64 | The Power of Accountability Groups: Insights from Carolee, Linnette, and Amy

Camille Freeman (00:00)
Well, hi there.

Camille Freeman (00:01)
Welcome to In the Clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman.

Camille Freeman (00:05)
I am a licensed nutritionist and registered herbalist. And in this podcast, I share little tips and tidbits.

Camille Freeman (00:10)
That might be.

Camille Freeman (00:12)
Interesting or helpful for other practitioners.

Camille Freeman (00:21)
Well, hello again. I am back this week with another interview. And this time I am interviewing multiple people, which, by the way, is the first time I've ever done that on this podcast. I'm really excited to interview this group because if you've been around me for any length of time, you will know that I'm a very strong advocate for accountability groups. I think that everyone should have an accountability group. It's free, it's easy, it makes an incredible difference if you are in clinical practice. I'm often up on my soapbox talking about this, but recently it came to my attention that several years ago in my roots course, I was going on about accountability groups, and some students formed one, and they are still going all these years later. I had no idea this had happened. So I thought I would bring these folks on to the podcast to talk a little bit more about why they started an accountability group, what's been helpful for them, why they're still going after all these years and so forth. So before I turn you over to this interview, let me just share a little bit about the folks who have very kindly and graciously agreed to join us.

Camille Freeman (01:22)
We have Amy Bolt, who is a clinical herbalist and herb farmer from Westminster, Maryland. She specializes in sleep and anxiety disorders. She's a registered yoga teacher, Reiki practitioner, and she grows herbs that she uses on her farm, which has a strong focus on sustainability and protecting at risk native medicinals. We also have joining us, Carolyn Horner, who is a functional nutritionist and Health Coach in Atlanta, Georgia. She focuses on working with people with Parkinson's and care partners to reverse symptoms and slow progression. S he particularly focuses on gut brain health and the entire family. Then lastly, we have Lynnette Johnson, who is the founder of Five Elements Coaching and is also a clinical nutritionist and coach for mental health. She's passionate about supporting adults with sobriety, depression, and anxiety, along with relieving fatigue, skin issues, body aches, and pains associated with mental health through healthy eating and developing a better relationship with food, mind, and body. I'm going to let you read these folks' full bio on the show notes or on the web page, and I'm going to turn you over to the interview now. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you form your own accountability group or join one.

Camille Freeman (02:32)
All right, take care.

Camille Freeman (02:35)
All right. I am so excited to welcome a full accountability group to the podcast for the first time. This is the first time I have ever interviewed multiple people at the same time. And I'm so excited to welcome Amy Bolt, Linnette Johnson, and Carolee Horner to the podcast to talk about their accountability group and to share with others a little bit about what it's like, how it formed, and so forth. And the reason I invited these folks to the podcast is because I'm a huge fan of accountability groups. If I could just say one or two pieces of advice to practitioners, it would be find an accountability group that you can show up for and commit to and be part of it because it can be so valuable. So I can't wait to talk a little bit more about this particular group and to hear more about how it's working. So we're going to start out and find out how your accountability group formed, why you decided to join, and what concerns or hesitations did you have when you signed up. And, Amy, if you could start us off for this one, I would love to hear what you have to say.

Amy Boldt (03:46)
Yeah, great. So I decided to join an accountability group because I had just taken the roots class and I was working on building my clinical herbal practice from scratch. And after you, Camille, had given a little bit of information about what an accountability group was, what it entailed, and the benefits of it, I thought, Wow, that's just a really nice opportunity to work with other practitioners who are in a similar situation as I am with building a practice. And at the time, during 2020, 2021, it was a lot of being inside and lacking that cohesiveness and working with others. So I also just found it really helpful to be able to have an opportunity to meet with other people via Zoom and just interact socially and feed off each other and learn together through this process. So that was the reason that I found this to be something that would be beneficial for me when starting my practice. I didn't have a lot of hesitations, but it s because I didn't really know what to expect. So I was down for whatever. My schedule was relatively open, so I had a lot of time to be able to invest in this with my gals here.

