Chance Meeting Evolves into Business Venture

Written by Katrina Daniel Tuesday, August 16 2011

Snapshot: Viki Goldberg and Wendy Schweifler, authors, Bod-E-Nomics

Schweifler, left, and Goldberg

Viki Goldberg, a former children’s book illustrator, is a registered nurse who holds three other college degrees. She won a coveted National Institute of Health grant for a fellowship at Columbia University’s Graduate School.

Goldberg lives in New York state with her husband and three cats. She attended The Pratt Institute and has been a registered nurse for 40 years. She retired from nursing and began researching, and that’s when she partnered with Wendy Schweifler.

Wendy Schweifler lives in Michigan with her husband, two golden retrievers, two cats, four chickens, and a rooster. She has been a licensed massage therapist for 16 years.

In 2001, the two met when Goldberg got a massage from Schweifler.

The two women decided they had much in common, chief among those interests teaching others about health and well being – the financial as much as the physical.

Together, they joined forces to conceptualize Bod-E-Nomics, a life plan for people who want to eat well and be healthy without spending a fortune. It’s all explained in their book called, what else, Bod-E-Nomics.

The two describe their concept like this: “It’s a business plan for your body, a model to help you think about your health, to learn the best ways to eat and stay healthy and fit while not stressing out your wallet or spending a fortune.”

Think of it as common sense on steroids.

The basic mission of Bod-E-Nomics is development and encouragement of an attitude, a desire to do the best, to be the best for yourself, your body, and your finances.

Womenetics: Tell me your mantra, the mission of Bod-E-Nomics?
Viki Goldberg: Your body is your business, and you are the CEO. Your body, your eating, and your money are all connected and run by you. We perceive bodies as successful businesses. What you put in determines what you get out.

The better and wiser investment you make in yourself, the better you will feel and the healthier/wealthier you will be. We describe how a human cell works (the body has 75 trillion of them) and liken a cell to a factory. You own these factories – they have your genetic code on each and every one of them. You make choices on how to run your body business. At Bod-E-Nomics, we explain through research, analogies, and stories how choices good and bad lead to outcomes, also good and bad. Our hope is for people to be able to make more informed choices for both the physical and the fiscal.

Wendy Schweifler: Viki has a talent for making difficult-to-understand concepts concerning body, nutrition, and finances easy-to-follow strategies for success. Being a registered nurse, Viki has the credibility.

Womenetics: How did you develop this program?
Schweifler: Real-life experiences and extensive research. Bod-E-Nomics is more than a program, it is a way of life that is constantly changing as you learn more about yourself. The more you learn about your body, nutrition, and finances the more choices you learn that you have. As a result, you can make better-informed decisions on your quest for health and wealth.

Womenetics: What is your business model?
Goldberg: We had an idea and a passion for the concept of Bod-E-Nomics. We developed the idea and then we spoke with an expert on trademarks and copyrights. Then we incorporated (LLC) to protect our personal and business interests. Self-publishing came next, followed by registering with the states New York and Michigan. Now our goal is to teach people about Bod-E-Nomics and sell books.

Schweifler: Have fun, help people, and make money. We have successful mentors, coaches, and advisers to help us along the way. We also read material from other accomplished business people.

Womenetics: Where did you get funding for startup?
Goldberg: We funded ourselves with carefully budgeted monies and through barter and lots of massages.

Womenetics: What has been your biggest challenge?
Goldberg: Keeping the momentum going and sustaining a positive attitude. When Wendy moved back to Grand Haven (Michigan) in 2007, distance was a challenge. Through creative sessions on the telephone and communication through emails, we were able to complete and publish our project. We have also traveled back and forth between New York and Michigan for speaking appearances and book signings. When we are physically together we meet a lot of goals in a short period of time. We make sure, too, to set aside precious free time for fun, which inspires us. We found out that when one of us is brain dead, the other is on full speed ahead, so as a team, we are always moving forward.

Schweifler: Becoming known and eventually becoming a household name has been the biggest challenge.
Womenetics: Who or what has influenced and/or mentored you?
Schweifler: My influence would be my own success and desire to teach people what I have learned. Viki mentored me in food and money and how everything is related. I continually read and listen to success books. Right now I am reading and listening to Napoleon Hill who wrote Think and Grow Rich and the recently released Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success.

Goldberg: I have been watching my patients taking lots of medications and never feeling good. Watching people (myself included) being diagnosed piecemeal without consideration for the whole person influenced me. This is not meant to condemn medical practice; there are some fine practitioners, the others just can’t seem to see the whole picture at any given time.

Once someone can grasp a concept such as the effects of refined sugar on a single cell then they can integrate the information and make positive changes for themselves.

Womenetics: What lessons have you learned and what would you do differently, if anything?
Schweifler: I have made many mistakes concerning my body, eating, and money. I ended up overweight with a huge amount of debt. Since partnering with Viki, I have learned more about how my body works, how my eating relates to my health, and I have stopped accumulating more debt. In our business I have learned to delegate, work as a team, and ask for advice from experienced mentors.

Womenetics: When you have time off, how do you relax?
Goldberg: My husband and I love to travel and revisit history, which is reinforced by the volumes of books we read. We build playtime into every trip. Playing with friends and our animals is a solid recharge. I volunteer as a member of the Conservation Advisory Council for the Town of Courtland, N.Y. We monitor real estate development as it impacts water, wildlife, native vegetation, and steep slopes. It keeps me in my civic mode and my mind focused on other perspectives.

Schweifler: I ride horses with my friends, play games, take naps, play with the dogs, garden, and read.

Katrina Daniel is an award-winning journalist and broadcast reporter/anchor. She has worked in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, and as a national correspondent for several networks. She commutes between Miami and the Carolinas, writing for magazines and news organizations. She lives with one horse, four dogs, and a cat.