health history very detailed. And it tells me where your health concerns are maybe your immune system is weak, maybe your digestive system is weak. So we work on those. And that 90-minute session, I learn more about you and then I give you recommendations, and then after that, we will follow up with a follow-up call every couple of weeks.
Richard Matthews 6:47
Awesome. So I know fibromyalgia can be a really debilitating condition to live with. So, in your experience with the clients that you serve, how often do you see the ability to reduce the symptoms or maybe even completely remove the symptoms of fibromyalgia with diet and nutrition?
Amanda Love 7:05
By a lot like 80%, I think food allergies play a big, big role in Fibromyalgia along with stress and stuff, and food allergies. The medical field doesn’t really cover that. So that’s what I focus on is getting rid of those foods that are making you ill, like dairy …
Richard Matthews 7:33
How do the results compare to – I know, if you watch any television at all, there’s always the fibro, the classic fibromyalgia commercial. How do – and they’re drugs that they do that. Does the nutrition work better than the pills?
Amanda Love 7:51
And I think right now, we’re in the society that we think a lot of people go on Cymbalta, Lyrica. But I’ve had hundreds of people tell me, oh, this is not helping with the fatigue. This is not helping with the pain. And they’re still on that drug, even though it’s not helping them. So, and when you get diagnosed with fibromyalgia, the rheumatologists either will put you on Cymbalta or Lyrica or some other antidepressants. And then most of the time, they’ll recommend physical therapy or pain management, which isn’t really helpful either.
Richard Matthews 8:37
This means they gave up on you and they say just learn to deal with the pain.
Amanda Love 8:40
Yeah. So I think people a lot of times, people think that they have to live with the pain and you really don’t have to live with the pain. There are supplements and diet really helps with those things.
Richard Matthews 8:56
Awesome. I’m gonna talk a little origin story. And when we say every hero has their origin story, it’s where you started to realize that you were different that maybe you had superpowers and maybe you could use them to help other people. So how did you get started to develop or discover the value that you bring to the world, your entrepreneurial journey, so to speak?
Amanda Love 9:18
So, I was diagnosed in 2010. And I was 20 years old, and I realized I kept going to all these medical professionals, and finally, I found a wellness chiropractor who did all the testing for the food sensitivities. I found out I was very sensitive to gluten. It was the highest he’s ever seen with someone with gluten sensitivity. I had also eggs. I can’t have eggs, dairy, and soy. And, so I realized there wasn’t anyone out there helping with the nutrition aspect of fibromyalgia, and there are very few people out there and so I thought I’ll go into the nutrition aspect because I love nutrition. And so that was one of my first loves is nutrition. I did personal training before that, but I didn’t do anything with it because I got so sick right after I did that training. So then, I did education for nutrition. And so that’s what I believe I’m put on this on this earth to do is help people with fibromyalgia cause I can relate to you guys.
Richard Matthews 10:38
Absolutely. So, I actually I did the, what do you call it the DNA testing, which you may have heard about on the stuff that you were listening to, and I found out that I have a really low interaction with gluten which is beneficial because we have lots of it in our diet, in the American diet. It’s definitely good. But it’s really interesting to learn, at least for me, it was really interesting to learn what things that you are sensitive to, and which things are good for your body and which things aren’t. And I was 34 years old when I finally learn some of this stuff about your own body and you’re like, how come this isn’t baseline stuff you learn when you’re going through the education system or other things like, Hey, you have a body, you’d probably learn some of the basics about here’s how it works, and here’s how you feed it and take care of it. And, the only thing we ever learned in health class was how to do push-ups. Not that that’s a bad skill, but –
Amanda Love 11:36
And I think we need to realize nutrition plays a large part because I was super ill. Up to my early 20s, I kept getting sick constantly with fevers and I was constantly dealing with respiratory issues and stuff so it plays a huge role.
Richard Matthews 11:36
Absolutely.
Amanda Love 11:36
And our food in our view nowadays isn’t the greatest either. Even if we get organic, sometimes we have all these modified stuff. So you might –
Richard Matthews 12:11
How did you find that? Go ahead.
Amanda Love 12:12
You might think, I think a lot of times I get people who say that they are eating healthy. And that’s a very, very vague answer. Because I’m like, what does that really mean? You might be eating really good. You might think you’re eating really good, but then you have a sensitivity to the gluten and you shouldn’t really be having that.
