Lynae Smith

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Lynae Smith is an American entrepreneur. Lynae started Ruby Health and Wellness in 2014.^[1]

Career

Early Career

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Ruby Health and Wellness

Lynae started Ruby Health and Wellness in 2014. They detail the beginnings of their company in their Starter Story interview: ^[1]

Q: How did you get started on Ruby Health and Wellness?

My journey was a winding road. When I studied dietetics I loved that the field offers a huge array of options for career paths. I knew there were several that called to me, but I swore I would NEVER (1) work with eating disorders and (2) launch a private practice. Haha! Life had a different plan!

Give yourself a cushion because no matter how well things are going, there will be bumps in the road. Reach out to get the support you need professionally and personally.

A big influence in how I came to this was being very sick as a teenager. From age 14-21 I struggled with my health, and for the first 3 of those years was extremely ill, dealing with what looked like mono but the doctors labeled “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”. I knew I wanted to help others enjoy the best health they could have, and prevent them from suffering from chronic disease.

Another key ingredient was my family of origin. I come from a family of entrepreneurs. From side hustles to real estate, to running a full-time business, I have entrepreneurs on both sides of my family. I grew up with a “can do” mentality, and strong work ethic, knowing that if you can dream it up and work hard, you can make it happen.

My biggest reason for NOT wanting to work in the field of eating disorders or launch a private practice is life balance, self-care, and stress management. I’m extremely A-type, driven, and fiercely independent so I also have a natural temperament to be an entrepreneur. BUT I’m also an introvert, empath, and highly sensitive. So I wasn’t sure I could take care of myself in the midst of that kind of career path.

The factors that drove me to launch the business were mostly practical: (a) I love being independent and self-directed, (b) after coming to a deep resonance with a body positive approach called *Health at Every Size, I knew I could never work in within a hospital or medical office where I was asked to follow traditional expectations about weight management teaching weight loss.

Thus, to have a job, I needed to make one for myself. The ingredient that assured me to take the plunge was running numbers with my SCORE coach. Once we looked at it, it was clear that this was a viable career option.

You can hear me talk more about the Health at Every Size (HAES) approach in my video interview, here’s part 1and part 2. Or, you can read more on the HAES website.

About 3 years into full-time private practice, I was at a NERDs networking meeting and looked around the room and had a very stark realization I was the ONLY one present who was supporting myself exclusively from my own work. The others present at the meeting that day all had husbands who made a significant income, so I knew the pressure for me was much different than for them as a single woman.

I was both proud of myself and felt a bit of reassurance for the level of stress one carries when living with instability with income from month-to-month. Some months were strong, but others I didn’t make much or even lost money. By the end of a year, I always had enough but still, there was uncertainly and that is exhausting. Even so, I loved my job.

Source ^[1]

References

Contributors

Contributors to this article:

• Pat Walls, Founder @ Starter Story