Amy Boldt (05:13)
So yeah.

Camille Freeman (05:14)
Oh, I love it. And Linnette or Carolee, anything to add on that one about why you signed up and if you had any concerns or hesitations?

Carolee (05:25)
So I will add that I didn't have any hesitations. I was in the Roots course with you and you talked about an accountability group. And I said, oh, yes, please, this is exactly what I need. And for a lot of the same reasons that Amy said, that it was a lot of alone time. I'm equally introverted and extroverted. So this idea of being a solo preneur is challenging for me. I don't have any of that water-cooler talk. I don't have any colleagues to bounce ideas off of or just work on with projects. So getting this group of women together to do that, it's been amazing.

Linnette (06:12)
I can't really add much more than what Amy and Carolee said, because it was the roots course. I think we all were in the same roots course at the same time. And we learned about that because we were all in different areas. I think at that time I was actually a little bit further in building my practice because I had been doing it since 2015 with coaching, but it just resonated. It was something we needed and we all decided it was something to do. I didn't have any hesitations. The only thing I was worried was, were we going to have enough people? Were we going to be able to click and have enough people and be able to... Because in your roots course, you talked about it should only be like five or six people, and you have to connect and be able to associate with each other and be able to support and do all the things you need to do. And it was like, okay, is that really going to happen? And it did because we've been doing this, I think, what, two, three years now? Yeah, we've been doing it for a while.

Linnette (07:14)
So yeah, and we've clicked. We have a main people and we have some that skirt in and out. But for the most part, we clicked. And that was my only concern with the clicking, having people that were sharing the same journey but different Yeah.

Camille Freeman (07:31)
Well, that leads me into our next question, Linnette, maybe you can take this one, which is, what does your accountability group look like? So for people who aren't familiar with these, what exactly is an accountability group? How often do you meet? How long are your meetings? Who sets them up? Can you share a little bit about that?

Linnette (07:54)
Yeah. So we played around with it a little bit, and we've come to the conclusion that we do twice a month. We do meet virtually twice a month at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time on Fridays, every other week for the most part. There are some times we have to change things because right now summer with vacation stuff. So we do like this month of June, we're not doing it every other week like we usually do. It's going to be two weeks in between the last one. So the next one is going to be this Friday, June 30th. So what we do is we have it twice a month, 11 h, time does not matter. I sit on until people are done, whether they're venting or they need extra support or if they need to bounce ideas off or whatever. So it can go from 11 to sometimes I've been on until 2,2:30 with people just letting them talk, show their stuff, vent. If they have a client they need to talk about, we talk about clients, we share resources. And we also have a Facebook group that's private. So that way we have the security of knowing it's just us sharing stuff and bringing people in.

Linnette (09:03)
I think the Facebook group, we have about 19 people in right now. Not everybody sends anything in there. Some people are sporratic. Some people come in and out depending on where they're at in their practice. Some people are their personal lives, too. There's some people that haven't been able to come for the personal things, but we support them. We let them know we're still here. We're listening. Whatever our practices are not just professional, they're personal, too. We take in a lot of emotions with empathic. We have a lot going on. A lot of people bring to the table a lot of different traumas and emotions, especially for me. I don't know about I can't speak for other people, but for me in mental health, that's my niche, it's very emotional. People cry. We have that. People do post in there. When someone posts in there, whether they made their business parts for finally after years of trying to get it done, or they finally uploaded a website, or they launched a tease on their etsy, you're there cheering them on.

Amy Boldt (10:13)
I definitely just want to pop in and say that Linnette has really spearheaded this, and she has done an amazing job of organizing, keeping it going from the get go. And it has evolved over time to fit what our needs were as time has gone on. But Linnette, it was like when you're in a group project and you're in school and it's like, who's going to be the one to designate role? There's always somebody who is good about that. And so Linnette definitely gets all the credit for just so much organization, so much handling everything. I mean, it's been really nice to not have to do that. So having somebody you know that in the group is going to be able to take on that role is great when someone's really good at that. It's definitely evolved over time to what our needs and other people's needs have been.

