Sunday, 27 November 2022
Meet the instructor: Emma Sternberg
After moving from the country to the beach, Emma Sternberg's creativity flourished and led her to establish her first business. This experience saw Emma develop an understanding of the business side of natural health — As time went on, others sought out her advice and looked to her for practical tips, which is how The Practitioner Table began.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello I’m Emma! I grew up in the country, established my first businesses in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, and moved to a quiet beachside town to move out of burnout, spend more time with my family and allow creativity to bloom.
Being a mum to my two spirited boys (nine and five) is my number one in life. Achieving success in business has been a way to provide my family with a life that we love. My partner is a stay-at-home dad and our favourite way to spend time is all together just cruising around our home which is nestled in nature or rock climbing at the beach.
How did you get into the career that you’re in now?
Where do you start?! The Practitioner Table began because I had other practitioners reaching out to me in my Kinesiology practice (I had been full time for a few years which is quite rare for a Kinesiologist). They all seemed to struggle with the same things that I did early in my business, so I wrote these out and put them up for free on a website. That then grew to a course and 1-1 mentoring. A membership will be rolling out next.
The business experience came from a learnt love and a natural intuition. I had started a few businesses previously and found myself attracting business owners in clinic, so I had accumulated a lot of practical tips and a deep understanding of the emotional side of business over 12 years of real-life experience.
I wanted to help practitioners because our experience of business is so unique – we step into our careers wanting to be practitioners, not business owners!
What is the most rewarding things about your job?
All the ah-ha moments! I love piecing together the “why” behind the reasons people feel stuck or repeat patterns unconsciously. I think a part of that is also hearing people’s stories. Humans are so interesting!
What motivates you?
I always have a stream of ideas which I enjoy bringing out into the world. I like to see where things could be made simpler to understand and to put into place. I also like to help people to move past their fears. I think part of making the world a better place is to help people to be themselves, including to be more natural with their wisdom and knowledge.
Who inspires you?
That’s a good question which I don’t really have an answer for! I think mostly it’s hearing people’s stories. They always inspire me to find a better way or to see the amazing things that humans can and will do.
What’s one piece of wisdom that you apply to your career?
Business is like a relationship. You have to nurture it. You will go through different stages and adaptions where you have to show up in different ways. But it’s a relationship – it’s not me!
The best piece of wisdom I was ever given was to see your business growth as similar to becoming a parent – the stages of conception, birth, the first three months, the first year, then childhood, teenagerhood and to the stage of letting it become what it’s destined to be. The way that you show up and nurture each phase will be different, but necessary at that time. You can’t necessarily skip ahead! Your business will also have its own life and journey, which is not always what you thought it would be!
Can you share a career highlight?
To be honest, it was being called up out of the blue by Endeavour to write two business courses for practitioners and natural health professionals! To have an opportunity such as this fall into your lap, it gives you such a boost!
Who would benefit from doing these short courses?
Anyone starting a business, making a change in their business or wanting to break free of feeling stuck in their business! It is written for practitioners, by a practitioner who has been through it all, so the courses have that unique perspective.
What makes these short courses so useful?
Business is not just a “follow these steps” kind of gig. Starting business, beginning a new venture within your business, learning how to lead and hold space – that’s all an emotional journey! These courses address both aspects – the practical and the emotional, so that when you get to a road block, either internally or from the outside, you have the tools to work through it professionally. It’s not often you will get a business course written by someone who is in your field of study. Being a course written for practitioners it gives you a roadmap which is specifically for the needs of a practitioner.
What do you do in your spare time?
My absolute favourite thing to do is to get comfy with a good book and a cup of tea. Though the Aries in me does love a good challenge and a bit of a dance! I like to make sure that I allow space to step out of my practitioner/business role!
Interested in the business of natural health?
Gain a solid grounding in core business skills with our business short courses designed for the natural health industry — Find out more about our Business Essentials Short Courses.
Endeavour College of Natural Health is Australia's largest Higher Education provider of natural medicine courses.
The College is known as the centre of excellence for natural medicine and is respected for its internationally recognised academic teams and high calibre graduates. Endeavour offers higher education Diplomas in Health Science and Bachelor of Health Science degrees in Naturopathy, Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine, Acupuncture Therapies and Chinese Medicine.
"Endeavour’s short courses offer the wider community an opportunity to learn about natural health. Their edge comes from being enriched by the College’s holistic approach, self-reflection and the social ethics of what a broader perspective about medicine can achieve."
- Dr Paul Strube
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