On this week's episode, Allison Wood, a weight loss coach and semi-retired trauma therapist of 27 years, shares her career journey. With a background in therapy and a desire for private practice, Allison talks about her transition to becoming a weight loss coach in Ottawa, Canada. She discusses her training, career shifts, and the psychological tools she uses to help clients sustain weight loss. Tune in to learn how she reinvented herself and her career to inspire others to make positive changes at any age.
Ksenia:
Hey everyone, welcome back to the Doodles to Dollars podcast. It's your host Ksenia Today we have Allison Wood on the podcast. She is a weight loss coach and semi-retired trauma therapist of 27 years. She pulls from her training as a therapist, hypnotherapist, and neurotherapist. to create a program to break through the psychological barriers that were making it difficult for her and her clients to sustain weight loss. She wants to inspire people to believe that one, you can change any behavior and two, you can reinvent yourself and your career at any age. Today we talk all about her career journey and the tools that helped her get here. If any of that piques your interest, I'll dive in. Hi, I'm so excited to have you on the show. Let us know who you are, what you do, all that good stuff.
Allison Wood: So my name's Alison Wood and I live up in Ottawa, Canada, which is in Ontario. And I am a weight loss coach, but I started somewhere else, but I've ended here. So that's what we're going to talk about today. Yeah.
Ksenia: Absolutely. Okay, so well, perfect segue. Let's talk about your journey. Take us on the adventure. I know some people in the past have started at like university or schooling. So feel free to go back as far as you need to pay. Yeah.
Allison Wood: So I trained as a therapist so I have two master's degrees. I started with one and went and worked in the US with that and then I realized I wanted to work in hospitals in Canada and to do that you have to be a clinical social worker. So I went back to school and did that but in the middle of that changed my mind again. Because when I did my placement, I loved private practice. And I always kind of wanted to do private practice, but I sort of thought, you know, it would take me many years to get to that point or whatever, but I realized it didn't have to be that way. So I started working as a therapist, worked for a therapist for God, it's like almost 28 years. It's insane. Yes. So, but about 23 years in, which was around COVID, I guess, Whenever COVID is, what would that be? So that'd be 2000 from 1996, so whatever that is, 24 years. I had this weight loss battle, okay? Like, I would literally wake up every morning and try to diet, and then I'd be eating whatever the hell I wanted by noon. Like, I could not sustain weight loss at all for about eight years, like pretty much since I turned 40. Everything just kind of went downhill. Like nothing I did before worked. I tried programs, like nothing worked. And it wasn't that I couldn't lose weight. I just couldn't keep it off. I couldn't stick with it. And I think it's because everything was slower. So any kind of like negative thinking or anything I had about losing weight would kind of step in and take over. Whereas in my 20s and 30s, I could just try to lose weight and make a few changes and boom, boom, boom, I'd lose a few pounds and be like, woohoo, back in my jeans, all good, you know. But all of a sudden it became really hard. And so during COVID, when I had this, I had a busy clinic. I had been working in the neurofeedback world. I had a big clinic that was psychotherapy. Neurofeedback is like working with the brain and the brain waves. And so I had this clinic that I had built with co-owner. And it had done really well, like to the point where I basically wasn't breathing. Like I worked all the time. I worked weekends. Like I just worked like a crazy person. And then COVID happened and we had to close the clinic because we were working on people's heads and we were doing psychotherapy. So we were in close proximity of people. So we couldn't have an open clinic. We had to close it. So I closed it and everyone thought COVID was going to last for like two months, right? Like everyone's like, oh yeah, I'll see you in two months. Like whatever, it'll be over. And so I, I, at that point I was like, okay, I'll just, you know, any clients who want to see me virtually, great. If they don't, oh, well, I'll just work a little bit. So I worked like six hours a week or something. So it was like a really big change from my crazy 60 hours a week. to now working like six hours a week and being the teacher to my children who are now home, which I love, by the way. And so I had this time to like really kind of reflect about what I wanted and where I was going and to think about, like, and feel all the guilt for all the years I hadn't really been around because I was so busy building all these businesses. I'd been, I'd had a business since I was 18. Like I always had a business. So it was just me to be this entrepreneur and always on these new ventures. And so it was like, all of a sudden, I had all this free time, and I'm like, I gotta lose this weight. It was like I started cluing in to my body and being like, this feels awful. I started feeling my body again. I literally had been living in autopilot for so long that I had not even really realized that I gained 30 or 40 pounds. I didn't feel good. And so COVID is when I had this awakening. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to figure this out because none of these programs work for me. I've freaking tried everything and I'm going to figure this out and when I figure it out of how to lose weight when you're over 40, I am going to teach it to as many people as I can." And it was just sort of this thought, like still kind of thinking it was impossible because nothing had worked. And so I also decided at that point, I was like, this busy clinic thing, not really my thing. I gotta, I gotta slow down. So funny how the universe works, right? Cause I started sending all this out there and within two months of the clinic reopening, September, 2020, we had someone offer to buy it. And I was like, I'm in. Like, you know what? I love my work and I love my clients, but I am tired. I've been doing trauma work at that point for a really long time. And I was just ready to slow down. So we decided to sell it. And in the meantime, I'm kind of like working on this weight loss thing. And I was sort of doing trial and error and all these things. I was trying to figure out why is it not working? And why do these programs not work for me? And blah, blah, blah. And so it took me about a year. And so I about a year in, so this is like 2021 ish. I was like, wait a second. This is all psychological. Why am I thinking this is the food? It has absolutely very little to do with food, especially when it comes to sustaining weight loss. And I was like, this is a psychological thing. Why did I not realize that? Here I was trying to follow all these programs that offer you minimal psychological support. It's really just telling you what to eat. And I was like, I need to create a program. Like there's nothing that exists that even covers all the things that would need to be