Camille Freeman (11:10)
So are the three of you the people who mostly show up every time, or is it really how many people would come to a standard meeting?

Linnette (11:26)
Okay. So I'm there mostly every time unless I can't be. And then my backup is Carolee or Amy, and then they host for me. But I can answer that. So like this last time somebody showed up and stayed for 30 minutes, they left. And then as soon as they went off, someone was out, so it's up and on. And then I stayed for them and held space for them because they were going through some things and needed some space. A lot of times it is Amy and Carolee, we're the ones that show up. But like I said, there's some others that will jump in in. We have somebody in the West Coast, she'll jump in from time to time. We have someone from Virginia, she'll jump in from time to time. We have people from Maryland, we have somebody from Mississippi that will jump in. And I just try to make sure space is held for whatever's going on for that person or people. However, many show up. Sometimes it will be just me and somebody else. Sometimes it's me and three or four other people. It just depends on where everybody is.

Camille Freeman (12:30)
I love it. And, Carolee, maybe you can take this next question, which is how do the members of your accountability group challenge and support each other? So I'd love to hear more about what you are getting out of it. Why do you keep coming after so many years?

Carolee (12:48)
Oh, man. Oh, so much. They help me so, so much. And I like to call it more of our support group than our accountability group in a lot of ways because, like Amy said, we've really morphed over time. And like, when that said, depending on what's going on with people, it ebbs and flows. But these women have been here to support me through the entire launch of my practice, which is really hard and really scary. And I started in your roots course, getting stuck on my niche for two years. I was stuck on my niche, and they were with me through that entire thing, through all of the angst, through all of the questioning. They supported me in creating my website. I'm the one with the business cards and all that stuff that I just couldn't get together. So we are constantly cheerleaders for each other, constantly brainstorming, just letting each other know that we're not alone. This is a really lonely field sometimes. Having these women here to just just be with, to have that companionship. But we do challenge others. I'm not going to say which one, but we did have one one time where...

Carolee (14:10)
Anyway, we had to say, Is that really your niche? You don't even like that woman. And so we do challenge each other and we do ask the hard questions to say, Is this really what you want to be focusing your time on? And I have a really great support system in my life, but when they're asking, How's work going?, or Do you need help with this or that? I need people in nutrition, in herbalism, in coaching who truly understand what I'm trying to achieve and the challenges. And these women know that, and they're going through the same things I am. And it just makes me feel really supported and not alone. And before we started, I felt very alone.

Camille Freeman (15:03)
I love that. Thank you. Amy or Linnette, anything to add there?

Amy Boldt (15:13)
I feel like it's been interesting as I think I'm the only herbalist in our even changing group, but I've learned a lot from the nutrition and other modalities that are part of our group. And so I do find that sometimes I was very cautious or nervous to start things. They definitely have been great cheerleaders and challenged me in good ways to what are you going to do this week? Because we were meeting once a week at the beginning. And so that was really helpful for me to have somebody go, no, well, you just said you can do it. Do it. You just got to do it. And so I know that. But hearing somebody else who wants to see me succeed tell me that. And the concept of the accountability thing is that, oh man, I can't show up next week and be like, Well, I did it. So I need people to challenge me a little bit. So this is very healthy for me and helpful that way.

Linnette (16:22)
I think the challenging part for me was getting out of my comfort zone. These ladies helped me with that and showed me that maybe I do know more than I thought I did. I've learned a lot about myself through these ladies, too. They'll come to me and be like, I had X, Y, and Z going on. What do you think? And I'm like, at first I was like, You're asking my opinion? I don't know. It's like, what? And then now as I've transitioned through things and now I'm a mentor for CNS as a supervisor, it's like, I'm ready. These ladies have made me ready because they put me through my paces with questions and getting things done and making sure I got things done. And they've also helped, too, with transition. I mean, like, Carolee was talking about her niche. She finally came to one. Well, I'm at a crossroads right now, and with their help, I've been able to look at and see, okay, I can do this. I can change. It's not a failure. It's a way of life. You're allowed to make changes in your path, and it's okay. So yeah, I mean, having a accountability group or support group, whatever you want to call it, is something that I feel is needed for everybody in this field.

