Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.138 | Feat. Alex Marie, Brittany Schuler, & Emily Gozy!

Episode Date: January 13, 2026

Empowering Change: From Events to Nutrition—Syracuse's Innovators at Work In this episode of Good News York, Matt Masur of Clickstream Studio returns to host the show, reintroducing himself and sharing updates on ongoing projects like the new spa in downtown Syracuse. The episode features an interview with Alex, founder of Salt and Stone Event Company, who shares her entrepreneurial journey from a family-run deli to starting her event company and organizing successful gatherings like craft cocktail competitions. Additionally, Matt sits down with Emily Zi, a registered dietician, to discuss her approach to nutrition, the importance of personalized diets, and the challenges and rewards of virtual dietetic practice. Emily provides practical tips on healthy eating, the impact of processed foods, and the benefits of programs like the Mediterranean diet. The episode showcases local innovation and personal stories of perseverance and passion, highlighting the transformative impact of dedicated small business owners and healthcare practitioners. 00:00 Introduction and Updates from Matt Masur 01:04 Meet Alex: Founder of Salt and Stone Event Company 01:31 Alex's Journey: From Childhood to Entrepreneurship 09:33 The Birth of Salt and Stone Event Company 10:45 Monday Night Socials: A New Venture 13:47 Exploring the Rail Line Venue 18:05 Good News York: New Host and Guest Introduction 18:47 Brittany Schuler: Founder of Mini Milestones Physical Therapy 22:51 Brittany's Journey and Founding Mini Milestones 31:23 Challenges and Rewards of Owning a PT Practice 34:45 Addressing PT Burnout and Advice for Young PTs 40:21 Specializations in Physical Therapy 41:55 Board Certifications and Additional Training 43:26 Rewarding Aspects of Working with Children 45:47 Balancing Work and Personal Life 48:10 Success Stories and Patient Progress 49:39 Contact Information and Services Offered 52:56 Introduction to Nutrition Counseling 53:25 Personal Journey and Professional Background 54:57 Working with Clients and Common Issues 56:40 Nutrition Education and Building Healthy Plates 01:04:59 Processed Foods and International Standards 01:08:04 Nutrition for Children and Family Meals 01:11:53 Finding the Right Dietitian 01:15:58 Rapid Fire Nutrition Questions 01:22:10 Conclusion and Upcoming Programs

At Amica Insurance, your time and peace of mind matter. Bundle your auto and home coverage with us and enjoy savings that make life a little easier. As a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers. We prioritize your needs and are here for you when you need us. Amika, empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote today. Instagram teen accounts have automatic protections for what teens and who can contact them, plus time management tools.

And Instagram will continue adding built-in safety features to help create age-appropriate experiences. Learn more about teen accounts and Instagram's ongoing work to protect teens online at Instagram.com slash teen accounts. Hey, everybody. Matt Nayshers from Clickstream Studios. Welcome to another edition of Good News, York. It's been a while since I've been there, but I'd let Mike do it. for a while and got things going on.

We got this new space. That's coming along nicely. If you haven't been followed, follow along on all of our socials, TikTok, on all of those to see the progress of that in downtown Syracuse. And don't forget about our sponsor ads on the go.

Get ads on the go.com. Our man, Zach, in the billboard truck is the coolest dude in town. I saw our ad initially driving around and, hey, make a podcast. Wait, that's our ad. And that was Zach in the box trucks driving around Syracuse.

It was pretty cool, cool. But without further ado, we have a guest. This is great way to start our morning. Her name is Alex, and she is the founder of Salt and Stone Event Company, which just sounds really cool in beginning with. I'm just going to say that's great for an event company. Alex, welcome to Good News York. Hi, thank you for having me. If you wouldn't mind, let's jump right in.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and in this event business that we're talking about today. Yeah. Where do I start? So Salt and Stone has been a long process within myself, really? Do you remember trucks on the hill on Essum Hill? Yeah, yeah. Okay. So my grandfather had opened, he owned that plaza.

Okay. And then, you know, Funken Waffles. And you remember when they were in the basement there? The best little bit. The best. So that was my grandma's deli. So my grandfather owned the building. And then my grandma had the deli in.

And it was a little big, right? It was a pretty, and then she moved up and Funkin Waffles went in. But so I really was in, I started there, right? And I was just a child, 10, 11. And then I was like 12. And I could, then I could be the pickle girl for the deli, right? I could put the pickles on the plate. And it was a very important job how you placed the pickle to not mess up the sandwich.

It's a big deal. And so I started there, and that's when I kind of, I like people and I liked taking care of people, right? And so eventually I kind of grew from there, right? I had to go to high school and I'd go to college. And then around 19 years old, I had to get a job. job, but I didn't have a car. So I traveled to different cities and I knew that there's like central systems and I was like, well, Sarah case passed that I was a central system where a city. Well, I wouldn't wait me. And that's when I discovered we don't have a very good central system,

so to speak. But nevertheless, I figured out the bus schedule and I figured out that I could work downtown. And then that's when the the bus schedule kind of picked up in there's. So from Louisville, you had two hours. You had like 6 o'clock, 7 o'clock in the morning to get on the bus. And then you had to be back on the bus by about 4.30 to get back to Baldwin'sville. So I had to go to work and I had to finish college. So I went on Craigslist because that was when Craigslist was cool. And PranoFresh is opening up.

And do you remember PranoFresh in Hanover? It was right next to Bullenberg. Okay. And so Mark was opening up Prano Fresh, and I didn't know at the time. And I said, okay, this is great. I can take the bus because they open up early. I'll go to work in the morning, and then I'll go to college, right? Because I went to school at OCC.

And so I was able to do that and schedule my classes. And so I opened up Prano Fresh, and then Mark's like, come host over at Blumbear. And so I did that for a little bit. And then I figured, well, I was making a good amount of money. And I figured, well, there's apartments above here, condos, or not condos, lofts, sorry, loft. And I said, well, I might as well just live above where I work and then put the whole central bus out altogether, you know.

And so that's what I did. I was 19 years old. I was working at Bullenbear and I was going to school at OCC. And I was taking the central bus. But I'm from Baldwin'sville. And so all that was relatively new. You never really, you know, you're like, A different experience, absolutely.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I did that. And I lived in Hanover when I was 19. And with that, I was able to pick up a couple shifts at Empire Brewing Company. And I was a host over there for the nighttime. And then World Martini Bar is in Hanover Square. And so I would cocktail waitress over there. And I really got to just take it all in, I think, a relative.

young age on my own, you know? I was 19, living on my own in Hanover Square. And I, and that's when I really kind of fell in love with the city and the people and where I really got my grounds and bone structure, you know, from that. And I had some really good mentors in the business that were able to kind of guide me. You know, don't do this, don't do that. And I took it all in and that was, that was really good. I then, I graduated college and I moved to Miami, which was, and I've traveled all over the place, Chicago and Denver and in Miami. I was like, yeah, okay, I'll go to Miami. And I worked there for a little bit and it is not, it is not like Syracuse. A lot of people have that experience.

Yeah. Go to Florida. It's better there. Yeah. It's warm. I did that in my 20s as well. Did you? Oh, so you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. But so I, there was a lot of cool things that Syracuse didn't have and it just was mind blowing. You're like, whoa, like, what do you mean? There's an ice bar. What is an ice bar, right? You don't know. And, and I live there for a little bit and then I, then you always kind of come back, right? You're like, okay, I like fall and I do like to see snow. You know, you really appreciate those things and how beautiful where you live really is. Absolutely. And so I came back and I wasn't sure exactly if I was going to stay or if I was going to go. So my mom lived in Miami. My dad still lived here in Baldensville. So I came back for a little bit and I talked to Dennis over at Mohegan Manor because I grew up there. So I knew him. And I said, Dennis, can you, I know it's the holiday season. Is there any work I can do while I'm here to just kind of make a little money and hang out? And he's like, yeah. And so I did that. I did that. And then I met my husband and I didn't go back. That's the story. That's the story. That happens that way sometimes. It does. And so I stayed here. I have four kids. So I kind of, I'm done having kids no more. So, you know, that's when I was like, okay, I'm done having kids. And now I'm in a place where I can build myself where I want to go. And I've worked at Rail Line for four years. And Rob has been really great because I've been pregnant. And, you know, so, you know, off and take me back. And, and, you know, I love Rob. He's great for that. And I really was able to develop myself even more there. Awesome. And there was one day I said, hey, Rob, I want to do a craft cocktail competition.

He's like, what? Like, yeah, I want a craft cocktail. I want, can I put one on? He's like, you know, we've seen those done before and they don't really work, Alex. And I was like, yeah, but it's not mine. It's not mine. You know, and I, please, right? And he's like, okay, you can do it. And that's where I kind of, it was a make or break for me. Either I can do it and pull it off or I can't. And I'll accept that. And we did good. We did really good. I pulled in.

