Adding to the long list of clients we’ve connected with over a CrossFit workout, Clare Burton is living proof that in business, confidence is queen.
After changing her own life with CrossFit and dialed-in nutrition 5 years ago, Clare began to question whether her career trajectory was the right one for her.
“For 15 years, I was on the path to become a doctor. Once I started coaching CrossFit, though, I realized the potential for impact I could have on hundreds, and I hope eventually thousands, of people.”
After finishing grad school at MUSC, Clare had a huge decision to make - stick to the plan she’d had laid out for longer than she could remember or follow her heart. Not one to take the easy road, Clare attended nutrition certification and training courses. She studied what others were doing and began laying out how she could do it better. She found a niche that was near and dear to her heart. After all of this, Clar-e-ty was born out of her desire to help people through their nutrition and wellness journeys.
“Making this decision and starting this business hasn’t been easy, but I’ve never looked back. I get so much fulfillment from what I do, something I don’t think I would have ever fully experienced had I kept to my original plan.”
As CrossFit athletes, you pick up a thing or two about nutrition along the way. So, when our team first sat down to discuss Clare’s concept with her, we brought a lot of our own personal experiences to the table. Immediately, we knew she was on to something special and couldn’t wait to see her ideas come to fruition. Still, abandoning a decade old plan and jumping in to something so unpredictable in a field plagued by misinformation was incredibly scary.
Driven by her own experiences and transformation, she marched forward, though not always as confidently as she would have liked.
“Looking back, I definitely wish I had remained more confidence in myself. I learned quickly that others doing exactly what I’m doing are struggling with the exact same things, even if they have more followers or a seemingly perfect and successful business. No matter where you are in terms of business ‘success’, you still have insecurities.”
Building a business from the ground up can be a daunting task, so there needs to be an incredibly strong ‘why’ behind everything you do. The most successful business owners are those whose passion for what they are putting out into the world shines the brightest. Here, Clare is a beacon of hope and light.
“Helping people go through the same transformation, both physically and mentally, that I went through when I started my nutrition journey is what drives me. I know first-hand how wonderful the feeling of accomplishment and finally loving what you see in the mirror is…how life changing it is to be confident and comfortable in your own skin while redeveloping your relationship with food. Knowing that I help others go through the same thing every day is what gets me out of bed at 5am and keeps me going until late in the evening.”
Still, being in the business of nutrition can be incredibly frustrating and often difficult to navigate because of how bombarded we are with misinformation. Our team can tell you from experience that it often involves so much more than just ‘what you eat’. There is usually a lot of heart work that needs to happen in order to repair a damaged food relationship.
“I have clients coming to me eating 1,200 calories, walking 10k steps per day, doing CrossFit 5-6x a week and wanting to lose weight but refusing to eat protein or carbs. Getting people to eat more and become more open-minded is one of the hardest aspects of my work.”
Clare is in it for the long haul, though.
“Getting that text or email from a client who finally fit into those jeans, who felt comfortable enough to take their shirt off during their workout, who is no longer afraid of carbs, or who truly has never been happier is what I love and what I strive for. Knowing the impact I have on people still leaves me speechless and makes all the other stuff worth it.”
When it came to choosing support for helping her create the magic that is Clar-e-ty and trusting the Front & Center team with her budding business baby, Clare says,
“I knew Mary Beth and Mollie from coaching them at Pale Horse CrossFit and knew some other people they had worked with. Through our casual conversations, I knew our values and morals were one in the same and I trusted them to not only create a website/logo/brand that was true to me but also that they would honestly guide me through the process of starting and running a business. I knew how hard-working they are and how dedicated they are to their work, so it really was a no-brainer to partner with Front and Center.”
Since Clar-e-ty’s initial launch, she’s helped dozens of clients improve their relationship with food and achieve a multitude of goals – both short and long term. For more information, link up Clar-e-ty.
