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Ever look at everything on your business plate and think, "There's no way I can do all of this"?
This episode is for entrepreneurs with chronic illness who feel overwhelmed trying to grow their business while managing fluctuating capacity. Functional Medicine Nutritionist Andrea Nakayama shares how she built Functional Nutrition Alliance while managing Hashimoto's, grief, and single parenthood—without burning out.
We're diving into business strategies for chronic illness entrepreneurs, including the "base camp method" for sustainable business growth, why persistence beats consistency when your capacity changes, and how to pivot your expectations when chronic illness impacts your business.
What You'll Walk Away With:
✅ The Base Camp Method - A practical framework for breaking down overwhelming business goals into manageable steps when your capacity fluctuates with chronic illness
✅ Persistence vs. Consistency Mindset Shift - Understanding why showing up YOUR way matters more than rigid consistency, and what sustainable growth actually looks like for entrepreneurs managing chronic illness
✅ The Five P's Framework - The exact formula (Passion, Permission, Purpose, Persistence, Perseverance) that kept Andrea going through grief, Hashimoto's, and single parenthood while building a thriving business
✅ How to Recalibrate Your Capacity - Practical ways to pivot your expectations and tune into your nervous system so you know when you're actually doing too much versus just feeling overwhelmed
Resources for Entrepreneurs with Chronic Illness:
- The Five P's for Sustainable Business Growth: Passion, Permission, Purpose, Persistence, Perseverance
- Base Camp Method: Andrea's approach to business growth with chronic illness without burnout
- Functional Nutrition Alliance: Training programs for practitioners managing chronic illness
🎧 Want to learn more about today’s guest?
Visit CraftedToThrive.com for guest details, key takeaways, and extra links mentioned in this episode.
🌿 If you’re navigating entrepreneurship and chronic illness, or simply craving a more sustainable way to grow your business without sacrificing your health, energy, or self-care priorities, explore Chronically You & Profitable (CYAP).
CYAP is my voice-first business system designed for women entrepreneurs, creatives, and women with chronic illness who want sustainable growth and burnout support while keeping life and wellness first.
It helps you use your voice and story to build a business with systems and strategies that run smoothly, so your work supports your life, not the other way around.
⭐ Enjoyed this conversation? Leave a review and share it with another CEO woman or creative entrepreneur growing a health-first, sustainable business.
📱 Stay connected: Follow me on Instagram.
Gifts And Ways To Connect With Your Host Nikita:
Subscribe to the Chronically Profitable: The Flare-Proof Path to $100K, A free exclusive weekly email series designed for creatives and women with chronic illnesses. You'll learn how to make a liveable income with your hobbies, professional skills, and innate talents by building a successful online coaching business with simple strategies that work for you, even on flare days and feel better living with chronic illness.
00:00 - Untitled
10:41 - The Five P's Framework for Entrepreneurs with Chronic Illness
13:15 - Persistence vs. Consistency: What Actually Matters for Business Growth Why persistence (continuity of showing up) beats rigid consistency for entrepreneurs managing chronic illness
16:12 - The Base Camp Method: Breaking Down Overwhelming Business Goals Using the Mount Everest climbing analogy to understand sustainable business growth when capacity fluctuates
19:25 - How to Find Your Base Camp with Chronic Illness Tuning into your nervous system to know when you're ready to climb vs. when you need to acclimate
22:17 - What Keeps You Going When You're Burnt Out in Business How purpose bigger than yourself motivates you through setbacks, exhaustion, and chronic illness flares
24:44 - Finding the Work That Lights You Up as an Entrepreneur Identifying what gives you energy, purpose, and meaning in your business beyond just making money
27:00 - Mindset for Handling Fumbles and Setbacks in Business Not taking failures personally and learning from setbacks without letting them derail your business
31:03 - Letting Go and Grief: Evolving Your Business Identity How to separate yourself from your business and navigate the grief of change and growth
36:00 - Narrative Medicine: The Story, Soup, and Skill Framework Understanding chronic illness through story (your journey), soup (body systems), and skill (what you do)
40:04 - Why Your Story Matters in Healing and Business How telling your narrative authentically creates connection and helps you advocate for yourself
43:15 - Finding Quiet in the Noise: Business Advice and Health Protocols Why the answer isn't in the next test, hack, or strategy—it's in tuning into what's uniquely yours
46:46 - Your Unique "Something": The Free Square on Your Bingo Board Discovering what sets you apart by listening to feedback loops and what comes naturally to you
49:11 - Practical Steps: Finding Flow and Connecting to Your Purpose How to identify where you lose track of time and bring more of that into your business
54:20 - What She Thought Was True: You Don't Need to Know It All The entrepreneurship myth that you need a perfect business plan before starting
55:21 - Where to Find Andrea Nakayama Connect with Andrea on social media and learn about Functional Nutrition Alliance
56:07 - Outro: Business with Chronic Illness Podcast Wrap-up and call to action for listeners
Andrea Nakayama
Founder / Functional Medicine Nutritionist / Educator
Andrea is a Functional Medicine Nutritionist and educator, who has led thousands of clients, and now teaches even more coaches and clinicians around the world in a revolution reclaiming ownership of both their own and their clients’ health.
As the host of the 15-Minute Matrix Podcast and the founder and former CEO of Functional Nutrition Alliance, Andrea draws on systems biology, mental models, root cause methodology and the therapeutic partnership to offer long-awaited solutions for the rapidly growing chronic illness epidemic.
After losing her young husband to a brain tumor in 2002, she discovered a passion for using food as personalized medicine and is now regularly consulted as the nutrition expert for the toughest clinical cases in the practices of many world-renowned doctors. She trains nearly four thousand practitioners each year in her methodologies so that they too can become the last stop for their clients and patients as well as a trusted referral partner for doctors in their area.