covered if it was psychological. And I was like, I'm a hypnotherapist. I've been teaching cognitive behavioral therapy, which is about thinking and beliefs. I've been teaching that my whole career. And I was like, I know how to change habits. I know how to help people change behavior. Like, why am I not applying these things to weight loss? Like, why did I never make that connection? That it wasn't just what you eat and feeling guilty all the time because like these programs don't work for me. Maybe there's more to it. And I need to use my background and my skills to develop something that no one else is doing. And I need I need to do this. So I wrote myself a program. using everything I knew, and I lost 35 pounds during menopause, finally lost the weight, like, and then kept it off and kept it off. And there was like big stressors, like some stuff happened in my family, like there was big stuff and I still kept it off. And I was like, okay. And then my little caseload of clients that I had taken, now I'd left the clinic, And all I just took like a few people, you know, like people that are on maintenance and I'd seen for a long time. So I had this little caseload of clients and they were all like, what are you doing? Like you're getting kind of, you know, skinny, like what's happening here? Like you're losing weight. And I was like, yeah, well, I'm kind of doing something, you know. So all of a sudden it was like this clients were like, can you teach it to me? And I was like, well, I don't know. I guess I could. I mean, it's kind of different than anything I've ever done before, but I guess I could. And so I was like, I feel like I need to learn how to be a coach. Like I've been a therapist forever. I need to learn how to coach. It's quite different. So I decided to find a coaching program, signed up for a coaching program, loved it. And as soon as I signed up, the clients that had been waiting, only a few people, but there was a few that were like, okay, now, now, now, can we do it now? And I was like, okay, I think I know what I'm doing. So like I had clients within my first like two weeks of starting a coaching program. And then it just, it kind of went a little crazy. Like it got really busy. And there was one week where I had nine referrals. And I was like, OK, there is something here that people can't find, and they feel how I felt. They feel like it's their fault, and they feel like they're doing something wrong. And they see that I'm saying that, and they're like, OK, I need to do that, too, then, because what I'm doing isn't working either, and I've done all these programs, too. And so I guess it was last summer. that I was like, okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, need to take a little break. I'm just going to burn out. Like I'd already had two burnouts in my career. I'm like, I am not doing this again with this new venture. Like I am not burning out this time. So I decided to take a step back and really think about how I could teach it in a way that would take the pressure off of me doing long-term work with people. So I decided to make it into a course and to support them with one-on-one, but also be able to have worksheets and journaling exercises and like things they can be doing and videos they can watch. And so they'll get multi layers of support. So I pretty much, I still took a few people. Like I kept taking people just, you know, I didn't do any ads. So it was all just kind of like word of mouth and I stayed taking people all the way. And then now I'm finally, putting out the program. It's like an eight-week, well, it's actually 12 weeks that they get support, but it's eight weeks of really solid learning to learn everything. To start with the what, when, and how to eat, and then learn all the psychological skills they need to keep sticking with it and make long-term change. Because We are built, we're programmed in some ways. We have subconscious patterns and habits, we've developed them for years. Our brain is built to be on autopilot. It's actually made that way. Because imagine if we had to relearn and think about every single thing we did every day, right? Like that doesn't work. Imagine if every time you got in a car, you had to figure out how to do all these things at the same time. It's built to be autopilot. So that was a big part of the program was learning how to change automatic habits and patterns subconsciously. And that's where the hypnosis training really helped. And my understanding of the brain really helped. So it was like, Oh, well, this if this can change, then you can really change. any belief, like you can really change any habit, any pattern. And that's what I noticed with my clients is like, they weren't just changing weight loss, they were like, taking that and applying it to other areas of their lives. So they were thriving. And I was like, this is so fun. It's such a great use of all my training and knowledge in a much more fun and future oriented way, instead of spending you know, hours and hours talking about people's history and their trauma and being there with them. I was able to be kind of on a forward journey with people and it was like this perfect, this perfect transition from doing such heavy trauma work for so many years to now being able to just like get excited and be like, yay! you know, my clients and just like see all the changes and things they were learning and then they feed it back to me and I'm like, you got it, like you really got it. But like I said, I had to have another way for them to be able to learn some of it without me so that I could take more people help more people, but not have to work with people for long, long, long periods of time. So that's kind of where it is now. So now I'm starting to talk about it. I'm starting to tell people outside of my little comfort zone of Ottawa and Ontario and the friends of mine that are doctors who've referred clients and stuff. Now I'm like, okay, I'm sending it out to the world. trying to, you know, encourage people that, you know what, it's not your fault. There is another way. There is a missing piece that isn't being taught to you. And you can learn that. And once you learn that, you can change anything. And so that's where I'm at now is I have now this, it's like basically it's a 12 week program, but for the first eight weeks, they get a ton of support. And then the last four weeks, they're more getting, you know, questions that they need, they can ask any every day, they can they can get support every day, but there isn't any more of the one on one coaching, but the first eight weeks they get coaching with me, like, I don't want to have employees. I honestly, I learned my lesson. Everybody wants you anyway. Like they are not happy because they get to go see this person that you train. They want to see you, right? And people love one-on-one. They always want some one-on-one. So we'll still have that, but it will be very multi-tiered learning, like writing exercises, watching videos, meeting with me so that they learn it on many different levels. And within the first eight weeks, they get the majority of the learning and then they get support for another four weeks. So that's where it's at. So that's my short version-ish of my long career, you know, and how it's changed.
