After experiencing the physical demands of caring for her medically complex children, Shannon Willardson, founder and CEO of All That Nutrition, recognized a critical gap in the market. After lifting and caring for her two daughters with a rare genetic condition, Willardson was inspired to start a nutrition company to prioritize her own health and wellness, in order to be strong enough to care for her family.
“Both of our girls at this point are close to 50 pounds and so lifting them, carrying them, transferring them multiple times a day, my husband and I just started to feel the weight of that literally and figuratively,” the mother of five said.
“We had this almost ‘aha moment’ of being like, ‘oh my gosh, we don’t have the luxury to neglect our health. Like we literally have to be able to lift and carry these girls to care for them the way that we want to care for them. We’re going to have to be able to do that for our whole lives, for their whole lives.’ And so the impetus for All That Nutrition, making sure that we’re taking care of the person who needs to take care of everybody else.”
Building an engaged online community has been a meaningful part of her entrepreneurial journey, allowing her to connect with and empower other busy moms who may not have the time for extensive fitness routines, but still want to feel good and show up for their families.
“Community to me is everything, truly. Especially early on in our journey of discovering that our older daughter had a rare disease, a medical complexity. We found so much comfort. Granted, we weren’t able to find a ton of accounts or families online that necessarily related in that way. But what we did find was so comforting,” she said. “Feeling like we’re able to connect, we’re able to help other moms feel seen. And they help me feel seen, it totally goes both ways.”
Willardson highlighted the value of giving herself grace, embracing mistakes as part of the learning process and trusting in her own abilities as she navigated the challenges of entrepreneurship and parenthood.
