Meet Hannah Koschak | Registered Dietitian & Nutrition Coach

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

Hi Hannah, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I spent 10 years building my career as a Registered Dietitian. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge, but more importantly, incredible skills. I started my career in a clinical setting (inpatient and dialysis) and helped patients manage their disease.

Truthfully, when patients are in the midst of disease and striving for a better quality of life – their jean size suddenly became less important. After a long day of educating with compassion and encouragement, I would leave work to see my friends and family victims to the dieting industry and weight stigma without any regard of what true health is. The weight stigma on social media has brain washed people to believe ‘weight loss = healthy’ no matter the avenue to achieve that. I realized that if I don’t take the leap to step into that platform, then how will people ever get an unbiased perspective? So, I left my job to inspire people about the power of eating for disease prevention while enjoying the journey doing so. This approach not only leads to a better quality of life, but also helps them actually meet their weight goals for long-term.

What should our readers know about your business?
When we live in a world where people receive the most compliments after weight loss without knowing how or why, it can be hard to not feel like you’re failing or falling behind if you are not in a state of weight loss (or at your lowest). Someone’s weight isn’t always driven by healthy habits but the stream of attention keeps people pushing harder, restricting more, and completely losing sight of what matters – their health. Wholesome Endeavors offers a fresh perspective to your health journey – outside of tracking, rules, or even the scale. Our approach to helping people with finding a journey that is sustainable AND enjoyable is by first improving their habits and relationship with food.

Reprograming the brain from what society is expecting and what their childhood of comfort eating has kept them going back to. Once that rewiring happens, learning about food in a disease preventative way becomes inspiring and exciting. Then the power comes with implementation! I’m helping clients along their journey without forcing it to be what works for anyone else – because most people don’t have the same lifestyle and barriers – so no health journey should be a one-size-fits-all approach. Quick fixes have quick results and quick weight return. Once people gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence in their health journey – the weight is gone for good, while also preventing or prolonging disease. In college, I struggled with my weight and was always searching for the right concoction of dieting and exercise to get weight loss. After a heartbreak paired with anxiety, I quickly lost weight (which of course returned) and was praised and commended for “my success”. At the time, I gracefully accepted the feedback, but looking back, it only encouraged more unhealthy habits. It wasn’t until I really addressed my relationship with food was I able to grasp and implement the knowledge to pursue a healthy lifestyle that was actually sustainable. Wholesome Endeavors has personal experience in addition to professional experience to create an individualized, empowering experience for clients.

Wholesome Endeavors has now expanded from serving only clients, to now offering a membership which allows people to have their own journey without the direct support of 1:1 coaching, but also be surrounded by people on the same journey for a next level of support.

The Wholesome Endeavors logo is an artichoke. A fresh artichoke is quite the journey to prepare, cook, and eat. Each leaf offers only one bite of goodness, however each bite gets you closer to the heart of the artichoke, which is the biggest, best part. Similar to a health journey, each little aspect of your journey should bring joy and lead you closer to the heart of your health journey. The heart of your journey with Wholesome Endeavors is freedom from dieting, deprivation, or guilt and confidence in your food choices.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would certainly start them out at one of the most unique establishments in town – Down to Earth Garden Center which includes a dynamic green house, a breakfast and lunch cafe, and a women’s boutique. We would get the full experience of shopping while having plenty of opportunity to chat and catch up. I would also take them to our local Farmer’s Market which offers it’s own creative craft show full of the town’s talent and fresh produce. It also has live music to enjoy in the park along the river. Finally, I’d end the evening at Riverbend Winery & Distillery which offers outdoor seating with a gorgeous view while listening to nature.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve had business coaches that have played an integral part of my business adventures at the right time and I’ve taken bits and pieces from all of them.

However, I’m really grateful for the awards and local acknowledgments I’ve received, which proved to me they appreciate the purpose, passion, and potential within my business. The Red Letter Grant is a competitive local grant that supports women run businesses. Also, a local “Best Of” competition voted Wholesome Endeavors #1 “Weight loss coach/consultant” for the past 3 years. Those acknowledgements pushed me to create more of a ripple effect in my community to make a difference in their health journey.

Website: wholesomeendeavors.com

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