Ksenia: Yeah, there's so many things I've just been like, okay, tell me, tell me, tell me, ask me, ask me. One, I love that because I briefly studied hypnosis and also like dove a bit into NLP. So I totally know what you mean. And That's so interesting. And also the topic of not having employees because I also hired just a personal trainer and then found out that it wasn't really her and I'm like, why am I paying for this? I wanted to talk to you specifically. Yes. So it's so true. Okay. So to kind of Go back a little bit. Yeah. You mentioned that you started being an entrepreneur at 18. Yes. What like what business was that? Where did you start off that? I'm really curious to kind of dissect all the parts.
Allison Wood: It's funny because, you know, I've thought about this a few times because There was one sentence my dad said to me at that stage of my life that has literally changed the trajectory of my life. So I couldn't find a job. I couldn't really find a job, or at least not one I wanted. And my dad was like, listen, if you can't find a job, make a job. Make a job. And I was like, what do you, what? I'm 18, what do I know? And he was like, make a job. He's like, what can you do? And I was like, I don't know. Like, I guess I've done babysitting. I've done that. So we, we made a list of all the things that I could do. And we, I just handed out flyers. Like, this was like, we're talking like, this is like, you know, the, this is like the eighties. Okay. So like, There wasn't the internet. This was literally like walking to houses and sticking a piece of paper in people's mailboxes. And he took me to all the rich neighborhoods and we put my flyers everywhere. We just literally went around the city and I called it, let a student help you. And it was everything. And I was like, I will do anything. Just ask me and I'll do it. And so I was like elder sitting, I was like taking, I was like managing parties and like there was a bar mitzvah, there was like, like people were like where I took care of the little kids while they had their event, there was like renovating basements, I cleaned people's yards out, I mowed people's lawns every week. There was one pool that wasn't such a good, I tried, I didn't know what I was doing, it was not good. They called me to say their pool was green. I was really trying. I had no idea what I was doing. I'd never owned a pool in my life. That was a mistake, but I was 18, so I was willing to try anything. But other than that, everything went really well, and I built these great relationships in my community, and I had people that relied on me. And I ran that business, like, I ran it in the summer. I came home at Christmas when I was away at university. I still ran it because all those people were like, are you back? And I was like, yeah, I'm back. They're like, I have this to do. I cleaned houses. Like they were like, come on, let's do it. I have a basement project. I have this project. So I kept that going for like three years. And at one point, I had a few friends that I kind of like subcontracted their work because I was like running out of time. And I'm like, OK, can you do this lawn or can you do that? But really, I didn't really have employees. I just like paid somebody to just do a little bit for me. So it started there. It started with that, so make it. And it's, when I think about that, like, it really isn't a surprise because my grandfather owned a corner store, you know, and was an electrician and always had his own business. So my dad just didn't even think anything of having your own business. But there's so many people that I've met that are terrified of having their own business. And I'm like, Why am I, and so I had to at one point ask myself, why am I not afraid to just venture? Like to just like try something. And I think it's because of that. I think that was just his messaging of like, you can do anything. So what's stopping you? That has just stayed with me my whole life. So I'm not really afraid of starting things or trying something different. Though this was a big jump. I'd been doing the same thing for a really long time. And it required learning software, which was not my thing because I had to learn like booking things and there's just stuff you have to learn when you're coaching like calendars and like just a lot of things that I mean, I had paper files up until maybe six years ago. Like, So, you know, it was very different, but I just don't let any fear get in my way. Like I'll pretty much try anything and I think it's because of my dad and that message and that generational learning that he had from having parents that were entrepreneurs and He'd always had like a golf experiences business where even though he worked for the government, he had this side business where he took people to Scotland on golf tours. And so he'd always had a little bit of the entrepreneurial spirit too. And so he wasn't afraid of it. You know, and so I that was my that was my first business and it was a great it was so it was so fun and it was like my friends that were like working in these crappy jobs and I was like I'll just work 12 to 4 today or like I'm sleeping in I was out last night like it was like I had so much flexibility. I learned how much I thrived to just have variety and flexibility in my schedule. So I think I always knew that I would own businesses and be an entrepreneur because I love the freedom. I love the personal freedom. And I think in my career, I don't think I've worked more than four years without a business. I think there was four years in my twenties that I worked for someone else. And other than that, I've always had my own business.
Ksenia: Wow. That's a lot. Like a lot of time to be working for yourself. That's really cool though. I so see the like the variety and the freedom. Yeah. And yeah, because to me, I'm like, I want variety with my like client projects. So I'm like, yes, variety. And even thinking back to who I was in university, I'm like, that would have been such a great job to have to like, decide when you're working, not have to stress about like getting up super early to go give someone coffee. Do something that people just suck to deal with.
Allison Wood: I know, I didn't have to have bosses and everyone else has like these crappy bosses and I just didn't have to have any of that. Like it was so great. I'm like what a great way to start your career and what a way to be inspired to always want to have that independence. And I've told people like I could never be a career counselor because I'd literally tell everyone to own their own business. Like I have such a bias. Like I would just be like, what are you doing working nine to five? You don't have to do that. I'd be trying to get everyone to leave their jobs. So, you know, it's definitely something that has come really naturally for me, but I know a lot of people it's really scary. And I, you know, and I mean, even this, this new business, like I still had my small private practice to rely on. So I still had the other business in the background where I could take my time and I could figure it out. And I was able to have enough income that I could manage that. Whereas not everyone can do that. You know, some people like they're literally working two jobs to pay their bills, so they don't have a lot of time and they can't really take a lot of risks, you know?
