Registered Dietitian and “Functional Nutrition Resources” owner, Jennette Berry, and her team know how to hustle.
But they also know how to play.
Jennette and her husband, Amos, practice co-owner and COO, take their team and their team members’ spouses out to dinner at least four times a year. And at least twice a year, the team goes away together.
“Spouses are brought into our mission. They understand why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Jennette said. “That’s been a really helpful dynamic. We’re all young. We all have families. If you don’t communicate the mission, there could be some resentment when a mom is out until 9pm for a dinner talk each week.”
In February, the entire team traveled to San Antonio for quarterly, where to their surprise, they were recognized as Team of The Year.
How did Jennette and Amos Build an Award-Winning Team?
While personal health spurred team members to take an interest in functional medicine and healing with food, Jennette believes she found her team members, because God placed her in the right place at the right time.
Jennette met Heather Alexander, RD, and lead practitioner through church when Amos struck up a conversation with a man who told him that his wife was also a dietitian. Pregnant with Sofia, who is now almost 8, Jennette knew there was no way she could continue running her business alone and Heather joined the practice shortly after.
When Jennette was shopping for cloth diapers for her youngest, Ian, now 6, in what she calls a “crunchy mom store” another mom approached her. She said, “Are you Jennette? I know who you are. I’m a nutritionist, too, and I love what you’re doing.” And that’s how she found team member Amy Henderson, RD.
Mika Decker, the first person hired using the FPC model, runs the front office. Jennette and Amos were looking for someone to pull together the front office, and Mika does just that. With a gentle, kind heart and spirit, Mika is the perfect “first face of the office.” Jennette calls her the “Checklist Queen” and says she’s strong at communication and organization.
Tricia Bribiescas is the event coordinator, and she coordinates all of the labs working remotely from College Station, TX. She is Jennette’s sister and has been there since the very start. Her phone skills are immaculate as well as her abilities with scheduling and working with clients.
And lastly, Amos, who is COO is more like the COE (Chief of Everything). As an entrepreneur prior to opening the practice, he was the one who told Jennette to, “DO IT!” Amos handles the financials, marketing, and tracking. With a background as a business owner in the financial services sector, he already knew a lot about building a business but joining FPC gave him the tools he needed to run.
“He doesn’t give himself enough credit,” Jennette said. “He allows me to truly to focus on getting good at webinars and connecting with people in the PMEs. I just need to show up, connect and build bonds with prospects and clients.”
Running a Business with Your Spouse
Functional Nutrition Resources isn’t the first business Amos and Jennette built together. When Amos started his business over 20 years ago, Jennette focused on helping him be successful. The couple is used to working together, because they’ve always done it.
Jennette encourages setting boundaries, which she says is a work in progress.
“I want to be there for our clients, but I’m learning what’s healthy for us and healthy for my family,” Jennette said. “There are always going to be seasons when things are out of balance. Business is definitely taking a lot out of us, but when we are home, we are ALL there. I don’t have a home office. At home, I’m home. When Amos is home, he’s home.”
Amos and Jennette are 100 percent about their three children on the weekend. Their oldest, Anastacia, is 14.
“I’ve had family and marriage coaches, helping us to learn how to prioritize family and communicate as a family,” she said. “We’ve always prioritized that we can’t do this on our own. We have a lot of great people who are mentors, showing us what a great marriage looks like and how to be business owners.”
Both Amos and Jennette credit FPC for their recent growth and they constantly seek advice and learn from others, specifically couples who own businesses and have children.
If you are, I have good news! We can get you results like this. It won’t be easy, nor will it happen overnight, but I’ve seen it happen so many times that I can tell you that’s it’s possible.
You’ve got to be hungry, driven, up for the work, listen more than you talk, complete more than complain, implement plans more than you announce them, and show up daily with a beginners mind. If you’re ready, it’s time to get to work!
