Personalized Diabetes Coaching with Lauren Bongiorno, Founder and CEO of Risely Health
About this episode:
Founder and CEO of Risely Health, type one diabetes transformation coach, Lauren Bongiorno joins us on the She Built It™ Experience today. She is sharing her story of being diagnosed with T1D as a 7-year-old, to becoming a diabetes health coach. Her team is helping people and families affected by T1D to take ownership of their health, so they can transform their life with more freedom and confidence.
Topics Discussed:
Lauren's journey from being diagnosed with T1D to becoming a diabetes health coach
Importance of controlling your diabetes
What coaching methodology does she use to assist her clients
Why positive mindset is so important to glue other health aspects together
How is she managing her business to be able to help more clients and their families
Lauren's tip on how to find and live your joy
About Lauren:
Lauren Bongiorno, founder and CEO of Risely Health, is challenging the current healthcare system and the world of diabetes management through her company's innovative health coaching programs and online educational classes. Lauren has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was 7 years old and believes that when health transforms, so does everything else - our relationships, our time, our career, our families, and, most importantly, ourselves. Georgetown University medical students are currently researching Risely's methods with a plan to publish the quantitative and qualitative results clients see in the company's programs. Lauren has been featured on the TODAY Show, is partnered with two of the largest diabetes technology companies, and is making waves in the diabetes space on both an individual and systemic level.
Resources:
Click here to read a raw, unedited transcript of this episode:
Melanie Barr: [00:02:45] Thank you so much for joining us today, Lauren. Please tell us more about who you are. [00:03:21][36.0]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:03:22] Hi, thank you so much for having me Melanie, I'm so excited to be here. So I am 28 years old. I live in New York and I'm the founder of Risley Health, where we help people and families impacted by type one diabetes take ownership of their health so they can really holistically transform their life with more freedom and confidence. [00:03:50][27.9]
Melanie Barr: [00:03:50] You mentioned a pivotal moment when you were a junior in college and celebrated by your doctor for achieving a five point seven A1C, even though you didn't feel healthy or happy in your own body. Tell us about that experience? [00:04:03][12.8]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:04:05] Yeah. So I was diagnosed with type one diabetes, which is an autoimmune disease. When I was seven years old and type one diabetes is more rare than type two, half of the population is type two diabetic or pre-diabetic, and their bodies produce insulin. But their bodies aren't able to utilize the insulin effectively because they have insulin resistance where as type one diabetes, which is what I have, my body attacked it itself and completely killed off the cells that produce insulin, which is the hormone that helps balance out our blood sugar. And there's no cure for it yet. And so when you're seven years old and you get this diagnosis, it's like any diagnosis in a in a family. It rocks everybody. And from then on, you have to figure out how to live your new normal, if you will. And a lot of my childhood growing up, I was really active. I ended up going to college to play Division One Soccer, and I never wanted diabetes to slow me down. And what I made the mistake of realizing was that putting diabetes, in this box in the corner of my life and not really attending to it at the level that I do now, it that didn't help not slow me down. All that did was kind of cause me to repress a lot of emotions around my diagnosis and not feel confident and feel broken and different and not lovable. And all those, you know, emotional things that can come up when we we don't really accept who we are at our core and things that happen to us in our life. And so when I got to college, I was playing this high level soccer and I was realizing, Wait a second, I'm competing at this level. My blood sugar numbers are all over the place and when your blood sugar numbers are high, you feel super lethargic. When you go to run, it's like you have like lead in your legs and you feel nauseous and you can't perform at your best at reading a book, never mind going to run up and down a soccer field. And I became super super obsessed with nutrition and with exercise, and in hindsight, it was a not an eat classic eating disorder, but what I've learned to be orthorexia, which is obsession around control around your body and food and all of that which a lot of women,listening could could resonate with in a way. And that perfection was what I thought was health, but turned out not to be. [00:06:28][143.3]