And I can't tell you how many people that I went to when I was developing this and creating this and building this that said, you know, we've done these before and nobody comes. Yeah. Good luck. And I was like, yeah, thank you, thank you. I was like, man, man, you guys. Come on, just, you know. But we got about 120 people in.

Wow. We had 10 bartenders bartending. They each had their own station. And everybody, we had a band, Brian from Name Brand Covers. He was our singer, solo singer, and he did a great job. And we had some vendors out on the patio. So Rail Line is a rooftop bar, and then it's got a second rooftop on top of that. really neat space yeah it's it's an incredible space and um and so that to me really solidified

that i am i am capable like what i felt inside i was able to put out forward and and and that was when i said okay i feel confident to you know to to do this and go forward with it awesome yeah and that's and from that point you decided let's do it as a legit business and that's where Yeah. Salt and Stone came from. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm a rule follower. I like it. Some people are like, you don't, you don't have to do it. Just get a DBA. You don't have to. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. I've worked events and I've done things for long enough. I need it umbrellaed and insured because anything can go wrong and, you know, so I did. And so salt and stone is, salt is dual purpose, right? We are Salt, Salt City. But it's also like the one seasoning. So I'm community. I like community and

development and togetherness. And it's like the one ingredient that I think everybody uses, no matter who you are and where you come from. That's absolutely true. That's a great way to look at that. Yeah. And then Stone would be just a firm foundation. Sure. Yeah. I love that. Thank you. How long ago was that? When when at Amika insurance, your time and peace of mind matter. bundle your auto and home coverage with us and enjoy savings that make life a little easier. As a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers. We prioritize your needs and are here for you when you need us. Amika, empathy is our best policy.

Visit amica.com and get a quote today. I earned my degree online at Arizona State University. I chose to get my degree at ASU because I knew that. that I'd get a quality education, they were recognized for excellence, and that I would be prepared for the workforce upon graduating. To be associated with ASU, both as a student and alum, it makes me extremely proud,

and having experienced the program, I know now that I'm set up for success. Learn more at ASUonline.asu.org.org. Did the company actually, it formed, I guess? I don't know if that's proper. Was it November? It's like November 28th or 20U?

So it's a brand new venture. Yeah, it's brand, brand new. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. That's so cool. And then so sounds like the first big thing you're going out with is this new reoccurring Monday night event.

Is that accurate? Yeah. Tell us a little bit about this thing. So it was probably about a week and a half before Christmas and I called, I have a photographer, Abby, and she's fantastic. And I said, Abby, I want to do Monday night socials. And I would like if you could take people's headshots. You know, let's update their headshots.

Sure. And she's like, okay, which I love about her. She's like, okay. I'm like, okay. She's like, well, why Mondays? And I said, well, I'm like, Mondays because Saturday, Sundays, all the girls, you know, and the guys, they go and get haircuts and they get their nails done and they look pretty. And Monday's like the beginning of the week, you know, so you're fresh.

And she's like, okay. I can understand that. Yeah. She's like, but it's wintertime and it's slow. And I'm like, well, it is. And I'm like, and that's, that's the point, you know, because there's not much to do, you know, and so you might as well just do something, you know. And so that's kind of how it formed there.

And, you know, headshots aren't cheap if you ever go and do them. So it's $15. And we bring in some light food. And then you get to either like a headshots or if you come with your team from work, you know, if you get a group photo. and that's awesome yeah that's really cool and so this event is uh it's a it's not a a one-time thing right it's a recurring uh monday evenings uh from five to seven 30 did i get that right yeah awesome yeah awesome um what is the you mentioned a little bit it sounds like it's it's kind of a young

professionals thing who's kind of your target audience for this yeah yeah young professionals people who are either just kind of getting in the field or Even if you've been in the field and, you know, people are like, oh, yeah, I need to update my photo, my headshot. You know, you go to work. So it's set at five, right? So you get out of work and you come down. And whether you just hang out with your team from work or, you know, you invite someone out to it. And you just hang out.

There's not, I want to say there's not really a structure to it. I have co-branders. So February is jam-packed. We have CNY professionals under 40 coming February 9th. And so it's just a place to gather and hang out and just get to know each other on a real personal, not awkward level. Sure. I love that. Facilitating that is exactly what you need.

I think you're absolutely on the right path. And, you know, people talk about all the time they don't have their third place anymore. People are often their own worlds and I think they very much want to and they need opportunities exactly like this. So this is pretty cool where it's not just a random, hey, let's get together at some random place. You've got an event. You've got a cool thing happening. You can get some photos done. You can do some networking.

It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. Thank you. Tell us if you wouldn't mind just a little bit more about the venue. So this is at the rail line. And I mentioned earlier, I just think it's such a neat. For those who aren't familiar or maybe aren't even from Syracuse, can you tell people a little bit about just what's unique? about this place because it's not some, you know, unit in a plaza where you might find a bar or

restaurant. It's pretty unique spot, right? Yeah, and you definitely can miss it if you don't know about it, which is, so it's high up off the ground, like you mentioned. The front of the building is all glass. So you have just the high elevated view of the city. And then you kind of walk out and there is garage glass garage doors onto a very large patio, if you will. I mean, it's huge. I don't even, it's not a patio. It's just, it's huge. And so you have all that.

And there's like, Rob created this really nice waterfall and pond back there. He did a good job with it. And there's some fireplaces and some patio furniture you can lounge at. And then you can go upstairs onto, so you're already on a rooftop. Yeah. Right? And then you go upstairs to another rooftop where he has created a garden. So cool.

He's done a great job. Because I said, bro, Rob, how do you get the dirt up there? He's like, wow. So there's a machine, apparently, that has like an arm system. And it shoots the dirt and mulch up to the third floor. That's incredible. Incredible. That's so neat.

Neat spot right behind Salt City Market, anybody who's familiar with that. If they've driven by that and Salina, just go around the corner. Yeah, it's right. It's red. It's a big red thing. You can't miss it. It's a rail car, right? Yeah, yeah.

That's where rail line comes from. Alice, this has been awesome. We love hearing all about this. Is there a website, a Facebook, if folks want to learn more about this and keep an eye on it, where should they go? Yeah. I have a Facebook and an Instagram page. So Salt and Stone Events Company, it's right there. Awesome.

And anything else that's going on? You've got, is this kind of your main focus, I'm guessing, with the new venture? Is this particular event? Do you see other events happening kind of under the salt and stone banners? Yeah. So this is one that I have right now. I have one in the summertime. It's a bit different.

So what I do is I create my own events. Whatever they come to my mind, I just kind of push it out. And so I don't do weddings. I don't do birthday parties. I don't. Those are, that's somebody else is really good at those. I could. I, you know what?

There's special moment. And I, I, my heart cannot take disappointing people like that, you know? And so if it's my own event, I can disappoint myself. You know, that's how. Yeah, yeah. So the other one in the summertime, it's going to be like a 2000s throwback party. there might be some like, I'm going to call it water pong because we're not going to put beer in it. But there might be like a water pong competition going on.

And we have a DJ and it's going to be a great time. But for now, that's a far ways away. For now, I just have the Monday socials. Kids these days play beer pong with water like regularly. Yeah. Oh, you know, the way you're supposed to do it, you've got the ball in the cup and you're supposed to drink the cup of nasty beer with the pump. Kids, oh, no, no. No, no, no.

Yeah. I don't know what's happening anymore kids these days. I know. We could talk for hours about kids these days. Alex, this has been awesome. Thank you so much for joining us on Good News York and telling us all about this. And also, let's check in.

This event is going on through March. Periodically, drop by and tell us a little bit about some of the different things you've got going on on these various Mondays. Absolutely. We love to hear more about it. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Thank you so much. And with that, We'll be back with some more. Good News York. Hello and welcome to Good News York, sponsored by Ads on the Go. Get Ads on the Go.com. I am Mike Perdiscuit with you on this Tuesday. I think it's Tuesday, right?

Yeah. Thank you, Danny. Danny Tripote on the On the Ones and twos over there. It is Tuesday. It is the new year. I am joined by a very special guest today. Matt's not here. Matt's out.

I think he bought a pair of snowshoes that he's trying out. Just now snow. Yeah, well, I know, but he's a weird guy. He's not here today, but I am joined by a very special guest. I'm very excited because my mother-in-law is a retired PT professor from Ithaca College. So when I heard that we were going to be sitting down with a physical therapist, I thought, hey, I think I can hang in this conversation from many milestone physical therapy in Cicero, New York, right here in the Syracuse area, Brittany Schuller.

It's only one clap, but better than none. Brittany, you are the founder of Mini Milestones Physical Therapy. And when I went on the site and started researching and doing the story, I really enjoyed your story. And I like kind of what your mission is about. And one of the first things I did read up on was that you knew, and this is rare sometimes, you knew in high school. that this is what you wanted to do. You wanted to work in the physical therapy field. Was there a specific moment?