Ksenia: Yeah. Okay. My brain's just like, where do we go next?
Allison Wood: Okay.
Ksenia: Yeah, there's definitely points in there. I think my, the next question, which I want to ask you before I forget it is with all the businesses and as you've transitioned, have you always had it so that you have your like current one going as you're building the new one or have you ever just like stopped this and then figured it out? Like has there always been like kind of a safety net with the previous one?
Allison Wood: Yeah, always. Yeah, always. And I think some of that just happens sort of organically. Like even when I started my official private practice in 2001, The company that I was working for was like, we only really have part-time hours for you, you know? And so I was like, great. And then I took a little contract here and like a little thing there and I sort of supplemented that way. And then when I, and then when the, the job I had was EAP, which is like short-term counseling. So like, and we were allowed to refer the clients to ourselves if they really wanted to stay on. So then I was like slowly building that, you know, so there's always been the overlap. And I think that just lets you financially be able to do it, but also just in terms of fear. There's less fear when you have this other thing that is paying your bills, right?
Ksenia: You know? Yeah. Yeah, that's so interesting. I didn't have a safety net. So it's interesting to see how things differ. I'm like, I'm sure if I did, I'd probably be more relaxed. Right. Just building it. But okay, cool. With after this job that you had, or this business that you created, what was the next step? Was it that four years that you worked for someone else?
Allison Wood: Yeah, so yeah, so basically, what I did is, okay, so I decided I want to go to Scotland. Okay. Like my family is Scottish. My father was born in Scotland off the boat, like Scottish accent and everything. So we used to go every two years my whole life. So I'm just the kind of person where if I have a goal, I'm just like very driven. So I went to university. with the intention of somehow getting my parents to get me to Scotland. Okay, this was my mission. So what happened was I found out there was an exchange program and I could go and live in London, England, which was close enough for me. But what it meant was I had to convince my university to let me do, because I was doing honors, so I was doing like my thesis and everything. I had to convince them to let me do my thesis in third year and do extra courses in the summers so that I could just finish in London. Because I couldn't do a thesis in London. Like you can't do your honor year at a different school. So I had to convince them. So I was on a mission. So I convinced my school to let me do my thesis in my third year. And then they're like, oh, and by the way, you only have eight months instead of 12. And I was like, I'll do it because I wanted to go to Scotland so badly. So I did that. And then I went to Scotland. So during those years, I had worked keeping up the let a student help you and did all of that. But then as soon as I was able to go to Scotland or London for a term of school, because that's all I had left. I did. So I took off, went there, and then as soon as I finished in London, I moved to Scotland. And in Scotland, I worked for the government there because I'm dual citizenship, so I was able to work without a visa. But when I was there, I decided to volunteer. So I volunteered at a youth cafe. And that's where I met a social worker. And I never knew that social workers did clinical work. I always thought social workers found people's houses. I didn't know they did therapy. So I met this person who was a social worker, and they did therapy with teens. And I was like, oh, OK, well, I'm going to do that then. So, I worked there for a year at my job and at the Youth Cafe, and then I decided to apply. I had to do it in Canada because even though I was dual citizenship, I wasn't a legal resident. So, I would have had to pay international fees. So, it was insane. It was like 40 grand a year. I couldn't do it. So, I had to come back. So, I came back. And I, at that point, I decided, okay, I'm going to do my master's. So I applied, I got in to do my M.Ed. So this is like the, it's like a master's of counseling, like what a lot of people have in the US. I think they call it, not the marriage and family one, but there's like just like a mental health counselor one. So anyway, that's what I did for my master's. But in Canada, you can't work in institutions with that. You can only work in private practice with that. So the whole time I was doing it, and there's maybe like a couple jobs, like vocational, like people who've had accidents and they're going back to work and they need someone to assess them. Like there were a few areas where I could have done other than private practice, but I think I always kind of wanted that. So I did that. And then as soon as I was finishing my placement, that my supervisor, I mean, this is just amazing how sometimes people just really help you. But she came in the office and she was like, I found a job for you. And I'm like, what? And she's like, well, I applied for a job, but it's, you know, it's more of a junior position. And I wouldn't accept it because, you know, I've got like 15 years experience, but I told them that you're going to take it. And I was like, pardon? And she's like, yeah, but it means you have to move to Ogdensburg, New York. And I'm like, part what? She's like, just go to the interview. So I go to the interview in Ogdensburg, New York, and which is about an hour from here. So it's not that far. And they're like, OK, this is your first interview. OK, you're going to have to come back for a second interview. And you have to know the DSM-IV, because we're treating you as if you are a clinical social worker, even though you only have an M.Ed. So you need to know the DSM-IV, because social workers in the US, I don't know if you know this, they diagnose. So they're like, you need to be able to diagnose people. I was like, OK. So I went home, my mom was a nurse. She had a copy of the DSM-IV, which is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health, Mental Illness. So my mom had a copy of it. I spent a weekend studying it, like literally morning till night. I studied that freaking book. I went in for my second interview. They quizzed me on diagnosing people. I passed and they