When a client told her that the usual techniques for staying healthy weren’t working, she needed a Plan B. Lisa Bunce became a nutritionist shortly after graduating with a degree as a Registered Dietitian. “It was the perfect profession and business to manage around my 2 children,” says Lisa.
For the past 20 years, Lisa’s focus has been on helping patients develop healthy habits. “My clients work to put into action the things that will help them live healthier lives.” Her clientele is made up mostly of individuals entering middle-age who’s weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, or sugar levels are beginning to rise and rather than introducing medication, their doctors suggest a visit with Lisa to tweak their diets and evaluate their lifestyles.
Lisa begins with an hour-long initial assessment followed by weekly half hour meetings, where she offers several suggestions for her clients to focus on between get-togethers. She wants them to remember things like drinking water throughout the day, choosing healthy foods for meals and snacks, and taking a breathing break to relive stress. However, one day one of her patients said he needed more of a reminder rather than just a list of things to try to do.
It was then that the light bulb went off and MyLilCoach was born. Together with her techie husband they began researching reminder options. At first she thought the gadget would be in the form of a pedometer, however, she often asked her clients to wear a pedometer to track their activity on a daily basis, but many times they would forget to keep it with them. “What does everyone always have with them? Their phone!” Lisa’s decided to create a device to gently nudge her clients towards the healthy lifestyle they craved, in the form of an iPhone application.
Several years back iPhone application developers were hard to find and very expensive, but once she found one who could bring MyLilCoach alive they were off and running. So now throughout the day her clients get text messages to help them achieve their goals. “MyLilCoach allows my clients to take me with them wherever they go with the use of the iPhone app.” Once activated, MyLilCoach delivers reminders based on the key components that I work to instill in my clients.” It even includes a pedometer. Lisa thinks of it as a great addition to her one-on-one counseling. “I really enjoying helping clients make positive changes in their lives.”
Launching in June of 2011, Lisa spends a great deal of time on marketing her iPhone app through press and speaking engagements. Her efforts have paid off, MyLilCoach has been downloaded in every country around the world; there’s even a Chinese translation and for only $1.99, what could be better? “I love the personal interaction with clients, but my kids think it’s pretty cool that mom is an app developer.” Now if only she could get The Biggest Loser to recommend it….that’s next on her to-do list.
Contact: [email protected]
VentureMom Tip
Bring your current venture in to the 21st century by offering your service in a new techie way.