Was there a person that influenced that? How did that all come about? Yeah. Well, originally I thought I was going to be a math teacher up until about my senior year of high school. And then one of my friends just started talking about physical therapy. And I was like, well, I play sports. Like maybe I can work with athletes. They get a lot of injuries.

They need a lot of rehab. And from the get-go. So senior year, then I was able to do some BOSIs, and I went and learned allied health, so just learning anatomy and physiology. And then Thursdays and Fridays, we got to job shadow. So I job shadowed a school-based physical therapist. I was in the hospital. I got to see a few surgeries and job-shadowed a hospital-based outpatient clinic, and she did wound care. That one was a little crazy, seeing just big open wounds and how they, like, PTs can dress and do all of that as well, not just nursing. But I didn't obviously go that route. But I wanted to be a math teacher because I always love numbers and kids. So my goal is always to work with children. But once I got and saw how they could help people, because that was another like mission I was always drawn to.

It was just any way that I could help somebody. So my senior year, I think job shadowing those individual physical therapist and seeing what they did. At Amika Insurance, we know it's not just about where you're going. but who you go with that's why we work even harder to protect what matters most and as a mutual insurance company

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So then I got a scholarship to Clarkson. They're known for engineering. But a lot of people don't know, they have, like, a tiny little physical therapy school. So, and their class was maybe, like, 21, 24 kids, like, and that was, their program was, like, 24 kids at class. So it's pretty small. And it's all problem-based learning, but that kind of sealed the deal. It was small. They do a lot of, like, critical thinking and a lot of, like, self-learning, which is how I learn best.

But, yeah, once I was able to see the physical therapist, like, during my senior year, that kind of, like, Like, was he, yep, this is what I can do. I can work with kids. I can help them. And that was pretty much it. And there's still numbers involved. No, yeah. There's always numbers involved.

We have to count the number of reps. Yeah, exactly. Which, by the way, Clark's in great hockey school side note. I know that. I think I went to one or two games. I was there. I don't tell anybody who's only one or two. As long as you went to one, that's all that matters.

You know, as you touched on, there are, you know, people, when they hear physical therapy, they think of, you know, oh, my ankle hurts and we're going to go. We're going to do some exercises. And there are so, there is so much more to the field itself. There's a lot of different things. And you specialize in a lot of that, or in some areas, specialized areas. We'll get to that. But first, I want to stick with your background. You are the founder of many milestones in Cicero. And I would love to hear how that was founded. How did this come about? You know, it's a leap of faith to But to, you know, open your own practice. That is, as I said, you know, you can work with athletes.

You can, you know, work at a practice. But to run your own practice is a big undertaking. Talk a little bit about how it was founded. And also, I love if you could talk about the meaning behind the name. Yeah, of course. So I come from a background working in the hospital setting. I started in Watertown, did more like adult acute care. It was very slow.

but it was it got my grounding in confidence in like therapy coming to upstate I worked there for about 10 years I was the lead physical therapist on the neuro rehab and that kind of solidified my like love for neuro in the brain and then November 2021 I went to school base and then there's my kids like working with the children I got to upstate because I was the lead pediatric PT but it wasn't always a full caseload it was a lot of adults because we don't always want neuro kids. Like that means like brain injury, spinal cord injuries. I love doing it, but you're just kind of getting burnt out. So I went into school base.

And I get to see these kids for like 20, 30 minutes at most. But I can't, I could never treat how I thought it was like appropriate because we're always kind of told how to and we get set this expectations, I guess. But working in the school, I'm like, I know there's just a deeper level I can help these kids on. and I got it. I love working with kids. I'm like, how can I do this? And so I started doing some of it on the side or during the summers. And then I was like, all right, I got to make this, like, bigger because I was seeing such change in these kids.

And it's just been my passion to, like, help these kiddos how I can. But many milestones came about with, like, making every milestone count, even the little ones. Because with some of these kids with, like, drastic diagnoses, you're only going to see small improvements at it. time. But those are huge in their daily life. Like just being able to, I had one kid, when he came to me, all he could do was sit. And now he's practically running and jumping. But we first had to, like, go from sitting to laying down and sitting, like, from sitting to laying down and be, like that transition to be able to do that first. And then we got him crawling. And then we got him standing. So it's like even, even the mini milestones are like huge progress in some of these

kiddo's lives. And I think it fits perfectly with the name and like the children. That's exactly why I wanted you to bring that up. That's what hit me right away was it's also a life lesson. You know, you hear a lot of times that, you know, people like, for example, it's the new year and everyone's like, I'm going to go to the gym and I'm going to change my life. And then, you know, they kind of start slowly like they can't get, you know, muster up the, the energy to do it. And what you'll hear people say is, well, don't think about going to the gym five times. Let's just start with one day. And you're applying that physical therapy.

And the fact that you're doing it with children, I mean, that's so touching. You know, when you go to see any sort of doctor in any field, you want someone that cares. Yeah. So I think that's what jumps out to me about you and your practice the most is that you are, it's not like, hey, I'm a PT and I have a practice. It's, it's, you're putting your heart and soul into it. And one of the main, main parts of that is I see individualized care come up a lot on when I, when I looked into your, your background and into the practice. Can you just explain what does that mean?

And is that something that is kind of unique? Like, is that something that not all PT clinics or practices use or implement? Well, I hope they all do. Sure. Right, right. Some, but some, like ortho, you get a 12th. you're going to do the same exercises. It was just like a protocol. But I want to do, I come from like a whole body or, yeah, a whole brain, whole body approach. And even though I see a lot of like neurodivergent

kiddos, autism, nonverbal autism, high functional autism, ADHD, or other no diagnoses, I, when I assess them, I assess their cranial nerves, like each part of their brain. And some kid might have like a deficit on their sensory on this side or this side. And it's like through testing. So Like, I have to individualize it because not all, like kids with autism will present the same. Not all kids with ADHD will present the same. So I have to figure out in their body, the weak areas. And then we focus on those areas to kind of balance the brain to, like, help. So individualized kind of comes from that because each kid is their own unique self.

And we got to figure out their weak areas and address them from that aspect. That's so great. And even in the world of autism, we've learned over the years that, Not all autism is the same either, right? You know, there's a whole, there's a whole spectrum. And you may have already answered this, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart, you know, many milestones? What sets your practice apart from other PT clinics and practices? I come from a lot of, like, cutting edge technology.

So I don't just do hands on. I do a lot of hands on, like dynamic movement intervention. I'm a level of C certified. I don't know if anyone else in the area is. I use photobiomodulation, which is cold level laser therapy. I don't think anyone else in the area has it within like a good three hour radius. I have people coming from like Albany, Rochester, Ithaca areas, Neurosage, which is like a brain-based video game where they use like auditory

and visual input to target certain areas of the brain. And then there's interactive metronom. So I research and I take courses on these technologies so I can use them. And I have kids that come in and I don't work on reading, writing, communication because I'm not speech. I'm not OT. But when you address like our primitive reflexes, which is the foundation of our brain development, you're going to see improvements all over. So I have a mom like, oh, he's able to follow directions. It's not for me, but now my mom and his aunt and he's more focused and he's playing with a sister and he's communicating better. But it's like, I believe it's these technologies because of how they rewire the brain and how they like targets certain areas of the brain. which is not really around this area yet. Right. You're cutting edge. You really are in every way.

I mean, the practice itself is cutting edge, but you just said yourself that you're constantly researching and using these new technologies and that's awesome. That's incredible. And I, are you, I know obviously one of your specialties is in the neuro field. is your practice do everything across the board or do just the whole practice just focus on the neuroscience? I have quite a few kids with like developmental delays.

So they come in to me. They're not walking yet. Maybe they're not ADHD or like autism or something, but they just have a gross motor delay. I still see them and address them because that still somehow comes back to the brain. Everything comes back to like our foundation development. Because with any kind of like gross motor delay, you might have a learn. I think I read somewhere where there's like 100% of learning disabilities stem from a gross motor delay, which is what us as PTs address is like gross motor movement. And if I can figure out, again, the weak areas, then I can address like the other issues going on.

If it's a coordination issue, balance issue, I'm like, all right, that's your cerebellum. How can we focus on that? Vibration plate laser the cerebellum. Do certain like activities and target these areas. so I don't just see the autism and ADHD. I see like 0 to 21. I do have a few adults, like a stroke case. I think 95% of my population is peeds,

but I do see a few adults as well. Concussions, they lost their post-concussive symptoms within like three to four visits using like the lasers and certain eye exercises and everything. They got back to full functioning, exercising, running miles. So, yeah, I think it all can stem somehow from some kind of like addressing the brain. But if I was to hurt my hip, because I'm an old man these days. Oh, yeah.

Nope. Would they, he referred to you or is it mostly the neuro patient? Yeah. No, that is more of an ortho case. I could address it, but I don't feel as specialized in that area or comfortable because I do send them next door to like I'm a dog of PT. I'm like, I think you need to go over next, Thornton. Would you just tell me something?