Melanie Barr: [00:06:29] Well, I imagine you had to start thinking about your diet. So I see how that could naturally go in that direction for anybody. [00:06:36][7.4]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:06:38] Yeah. And that's the tricky part is you're constantly counting carbs and fat and meals and proportions, and you're never truly 100 percent present because you're playing the role of your pancreas in trying to balance a seesaw of your blood, you're going up. Or should I have to catching myself insulin? Oh, wait, it's going down. I have to have this many carbs. And what did I do wrong there? And now my blood sugar is high, and that's a reflection of me as a person. And there's all that 24-7. You never get a break of it. And it's not like just where an insulin pump and everything is spying. It's very, very manual still. And when I went to the doctor, junior year in college when I should have been partying and drinking in college. And a lot of not everybody obviously does that. But what the doctor would assume she was like, scared to see my numbers. And I remember my mom came to me with the endocrinologist and she doesn't anymore. But I still kind of wish she did. I'm like, Oh my, come on come. We did it for so long together. the doctor, walked in and was like, Oh my gosh, like Maude, how do you have a five point seventy one? See which A1C is essentially a report card. It's an average on a scale of what your blood sugars have to look like for the past 90 days. Everybody, when you go to get annual blood work, your doctor should do this and there's a range of where it should be, and a five point seven is better than a type two diabetics numbers that are aren't that even still make insulin with their body, right? So for me, it was this wake up call that they're celebrating me, and they don't know that I have had the most depressing, three years of my life in college because I was so fearful of fearful of. Everything around food and going out to eat with friends and what if there's bread on the table and how am I going to like the temptation with it? A lot of those common diet issues, but with the extra layer of diabetes on top of it, it was masked as well. This is how I'm going to control my diabetes. And that was a wake up call for me that flip me to the other side of, OK, I'm going to go on this journey of figuring out actually how to live with diabetes in a more sustainable way, because the doctor's not really there to hold my hand through the mindset and through the exercising and the nutrition and all of these pieces I was struggling with. And so I came into a place of how can I have good blood sugar numbers and feel energized and focused and have a positive mood from day to day, but not get into the place where I'm restricting myself or my whole life is centered around diabetes. I know that I'm more than not. [00:09:14][156.8]
Melanie Barr: [00:09:16] When you tell yourself you can't have something that's really hard. it's so restrictive, so I see how mentally that would be challenging and how you could go down that road in that direction. And I in my early 20s, I had a doctor say to me I had to have cancer removed but she says there is no cure and walks out the door and the door shuts. And you know, you're sitting there by yourself and you're like, OK, well, I have two choices do everything I can to learn and continue to live my life and good for you for going on to play soccer and go on to do those things in your life that you really want to do and just figuring out a way to make it work because it's so mental. It really is. [00:09:56][39.8]
Lauren Bongiorno:[00:09:57] Yeah, no, absolutely. And thanks for sharing that with me too. I it's whether it's diabetes or for anybody listening, it's it's something else, right? Hopefully, you relate to the struggle that added complexity adds to it. But I would say that moment isn't representative of everybody's struggle with diabetes. Some people don't ever want to get to that place. And so they say, screw it I'm just going to eat this and eat that. And it just is that way. My blood sugars are never going to be good, and I just have to accept that, that I live with diabetes and I'm never going to feel good as somebody else, right? So I've experienced both sides because I think that's what my childhood and teenage years was a lot of. So everybody's personal journey is so different, but at the root of it, the health care system, just your two appointments a year does not allow you to feel fully in control of your diabetes and take ownership over your body's patterns, which is a huge thing that we hope people do. And wisely, it's an archaic system that needs to be revamped, and that's essentially what we're at the forefront of helping to do [00:11:05][68.0]
Melanie Barr: [00:11:06] as a coach.How do you assist your clients? Because you did mention it's all day, every day. it's not something where you can kind of think about it sometimes and work through that mentally. it's a constant thought process. and what are you doing a little bit differently and in addition to what doctors in the medical system can give you? [00:11:27][20.5]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:11:27] Yeah, absolutely. So our coaching methodology is very much rooted in three things it's rooted in behavior change, public research and our own internal client data collection from when I started really in coaching in 2015. And so we focus really on putting them in the driver's seat and working alongside them to identify the gaps, whether it's in their knowledge or giving them