offered me the job. So I completely like, once again, had a mission. I'm going to learn that freaking manual so I can answer any question about any diagnosis. Passed, got that job. So I worked there for two years. And before I moved there, I asked my parents, once again, who I always went to, to consult about these kind of things. Like, do I really want to live in Ogdensburg, New York, like this tiny little town? I mean, like I'm young, I'm like 20 something, I'm like 20, and I was 24 maybe. And I was like, God, like, I'm not gonna have a social life. Like, that was my priority. I'm like, there's no partying going on in Ogdensburg. And they were like, here's what we're gonna do. You're going to buy a car and you're going to come home every weekend. And so maybe you don't have a boyfriend for two years, but you know what? You have an amazing, amazing job on your resume. Like you're diagnosing people, you're learning about medications, like you're learning stuff, like you're not going to get this job in Canada. So go." And I was like, okay. So I moved to Ogdensburg, lived there for two years. And then when I was there, I was like, I kind of like this hospital thing. I worked in a psychiatric unit. It was like, I liked it. And I was like, well, I can't do that in Canada unless I'm a social worker. So I decided to apply and do the social work masters. And that's what led me there. And then when I did my masters, I had to do a placement. And then that's where I worked for two more years without a boss. So I had the two years, well, I probably had, so it's probably about four and a half years. Right? Because I had the time in Scotland where I had worked for the government. And then I had time at the hospital where I worked for the two years. And then I worked at this, my EAP job that I got, that I got from my placement, and they hired me right away. But then I started taking clients soon after that. So by 2001, I think I was like, pretty busy private practice. So it was, yeah, it was like, you can kind of see how things, and it's so cool when you hear people's stories, right? Because you sort of hear this way that they get kind of directed. It's like, oh, this woman came into my office, I found you a job. I'm like, okay. Took the job, moved to the U.S., got to live in the U.S., which was really cool. got some great experience, but I, you know, I had a two year plan. Like I was like, I can't have too much fun here. Like I'm too young to be like coming home every night and watching TV. Like, so I was ready to come home and I'm glad I did. And I met my husband shortly after and yeah, so. So it was, yeah, so that's that's the four years of working for someone else was a little bit in Scotland, two years at the hospital and about a year and a half at the EAP company until I started building my private practice.
Ksenia: That's awesome. I love your story. Just sitting here enjoying listening to all of this. Like, where do we even go? Because all that was so good. Okay so yeah based on the just what you shared it seems like all the time that you spent working for someone else was attached to your degree or like you going to the next level so it's not that it was like oh I'm giving up and I have to go back to get a job and like whatever it's like no this is gonna this much time here and then I'm going to the next thing and That's awesome. That's such a great way to look at it. And just hearing about your story, I feel like you're very good at capitalizing on like opportunity. Like, okay, I'm just gonna go do this. Like sitting and waiting and considering and like, maybe that was part of the plan, like the process for you. But Yeah, that's so awesome. Thank you for where I am in my life right now. I feel like I also needed to hear that.
Allison Wood: I will say that every single one of the decisions, I don't know where I learned it. I honestly don't know where I learned it, but I really would like check with my body. Like, I really learned very young. And like, I know, like I say, I don't know, cause my parents weren't really like that, except that my mom would, would sometimes say, go sit in your room and just take a moment to think about what you want. Or so maybe there was a little bit of that, but I remember being in Augsburg and lying on my bed and being like, Okay, I want to go back to Canada. How am I going to do that? Well, if I go back to school, then I could do this job there. How does that feel? Oh, I feel calm. Okay, that means I'm meant to do it. Like, so I would always check things in my body and if something felt really, really peaceful and calm and it grounded me, then I knew that it was right. Whereas if it caused like a little bit of anxiety, then I'd be like, not quite right. Or I'll do it, but I need to do it temporarily until I find the thing that brings the calm again. You know? So I always use my body as a guide and it's funny because I've always taught that to my clients like all these years of like use your body as a guide because you have this intuition and you have this inner knowing that you can access anytime and usually it will give you the answer. You got to kind of get the anxiety out of the way because a lot of times people will believe that the anxiety is the truth but really it's quite deep down and when you sit really quietly the answer will usually be right there.
Ksenia: That's so good. It's interesting because I think whenever I've had big decisions, it might be anxiety, but I'll just be like, oh, it's excitement. And then it's easy to confuse those two, but it's… Yeah. It's just interesting to hear you say that all the decisions are like, okay, do I feel calm? Do I feel at peace with this? Because I've recently had that come into my life and it makes such a difference making decisions from a place of being grounded and in peace versus this excitement or just this anxious energy that's going on. It's like, oh, this is so exciting. I should capitalize on this, but then it's like, Probably should have sat with it a bit longer, realized that was not for you. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's so good. Okay. Well, where you are right now, looking back at your whole career, are there key points that stand out to you as like, pivot, I know we've talked about a few, especially like when you've decided to go get extra, like go to back to school and all of that, but maybe the smaller moments of like, okay, me sitting on my bed being like, I don't want to be here anymore.