Because up until today, I thought gross motor was just something like a mechanic worked on. Gross, gross motor skills. I'm going to write that down. At Amika Insurance, we know it's not just what's inside your home that matters. It's who you share it with. That's why we work even harder to protect it. And as a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers. We prioritize your needs and are here for you when you need us.

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or learn more at LiquidDeath.com. So owning your own practice is a huge undertaking, but there seems to be a lot of challenges in your field, but I think more than that, so many rewards. What are some of the challenges and rewards that do come with owning your own practice? Oh, gosh. Yeah. Challenges like the business aspect. sure. Making sure your financials in order. Marketing, which I haven't really done. Everything's

been a word of mouth. I've been full beer. Yeah, exactly. This is a step. This is a mini mile film. Exactly. See what I did there? Mini mile stuff. Um, but the, that's something that's been hard because it's like I try to manage my social medias, but it's like, I'm so focused on my patient at the time. Like, I can't always videotape. I can't always do certain things. So it's like trying to wear all these hats at once. That's probably been the biggest. challenge. The rewards is just randomly on a Saturday, look at what we're doing at home. They're walking now. Like, they're practicing the PT at home. Parents have my number. A lot of them do when they reach out randomly and I give them pretty much open access. I probably shouldn't, but

they, but I just love hearing those things. And I feel like we, I can collaborate better when we build a sound like relationship. They trust me. And I think that's the biggest reward is them trusting me with their kiddos. I'm so impressed by you. I'm a father of two kids. And if God forbid anything was wrong with my kids, I would be a wreck. And having someone like you that is not only as good as you are at what you do, but that is willing to say, hey, here's my number. Let's keep an open line of communication. That's huge for a parent who's worrying about a child, you know. And I think That's amazing. Now, in addition to the challenges of the, you know, owning your practice itself, let's be honest, there's a lot of challenges facing PT involving the healthcare system today.

What is some of the challenges you deal with in that realm? Insurance is probably a big one. Gosh, probably number one, I would assume you. Yeah. They just keep cutting rates and expenses for everything go up. So I do accept some insurance because some are easier to work with and others, but I also do a hybrid model, but not everyone feels comfortable, like, doing cash base. And that's hard, but it's like once they see the difference in their kids, it's just, like, a no-brainer for them. They're like, okay, I'm going to figure out, like, a budget to be able to do this for a few months, like, if I don't accept their insurance.

But I think that accepting insurances does kind of tie our hands and limit how we can do it because they don't cover everything. So it's like we do have a couple cash-based like add-ons, like the neurosage or their interactive metronome because insurance is like, like, like, me, like, this doesn't always like count or they don't see it as something that we should be doing. But the difference that I've seen using those tools is huge. I think, yeah, that's the biggest one for me. You know, again, my mother-in-law is a retired PT professor and this is where she comes in. She gave me a good one. I asked her, I said, you know, I came up with some, you know, stuff to talk about with Brittany, Schuller, by the way, founder of many milestones. physical therapy.

But I said, hey, anything I should, you know, bring up that I wouldn't know. And she taught me about a thing that in your field is a real thing, and that's called PT burnout? Oh, yeah. And she said it's a very real thing. How do you deal with the potential of burnout? And maybe explain a little bit what that means, the PT burnout itself. I'm in a few PT group. Then they actually talk about that.

And I think that comes from outpatient clinics, many like orthoclux. They just have such a high demand. You're seeing multiple patients in an hour. You're limited to like 30 minutes because so with insurances, whether you see them for 30, 60, 90 minutes, you're getting like, say 50 to 60 bucks. It's like a capped rate. And then so then they're not being rewarded for their like efforts and their knowledge. And you're just kind of like, you feel like you plateau. Unless you go out and own your own business, then you can kind of grow, which that's kind of what I did. I was working in the hospital. I felt that burnout because it's like, you feel like, you plateau. I You have these demands, you have these quotas that you need to meet, you have these productivity that you have to meet. And everyone is like, but I want to treat how I want to treat these patients need me. I need more like time with them. But we are kept. We got to meet these like KPIs in order to function in these certain areas.

And I think that really just drives a lot of us mad. So what advice would you give young PT students in regards to avoiding or managing P.T. burnout. Finding a clinic that addresses that. Like, I've always thought about it, like, because my plan is to expand. So I'm like, how can I pour into my employees to make them feel, like, valued? That's a huge thing. Um, noticing that maybe they do feel burnout. So, hey, here's like a gift card for a massage. Go take some me time. Yeah. And, um, like, breathe. Or like, hey, how can I help during the session so that, you know, you're not feeling so overwhelmed. Just figuring out ways, because as an owner, I'm going to eventually have employees.

And I got to figure out how to manage that so that, you know, the retention rate is there. Because it's cycling through, but as like a young PT, find a clinic that you love, find your passion. Because if you're coming into the PT world, you want to help people. And that I think right there is like that should be your mindset. I'm here to help people. But if you start to feel burnout, then that might not be the right area for you. You might need to like find a different setting because SPTs, we can do a lot. We can do peds. We can do neuro. We can do pelvic floor. We can do like in the hospital. We can do sports base. So if you're in the hospital and you're more of like a sports minded ortho pt, see if you can either if that hospital has like an outpatient, you can move to like that setting or. Some PTs are moving cash base and doing like home visits and doing that. I have a few friends doing that and that's made a difference because they're, again, they're helping the people how they want to help them. And I think that's a big thing.

It's like we have this mindset of how we want to help people, but we can't always do that in these certain settings. I have a friend. We call them dinks, double income, no kids. They have a giant RV. And for a while, they would travel the country for a half of a year, rep their house out, and she was a traveling PT. And it made me realize, you're right. You can, it's rare that you go into a medical field and you have so many options, you know, a lot of it's specialized.

In the PT world, you do have a ton of options. Yeah. Is there a huge difference in the way that a PT has to treat kids as opposed to adults as far as not as much as I, as I, I guess what they call bedside manner is like technique. The whole realm of it is, is that a challenge? Is there a difference? There are some similarities, especially if like a kid fell and broke their leg because playing football, playing sports.

The ortho aspect is kind of similar. And then like gate mechanics and everything can kind of carry over as well. But then there is like I can be more hands on doing that DMI, the dynamic movement intervention with kiddos. That's more hands on. And then that kind of caps at a certain age. And then you can modify. Okay.

So babies and like up to five, you can be a little more hands on to where I can't always do that with bigger people. Yeah, yeah. They're way. And I can't handle them the same way. I can try because I, again, I have that lady with a stroke and I try to modify to her in that aspect. But there are some, like, adult exercises that I'll see on, like, Instagram because there's a lot of PTs posting. And sometimes I get great ideas. But I'm like, how can I modify that for the?

It's a five-year-old. You're like somebody younger. I feel like we're the MacGyvers of the medical world. Great reference. You go into the room with a patient and a paper clip and you come off with a solution and they're fine. And we're out. I'm like, can I like, we were even just like the lasers. I have two of them now.

I'm like, how can I like put these here and like we're looking around the clinic and we're like, tangle them together so that we can use both of them at the same time. But yeah, we, there was a. one PTA that I worked with in the hospital. And I literally called him the Magiver of the PT world because the way he came up with some of the things, I'm like, how do you think of this? Yeah, but see, but that's, that's how you're built. Like that's, again, this is why I was really impressed by you. It was because you're always thinking ahead. You're like, how can I, you know, individualize care. I'm going to open my own practice. You know, I want to work on this. And I want to try this new

procedure. I just, I'm really impressed by that. As far as the difference in treating kids and adults, education-wise, was that something? No. It's the same. Yeah, we all have, so it's either six or seven years of schooling. We all have our doctorate now. So we're a doctor of PT. But I am like a board certified neurospecialist, brain injury specialist, and clinical primitive reflex specialist. So it's like we, you can specialize in things. So if you can be an ortho specialist, you can be a pelvic floor specialist. So after school, you can kind of specialize a little more. But coming out, we're more. We're more. of like a generalist.

And then... Go ahead. Sorry. No, you're okay. Because we have clinics. We have clinicals that we have to do. So we have to do one hospital, one outpatient, a specialty. We had to do four PTAs.

I think you have to do three. And the fourth one you can kind of pick as you please. And if you have like an interest, maybe your last one might be something that you are interested in. But you have to meet like those certain things. So you can kind of come out and go into what you feel comfortable. doing and then specialize from there. That's awesome. And I have it right here, actually. This is perfect segue. So, Brittany, I have a great. I had to write it now. You are a board certified neurological specialist, certified brain injury specialist, as well as an introductory level C,

DMI certified practitioner and certified primitive reflex practitioner. At Amica insurance, we know it's not just what's inside your home that matters. It's who you share it with. That's why we work even harder to protect it. And as a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers. We prioritize your needs and are here for you when you need us. Amica, empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote today. What up y'all?