accountability and the relate ability that you need. Myself and all the coaches on our team, we have type one diabetes. We understand what that's like and sometimes that's huge for people and we really help them with the implementation process and seeing their blocks, helping them get unstuck so that they can create that sustainable change for themselves. So yes, it's about improving their blood sugars in the long run, but it's really about helping them discover who they can be when diabetes is in a way. So what differentiates the company from traditional underchronologies or diets or fitness coaching, or even even therapy or nutrition? Right? It's not a replacement for those things. It's a addition. And in many cases, people have not had success in those areas of support and traditional health care. And so coaching is something that they try in their whole entire life transforms. And so we really are helping them hold space to prioritize themselves on that holistic level of understanding with the hormones and the exercise and the nutrition and their mindsets and the the patterns in their blood sugar trends. All of those things where we're holding space for them and helping guide them to where they want to be in that ultimate vision for themselves [00:13:06][98.4]
Melanie Barr: [00:13:07] and how it all works together. And I'm sure the mental piece is so big because it's the mental piece that's going to get everything working at the same time as long as someone's putting in the effort for all the various pieces. [00:13:19][11.9]
Lauren Bongiorno:[00:13:20] Yeah. And then there's this term that's used, and I think it could be very aligned with business as well, where doctors will say, Oh, that that patient is noncompliant right there. A1C is higher. It's noncompliant, right? You can look at a business and entrepreneur, and whatever their offer is, if it's not working, you can look like, Oh, it's just not a valuable offer, right? That's not necessarily what's going on. You have to look behind the scenes and understand, what's the root of it and address that piece. And that's where doctors and health care don't usually go to that level because they don't have the time or resources at the doctor's office the way the system is now, especially in the U.S. [00:13:59][38.9]
Melanie Barr: [00:14:00] Yes, you have helped over 5000 people and families. How have you managed the growth of your business in taking on more and more clients? [00:14:14][13.9]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:14:16] Oh, my gosh, so much. [00:14:17][1.4]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:14:20] And even if he would have asked me this a year ago, like the amount of growth that has happened here over a year since I started, I sometimes I can't even believe it. It's it's like, I can't. You don't see it in the day to day as much as much as you do in the yearly reflections, which I recently did. And I mean, I think one big piece for us last year was growing our team. We went into 2021 with myself and two other people on the team. And now we have a team of 10. And it's a mix of employees and contractors. And so I went from really a solopreneur to managing a whole entire team. And that in itself is huge growth spurt for us because that's new. New challenges that I think everybody looks at themselves and their company is in saying, I just need them. We had this many people that I can fix this problem, and if I only I had this much more audience than I could really give them more value or create new products, or if only it had this, this this. But with this, this, this comes more and more and more problems and challenges. And so you have to up your skill set and your leadership abilities to be able to match the growth of the company. [00:15:33][72.5]
Melanie Barr: [00:15:33] So true because it is a marathon and not a sprint and good for you for the growth and being able to help that many more people. [00:15:40][6.8]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:15:41] Yeah, I mean, yeah, last year alone, one of our big metrics was we had about 800 people apply and we have many offers, but just for our coaching programs, like 800 people. Do you coaching programs? Yeah. And we serve a great number of those, whether it's coaching work for our courses. And that is only a small percentage of the 1.3 million people just in the U.S. that have type one diabetes. And that's a lot like 2022 is for us is how are we expanding and drawing in all of these people who need need us, but we just don't know that we exist? [00:16:19][37.7]
