Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Ronga.
Hi Lindsay, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
From the outside, my life looked great! I had a high-paying job in private equity. During that time, I applied to graduate business school programs and was accepted to the top schools! I went to Harvard Business School and was elected President of the largest club on campus. When I graduated, I was hired by Gary Vaynerchuk to be CEO of one of his companies in NYC! I moved and lived in NYC for several years.
However, during that same time period, I had developed a life-threatening eating disorder. It felt like it came out of nowhere and I had no idea how to undo it, so I kept it hidden from others because it didn’t fit with this external persona, I worked so hard for. A couple years into it, I was diagnosed with osteopenia and was told I wouldn’t have kids. I spent way too much time getting lab work for someone in my 20s. I went to residential treatment the summer in between my two years at Harvard and was hanging on by a thread trying to survive the eating disorder and maintain the ‘successful’ life that looked so good to others.
I was masterful at wearing this mask, pretending like things were fine and on the outside things looked great, but on the inside, I was dying (quite literally) exhausted and caught on this never-ending hamster wheel seeking more and more only to feel empty. It’s like I had this thought-on repeat in my mind saying “you’re not enough – do more”.
I tried all the traditional forms of treatment of course, but it wasn’t working. It was infuriating to want to do something (i.e., heal) and not know how to do it. After years of trying to recover from the eating disorder, I finally did.
Years after I found freedom I was having a conversation with my dad. With tears in his eyes, he told me how proud he was of me for recovering from the eating disorder when there was no roadmap, no ‘how to’. This meant so much to me and it got me thinking why is there no roadmap? Should I create one?
I remember going home that night and praying on it. God, if you want me to do something with this, give me a sign. No kidding, later that week, a friend of mine who I knew from residential treatment reached out to me and asked me how I recovered. After praying on it more and talking to my husband, I did quit my job and started OutshiningED to help others with their eating disorders. I now have seven other coaches on my team and it is the best “job” I’ve ever had. We’ve helped hundreds in their eating disorder recovery and I feel so proud of this work.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
NO! In fact, the first couple years of starting OutshiningED, I thought about quitting. I wasn’t getting the traction I hoped I would and I had left a great salary with insurance to start over. This was very scary! When I started, Eating Disorder Recovery Coaching was unheard of and not accepted by the therapists and dietitians in the industry. I was for sure swimming upstream and there were so many reasons to throw in the towel.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
OutshiningED specializes in Eating Disorder Recovery Coaching. Coaching focuses on taking action and on bridging the gap between the present and the future. We aren’t often looking back at WHY a client has an eating disorder but instead focused on HOW to get to freedom.
When I went through recovery, I felt it lacked structure, urgency, and accountability.
STRUCTURE – I remember experts telling me to eat intuitively and to trust my hunger cues. The problem was I had no idea HOW to do that! The eating disorder offered a set of rules and recovery offered the opposite – it was totally unstructured. So, I created a program that IS structured. In fact, clients and coaches are co-creating an action plan to get to freedom. We want clients to have a say in their own recovery. A year before I began coaching, I spent a year interviewing and studying people who found freedom. I was trying to understand one question – what did they all do that was the same? Once I mapped out the steps people took, I saw that there were common overlaps. Those commonalities serve as the phases of recovery in this program. Coaches are guiding clients through these phases and there is homework assigned on every call.
URGENCY – the current treatment model is to show up to therapy or a dietician appointment once per month indefinitely. There is no timeframe communicated to clients with EDs. This can lead to complacency with clients showing up and checking the box but not really making progress. In the program I created, I communicate a timeframe for each client so as to light a fire under their rear. We are not interested in seeing them forever.
ACCOUNTABILITY – my eating disorder operated 24/7. And one 60minute session per week was hardly going to get me where I wanted to go fast enough! I needed way more support than that. OutshiningED coaches offer 24/7 accountability and support. Meaning clients can reach out to their coach at any time of day or night and expect to receive a text back with support, empathy, and often homework. All of our coaches have had lived experience with an eating disorder and come out on the other side of reaching freedom, so they really get it!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
YES! Two things. First, surround yourself with people who believe in you. You might lose belief in yourself that you can really recover – this is okay. Borrow someone else’s belief in you until you find your own. Second, the treatment system is broken. Sometimes when things aren’t working in recovery, you will blame yourself and think something is wrong with you. NO. It’s not you. Recovery is hard and current treatment isn’t designed to get you to freedom quickly.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.outshininged.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/rongalk
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-uTAB2J-1Y3at4B6Hg3e9A