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Or learn more at LiquidDeft.com Because of my mother-in-law I'm aware that not every PT is specialized in this Can you explain what all of those mean and what additional education and training, like, went in to get those certifications? So to become, like, a board certified specialist, you either need to do, like, a, it's almost like what the doctors do, where you do your... Residency? Yes, thank you.

Where you can do, like, a residency following school. Like, you can go right from school into a resident. I'm sure you could do that at any point, but you have to meet, like, a certain number of clinical hours and then take a test. So I sat for my boards to become a PT. And then when I was like nine months pregnant, I sat for more boards to become a specialist after studying for like seven months. But I had been in the field for I think five years and you have to have like 2,000 clinical hours or something like that. So I sat for those. And then three months after that, I sat for another test for the brain injury specialist because working in the hospital and the neuro field.

I saw a lot of brain injuries. and then going to the school and learning about primitive reflexes and how the foundation of a lot of learning disabilities and other things, I went and wanted to learn more about that. So then I learned more about that and took a test. And then the DMI is, that's three different courses that I went to. They were like two days long, a lot of like hands-on practice. So I've been to three of those.

Each one, you go up a level. My word. That is wildly impressive. A couple more questions, and we'll get you out of here. I'm fascinated by this. I don't know. It's kind of a weird question, but I just, is there any, like, sort of, I don't word this correctly, PT that you find more rewarding than others, or something that you

really enjoy, like, is there a certain injury you love, you know, working on or, or a condition of any sort? Mainly, like, those autism and ADHD, because I know, we never want to say we want to cure it, But these parents, some of them are struggling. Just like mentally, they're exhausted. These kids have high needs. And if I can do anything to, like, lessen that burden or, like, help these kids focus better, help them regulate. Like, it's going to improve the quality of life of not only the kid, but the family and, like, the parents, which a lot of them get that burnt out feeling.

They're always worrying. And they worry so much about their kid. Are they being treated while at school? Are they, like, doing this? But if I can, again, I don't always specifically address those areas, but I know what part of the brain that they come from. from. So if I'm addressing those areas of the brain and we're making them stronger, then you're going to see more of that regulation aspect. You're going to not see as many meltdowns. They're better focus. So I have this one girl where she got glowing three weeks straight. The mom's like, this has never

happened. She hasn't been this well behaved in school for like three weeks in a row. And this is like huge. And so like her teachers are noticing. I had a kid that had seizures. And last summer I got like a text from mom like he's seizure free and but his little cake said my brain is healed but he came to me not this December but the previous being pulled from school because of behavior so his mom always it was affecting her work so she had to leave early to go get him we did a three week intensive he went back that Monday after break and again complete difference and then she sent me the teacher report like he comes in he still might be a little chatty but he sits down he wants to work hard he wants to do well.

And he's like, not behavior. So what's that mean? He's doing better. Teacher is able to like manage and teach better. Mom isn't having to leave work. So it's like, it's not only the kiddo. It's just it like bleeds over into like other areas of their life, which is huge. I mean, that's, it's as rewarding as it gets.

Yeah. You know, it's rewarding when you help someone up the stairs. You know, as a human being, I mean, every day of your life, you're, you're changing people's lives for the better. And do you find it hard to separate work from home because you're you're really dealing with people on a personal level? And obviously you can tell you have a huge heart. You have to to do what you do and the way that you do it. It isn't hard for you to not bring it home. And how do you deal with that?

Yeah. I think my husband wants to say yes. Yeah, I bet. Because he like, again, having like that access. And I need to be better about setting boundaries. Like, all right, between like 4.30 and 9, like, don't take any calls or text from patients and, like, wait until the kids go to bed. Boundaries, yeah. Yeah.

And I think that's the biggest thing because I want that relationship and I want them to be able to do that. But self-wise and family-wise, I do need to be better about that. Because that's PT burnout too in a way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just that open access. And just that mental power of always like, oh, I see the text.

Like, I got to do it now. But people can wait. And I just need to be just need to learn that. I get it. But yeah, it definitely carries over. And sometimes it just wears that. And you're like, yesterday this kid came in and it just wasn't a normal session because he just seemed more dysregulated. He was like a little more aggressive.

And I'm just like, I know that's not the kid. But by the end, he was like, cuddling me. And I was able to like sit there and do this. And I went out to the waiting room when I was chatting with mom. And he just had his head in my lap. And so I'm like playing with his hair is like I'm talking to her and telling her how it went. but it kind of just carries over to home because you're a little burnt out. And then sometimes it's hard going home and playing with the kids because I'm like,

all right, I just mentally had to do all of this and hang with all these kiddos. I worked before I came here. I worked for a year and a half in an elementary school. And I have a newfound respect for teachers. And I build such a strong relationship with these kids. And I, too, would bring it home. and I find myself getting upset at night, thinking about kids that were in unfortunate situations.

When I also remember, I caught myself being very short with my kids sometimes, not like mean or yelling, but where I would normally be like, chipper and ready to go outside, I'm like, eh, I can't, you know. Yeah. And that's a real thing. It does affect your home because you're around kids all day

and you just, you can't, you know, muster up the mental energy. Last question. was was so you kind of already mentioned a little bit I'm sure this has happened is is there a moment or moments where you had a patient where you thought this is this is not hopeless but there's not much we can do but and and you just saw a miraculous turnaround um I mean that's a few of my kiddos because they come the one that is walking and running now like they come in with a grim help like the doctor said he he had like a, almost like a brain injury from less oxygen at birth. And they always do

those things. I'm like, okay, like, can I really do that? Like, it's that imposter syndrome. It's like, can I really do this? Can I really make a difference? Um, but we have to appreciate those many milestones. So when he came and he did that week intensive and then we got him going, like laying down a sitting by himself. Okay. We're getting somewhere. And then a few months later came back for another intensive. Then I had him crawling with like the first two days. And I'm like, okay. So maybe he can be a little more mobile. But you just get like, are these doctors right? Like am I like doing, am I taking on too much?

But I'm seeing like all these, these changes and like that it is possible. Even with like these nonverbal kiddos, they, with the low level laser therapy that I use, the parents come back and like, I don't know what's in those lasers or if it was those lasers. But like these last three to five days, their behaviors were better. And I'm like, give me those lasers. Yeah, yeah. Can I borrow that laser? too much. Brigny Schuller, you're amazing.

Give me the plugs. Plug your business, whether it's a phone number, some sort of event you have coming up, email, address. Give us the plugs. All right. So you can contact me at mini milestones, ppt at gmail.com.

You can set up a free phone consult. We can chat about how I can best serve your kiddo. And then usually we go right into an evaluation. and I let you know where the weak areas are, how we can best address them. We do intensives for quicker results. So that's like one out, one to three hours a day for every day for one to three weeks, whatever can kind of fit into your schedule. I do accept some insurances, United Health Care, ExcelS, MVP, Cigna, Medicare,

because I do see a couple adults. And then the other is cash base in which you would get super bills. And then you can submit them to your insurance if I don't take them and get reimbursed. versed yourself. And where are you on social media if you are? Instagram and Facebook. Instagram. You can do it.

I know. Dr. Shue, the brain PT. D-R-S-C-H-U, the brain-P-T. And then Minnie Milesons physical therapy on Facebook. We'll make sure that when we put clips out in the episode, we'll tag you in all that. Brittany Schuller, founder of Minnie Milestones physical therapy. Some call her Brittany. I call her McGiber.

Thank you for coming on Good News, York, sponsored by ads on the go, get ads on the go.com. Honestly, you know, you're not just a physical therapist. Your story is fantastic, and thank you for sharing it with us. As a father and just as a human being, I appreciate how much you don't treat it as like I'm going into work. You know, it's a nine to five thing. You really do care about your patients and it really shows. So thank you for joining us. Again, Brittany Schuller, founder of Minnie Milestone Physical Therapy.

in Cicero, New York. Stick around. Matt is coming up. He's got a great interview next on this Tuesday edition of Good News York. You can follow us at Good News York. Good News York.com and you can follow me on socials at Mike B TV. I'll see you tomorrow, but stick around for Matt next. Hey guys, welcome back to Good News York. I'm Matt from Clickstream Studios.

Welcome back. This has been a jam-packed episode between Mike and I. We've got a lot of really incredible interviews. And we've got another one on deck. You might notice that I've got a guest here in studio. And this is really exciting because, quite frankly, I could use your services. So this is something that I hope that we're going to learn a lot. But first, don't forget, Good News York is sponsored by Ads on the Go.

Get Ads on the Go.com. Shout out to our man, Zach in the Billboard truck, driving around, spreading the good word all over the greater Syracuse area. check him out. He's an incredible young guy and he's got a great service. He is awesome. You know, Zach? Yeah, I do from the Liverpool Chamber. He's just the most impressive young man in the world. He is. He is. He really is. But anyway, without further ado, let's jump right into you. This young lady here who has been happy enough to join us this morning, her name is Emily Gozi. And I understand that you work in the nutrition field. Yes. Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

I am a registered dietitian. So I help busy professionals feel confident in their skin and in the kitchen through nutrition counseling, education, and support. Wow. She's got that down. I love that. That's impressive. What does all that mean? Yeah.