Linnette (17:34)
It really is because it just helps shine light on all the things that can go on. I mean, this is not a top secret job. We do have HIPAA to follow with science, but some practitioners are like, It's top secret, can't share nothing. Why? There's enough room for all of us. Why not share what we know and help one another be the best we are? Because what Carolee does or Amy does is not going to be the same as me. It's different and it's okay.

Camille Freeman (18:03)
I.

Carolee (18:04)
Think if I could just add to what Linnette is saying, I think that all of us, and I will speak for them, that we feel that if one of us is successful, it helps the other ones become more successful, too. So helping other people in the group helps me. Whatever they're doing, I think about and consider or whatever I'm doing, they're constantly thinking about, and we're providing new ideas. But just in general, getting the CNS credential out there, getting people working with us, getting people working with herbalists and health coaches, that makes all of us more successful.

Camille Freeman (18:46)
I so agree. And there's something about having people who really know you over time who can say, Oh, yeah, you've been thinking about this for a year or more. How about we take some steps? Or who can really see things that you can't see because you're too close? So I do think getting down under the hood of other people's practices is so valuable. You can see things they can't see, they can see things you can't see, and then you are lifting up everyone together. So I think that's so powerful. The next question ties into this, and maybe we have covered this already, but I do want to put it out there in case anybody has a specific example, which is, can.

Camille Freeman (19:36)
You think of a specific.

Camille Freeman (19:37)
Setback or obstacle that you have gone through that your accountability group really helped you move through or sort out. So if anybody would like to share a specific thing, I know we've already talked about the niching example, so that's one. I don't know if there's any others where you're like, oh, I was really struggling with this. And then my accountability group helped help me sort through it.

Amy Boldt (20:03)
I can pop in at the beginning where I guess was feeling a little bit, I don't know, timid for some reason, but I was so afraid of reaching out to other practitioners and other things just to get the word out about my practice. And I just remember I have scrawled so many notes in a notebook that I keep for our group, and I'm just like, Oh, this is gold. This is gold. And I'm writing down what each of other people were contributing, which they had already known or done or tried. And I just remember thinking like, oh, man, I can go back to all these things. I've just got this list of things to try that I hadn't thought of before. And it definitely propelled the momentum and just encouraged me and gave me more courage, I guess would be another way of thinking about it. But just I was feeling like I was getting a lot more out of this group at the beginning than I was able to give, which I don't know if that's true, but I was getting just so much help and ideas of, Well, did you try that? And, Did you try that?

Amy Boldt (21:09)
And, Oh, this is how you do this. And I was like, Oh, I am so thankful for these suggestions. So at the beginning, especially just in general, really was struggling with trying to like, Where do I start? And I just had so much help from the individual suggestions that they had made.

Carolee (21:29)
I'll pop in. I don't know if it's a specific example, but more of how we go about that. So it really helps to have two nationally board certified health and wellness coaches in your group because we're pretty good at coaching. And so we do that a lot for each other. So even though I can't always come up with concrete examples because I feel like not everything is an example. I get coaching, I get support, I get brainstorming, I get ideas. And so it's hard to actually pull out just one or two examples because I feel like everything in my business has been helped enhanced some way by this group.

Linnette (22:19)
I have to agree with Amy and Carolee. The only thing I could say is because of these ladies, I look at success differently, too. I really do because I thought it was always numbers, like how much money you're bringing in or how many clients you're bringing in. And these lovely ladies, this group has shown me that success isn't just that. It's how you feel and how you blossom and how you grow with time and how you resonate with your clients and how you're bringing in clients and how you're feeling overall. And it also is it throwing the kitchen sink at a client's dinner. It's little steps and little bits and little pieces and understanding that we got it. The encouragement, we all have our skills and we all bring something to the table. So I don't really have obstacles or setbacks, but I think because of everybody, we've just grown so much and we look at things differently than we did two years ago, for sure. At least I have because I see things in a different light. I was always worried, okay, I don't have no money coming in or I don't have as many clients.

