Overview of DIY Money — Interview with Megan Featherstone
This episode of the DIY Money podcast features Megan Featherstone (Featherstone Nutrition), a sports dietitian who turned a hospital-based career and running passion into a growing nutrition business focused on endurance athletes. The conversation covers her start as a side hustle (2017), scaling through referrals and social media, how she structures and delegates the business today, her client approach (performance vs. body-composition goals), and practical advice for other professionals who want to build a passion-driven business while maintaining work–life balance.
Key takeaways
- Start small and strategic: Megan built her business while working full time, growing organically through referrals and low-risk steps rather than a sudden leap.
- Consistency matters: staying visible and reliable (content, services, messaging) builds trust and a sustainable brand.
- Systems enable scale: website, web app, documentation, and hiring have made her approach reproducible across practitioners.
- Nutrition is complex: clients make hundreds of nutrition decisions daily compared with a few training decisions; nutrition coaching requires individualized, practical plans.
- Prioritize boundaries: designing the business around family needs (school-run blocks, travel-limits) preserves long-term sustainability and prevents burnout.
Background & business timeline
- Early career: clinical dietitian in a hospital (15 years ago), then moved into sports nutrition while running and researching for herself.
- 2015–2016: Provided free help to athletes referred by an Olympic runner/doctor.
- May 2017: Formally started an LLC; launched website and Instagram (recipes and runner-focused content).
- 2018: Linked up with a coaching group that began referring athletes.
- Late 2020 / COVID: Business growth continued through the pandemic; she transitioned to full-time entrepreneurship.
- 2021–2022: Lucrative years; saved extra income for family goals (e.g., college funds).
- 2024–2025: Business now has two employees, group coaching, brand partnerships, and destination programs (e.g., taking 100 women to the LA Marathon).
Services, niche & client approach
- Primary niche: endurance runners (performance-focused), with ~25% of clients focused on body composition.
- Services: one-on-one coaching, group coaching, branded experiences, partnerships with running brands.
- Intake & coaching approach:
- Align on client goals (performance vs. body composition) and build individualized plans.
- Use data—training load and daily habits—to calculate appropriate daily fueling and energy targets.
- Emphasize practical, sustainable behavior changes rather than generic advice.
- Typical client profile: disciplined athletes who follow training but struggle to make consistent nutrition choices day-to-day.
How she scaled and runs the business
- Built visibility early via website and Instagram (started 2017), which helped clients self-qualify before contact.
- Created a web app for standardized intake and tracking—important for consistent client experience across practitioners.
- Outsourced ops: a college friend handles admin, intake, billing, some content; another dietitian runs client consults.
- Hiring philosophy: deliberate, slow growth to ensure cultural and brand fit; aims to replicate the “Megan approach” across providers.
- Current balance: blocks daily time for family (school drop-off/pick-up), records podcasts, travels frequently for events and partnerships.
Notable quotes & insights
- “Nutrition decisions are hundreds a day; training decisions are often one—go or not go. That’s why nutrition is more complex.”
- “Luck is when hard work meets opportunity”—Megan’s growth combined preparation with opportunistic yeses.
- “I have a ‘yes’ mentality: if it’s a great opportunity, I say yes and figure it out later.”
- “If you stay consistent in your message and keep showing up, you build trust and a brand.”
Practical advice for aspiring side-hustle entrepreneurs
- Begin while employed if you can—slow growth reduces pressure and preserves values.
- Build systems early (website, basic processes, standardized intake) so you can replicate the experience.
- Use referrals and partnerships—they scale trust faster than cold outreach.
- Start a simple online presence (website + Instagram) and grow from there—consistency outperforms sporadic hype.
- Outsource operational tasks when possible so you can focus on core value delivery.
- Monitor your own motivation and mental health—take breaks before burnout reduces passion or quality.
- Be open to opportunities that “fall in your lap,” but vet them for alignment with long-term goals.
Who this episode is for
- Runners and endurance athletes looking for performance or body-composition nutrition help.
- Dietitians, health professionals, and other practitioners planning to turn a clinical/part-time practice into a scaled business.
- Side-hustlers who want practical guidance on growing organically without taking unnecessary risk.
- Parents and professionals who need strategies for building a business while prioritizing family life.
Action items / next steps (for listeners)
- If you’re starting: register an LLC, build a simple website, and set up an Instagram account to begin documenting work and recipes.
- If you have demand: create standardized intake forms or a simple web app to ensure consistent client experiences.
- If scaling: hire for ops first (scheduling, billing, intake) to free time for revenue-generating work and client-facing activity.
- If an athlete: track training load and daily intake for 1–2 weeks and book an initial consult with a sports dietitian to align fueling with goals.
Produced insights: Megan Featherstone illustrates a practical, low-risk path from clinical work to a scalable, family-friendly sports nutrition business—rooted in consistency, systems, and selective delegation.