Monica Lowe

Monica was working full-time in a hospital and realized that most people found it overwhelming to get instructions from a dietitian after receiving a new diagnosis or being discharged after a long stay at the hospital –they just wanted to go home.  

She decided to start her own nutrition business, Monica M Lowe and Associates, LLC: “I saw a need for more outpatient one-on-one nutrition education and meal planning. I opened my own private practice to help those trying to prevent, or work on treating current, diseases by improving their nutrition and developing healthier lifestyle choices,” she said.

Monica’s biggest challenges were in trying to find enough clients and financially supporting her new venture. She had just opened her doors when the Thomas Fire began. The fire left her with a significantly decreased clientele for about 10 months. She decided to reach out to WEV for a disaster relief grant that was being offered at the time. The grant helped her “do training seminars on medical billing, apply to insurances for in-network providers and then do my own billing to bring my clientele back up.”  

Her involvement with WEV did not end there. She attended a networking event and found community: “I learned a lot from other women entrepreneurs in the area. Although we had different backgrounds in business, it became a great networking opportunity.” 

Monica hopes to continue taking advantage of WEV’s services once her workload allows. In the meantime, she is working on expanding access to her own services. She said, “In the past 2 years, I have applied to become in-network with private insurance companies and Medicare so that I can offer my services under covered insurance benefits. It has allowed those who couldn’t afford my services out-of-pocket the opportunity for nutrition education covered by their insurance plan.”