Linnette (23:28)
And that's how I used to look at success. And because of everybody here, that's not what success is anymore for me. And I'm thankful for that. Because I was going to throw the talent a couple of times and these ladies go, no, you're not going to do that. And you're looking at this wrong. Come on, we got this. You're going to do fine. Just be patient. And I think it wasn't for them about a year, year and a half ago, I probably would have thrown in the towel because I was looking at things, I don't want to say the wrong way, but I wasn't looking at them in a way or in a light that was really reflective of what we're doing because we're here to help heal and help support, and I wasn't looking at it that way.

Camille Freeman (24:17)
I love that. Yeah. And I really want to honor all of you for sticking with it for this long, your group, because why while it sounds easy in the beginning, it's not easy to continually show up every two weeks, every week in the beginning and really be there for people. I find I'm part of an accountability group as well. T here are times when I'm always like, oh, I'm so busy and I can't believe I said I would do this. I'm always glad that I went. But just the act of getting there sometimes is like, finding a time and rescheduling and showing up and being present day in, day out, weekend in, week out. These are the kinds of things that really do make a huge difference in the long run. So I'm so glad you did. Our last question is just for other practitioners who might be considering their own accountability groups, what advice would you have for somebody, especially maybe somebody who doesn't really have a network right now or somebody who's like, I don't know if this is for me. Do you have any tips, either practical nuts and bolts tips or general encouragement that you would give somebody in this phase?

Camille Freeman (25:37)
And the other thing, if anybody wants to address it is, do you think accountability groups are best for people just starting out or really anywhere along the spectrum? So I'm going to leave this open for anybody who'd like to jump in.

Carolee (25:54)
I'll jump in. First, I would say if you're considering this, do it, do it, do it. That's absolutely. If you think for a second you might want to follow through with that and at least try it. The other thing I would say is that if you haven't worked in groups or led groups before, group dynamics take a while to play themselves out and really understand what your group is going to be like. We had multiple ideas for this group. We had multiple stops and starts. At one point, I was going to do one and Linnette was going to do one because of the different dates. And eventually, they all came together. I don't think any of us starting out could have foreseen where we ended up. So that is going to be the same with your accountability group, whether you join one or create one. And if you don't have a network right now, this is how you get one. I didn't know a lot of other nutritionists or herbalists or coaches, and I am defining a really nice this network just because I reached out and asked. I was a little nervous. I was like, Okay, well, I want to do this accountability group that Camille is talking about.

Carolee (27:09)
Is there anybody else who might? And believe it or not, the response was very overwhelming. It's just the logistics of it is how it ended up. But I would say do it and don't put too much stock in where you start because you're going to end up someplace entirely different and make it work for you. I have more than one of these groups and they all look different. And I love them all for different reasons. And they're with different kinds of practitioners. So don't be afraid. If you don't have a network, you absolutely have to create one for yourself. And this is a really fun way to do it.

Amy Boldt (27:52)
Yeah, I definitely think that especially if you don't have a network already, this is crucial to really helping propel you that way. I can't really think of a lot of reasons why I wouldn't have joined one, except maybe to be concerned about the consistency and making sure that I'm able to be accountable and showing up. But again, I think it depends on the dynamic of the group because if you are in a group that is more flexible with that, then it's understanding. We get that, we get busy. But that might not be the case with everybody. So I think it does matter. And again, like, Carolee said, it's going to change as your needs change as a group. And I'm also part of another accountability group, too, and they are very different. And that one has a really different structure, which is great. And it benefits me in that way for what it is. And this one has been going on much longer. The dynamic is really different. It's a nice place to be able to share our practice, but also just the community feel of these two other people and the other ones that are in our group.

Amy Boldt (29:04)
So yeah, I think that it's been such a beneficial experience.