So kind of to back through a little bit of my history, when I was in high school, I had an eating disorder. And part of my treatment, I had to go see a registered dietitian. And up until that point, I thought I wanted to do like sports marketing, sports management. And she really changed how I thought about nutrition. nutrition, how I thought about the food that I was eating, how I just kind of went through the day. And I was like, this is so cool that you just get to talk about food all day long. I love to cook. I love to eat. So I went to school for nutrition. And really what a registered dietitian is, is anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. Not anyone can call themselves registered dietitian. So it's our job to kind of educate and take all of the scientific research, the new food pyramid and make it into an applicable, digestible way for the American people.

to understand how to make those nutrition changes, as well as support disease states. Like if you have diabetes, I had a call with someone this morning who has chronic kidney disease, navigate that with nutrition to help keep you healthy as long as we can without having to go on medication. So really nutrition is preventative medicine. Gotcha. Now, tell me how this works in the whole sort of health care model. Are you an independent person somebody might come to? Are you someone that a doctor would refer to? How does that work? Both. Okay. So my practice is entirely virtual. I live over in East Syracuse, but we serve clients all over the state and all over the U.S. We can get doctors referrals if you have, let's say you need to lose weight

in order to have a gym replacement. We absolutely accept doctors' referrals. But a lot of our clients come from word of mouth as well as social media. Wow, that's incredible. And what is the most common ask, I guess, you know, when somebody comes to you, is it just, I'm unhealthy fix me? Or are they more specific than that? A lot of it is weight loss to begin with. But then as we start to work together and unpack all of those things, people start to find that their energy improves and that their labs are improving, but they didn't even come to us to talk about their labs. They didn't see that as a big priority. And that's really the beauty of working with a registered dietitian is that we're not just focused on that one piece. We really take your health into that whole picture to help you

feel your best. And what also can be translatable over the next 90 years, not just the next 90 days. That's really, really incredible. So there's so many things to dive into here. First and foremost, just some basics. So who do you work with? Age ranges, things like that. So most often we work with individuals between the ages of like 30 to 65. We have some outlier clients too. So ambitious clients, but I just get out of college and like, I want to take care of my nutrition and my relationship with food now.

And I have a client who is 83 and she's just so fabulous and fun to work with. She tells me about her mermaid classes that she goes to. Wow. I know. So a good variety of clients, both men and women. I would say a majority of the people that reach out to us are women. Maybe that's because I'm also a woman where they just feel more comfortable and comfortable, but we do have a good mix of men clients as well.

I don't do active eating disorders because you really need to be specially trained in eating disorders to help somebody. But if you had a history of eating disorders or disorder eating, they absolutely can help you. Wow. Wow. Is there, obviously so many things are custom and personal to each individual person, But is there sort of like a very common go-to that you start with with the majority of people? Yeah, that's a great question. I always start with building the plate because we are not taught nutrition in school.

Research shows that we're spending less and less time on nutrition education. That kid need at least 50 hours of nutrition education each year, they're getting eight. So very disproportionate. And no wonder we have all these health issues on their eyes. So we always start with like, how am I building a plate? What should I be looking for? and I like to use an acronym called PCC. So we're looking for protein, we're looking for carb, and we're looking for color.

Those are those three things where if we have those on our plate, and then we'll work on portion sizes and slowing down and listening to your body. But if we have those three things on your plate, you're most likely going to be able to get the fiber that you need, the antioxidants that you need, enough protein in and having that good balance too, where it might not just be a full plate of pasta, you're also going to be getting the protein that keeps you feeling fuller for longer, and then the fiber, too, that helps to reduce disease risk.

Wow. That's incredible. Is there something that, I'm trying to think of the best way to phrase this question, I guess, is there something that people overdo the most? Or is there a real big culprit that everybody's battling? That's a great question. I think protein is almost getting a little overplayed right now. We need protein. Absolutely. I abide by, you know, I do agree with the dietary guidelines that just came out of 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram. is that recommendation. However, we don't need protein and everything that we eat. You know, you can just have regular popcorn. It doesn't need to be protein popcorn. The protein chips could. They don't taste great. So realizing that not everything has to be protein-fied,

we do need those other macronutrients. And then also, I'm seeing more and more people with very high intakes of sugar, sweetened beverages. So lots of soda, lots of sweet tea, lots of juice, where those things will have some nutrients for us. But we're, better off not drinking as many of our calories and really trying to look at that majority of our calories coming from the food that we're eating versus what we're drinking. That's incredible. If you could, can you talk a little bit more about sugar just because I personally have found that it's a horrible addicting drug that has done bad things to me over my lifetime?

And it's interesting, like you've mentioned, new guidelines have shifted a little bit, putting some focus on, hey, less sugar. I feel like maybe for the first time they're really telling people that. But just kind of what is your opinion overall? Is it as bad as I think it is? Is that overplayed? What's, how do you feel about that? So we have to understand that sugar is part of like the carbohydrate umbrella. Sugar just means simple carbohydrates. Sure. So the sugar that we get in carrots or apples, it's going to be better for us because it's not like they're pumping a syringe full of sugar into the apple to make it sweet. When we have those types of sugar, is there's more fiber. There's vitamins. There's minerals in there. However, when we're eating candy, we're eating cookies or cake, those things, we're not getting heart-healthy fats. We're not getting fiber that helped to keep us feeling fuller for longer. Those also help to slow down digestion. So if we're having, let's say, a piece of cake and there's no other protein with it like a glass of milk. You know, that's why you put glass of milk with Oreos. They also take good together, too. But

having that cake on its own, your blood sugar level goes up and you get this energy burst. Like, oh, I feel really good. You get that like high feeling. Yeah. Then your body shoots off insulin and it comes crashing back down again. And you get that tired, lethargic, awe feeling of like, well, I guess I need more sugar. You might not be having that conversation with yourself, but your brain is thinking it. And so then we're having more of those craving.

So we can get on this roller coaster of like, I have it. And then I feel like crap. And then I have it again and I feel good. So if we can get off of that roller coaster, you're going to feel a lot better. But it's all about like what we can pair those things with. So like maybe if you really want the chocolate, we can do. like chocolate with a handful of almonds. If you really want the cookie, maybe you're having that cookie with the dinner that also is a

great source of heart healthy fats, proteins and fibers that help to slow down digestion, so that you're not feeling ravenous in an hour and you're not feeling that energy bottom out where those cravings start to creep back in. Wow. This is great. It's the best interview I've done in weeks. I'm learning so much. This is phenomenal.

If you could, take us just a little through kind of the process of when you work with somebody. So we'll say I come to you and I say, Emily, I'm a mess. Where do we start? Yeah. So we'll do an introductory call together. We'll go over your goals, what you're looking for. I like to say to my clients or potential clients, tell me your nutrition history. I mean, like, I could go on for hours. I'm like, that's fine. I've got time. I want to know. I want to know what's happening going on. So we gather kind of that data. And then we go over like, okay, here are the options. If you're going to work with us one on one, if you want to join our membership, if you want to join our group program, we figure out what might work best for you.

your budget, your time constraints. Then after that, if they're working with this one-on-one, we have them fill out our nutrition assessment form. So that goes over our health and nutrition history. They can send over their labs to us. They send over medications, supplements. They talk about in that form their relationship with food. So maybe you grew up in a place where you might have been food insecure and you weren't allowed to have really good or there wasn't the ability to have really good nutrient dense foods. Or your family was very against junk foods, very against sodas and cakes and cookies. Where now, if you're around those, you feel like you can't stop eating around them.

We want to know that stuff because that's stuff that we can work on together. We also have our clients go over and do a three-day food log at least for us. So at least two weekdays and one weekend day, give me a better idea of where we're starting from. I always tell our clients, I sure you can eat salads all day long, but please don't start because I'm not going to recommend that to figure out what's going to work best. And I don't want you to show off to me that you can eat healthy. I want to see what's actually happening because that gives us more data and information to say, here's what we can do next to help you. From there, we usually set what our overarching goals are

together, whether working together for three months or six months or beyond. And then with each of those follow-up calls, they have access to us in between appointments where our clients can reach out to us, kind of like phone a friend. If you have questions or concerns, you're going out to eat, you're making a meal plan. I had a client. Can you grab one more thing? I'll come back up for you. At Amika Insurance, we know you'll always find ways to look out for the people you love. And with Amika life insurance, we'll help build a plan to make sure you always can. We're here to help protect the life you've built. Really?

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Call me, she was down in Florida visiting in-laws, and she's like, oh, I can tell my mother-in-law's relationship with food is not great, and it's impacting my relationship with food. Can we talk about it? That's the beauty of working with us is that you have us in your back pocket as needed, almost like concierge nutrition. And then with follow-up calls, we get sent over to them a check-in form.