Richard Matthews 12:40
So how did you find that transition into working for yourself as a consultant and helping people with their health and being in charge of your own business, so to speak, because running a business, even a consulting business like that you’re in charge of a lot more than just health consulting, you have to do marketing and come on podcasts like this and manage clients and all that other stuff? How was that – how did that go for you? And do you enjoy the business part of your business?
Amanda Love 13:10
Yes and no, it just depends. I’m still learning. I’m only in my third year. But what I’ve learned is I gotta keep trying stuff. And then I see and I tweak things and see what works and what doesn’t work. And you just got to keep going. Because I know people need help. So I’m gonna just keep going, and you grow as a person doing all this stuff.
Richard Matthews 13:41
Absolutely. My next question for you has to do with your superpowers. This is what you do, or build or offer this world that really helps solve problems for people. The things you used to slay the world’s villains, so to speak. And the way I’ve been framing this for my guests is if you look at the set of skills that you’ve developed over the course of your life, you probably have one skill, I call it your zone of genius, your superpower that really energizes, or lets you build the other skills, and what do you think that is for you, your superpower?
Amanda Love 14:15
I think one thing is that I’m really good at listening. I think a lot of times we’ll go to the doctor, and they just don’t have the time to listen and to hear all the different things that you’re doing though so I get a whole picture of you. And also I’ve been there so I could relate to you. I used to be stuck on the couch, super pain. I did this for a year or two. I couldn’t do any schooling, I couldn’t do anything. So I had been where that person is. And if you’re older than me, so I’m 30 but I still have been, where you’ve been where the pain, the fatigue, and stuff so –
Richard Matthews 15:02
Yeah, and that’s, I call that that superpower is empathy. You’ve been in their shoes. You’ve been in their shoes, how to listen to them and understand their problems and really help them take them through that path like, Hey, here’s where you are. I’ve been there. And I’ve been across that crocodile-infested river, I know what it looks like, I know where the bad things are, and I can help you navigate this path to the other side. So that’s a really powerful skill to have. And it really especially when someone – if you’re dealing with something like pain, right pain and stopping them from living their life and doing things like that, the ability to really understand, Hey, I know where you are. I know what this feels like. I know how much work it is to fix this kind of stuff. It probably really helps, I would imagine to connect with them and really help them move past some of that stuff.
Amanda Love 15:50
Yeah, and I’m there to hold their hand and stuff. And you want to be able to enjoy your life again. Enjoy your kids are your grandkids and stuff and just not have to worry that if you went out to the store that you would come home so exhausted that it would wipe you out for the whole week. So you don’t want to live like that.
Richard Matthews 16:16
So I would, just out of curiosity, do you find that having a high level of empathy leads to your clients taking more action on your recommendations and actually getting results more quickly or at a higher degree than they would otherwise?
Amanda Love 16:32
I think so. I believe that people need to know that someone was there to help. I mean, was there in the beginning, and has now created this life that they’re looking to create in a similar way.
Richard Matthews 16:49
Absolutely. So if your superpower is one side, the flip side of that coin is your fatal flaw. Let me say just like Superman has his Kryptonite. What is something that you have struggled with in the growth of your business, specifically, that you think has held you back and something that you’ve been working on? And then more importantly, how have you been working on it? So someone who might be struggling with the same thing can learn a thing or two from you.
Amanda Love 17:16
I don’t know, I’m not an outgoing person. So I would, but I’d gotten better in the last year and a half. So I think the main thing is you got to try new things. Whatever you’re doing in life, because you’re going to learn and you’re going to grow and it might be the solution to whatever you’re dealing with -wise. So I think we all need to be trying new things and growing as a person, and then you become a better person.
Richard Matthews 17:49
You can better personally try and grow those things. So my next question for you is your common enemy. And this is in relation to your clients when they come and they start working with you, you probably have the same problems that you deal with all the time that you have to help them overcome. And so if you had a magic wand and you could just tap your clients on the head at the beginning of your time working together with them and remove that thing that roadblock that you constantly have to fight against. What is that?
Amanda Love 18:21
That the medical professionals know everything.
Richard Matthews 18:30
That’s very true.
Amanda Love 18:32
That’s the biggest thing I’ve seen with when I’m marketing people will say, Well, you know more than my doctor, my rheumatologist and I’m like, I’m not saying that. I’m saying, I know nutrition and I feel like nutrition could really help you this way. And there are supplements that the doctors might not know about. That’s what I focus on. So I think that’s the big thing is having people know that there’s other opportunities out there to getting well. A natural path or a nutritionist or someone who deals with stuff. And it needs to be someone who specializes in whatever that health condition is.
