SDH183: Why You Should Keep Your Job While Building Your Business with Nagina Abdullah

What was the weirdest diet you've ever tried? What work out infomercial have you bought into recently? If not a super pumped infomercial, what workout trend have you gotten swept up into?  How long did you stick to these? Did they even work? Well today's guest, Nagina Abdullah, has been on the weight loss rollercoaster herself. Always athletic, and trying every diet from Weight Watchers to South Beach, she was never able to achieve the body that she wanted, or keep off any weight she did loose. More importantly, nothing she ever tried got her excited. And so, like every other method, her health and fitness motivation faded. However, her determination returned after she had two kids, and she found that adding certain spices to her healthy meals helped her loose weight without exercise! This eventually led to the creation of her weight loss program and blog, Masala Body. Masala Body is all about helping women on the go find easy and healthy ways to loose weight, by using spices like cinnamon, tumeric, and cayenne in their meals. Growing up in an Indian household, Nagina was always exposed to meals loaded with a multitude of spices and flavors. She said the joy of life was in her childhood dishes, and by learning their health benefits and strategically adding them to her snacks and meals, she was able to loose 40 pounds in nine months! After struggling with her weight for 35 years, she ended up being 20 pounds under her pre-baby weight, and had finally reached her dream body. Not only that, but she had gained an excitement in her new diet that she hadn't had before, which made her stick to her regiment and keep the weight off. She had to share her progress and her method with others, so she started her blog that has now evolved into a coaching business. Since its creation in 2013, Masala Body has helped over 500 women loose up to 40 pounds. When Masala Body first started, she had no intention of monetizing it or really expanding it. The blog simply acted as an escape from her demanding job as a management consultant in New York City. It was when she hit an audience of 500 people that she got her first paying client, gained two more, that she knew she had a profitable business on her hands. She kept her full time job, though, for the income and stability. So she switched to a less demanding role at her company so she could invest time into her business and grow her blog. Before she switches to her blog full time, she wants to increase its profitability, and match what she has to invest in Masala Body for its success. These expenses have included classes in becoming a perfect copywriter, learning different softwares, tips in increasing her blog's publicity, and hiring business coaches. But she has faith in her business and the power of her guidance, and with stats like hers and her own experiences with her diet, Masala Body's effectiveness goes without saying! Hear more about the benefits of adding spices in your diet, how she juggles two jobs, and how Nagina makes loosing weight fun! In this episode you will... Learn to obtain profitability in your business so you can have the confidence to take the leap from a stable job to become a full time entrepreneur Make a business out of a personal struggle in order to help others Know what your key metrics are that signify growth in your business Get comfortable with investing a large amount of money into expanding your business and becoming a CEO and founder Figure out what elements in your life can be eliminated or cut down so you can focus on growing your business Find the health benefits of adding certain spices in your diet INSIGHTS "I was just amazed and thoroughly thrilled that people were paying me to help them for something I did...I had always had a full time salary and that's just how I thought you made money. And so for me to actually pitch my services and coach women to loose weight, something that was so personal to me and help other women do the same thing, and see them go through that; it was completely fulfilling." -Nagina Abdullah "There's multiple health benefits of adding spices to your diet, like high inflammation, less water rentention, increased fat burning, and decreased appetite...I lost 10 pounds in my first month without any exercise by changing what I was eating and adding these fat buring spices...and over the course of nine months, I lost 40 pounds." -Nagina Abdullah "After a lifetime of struggle, to have my dream body after two kids...I couldn't believe it. I would look at myself in the mirror everyday and say, 'How could this have happened so easily when I struggled for the last 35 years,' and that's when I started my business." -Nagina Abdullah RESOURCES Nagina Abdullah LinkedIn Masala Body Website Masala Body Facebook Masala Body Instagram Nagina Abdullah Twitter Sweet Spice Cheat Sheet (MasalaBody.com/Shediditherway) The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks