Meet Sophie Teixeira de Abreu | Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sophie Teixeira de Abreu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sophie, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Had I had to answer this question ten years ago, I think I would have said: “I grew up in a safe family environment, where we take little risks, don’t like change too much, and simply work hard to get to where we want to be”. At that time I had a definite “risk averse” personality. I was mostly thinking small, thinking safe. Throughout my first career in cosmetics in London, in my twenties, I was always working hard and delivering, but in hindsight rarely taking any risk or confronting myself to situations I wouldn’t know how to handle. And I married just my opposite in that respect. A man who is constantly setting himself up for new, crazy challenges. 800 skydive jumps (I only jumped once from a plane with him, in tandem, the day after our wedding). Invited to the world championships of triathlon after just 18 months participating in triathlons. Thinking big. Negotiating like a pro. Always with a mix of self-confidence and humility that is rare. Working in the trading industry, he knows how to take risks and it got him to where he is today. The way he handles risk-taking always impresses me. He is serene. Living by his side, I have no doubts that he somehow pushed me in that direction, learning to come out of my “comfort zone”, to think bigger, and challenge myself to face change and take risks when an opportunity arises. About 5 years ago, I took my first real risk. We had been living in Barbados for six years, raising our three children, and I started feeling I wanted more out of my life as a woman. I needed to challenge myself and get back to work, one way or another. This time not for a big company but for myself. I started to envisage our family future in Miami with a world of new opportunities for me. That meant finding a business to invest in, manage by myself, a new home in Miami, a school for the kids… I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, that it would be a lot of stress to do it all at once, and that I would be alone in this for at least a year, while my husband would travel back and forth to spend some weekends with us. But I did it still. I bought a convenience store in a condo of South Beach, with a poolside restaurant, to restructure and run with three employees and a chef. And that first year was indeed hell. Almost every day (sometimes nights and weekends) I had a new problem to solve, investment decisions to make, negotiations to handle, and a new language to learn (Spanish)! I think I learnt the hard way how to become the independent and strong woman I am today. And it feels so liberating, so satisfying! Two phrases come to mind in this process of taking risks: “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. I went through phases of wondering why I had left my safe life in Barbados, why I was imposing this stressful life to myself. But in hindsight I am so happy I did. The other one is “It’s always impossible until it’s done”. In the end, I did find a solution to all my problems. And I learnt so much from them. So when one arises now, I feel I am able to take it with so much more calm and confidence. I don’t let it affect me like it used to, because I know I will find a solution. The second year in Miami, I had my business under control and time to dive into what had always been my passion: food, cooking and nutrition. I immersed myself into a well-known nutrition training program that entirely changed my life and my health. I had found my life purpose. Soon I said to my husband: “this is what I want to do, this is my mission, I will become coach in Nutrition and health”. He was fully supportive and I could feel a sense of pride in his eyes, which gave me wings. From there it was a succession of taking risks, and discovering the world of coaching. I rolled up my sleeves and worked all possible hours in a day, to create my social media platforms with creative daily content, a website I designed from scratch, and get out in the world of functional health practitioners. I used to be a person who didn’t like to socialise, but I became this fearless, joyful, confident person able to connect with new people, share my passion to create more projects, open new doors. I often sign up for events where I know nobody (something that the “old me” would have never done!) and I engage in conversations with like-minded people there. A lot of opportunities can arise when you least plan for them. Lately I was talking to a doctor about what I do, and next thing I know we are meeting to see how we could work together to refer our clients/patients to each other. The way I would describe my life now in terms of risk-taking is that almost every month, I think about a new idea for my nutrition coaching business (often at night, or on my bike, or during a meditation). While that idea is still developing in my mind and often not mature yet, I like to set myself up for a challenge, following an impulse. In January, for instance, I woke up with this idea of creating virtual interactive cooking classes as a new exciting thing to offer to my community, and I posted on my social media a starting date for weekly “MEET ME IN THE KITCHEN” zoom cooking classes. I had no idea where I was going with that, but I had three weeks to prepare content, website design and functionalities, and the set up in my kitchen (filming, lighting). We had so much fun! Talking about taking risks to develop your business, I’ve had this project in my mind for a while now of developing a ROOT MEAL DELIVERY SERVICE here in Miami, to offer “what I eat for a reset” to busy women who don’t have the time to cook but want to eat healthy. And two months ago, out of nowhere, I met someone at a playdate, who is now my business partner in this adventure. I would never have taken that risk before. This mindset is a huge part of who I am now. I need to create, I need to invente new health promoting recipes, new content for my community, new challenges for the women on my nutrition coaching program. This is what excites me, this is what makes me feel alive, and this is what I enjoy the most about my life today. I open new doors, I put myself in situations where good things can happen to me. At the back of this zoom cooking class event, for instance, the owner of a healthy café in Miami contacted me to work together to organise nutrition cooking classes in person in their kitchen, and film it. The 30year old me would have kindly refused, finding excuses for myself like “I don’t have time, I’m already so busy, I’ve never done that before”. But Today I say “hell yeah, let’s do it and why not organise ROOT cooking classes in other restaurants in Barbados, Nassau, Aix en Provence, where I have connexions… Cooking for health and conveying my love for real food to others is my passion, and I now know for a fact that chance happens to those who are prepared and open to change, open to taking risks!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My name is Sophie Teixeira de Abreu. I am a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, based in Miami, Florida. I created ROOT Mindful Nutrition, a coaching practise where I dedicate my time helping women transform their health through lifestyle and nutrition changes. My coaching approach is holistic, taking into account every aspect of a person’s life (stress, sleep, relationships, spirituality, career…) while educating and supporting her with her food choices. Because we all have our own story, and creating new healthy habits takes time, I like to work with women over periods of 3 to 6 months, sometimes 1 year. I also offer healthy cooking classes, tailored to a person’s needs (private or group, for adults as well as children, teens) My passion is to teach women how to create more health in their life, and become artists in their own kitchen. My goal is to give each woman- who I meet and work with- the keys to transition to a more plant-based diet, and discover the energy that she can get out of it, so she never wants to go back to her old eating habits. It has to be simple and accessible, delicious and not frustrating, so she can implement sustainable changes, and yield all health benefits. My decision to become a nutrition & health coach came in my mid 30’s when I was struggling with personal thyroid health issues, significant hairloss, digestive issues and extreme fatigue, which I managed to turn around mostly with nutrition and lifestyle changes. The improvements in my health, sleep, energy, mood, and creativity were such that it became evident I would spend the rest of my life helping women through their own health struggles.