Richard Matthews 19:22
It’s one of the things that I’ve been really interested in, in that. So we have our, our whole world of health. You have our medical community is very focused and very good at sickness care. And particularly in America, we’re really, really good at urgent care. You don’t want to get in a car accident in any other country other than America. Because our urgent care is some of the best in the world. But on the other side, we’re talking about, Hey, I am healthy and I want to stay healthy or I want to get healthy. That’s not really where the strength lies in Our medical system. And I found it really fascinating to start learning from people whose – they’ve dedicated their lives to learning about nutrition and learning about how our bodies work from the stuff that we put in it. The fuel that we give it to live and looking at causal symptoms instead of symptomatic stuff. And it’s been, it’s been really fascinating. And it’s interesting because you have this perceived authority, that I went to school for eight years, therefore, I have this authority, therefore, you have to listen to me. And I found some really interesting stuff. I work with some nurses and doctors and in some sexual health stuff, and I know there are 46 books that they use to educate doctors in America. And 45 of them completely skip over one of these topics. They just don’t even talk about it because it’s not a thing that it’s not in their purview. And yet, the doctors are looked at as authorities in some of these areas, and you’re like, well, what why is that and, and our doctors are a product of their education. And if it’s not included in their education, it’s not included in their authority. I agree with you on that whole topic. And it’s interesting because you’re in a space where you have to overcome that before you can even create sales.
Amanda Love 21:24
That’s what I’m trying to do at this point is try to overcome that little block of people thinking, oh, there’s only my rheumatologists is the main person they think is going to help them with it.
Richard Matthews 21:42
Absolutely. So if you’re common enemy is the thing that you’re fighting against. The flip side of that is your driving force. The thing that you fight for. So just like Spider-Man fights to save New York or Batman fights to save Gotham or Google fights to index and categorize all the world’s information. What is it that you’re fighting for? What’s your mission in your business?
Amanda Love 22:00
My mission is that people know that you can get better with fibromyalgia, a lot of times you’ll see people complaining, mostly online, saying that they can’t get better and I truly don’t believe that you can’t get better. You can get better through nutrition and supplements. It just might take time, but it’s well worth it to be able to spend time with your family and friends again.
Richard Matthews 22:31
Absolutely. So just sort of on that, they’re getting better stuff. How is removing fibromyalgia from your life impacted what you’re capable of doing and your lifestyle?
Amanda Love 22:43
So I’m able to run a business, see clients, to be a guest on podcasts. I’m not stuck on the couch, in so much pain and fatigue and stuff. I could do regular activities. Well, not really, right now during this time but because of the lockdown, and everything’s closed. But go to church, My sister has a 10-month-old baby so being able to spend time with them, so stuff like that it’s just so important and I really do believe that people with fibromyalgia should get the help that they need.
Richard Matthews 23:26
Absolutely, I’ve never known anyone with fibromyalgia but I can imagine that being – I’ve had migraines in the past and you get a migraine and it just you’re just on the couch for until it’s gone. You can’t do anything. And my understanding is fibromyalgia is your whole body, right?
Amanda Love 23:42
Yeah, your whole body is in extreme pain. A lot of times you get headaches too because of gluten sensitivity and stuff.
Richard Matthews 23:55
This is probably very low in comparison, but I have an allergic reaction to mosquito bites, and we’re down here in Florida and I’ll go outside and get five or six mosquito bites up and down my leg. And your whole body, for me, I feel my whole body is just on fire from the mosquito bites and I’m like, Oh, you can’t, I can’t do anything or concentrate or even watch a movie without that kind of stuff. And I know that’s not anywhere near the nerve pain that you have fibromyalgia. So I can’t even imagine what that’s like. And it’s really fascinating that you can fix it by changing what you put into your body.
Amanda Love 24:31
I truly think so. And I think people need to start realizing you can fix it, you just, it might take some time, and you start … – I think a lot of times people think oh, I could do it by myself, which you can read all the information but it’s not individualized to you. So that’s what I do is I individualize.