Allison Wood: Yeah, definitely the clinic was that, because so what had happened is I'd been in private practice forever, like by myself. And then I had a couple clients come in to see me that were referred to me that had concussions. And I was like, what the heck do you do with a concussion client? I can't change their brain. I'm just a therapist. I can talk to them, but their brain is damaged. How do I really help them? So I started researching how to help people with concussions, and I found out about neurofeedback. And there were some people in the US that were doing some really innovative stuff with neurofeedback. And I was like, why are we not doing this in Canada? And I was like, there's a little bit of neurofeedback in Canada, but it wasn't as much here as it was in the US, especially down in California and Florida, there was quite a lot going on. And so I… It was funny because I was like, I'm going to find the person that can take these clients. And so I started calling people in Canada and finding out like who was doing what and if there was anyone local and all of that. And one of the ladies I talked to, she goes, okay, so you know this is a calling, right? And I was like, Damn, no, I didn't know that. And she's like, you're meant to do this, like you're meant to bring this, like you need to do this. And I was like, oh gosh, I think you might be right. So I decided to go down to the US and get training and do neurofeedback. And so I came back to Canada. with one particular type of neurofeedback that I really liked. And it wasn't here yet, so it was brand new in Canada. I was the first person to bring it here. And it went completely like, like exploded. Like within nine months, I had a nine month wait list. Like that's how busy I was. And I was just like, oh my God, I have to hire employees. I never wanted to have employees. Like I always said, I would just be me, but I can't manage. I'm burning out like crazy. I'm working like 10 hour days. I can't fit any more people in. People are crying on the phone, begging me to see their family member. Everyone's sending everyone they know. I can't manage this. So I decided to hire people. So I ended up hiring three people to help me. Well, actually four, but one of them left pretty early on. She wasn't a good fit, but the other three were like amazing. And to this day, two of them and I are really, really close. And we built this little clinic and they helped and we just built it together. And it was like, It did amazing. And then about a year and a half in, another clinic in Ottawa that was doing like in my city, that was doing similar stuff, but they didn't have this particular type of technology. They were doing really well. And so the owner of that clinic called me and said, let's open a center. Let's just do it. Like you do your stuff, I'll do my stuff. We'll hire more people. We'll finally be able to get an admin because we're doing all of our own admin ourselves. And she's like, we can finally afford an admin so that we can get a bit of help with the administrative side. Let's do it. And I was like, and my parents actually told me not to do it. They were like, you're so independent and you do your own thing. And do you really want to work with someone else? And I was like, no, it feels right. Feels right. I had goosebumps when her and I met the first time and I just knew it was right. And so we built a clinic. It took us a year to build it. We opened it in 2018 and sold it in 2021 because it had grown four times its size in three years. And it was something that a psychiatrist wanted to take and build across Canada. So, you know, something that I needed to do very temporarily and teach everyone everything I knew, but I was not meant to do it forever. It was like a short term thing. that where I needed to teach everyone, help a lot of people, and then go back to doing what I really loved, which was the one-on-one counseling stuff. And so, interestingly enough, in that phase of being a CEO and managing employees, that was not the right fit for me. And I felt it every day. And now when I talk to some of the people that I worked with, they said that my light disappeared. That over those years, they saw me just kind of change and that's when I gained a lot of the weight. And I was working too much, I was working weekends, and it was just nuts. And they saw me lose my light. They saw me change. They didn't tell me at the time, they told me after. But it really wasn't the right fit for me. I wasn't meant to have employees and try to balance a caseload, because I'd always been the kind of therapist where I just want to be in the room with someone, and I just want to be alone with them, and I just want to connect. And meanwhile, in the back of my head, I'm like, oh, this person's mad because they didn't get this that they wanted. And like, what about that one? And they're waiting to see me. And I would literally walk out my office to go get my next client and be like, you know, talked to by like four or five people. And I was like, I can't do this. Like, I can't be in my grounded, centered therapist self and be a CEO. and have employees. I just knew it was so that moment during COVID of I'm ready to let this go. I do not need to know how I am just saying I am ready. Oh, you see my dog's tail. You know, I don't know, I don't need to know how universe, like God, whatever, I believe in the universal energy. I was like, I'm ready to go. I've done my part. I've taught some amazing people how to do this work, but it is not my thing anymore. I'm done. I need to go. And then within two months we had the opportunity to sell. So that was pretty cool. Yeah, that's crazy. I feel like of all my manifesting, because I do a lot of manifestation, I teach a lot of manifestation, and I feel like of all the things I've manifested, that was the coolest one, because it was so unknown. I've never known anyone to sell the clinic. In my whole career, no one has done that. They've all just worked until the end and then told all their clients they were leaving and maybe referred a few people up, but they never made any money and they just stopped. And I was like, I need to go, but I don't know how. So I'm leaving that up to you. I'm just ready. And I know you'll find a way. And then this psychiatrist kind of showed up in our lives. And next thing we know, we sold the clinic.
Ksenia: So, yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, that's just I love it when that happens, but yeah. It's so interesting. So you kind of touched on this, but are there key things that, you know, for at least for yourself to check when it's time for you to leave or when it's time for you to move on? Like you mentioned how it was just like not, you knew it wasn't the right thing, but even looking back at previous businesses or even like schooling or even in New York where you knew it was time to leave. Yeah. Is there something there?