Linnette (29:11)
I have to agree. It's been very beneficial. And again, I'm an introvert, so joining groups is not easy. So if you're an introvert like me, it's not an easy thing to do, and I get it. But pushing yourself out of a comfort zone into an accountability group or support group is so needed, like people have already said it. But if something doesn't resonate with you, you don't have to stay either. And if you do decide to make your own group, make it with people that you have some a yin and yang with, people that have their strengths. You have your strengths and you can meld them together and work together. And like, Amy and Carolee, this is not my only accountability group. I have other ones, too, and they're all different. I have one for my DCN. It's totally different than this. And then I have this one, which is a little bit more go with the flow, a little bit more flexible, a little bit more open to different ideas and things because we did try doing evening sessions, too. So some people needed the evening, and then we transition back to the Fridays.

Linnette (30:19)
And then there's other ones that are not so. So it just depends on what you need and what you're looking for. And I think in the beginning, it's really pertinent to have a community, but it really doesn't matter when you jump in. You could be 17 years into this and still use some support and community. And at the same time, you might be that need that somebody else needs that is coming in new. So it's good to have a nice mix of new and senior experience or however you want to call it, practitioners, because then that way it helps those new ones that really want to get in and those that are in there for years. So just look at different things, look at different groups. And again, if a group doesn't work for you, that doesn't mean you have to stay. You can just find another one or create a different one. However you want to make it your community look like, that's important.

Camille Freeman (31:15)
I love that. And I think one of the things we're seeing here is that once you... I found this to be true. Once people start these accountability groups and see how helpful they are, it is very common to join another one because there are different facets, there's different types of groups. I have one accountability group that's essentially.

Camille Freeman (31:39)
For.

Camille Freeman (31:41)
Women in leadership. It's a very different group than practitioners, but it nourishes me in a different way. And again, I find it incredibly valuable to just meet with people with a shared intention. And it sounds like you all do as well. So it's one of the beautiful things about this work is that we have the ability to share with each other and to gather in a structured way to be there and support each other as we go through this. I am so grateful that you all were willing to come here and talk about accountability groups because I feel like sometimes I'm just up here beating this drum and being like, Everyone should join one. It's really nice to have multiple people being like, Yes, agreed. Here's what it could look like, and here's what we're getting from doing this. I'm so grateful. Before we leave, I was wondering if each of you all would just share very briefly more about how people could get in touch with you if they wanted to learn more about your work or what you're up to. So we'll do Amy, then Carolee, then Linnette. Yeah.

Amy Boldt (32:46)
So I have a virtual and in person practice, but if you wanted to get in touch with me, the best way is probably through my website, which is the wildwomanmedicine.com. But I am also on Instagram and social media, Facebook specifically and Instagram under the same name, which is the wildwomanmedicine.com or just the Wild Woman Medicine. So thanks.

Carolee (33:12)
So the easiest way to find me is through that website that these women helped me get up and running. And that's simply caroleehorner.com. And I'll let you find the spelling in the show notes.

Camille Freeman (33:25)
Perfect.

Linnette (33:28)
All right. So if anybody wants to get a hold of me, Lynette, it's 5ElementsCoaching.Org is usually where I am. There's also a Practitioner Hub, which has a link to the Facebook page for more information about our accountability group and how you can join. So if you wish to join in, that's great. Or if you wish, you could email me at info@5elementscoaching.org.

Camille Freeman (33:55)
I love it.

Camille Freeman (33:57)
Well.

Camille Freeman (33:58)
Thank you all so much for being here. I really appreciate everything that you shared about accountability groups. Thanks for listening to In the Clinic with Camille. Hey, did you know that.

Camille Freeman (34:18)
I write a weekly.

Camille Freeman (34:19)
Practitioner note.

Camille Freeman (34:21)
For.

Camille Freeman (34:21)
Herbalists and nutritionists? If you would like to get that in your inbox, you can sign up at camillefreeman.com/newsletter. I'd love to have you join us there. It.