Richard Matthews 24:56
So that was one of the things that my doctor – When we started working on my health and nutrition, he was like, hey, everything – we do it customized to you and for you based on your blood work and your DNA. And it was really fascinating to me ’cause I’d never heard of anything like that before. So if you’re listening, and you have fibromyalgia I know someone who does. It’s such an important aspect is learning how to individualize your diet and your nutrition to your body type and the stuff that your body needs. So it’s really powerful stuff. So my next question for you is more on the practical side. I call this the heroes tool belt. Maybe you got a big magical hammer like Thor or bulletproof vest, like the neighborhood police officer, or maybe just really love how Evernote helps you organize your thoughts, what are some of the tools that you have in your arsenal that you use every day either to work with your clients or to keep track of your clients or to do your marketing or whatever? Some of the maybe one or two of your favorite tools you use all the time to make your business go round.
Amanda Love 25:53
I’m having a planner, just a regular planner that you could write. So, I know exactly what I’m doing each day and keeping track of client appointments and stuff. Also, I have a calendar on my website where people schedule out their appointments and stuff, and that they could pay through my website and stuff. So having that all set up is really great. So then I don’t have to worry about all that.
Richard Matthews 26:25
Who’s the calendaring software you use?
Amanda Love 26:29
Calendly, I don’t-
Richard Matthews 26:31
Calendly?
Amanda Love 26:32
No, I think it’s Acuity. I think it’s Acuity.
Richard Matthews 26:36
Okay … Acuity or whatever. The thing that’s been fascinating to me is after you know I’ve been running the show. This is a 101st episode or something like that right around that area. The number of people who have said their planner or their calendar is the number one tool in their business has blown me away because you can’t – I tell – my parents think I’m a little bit insane because I tell them I live and die by my calendar. But you know, if they listen to all of my podcasts they’d understand I’m not the only one. I’m not the only one who lives and dies by my calendar. And my wife knows if it’s not on the calendar it’s not happening. It’s just it’s not going on. You said you have a written planner. And just because I’m curious, because my wife is like this. She has one of those, I think it’s called a Happy Planner. And it’s got all of her stuff in it. And she draws it all and it’s all pretty and gorgeous. And I couldn’t care less because I’m all just the text, plain text on the computer screen and I’m fine. I’m just curious, where do you fall on the ado? Because my wife’s like, it’s not pretty. I’m not gonna do any of it. I don’t care. I’m not gonna play. So where do you fall on that line? Do you use it just practical or do you do spend time to make it look good?
Amanda Love 27:50
No, I rather just list out the stuff that I have to do.
Richard Matthews 27:58
It’s interesting because I know A number of entrepreneurs, they actually put the time and effort into making their plan or a really beautiful part of their day. And I’m like, I couldn’t care less. But I was just curious where you fell on that spectrum. So you’re like me. It’s like … good.
Amanda Love 28:14
As long as I’m not missing anything then I’m good.
Richard Matthews 28:18
That’s cool. The next question for you then is your own personal heroes. So just like Frodo had Gandalf or Luke had Obi-Wan Kenobi or Robert Kiyosaki had his Rich Dad, who were some of your heroes, were they teachers or authors, speakers or real-life mentors, peers who were a couple of years ahead of you. How important were they to what you’ve accomplished so far in growing your business?
Amanda Love 28:39
I would say my doctor who found out I had all the food allergies and sensitivities and stuff. So that was Peter Kahn, was a big thing. I also enjoy Dr. Andrew Weil because he’s in the nutrition field. And so those are people I looked towards. And I also have some health coach people who do nutrition, who help nutrition experts grow their business. So I follow those people and do their programs too.
Richard Matthews 29:18
Absolutely. So a lot of people that have helped you on your path to creating this health consultancy and whatnot, have been really important. That makes a lot of sense. I’m gonna bring it home for our listeners and talk a little bit about guiding principles, top one, maybe two principles that you put into action every day in your business that you really think to contribute to your growth over the last couple of years, maybe something you wish you had known when you first started out three or four years ago, Growing your business.
Amanda Love 29:49
I would say, you first have to take care of yourself. If you don’t do that, then you’re not – you’re gonna run out of energy. You’re gonna struggle and stuff and then you’ll end up getting sick. So making sure I’m staying away from the food sensitivities I have, working out, just making sure I take care of myself personally.