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 take her out with us to Key Biscayne on a little wakesurf morning. Renting a small motorboat for 2hours and having fun surfing its wave (anyone can try!) . I recommend GATORBAIT Wakesurfing (ask for Marcos) – Then I would take her out for lunch to DUNE beach restaurant in the Carlton of key Biscayne. I love this spot. They have some delicious healthy food options and you eat with your feet in the sand. They don’t take reservations so I would get there early for lunch! – In the evening I would take her out for a sundowner drink at the STANDARD of Miami Beach, with a magical view on the bay, and order a healthy green juice (I love to have a green juice before an evening I know I will have some wine:-) – We would have a reservation at JUVIA, one of my favorite rooftops in Miami, where 3 chefs (French, Peruvian and Japanese) offer a menu that is creative and absolutely delicious. – In times pre-covid I would take her dancing salsa at BALL & CHAIN on Calle ocho. low profile and always such good fun dancing and listening to live bands… BAOLI could be another option. – The next day I would definitely go for a walk in Wynwood to see those unique wall arts, and do some shopping there (a few boutiques I love, that she wouldn’t find anywhere else)! – We would have lunch in this restaurant I absolutely love, LE CHICK, in Wynwood, with upscale comfort food and nice outdoor area. – I would take her to South Pointe to walk on the beach, show her the wilderness of Miami Beach, and we would end up for an early diner at CALL ME GABY, an Italian restaurant, with a beautiful terrace- “guinguette” style – great music and the best truffle pizza I have ever had!! (because it’s allowed on rare occasions:-) – Back to Coral Gables, where I live, I would take her on a road bike ride down on old cutlers and towards Homestead, to earn a good reward lunch at ROOT ‘n BONES (I love the restaurant decor, and its a mix of upscale comfort food and delicious healthy salads!) – We could take the kids out to play in any of the parks in this area, (merry christmas park is always a good idea) and stop for a healthy juice at RAWJUICE (next to MADRUGA bakery for those who want to indulge more in the French style snack time!) – I would take her shopping along the few little boutiques on sunset drive (I like MARKET), spend some time discovering new books at Barnes & Noble, and grab a few Chilean seabass fillet, some Miitake mushrooms and Greens from WHOLEFOODS to cook later at home …

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Rodrigo Teixeira de Abreu: my husband, love of my life who helped me become who I am and let me exist independently The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) : for a training that changed my life “The Prosperous Coach”, by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin: Out of all books I read about nutrition and coaching, this is the one that helped me the most to take risks and become fearless and confident. A must read for anyone who wants to become a successful coach! I remember taking notes at every chapter. One thing that stuck with me form the book: To become a successful coach you need to be “creating” clients. What they need is an experience of you. And you do that by saying to people “let’s have a conversation”. It’s absolutely free. And this is how I have been growing my coaching business so far.

Website: root-mindfulnutrition.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/root_mindfulnutrition/

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/sophie-teixeira-de-abreu-8a991619

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

Other: For business opportunities: email: sophie@root-mindfulnutrition.com To know more about my coaching: https://linktr.ee/root_mindfulnutrition

Image Credits
Root Mindful Nutrition