PROFESSIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Vickie Bunzey By Mimi Zelman
How did you get started in this busi- ness? It seems like dieting has always been a part of my life. It started as a sophomore in high school when a boy I had a crush on gave me a pinch and told me I was chubby. It devastated me. As a child of the 60’s and Twiggy, I did what every- one did. I started cutting things out, counted calories and exer- cised. I used the calories in/calo- ries out way of dieting for years. There was always something miss- ing though and I would struggle to maintain a weight and always be looking to lose 10 lbs. These 10 lbs increased as I got older. When I was getting close to facing 50, I knew that I did not want to be one of these middle aged women that continually gained 2 to 5 pounds every year and be a round, pudgy woman. I didn’t believe that I had to accept that as part of aging. I also didn’t believe that I needed to take any kind of pills to gain health. I managed to lose most of the weigh that I wanted by the time I had my 50th birthday but was hav- ing a hard time losing the last ten. Not long after turning 50 I was introduced to a nutritional product that turned my way of thinking around. The more I learned, the more I wanted to teach others. I went back to school at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and became a Certified Holistic Health Coach.
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Once I graduated I turned to what I had struggled with for so many years and wanted to help other women learn that you can lose weight, develop a healthy lifestyle and have it all for life. I partnered with a doctor that I have high respect and had seen as a family practitioner. Together, Dr. Michael Smith and I have created Renew Natural Weight Loss Center.
What is your background-what were you doing before this business? Renew Natural Weight Loss is my 3rd career. I have a business and marketing background having worked for Xerox Corporation for 15 years and then I owned a fran- chise. I opened the first Primrose School in Charlotte and operated the private preschool for 10 years. Although I had careers in the corporate field, I still had time for my passion for health. During my years as a marketing executive for Xerox, I also had a side business. I was a certified aerobic instruc- tor and taught aerobic dance for the City of Seattle and The Seattle Times. My passion for health and fitness has never been far.
What is a good early story about your business? Renew Natural Weight Loss is a new business. We officially opened Renew at the end of Janu- ary, 2011. This past year has been
Connect and Grow With Women In Our Community
A year of development and growth. As with any new business, we are working hard to have people get to know us and how we are different.
What is unusual or unique about your business, in comparison to your com- petitors or similar businesses? Getting the community to know us is important. There are many “diet” centers and as we all know there are thousands of “diets”. We don’t like to call Renew Natural Weight Loss and “diet center”. We call it a program. We are different in that we focus not only on weight loss but what caused the weight gain in the first place. Our program is designed to help individuals achieve what is most important to them and that is to lose the weight. Our goal is to help them lose the weight and keep it off for life. We want people to break the cycle of yo-yo dieting. We do this through helping individuals identify what food intolerances or allergens they may have and can contribute to their weight gain. We strive to help individuals reach their optimal health and create a lifestyle that fits
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