Allison Wood: I would say it's the same thing that guides me with making the right decision is I just don't feel good in my body. There's like a feeling of just being I don't know, like out of sync or just, it doesn't feel good anymore. Like I think about the work or I want to go into work, but I don't want to be there, you know, or I'm in doing one job and all I'm doing is thinking about the next place I really want to be, you know? And then when you go home at night and you just kind of have that, like, Icky stomach kind of like, oh, dread, you know, the Sunday night dread or the, like your body yells at you, you know? And I had spent, as someone who specialized in trauma and anxiety, like I had taught my clients, you know, your body will always tell you what it wants. You have an inner wisdom that will guide you through everything. And it will tell you when you, it will tell you, it will make you listen. If you're not listening, it will make you listen. And that was exactly what would happen is it was like my body was yelling at me. And then eventually, fortunately, I didn't get sick or anything like that, because that's often what happens with people is their body, they just get sick, and then they have to listen. But I just would get to a point where I didn't want to go to work anymore. And I feel like my clients were kind of, I mean, I don't think they were really picking up on it. I think I was But I was, I was faking it for the last few months. Like, it was just like, oh boy, you know, I'm tired and I'm showing up, but I'm really tired. And I knew it wasn't the kind of work I wanted to do. And I had to make a change really, really quickly because I always wanted to do really, really good quality work. And I felt like I had to give something up to do that. And I was like, I have to keep up the therapy. I believed I was born to be a therapist. I just believed it was something I was always meant to do. Every psychic I had been to was like, you're a healer. You're a healer. You heal women like you, this is what you do. Like, so I always kind of believed it was my thing. And I think the, the owning of the clinic was always a secondary thing. Having employees was always a secondary thing. So it just made sense if something had to go. It had to be the CEO job and not the therapy job. But my body always just tells me. It's like that sick feeling or that anxiety. It's just talking to you. That's all it's doing. And you just have to stop and be very quiet and listen. And usually you'll get answers that are very clear. I still remember where I was sitting when I knew I wanted to leave the clinic. I know the exact spot in my bedroom. I was sitting on the floor with my legs crossed, and I was just paying attention to my body. And I was like, I've done my part. I need to go. It was just like a knowing, you know?
Ksenia: Yeah. That's so good.
Ksenia: I feel like we could talk forever about all the little details.
Allison Wood: I don't even know what time it is. I'm like, oh god, I could talk forever about myself. I know I have a long career too, so there's some twists and turns in there. It's hard to tell it all in a short amount of time, but yeah.
Ksenia: Okay, so with all of your experience, also everything you know about the brain and anxiety and all of that. For someone that is looking to start their business, whatever the industry or anything like that, are there key things that have really helped you whether they're like mental or like tangible things that you've done that just have helped you along the way?
Allison Wood: I've always used a lot of meditation. I think you can really get a lot of answers about direction because there's a lot of times in your life where you need to make choices and so I've always used that. Meditation has been big in my life and I've done that since my late 20s so that's been around in my life for a really really long time. I kind of take it for granted because it's just sort of one of the things I do So I think that's really big. Talking it out always helps too. Like, especially cause I am such a verbal learner. So for me, I have to talk it out and I have to have like more than one person. Like I literally have to have like three friends that I have the same conversation with and they don't even need to say anything. Just let me talk. And I also do a lot of journaling. I journal a lot. I've journaled, I've journaled since I was little, like since I was probably 10. I have my journals from then. So I've always used journaling as well to where are those like cool journaling things you can do where you can like ask a question with your right hand and like answer it with your left and stuff like that. And like I've experimented with so many different ways of like listening to myself and letting my inner wisdom be my guide. So I would say those are the things, probably meditation, journaling, talking it out to a supportive listener who can just let you vent it, just asking like, what do I really want? And if there was nothing getting in the way, what would I be doing? And cause I also, I think it's really important to use gratitude and to really see where you are so that you're not spending your whole life for the next thing and that you can be joyful exactly where you are and trust that you're where you need to be. And there are things you need to learn and that everything has happened in the order it was meant to and you're meant to learn things. So that's also another big. big life strategy for me is that I really believe everything happens in the order that it should, and that helps me get through painful things, easy things, joyful things, like, you know, because if you look for meaning, you can really work through a lot of things that way. So I would say those are probably a lot of my guiding tools. And I'm actually, I'm secretly starting to write a book about all this stuff, which isn't a secret anymore now, I guess, but Because I want to write about all the things I use in my life that I've used in my life and that I've taught to my clients that they have found the most powerful into one book. You know, because I feel like there's a lot to teach that people don't always have access to therapy. And so I want people to be able to use a book to learn some of these, the little tricks that I use or things that I've used in my life that have helped me get through really difficult things and that I teach my clients too. But when you're a therapist, you have to be self-aware all the time. You're 24-7 a therapist. It doesn't end when you leave your job like a lot of jobs. You're working on yourself all the time. If you want to be a good therapist, you're constantly working on yourself. You're very, very tuned in. So there's a lot of things that therapists do that help them get through things and I want to share that. I feel like I'm at the point in my career where it would be kind of cool to write a book about it all. So that's on the sides. I work on that a couple hours a week and that's it. Yeah. That's awesome.
Ksenia: I'm like, I'm looking forward to that book.
Allison Wood: I feel like it's going to be so good. Well, my clients are helping me with it because I'm asking them, like, what is one of the most insightful things you learned or where did you have your aha moment? Which technique did I teach you or journal exercise or conversation was the most powerful for you that really transformed your life? And those are the things that are going in the book. So all of them are kind of contributing a little bit, which is kind of cool.
Ksenia: That's so fun. And then, of course, all those clients will be like, I'm going to buy the book because I want to see.
Allison Wood: Yeah, that's true. There's not that many clients because I only have a small caseload. These are my therapy clients. But yeah, yeah, they'll probably buy the book. But it's not that many people, so it certainly won't get me rich. But yeah, maybe there'll be a couple people that buy it. Oh, and I wrote a cookbook too in the middle of there somewhere as well. In 2009, I wrote a cookbook as well, which was another kind of cool venture. That's awesome. And published it and created a publishing company because I didn't want to go through the process of publishing with someone else and waiting for someone to approve it. I'm like, I'm just going to open my own publishing company. So I did. And published my own book.
Ksenia: Yeah. It's in the library and everything. That's kind of cool. That was a cool time too.