So it goes over like, how did the last couple weeks go? What are some strengths? What are some weaknesses? What questions do you have? How can we help you? We can pull up the analysis through our app on your food tracking of what your calorie intake look like, all of these macronutrient, micronutrient goals, and then help to create those baby stuff from there.

So it is not a cookie cutter program at all. Everything is based around the client, their goals, their progress. the progress and what they're looking for. Wow. That's incredible. I'd love to get your input on on a wide variety of things. There's so many of these different different types of diets and things like that that people do. And with varying success, right? And then to some degree, I think almost like you were mentioning with protein, we start to hear that so much that the fad pieces come up, like the, you know, the protein chips. Yes. What are some, I guess I would say legitimate if folks were to look at some of these things

that aren't necessarily a fat or a scam or something that people should dig into a little bit on their own? So I really like if someone's looking to follow a particular, let's say, diet regimen, the Mediterranean-style eating plan is still one of the most recommended and most successful ones. So that's a diet that really includes a lot of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, heart-healthy fats. All of those things are very powerful with anti-aliener. that help to reduce inflammation in the body, trying to still have red meat, but limit it. We don't need, you know, just take every single night.

It's a high source of saturated fat. It will cause your cholesterol to be elevated. So really leaning into that. And another really good one, too, is called the dash diet. It is the dietary. I don't remember what the acronym is, but it's to stop hypertension. I see. So many Americans have hypertension.

I think the statistic is almost 50%. And so this whole diet goes through trying to get you to eat less of the processed foods that have more sodium, that have more saturated fat, that's going to have that direct link to your blood pressure levels. Wow. You mentioned processed foods, and that was something that I wanted to talk to you a little bit about. People say that, you know, that's one of the biggest problems is we eat these processed foods. And even a lot of these processed foods in America that they don't eat in Europe and other parts of the world. And people will say just eating the same types of things in other parts of the world, they come out a little healthier.

Do you find, is that true? Is that sort of a wives tale? And what are your thoughts on kind of those standards that we have here versus other parts of the world? So every country will have their own kind of same thing, the dietary guidelines for Italy, you know, Germany, all of that. A lot of it is based off of, let's say, international research. I know a few of the dietitians that lobby with Washington,

and they actually aren't against the sodas because this one woman, she's also a registered dietitian, she had a food pantry. And before, she's very against a lot of these processed foods. And then she was talking to a family that said, well, I don't have any money. The only money that I can spend on groceries is the food stamps. And the soda that I give my kids keeps them feeling fuller for longer because of the carbonation. So there are absolutely flaws in there. And I think when we look at what other nations are doing with as far as like reducing pesticides, absolutely great, reducing artificial flavors, artificial color sweeteners, absolutely great. I think it's still a lot of the food industry.

You know, PepsiCo is paying a lot of money to have their stuff kind of beyond the food pyramid and to be endorsed. Sure. So money absolutely talks and they're a lobbyist for a reason. I think we have to look into how can we make some of the food more affordable for people to eat in those fresh food. And I firmly believe that eating healthy foods doesn't have. have to be expensive. You don't have to be getting the fully prepared and cooked, let's say,

pulled chicken that I got from Redmond's the other day when you can get a chicken breast for $2 or a pound of chicken for 250 and you can make it yourself. Sure. You know, the bag of frito scoops I had to get for a pomemanteau cheese dip I made last week with $7. You can get so many fruits and vegetables for that amount of money. Yeah. So trying to look at it in that perspective. And then also remembering, too, that all of our food is processed. There is nothing that we take that is out of the ground that you eat it right away. So we are going to have some of those nutrient losses. I think it can be better as far as monitoring what's getting put into work with the amount of sodium, the amount of artificial things to keep it lasting longer. We really should be paying

attention to more of those things. But I think we have to catch up on how can we educate people that eating healthy doesn't have to mean that you're sacrificing flavor and you're just eating raw carrots all the time. So absolutely, I think with the international standards, I think it's starting to creep into the U.S. where, you know, there was a right. I died number three that was banned last year. I think that takes effect in seven years. There's absolutely more work to go. But I think we need more of that nutrition education around teaching people that healthy eating doesn't have to be expensive.

And you can still make nutrient debt meals and not have to rely on, you know, soda to kind of fill your kids' bellies. Yeah. Yeah, I hear you. Speaking of kids, what is a great place to start? If you've got young kids, you want to set them on a path for healthy eating. Talk to me a little bit about just a good, easy family meal that folks should be thinking about. So kids can be picky. And when a child is not hungry, they're actually very in tune to their hunger and fullness cues.

We are all born intuitive eaters, but we can get conditioned out of it through like Clean Plate Club. So trying to not force your kid to eat if they're not hungry because it's just going to cause some trauma and some meltdowns around meal time. But trying to serve foods that are familiar to them. So I don't have any kids. A few of my friends have kids. And what I've really observed is that they will still make that PCC plate for their child, but they might not mix those flavors. So you're probably not going to be serving, let's say, goulash to a four-year-old where they're like,

I don't like all these stuff mixing together. Try to keep things separated out. And maybe there's two or three foods that you know that your child is going to eat, but start to give them some of those other foods that they might not like yet. You know, maybe broccoli is a scary food for them. Just have them put it on their plate plate. plate, you can tell them you don't have to eat it, you know, play with it, smell it, touch it. What does it look like? Does it look like trees? You know, does the stalk look different from the

top of it? Can be a really great way to start to get kids interested. And once they become familiar with it on the plate, they're more likely to eat it. But really trying to keep things simple for kids is really important because they just kind of, they're not really ready sometimes to have a very complex meals unless you have a very advanced eater in your house. Sure. Trying to keep it as simple as possible might help to expose them to those different foods. And then as they get older in their palates change, then we can start to mix those things together. So still abide by that PCC, protein, carbon, color, but have their favorite foods and then have some of those challenged foods there as well. I love that. I think that's phenomenal advice. I really appreciate that. Emily, I got a few other things

I want to ask you. But before I get much further, I want to give folks, again, a chance just to figure out where to find you. So real quick, where's the websites and socials and things like that where people can connect. Yeah. You can go to nourish. Withemily.com, N-O-U-R-I-S-H-E-D. Nourished is a very hard word to spell sometimes. So nourished withemily.com or follow us on Instagram at Nourish with Emily. I'm also on Facebook, Emily Gozey. I'm on TikTok.

I don't post a ton on there, but I'm on there. And I'm also on LinkedIn too at Emily Gozy. Awesome. Emily, how long have you been doing this as your own venture? Yeah. So I started my business at the end of 2018. I was still working full-time in a nursing home until about October of 2020. Then I worked for the Onondaga County WIC department for about 15 months or so.

So in January of 2022, it's actually been now four years of me being full time in my business. So I've had it for eight, but now four years full time. Is that for other professionals in your field, do they typically go into private practices or are they working with bigger medical organizations, things like that? I think it's a mix. We are definitely seeing with onsets of other credentialing platforms. like a nourish or a Berry Street where people can go into their own business, but there are technically contractors of those larger companies. In school, it wasn't really encouraged, honestly, to go into your own practice. It was like, you can go and work in a nursing home. You can go and work in food

service. You can go and work in some private practice settings. But we weren't really given the tools to start like your own business. I had to seek that out through using the Wise Center in Syracuse, the business center. Yeah. As well as I was shadowing other dietitians when I was in school. who had their own practices. And I think if we started teaching some of the dietitians earlier that you can do this on your own, that you don't have to be in a larger conglomerate or working for a hospital, I think we'll grow even further. And dietitians are already in demand, but I think you'll see more and more practices starting up too. What if someone's looking for a dietitian, they just Google around. They find you. They find three other options. What questions should they

be asking to find that the person, the service is a good fit for them. That's a great question. So you really want to make sure that you are working with someone that has experience with what you're looking for because I have a great friend. She only does kidney stuff. So you wouldn't want to go to see her for weight loss because she is a kidney dietitian. So looking to see what their specialty is, looking to see who they primarily work with. Also look into see what people are saying, You know, the good, the bad. Look at Google reviews. Look at the testimonials.

And then I always tell people like, check out my Instagram first. Before you give us a call, you'll get a real good vibe of who we are, how we do it, what we do. Because that's going to help to tell you, too, of like, will this work out? You know, do I like their style and what they're teaching. So do a little bit of their research and see what you like. And you absolutely can have calls with other dietitians and see, you know, what they're about, what their teaching style is. And if you mesh with them.

That's great. That's great. I can tell you just some personal experience, the one time that I saw a dietitian that they sent me. I was in the hospital at the time. The guy was a jerk, quite frankly. And, you know, I was trying to explain to him where I came from and what had worked well for me. And it's like, oh, yeah, that's trash and don't do that. And it was like, all right, thanks for wasting everybody's time.

because, you know, it's just completely not paying attention to anything that this guy's telling me. And that's one of the reasons I wanted to ask is, you know, obviously there's, with every type of care, you got to find the right folks that are a fit for you. But that's, I really loved your answer on that. Just finding the right person to work with. And just because your doctor might have referred you to one practice or one dietitian, or let's say you go to one of the big area hospitals and they have your own dietitians, you absolutely can look at the other. dietitians. They just know only like who they have on staff. So that's where like doing your research and finding the other dietitians in your area or finding one align is a really great strategy to figure out like what's their style, you know, how long are their appointments?