Richard Matthews 30:18
That’s actually it’s one of the things that I’ve been focused on. Our audience has been listening to us, I’ve been working, it’d been this year on all of my own, and I’m not – wasn’t unhealthy, but you realize, hey, if I don’t, if I don’t do something about it, it’s gonna go off the cliff. Instead of having an upward trajectory, as I get older, I want to get healthier. I don’t want to get older and get less healthy. And that’s the default, the default is if you don’t work on it, you will get worse. And that’s the whole the second law of thermodynamics is at work in your health and wellness as well as anything else. You have to work on your health you have to do you have to make yourself a priority. And one of my early business mentors used to say to me that you had to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. If you are sick, it’s very hard to build wealth and build wisdom and grow a company and grow a business. And when you could probably speak to that better than I can because you actually were sick. Could you have built a business when you were on the couch?
Amanda Love 31:26
No, not 10 years ago, I couldn’t. No. So, I think a lot of times people look like they’re totally healthy, and they’re not so I’ve learned even if people with fibromyalgia, or I mean, who don’t have fibromyalgia they might not – They might be dealing with some little health issue and they’re just you would never know about it unless you were talking to them about their health and stuff.
Richard Matthews 31:58
It’s one of the things that –
Amanda Love 31:59
You have To start early, you have to start in your 20s and 30s. Or it’s just gonna add on multiple health conditions.
Richard Matthews 32:08
Yeah, it’s one of the things I learned When I started going through with my doctor and all the testing stuff. They’re like, I look healthy, I feel healthy. But when you actually look at the data, you’re like, there’s a downward trajectory that if you don’t take care of eventually, that downward trajectory is going to cross the line, now you’re not healthy. And that’s the way that works. So you have to work on taking care of yourself and change that because you can keep yourself and get healthier and healthier if you actually work towards that. So that basically wraps up our interview. I do have one last little thing I do at the end of all of our interviews I call it The HERO’s Challenge. HERO’s Challenge is pretty simple. We do it on every show. It’s basically this do you have someone in your life or in your network who you think has a cool entrepreneurial story? Who are they, first names are fine, and why do you think they should come and share their story with The HERO Show?
Amanda Love 32:57
I love I would say, Lori Kennedy, she helps online businesses, specifically those with nutrition, grow a business. So she’s helped hundreds and hundreds of people. So that’s one of the people that I look up to, to grow my business online.
Richard Matthews 33:20
Awesome. So, Lori Kennedy. We’ll reach out later and see if we can work out an introduction. But thank you so much for coming on the show, Amanda, really appreciate your time. My last question for you is really simple. Where can people find you if they’re interested, if they’re suffering from fibromyalgia, other things, where can they find you? And more importantly, who are the ideal type of people to reach out? I mean, obviously, if they’re suffering from something like fibromyalgia that reaches out, but do you have any other – these are the right people that should reach out and say hi to meet you.
Amanda Love 33:45
– Sleep’s a big thing, energy fatigue, even if you have those issues, those are three big issues and you might have not been diagnosed with fibromyalgia but you had those issues. And that would be three things that you might want to work on. So those people are really important.
Richard Matthews 33:54
And where can people find you online?
Amanda Love 34:13
I have my website is http://amandaeliselove.com . It’s my full name. And it’s the same for my Instagram, Facebook, I also have a podcast and it just celebrated one year, and it’s called Fibromyalgia Real Solutions With Amanda Love.
Richard Matthews 34:33
Congratulations. Thank you.
Amanda Love 34:35
So it’s called, Fibromyalgia Real Solutions With Amanda Love. And I definitely recommend joining my email list where you can get a free sleep guide. So you can find out any other information that you want to know about fibromyalgia and you could start learning what I do and what I’m all about.
Richard Matthews 34:59
Awesome. So it’s http://amandaeliselove.com And can you spell least for us real quick because just –
Amanda Love 35:04
It’s E-L-I-S-E.
Richard Matthews 35:07
E-L-I-S-E. So, Amanda E-L-I-S-E love.com. And if you or someone you know is suffering from fibromyalgia, make sure you reach out. I know that could be a debilitating thing. And I also know that nutrition can really, really make a big difference in your life. So Amanda, thank you so much for coming on the show. Really appreciate your time and continue doing the great work that you’re doing with your clients. Do you have any final words of wisdom to our audience before we hit this stop record button?
Amanda Love 35:34
Sure, just try something new. Maybe you’ve been going to the medical professions for a while and just haven’t worked. So, my biggest takeaway is that you take action and do one of the things I mentioned.
Richard Matthews 35:52
Awesome. Thank you very much for being on the show today, Amanda.
Amanda Love 35:54
Thank you for having me.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