Melanie Barr:[00:16:22] On your Web site, you mentioned your favorite quote is ‘’life moves at the pace of your capacity to receive it.’’ I really like that. And due to COVID, I think we've all been thinking about the pace of our lives more than ever. Why is that quote so meaningful to you? [00:16:36][13.7]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:16:38] So I had this realization about a year and a half ago when I was really up leveling in how I was showing up and relating to the vision of where riotously was going, which up until a couple of months ago was actually born Bongiorno coaching. We rebranded and we had this whole new rebrand, which was a huge big leap in itself. But I would say that your company can only grow to the level that you're willing to personally grow and work at the beliefs and the skills and the character traits of yourself and of your team. And so I truly believe that you have to level up, especially if you're the visionary of the company. And once you do your, you call in these new opportunities that you are then ready for. There's the manifestation lists and these big goals and dreams that I've even had that I know I'm not ready for. And so I have them on the back burner, but it was like, I am not ready for that until I learned X, Y and Z. So every year I pick a word for myself a theme, if you will, and 2020 was Equanimity which is the mental composure and calmness, especially in difficult situations. And I knew that the year before my emotions were like up and down all over the place. It was like we had a goal for how many people we were getting in a coaching program, and it fell short and I was like, Oh my God, the world's ending it. It was like it was like two people short than our goal, right? Like, it wasn't that big of a deal. It was just a little thing. And so for me, it was a lot about energy management inside my container because as the company grows, there's more challenges, more things that come up. And I wanted to go into the next year and really practice how to stay pretty neutral. And by doing so, it then propelled me to have these new, bigger opportunities to come in because I was signaling and I guess you would consider me a spiritual person so like to universe right that like I am ready to receive the next level of growth because I've worked on this area that I know that I'm going to need as a tool to up level in this next way. [00:18:46][128.2]
Melanie Barr: [00:18:47] That's so much self-awareness. we go through these moments where we think I know I'm going to make this happen one day, but I don't feel ready today. And it's really important to admit that, going through COVID, I have eight year old twins and there are things I wanted to achieve last year. But realistically,when looking at my family and my life there's moments where you think, I know I'm going to do this, but this might not be the time. So it's really great to have that forward thinking of I will achieve it someday. [00:19:34][47.0]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:19:35] Yeah. And I recently I heard I can remember where I heard it exactly. But it was I believe it was on TikTok and there was like a sixty seven year old woman. And she gives life advice to younger, younger people. And somebody had asked, what advice would you give to somebody in their 20s? And one of the videos that I landed on was her saying, Everybody shares that life is so short, but I want to share with you actually how long life is if you look at it from that lens and that you don't have to do everything and have your life figured out by, you know, 25 or whatever it is because you're going to evolve so many more times in your life and have so many different chapters. So look forward to that. And I love the way that she explained it because it really is true. If you believe in the vision that you have for yourself and that it's going to happen, let go of the timeline, right? Trust in the process of it's going to flow to you when you're ready to receive it. [00:20:33][57.4]
Melanie Barr: [00:20:33] So true, [00:20:34][0.4] Lauren Bongiorno: [00:20:34] and it doesn't mean being passive either, right? you have to take those actions. You can't just sit back and be like, Oh, look, it's going to come to me. But it's mostly the actions that are doing the work every single day to work on herself and become more self aware and accept the season of life. [00:20:54][19.9]
Melanie Barr: [00:20:54] it makes you happier through the process, too, because you're not putting so much pressure on yourself all the time. Magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business. That brings us joy. What is one tip that you can leave with us today about how you find and live your joy? [00:21:10][15.7]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:21:12] Oh, I would say to figure out what your core values are. mine are integrity, impact and independence. And I think when we start to feel unhappy or rigid or snappy or frustrated, there's a good chance that one of your core values are being compromised somewhere in your life, whether it's business relationship, personal and you can look to find that whole and to see where you can recalibrate. And I think that I do that a lot, and that's how I find and try to live in more of a space of two and more times than not. [00:21:47][34.7]
Melanie Barr: [00:21:49] Thank you so much for joining us today, Lauren. You are building an incredible business and helping so many families and people, which is so wonderful. please tell our listeners how and where they can find you? [00:22:01][11.7]
Lauren Bongiorno: [00:22:01] Absolutely. my Instagram is lauren_bongiorno. And if you listen to this podcast, definitely send me a DM, I'd love to hear from you if there's anything I can help you with. anybody with type one diabetes that listening? You can go to RisleyHealth.com: and check out all of the support tools that we have for people and families living with type one diabetes. [00:22:28][26.3][39.8] [1479.9]