Sometimes I've seen people only do 15 minutes appointments. You can't get through much in 15 minutes. So seeing how they build their schedule, how they work with you, what their philosophy is. And you can ask them to when you give them a call. They're not going to charge you just to kind of check in to see, you know, their offerings and everything. Ask them what their style is, like what their approach is with nutrition. And, you know, they should be asking you more about your nutrition history and what's going on as well. What, how in depth is it typically?

So you work with somebody, are you getting right down to helping them plan every meal? Or is it more just guidelines of what to choose? How does that work? So my goal is for you to be your own dietitian at the end of this. Sure, I can make you a meal plan, but you would hate what I would put on it. You don't want to be eating salmon four times a week. Sure. So with our style, we teach you kind of the guidelines.

We teach you how to build a plate. And if you want to use that call time for us to go through planning your breakfast, lunches, and dinners for that next week, absolutely. Your 30 minutes or an hour is up to you and how you want to choose them. And I'll often ask clients. I'm like, okay, we went through this check in piece. I know that you said that you've really been struggling with lunches. Let's talk about it.

Do you want to spend a few minutes planning what those lunches might look like for you? Because I want you to have more of that ownership. over building the plate and what we're looking for versus me just telling you what to do because I don't think you'll enjoy it. As well as I want you to graduate. I want you, like I said, to be your own dietitian at the end of this. So if I'm just telling you what to do, I'm not actually setting you up for success. It might work in the meantime, but you might say, like, I'm good. I feel great. I've lost all the weight. And then a month later, you're like, well, I don't know what to eat because Emily's not telling me what to eat anymore.

Yeah. I got you. Okay. I love this. There's just, there's just something. You're phenomenal right on every single thing. I love it. It's just really, really impressive. So with that, I'd love to finish up with just some rapid fire questions, if you don't mind. Let's do it. So what I'd love to do is just throw some random things out at you and just give me the first thought that comes to mind and we'll go on from that. So let's jump right in with GLP-1s. Can absolutely be supportive, especially if you've struggled with weight loss, but you should be working with a registered dietitian if you're on them. Okay. Because we don't want you to lose all your muscle mass. Your muscle mass is your metabolism. Many people are just taking the medications,

not changing anything with their lifestyles, nutrition and support. And then they've lost all this muscle mass. They come off the medication. So they've lost a lot of their metabolism and they gain the weight right back. Okay. Weight training. One hundred percent, especially for women, which most women or some women can be a little bit apprehensive around. Women have that increased rest of osteoporosis. Weight training is how you reinforce your bones and help to prevent osteoporosis. Plus, strength training is how you change body composition. You will not get shizzled and very defined and strong from just doing cardio. Gotcha. Okay. Keto or low carb diets. No? Not my favorite because your brain and spinal cord do need carbohydrates to be able to run efficiently. Most people are successful on keto because they've

cut out a good chunk. They're in a calorie deficit. But it's very hard to stick with for the long run. Also, too, we do see increased risk of high cholesterol, high triglyceride levels with eating a very high fat diet. Most people are not doing a true keto diet. They're just eating a high protein diet. And proteins very easily can get turned into carbohydrates through a process called glucognogenesis. Wow. So not even actually in ketosis. They're not having those ketones in their body because their body is using proteins for carbohydrates.

Wow. Okay. I was going to ask you a Mediterranean diet, but you already talked to us about that. I love that that is the go-to answer for everybody still. I guess I will say favorite Mediterranean meal. Oh, I love a good gyro. All right. It might be a little bit higher in fat, but we love to go to Baghdad and Salt City Market and get like either a gyro salad or the gyro hummus with the pita chips or the pita.

Really a gyro is a perfect sandwich. You've got the carbs. You've got the protein with the lamb or whatever you prefer. And it does have a ton of vegetables in there. So it's one of my favorite dishes. All right. I'm going to hit you with kind of two at once. Juicing in general, and then juice cleanses.

So juicing, it depends on what you're using it for. You do lose all the fiber when you're juicing things. So it's not going to have that effect of like eating an apple and your blood sugar is going to slowly come up and come back down. When we're just having the juice, it's just carbohydrates. So it will spike and then come back down. So I try to tell people to use it sparingly, just even with any juice, whether they're juicing it themselves or not. But you can get vitamins and minerals out of it. juice cleanses, not my favorite.

Basically, you're just paying for a really expensive three days of diarrhea. Not worth it. Fair enough. Fair enough. The last thing that I will ask is gym membership versus exercise without a gym. It depends on what you can stay committed with. And that's what I've been telling my clients these past couple weeks is what do you want to do? Or if you like strength training, then absolutely get a gym membership or build your home gym.

But if you don't know what you like to do, you don't know if you want to do weight training, or you don't know if you want to do Pilates or spin class, like try that stuff out. Many gyms will offer that drop-in rate where you can go and see a class and try it out and see if you like it. There's also so many free videos on YouTube where you can try out many of those modalities without having to pay for a gym membership. But the nice part is your insurance typically will help to cover the cost of a gym membership. So always give your insurance company a call and ask them what that gin benefit is. That's a great tip.

That's an absolute phenomenal tip. I love that. Last one. Favorite cheat? Dessert, something you shouldn't recommend. So I am a sucker for some fresca. Yeah. Oh my gosh. So diet soda is not the best for us because it does have aspartame. Aspartame in high amounts can accumulate in your liver and cause liver changes. So we try to keep it out of minimum. But I love a good fresca, especially on the golf course. My husband and I like to golf or just sitting there at the end of the night with our little eight outs cans. If it's not that, it's probably one of the desserts that either of my parents have made, whether it's like a moose cake, it's cookies. I'll like love to throw one of those either with my lunch or my dinner and it's delicious. I do have to ask you one more rapid fire one, alcohol. Yeah. So that's a, that's a hot topic right now because with the new dietary guidelines for Americans, they're almost encouraging it. However, we do know that alcohol is a class one carcinogen.

So it can cause cancer, breast, stomach, uterine, all of those. So I'm someone who does drink. I'm participating in dry January right now, but use it with caution. I always tell our clients of being. mindfully aware when you go into situations of like, is it worth me having a drink right now? Like if you're going out to dinner and this place is a wine spectator place and they've got beautiful glasses and models of wine, go right ahead. But try to be mindful of that relationship with alcohol. Try to limit it as best as you can because it doesn't really help us with our health

overall. Yeah. What about the old, I guess the old wives tale of one red glass, glass of red wine a day sort of thing? Is there any genuine benefit to something like that? There are tannins in it, which can help with heart health, which can help with reducing blood pressure level. However, you can also get those same tannins from having dark chocolate. You can also get those same tannins too from having something like a congucha or eating fruits and vegetables. So while there is a little bit, we still have that risk of it can increase that risk of cancer. Okay. Wow. This is we learned so much in a very short period of time. This is incredible. I love this. Emily, nourished with Emily is the business is also the website, right?

Yes. Where folks can check it out. What else should we tell people? Yeah, we have a group program that's kicking off on January 26th. This is capped at 10 spots. It's six weeks long. So it's our weight loss and healthy habits group program. There are 10 sessions.

Eight of those are educational sessions. Two of those are community calls. You have access to a dietitian in your back pocket. You get a call with us included over that time. There are payment plans available. So we'd love to see you inside of our small group program that's kicking off on January 26th. That's awesome. That's awesome. All those details on the website. Join that. Get healthy. You'll know all this stuff. And then I don't have to ask all these questions. And that's what people should be doing, right?

Emily, thank you so much for joining us on Good News York. This has been honestly very, very educational. And I really appreciate it. And I know folks will too. So thank you so much for having me. This has been awesome. Come back anytime. There's novels of questions. we can get into. But for today, I think we got to call it a day. This has been a jam-packed episode of Good News, York. I really appreciate everybody following. Like, follow, subscribe, share. And as you noticed, we're still in the current studio,

but we are moving to the new space anytime now before you know what. You're going to turn this on. And it's going to look completely different. We're pretty excited about that. So jump over to clickstreamstudios.com. If you want to learn more about that or if you want to grow your business online, That's what we do for you. So with that, I'm Matt Meager.

Peace out. At Amika Insurance, we know it's not just about where you're going, but who you go with. That's why we work even harder to protect what matters most. And as a mutual insurance company, we're built for our customers and prioritize your needs. Amika, empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote.

today. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman and Uneworld Boutique River Cruises Loebuck Bali to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been selling there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune into the Travels with Darley podcast on IHeart and wherever you listen to podcasts to hear about river cruising and Univorold's 50th anniversary summer specials.