Ksenia: That's so crazy. I'm like, I wish, yeah, I really want to dive into that. I feel like we'll probably need to do another episode just to talk a little further.
Allison Wood: Yeah, I forgot about that. That was another one of those, oh, I don't know how to find a publisher. I'll just be the publisher. I'll just, how do you do that? How do you just make your own publishing company? Oh, it's not that hard. Oh, and you get an ISBN once you're officially a publishing company and get ISBNs for your books. And that was easy. You know, so it's funny how if you're just like, look outside the box a little bit, sometimes something is simpler to just do it yourself.
Ksenia: Yeah, I so get that. Maybe that's just me being like, I just want to control it all.
Allison Wood: That might be part of it. There might be a little bit of a control freak in there too. For me as well.
Ksenia: Yeah. Yeah. Okay, cool. Thank you so much for sharing everything. It's been such a pleasure to chat with you about your career and everything that you're doing. To kind of wrap us up, where can people find you? How can people work with you? All of that good stuff.
Allison Wood: So I have a website called Why Wait Program. So it's W-E-I-G-H-T. So Why Wait Program. So there's that way, probably the easiest way is that. I'm on social media as A Wood Coaching or Alison Wood Coaching, but I'm not on social media a lot. I'm on Facebook too. I have A Wood Coaching on Facebook, but I'm kind of old school, right? I've been around a long time. I'd rather someone just email me or just book a call. Actually, I have a new website for the 8-12 week program. There's kind of like two options of what people could choose and that is called Weight Loss with Allison. And that has like a little video. And then you can also book a 45 minute call, which is free. And so that's probably the best way if you want to do the weight loss coaching, that's probably the best way because you get a 45 minutes for free, like, I don't know how long I'll do that for. because as soon as I start getting busy, I'm probably not going to be able to do it. But for now, the weight loss with Allison and it's A-L-L-I-S-O-N, but I'll send you that. I didn't have that. I didn't have that link yet when I sent you all my bios and bio info and stuff. So I'll send you that to attach it as well. So if they want to book a free 45 minute call, they can do it through there. That's the only place they can do it. My website is only 20 minute calls. So that's the, it's only for a short time. So that's the best way. Let's just, let's just talk, you know, like let's find out like what's going on, what's not working. I'll tell you if my program is a good fit or if it's not, I'll just tell the truth. Like I, I, I, I do this because I love it. Like, it's not like I'm desperate for clients. I'll, I'll take clients if they're a good fit and they should do the same. You know, be critical. Think of what it is you need. Let's talk about it. And that's what I want to do in those calls. I just want to support women in their journey of weight loss. I know how freaking hard it is. I know how frustrating it is. And if there's a way that I can help and be like, you know what, my program isn't perfect for you. I think it might be hormonal. Here's someone who has a hormonally based program. Or I think it's more about exercise. Here's a great program if you're really wanting to work out. Here's a great program for that. I'll send people to other places. I've always done that. I don't have a problem doing that. So that's what those calls are for, is to help people figure out how they can get what it is they need, whether it's me or elsewhere. Yeah. So that's probably the best way to get in touch with me is to just book a call, let's talk, let's figure out what you need and I'll help you to figure that out and let you sound, you know, be your sound off so you can figure it out and where you want to go and here I am. So yeah.
Ksenia: Awesome. Okay, to wrap things up, there's one question I want to ask. If you could go back to any point in your career and say something to yourself, where would you go and what would you say?
Allison Wood: Huh. You know, funnily enough, I would probably go to about a year and a half ago. The rest of it felt much more effortless. The switch to weight loss was probably my biggest change. and having to go outside of my comfort zone of just word of mouth. My whole career I've done word of mouth. I've never advertised until now. And so it really took me out of my comfort zone. So I would just tell that person who was just kind of like starting to feel insecurity, doubt, can I really do this? And most of the time I was able to push those fears away and put them in the backseat and keep driving. But I would definitely tell her, you're going to figure this out and you will help a lot of people and just keep with it. Just stick with it. Just keep going. And I know it's not that far long ago, but it was hard. I can see why people quit. And it was probably the first time that I could see why people quit ever in my career. I was like, this is freaking hard. Learning the software was a really big hurdle for me. Learning all the different software you need to understand to really create courses and have like an automated system and collect emails and all of that. So I would just tell her, just keep going. And you'll be able to get to the part you love if you just get some of this out of the way, you know? And just stick with your, if you have a fear, just keep putting it in the back seat and just keep going. And that's what I did, but I would just, I want to reassure her a little more.
Ksenia: Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Thank you so much. This has been such a good conversation.
Allison Wood: I feel like I've been a little bit all over the place, but I hope that people find it helpful.
Ksenia: Yeah, I think it, I think it will be, it will be great. So thank you.
Allison Wood: You're welcome. And then when I write my book, I'll call you and we'll do another one. Exactly. Whenever that is.
Ksenia: Thank you for joining us for today's episode. I'm very excited for this podcast and I would love to hear any feedback, what you thought about it. Please let me know as I want to make this a very useful resource for you. We have some amazing interviews coming up as well as some solo episodes, so keep an eye out for those. Subscribe if you want to be notified when those come out. and have them automatically go into your podcast player of choice. All the links mentioned will be in the show notes and also on the podcast page on my site. And lastly, if you'd like to be a guest on the show or have a topic you'd like me to cover, please reach out to me at podcast at Xenia.co. And that concludes our episode. I hope you enjoyed it. Again, please give me feedback. I want to make this really awesome for you, and I hope you have a great day. Thanks for listening.
