Know Yourself, Be Yourself, and Love Yourself: Interview with Health and Wellness Guru Dr. Kellyann Petrucci

I recently went one-on-one with health and wellness guru Dr. Kellyann Petrucci. Dr. Kellyann is a New York Times bestselling author and is a regular contributor to publications like USA Today, Forbes, Everyday Health, and Bloomberg.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Dr. Kellyann: I was always interested in medicine but when I hit my teens, it got personal. I was diagnosed with endometriosis and my doctors told me that I probably would never be able to have children. My mother and I went from doctor to doctor, but we kept hearing the same story. Then, one day, I experienced what I can only call a miracle. In my early twenties, I got into bodybuilding, and my trainer put me on an anti-inflammatory diet that cut out certain foods, such as gluten. It changed my life. I went on to have two beautiful sons. That’s how I found my calling. 

I had witnessed the power of natural healing in my own life and I became very passionate about giving that gift to others. I studied at schools and programs around the world, culminating with an amazing opportunity to study biological medicine with Dr. Thomas Rau of Switzerland, one of the world’s leading physicians, through the Marion Institute in Massachusetts. Everything I learned there reinforced the lesson my own medical crisis had taught me: we have a tremendous power to heal if we simply give our body what it needs.

I then went on to open my own functional medicine clinic and I was talking about things nobody had even heard of back then. I focused on intermittent fasting, anti-inflammatory diets, gut health, and ancestral foods like bone broth. I also realized that I needed to share this information not just with a handful of patients, but with thousands of people who needed to lose weight and get healthy. So that’s when I wrote my Bone Broth Diet book, and started the bone broth revolution.

Adam: What were the keys to growing and scaling your business? What are your best tips on how to grow and scale any business?

Dr. Kellyann: The key for growing and scaling your business is to identify a specific niche in the market where your product or service can provide value. Having this solid foundation to grow will help you develop, and you should also listen to feedback. You have to know what is working and what is not. What products are selling and what are not. This clear vision of your customer’s priorities will help you have a clear vision of where expansion may be possible.  

Adam: How have you been able to build your brand? What are your best tips on the topics of branding and personal branding?

Dr. Kellyann: How you build your brand is all about the trust you can build with your clients or customers. Here are my two top tips:

Tip 1: Make your clients or customers feel safe, loved, and important. Those are our basic human needs and really, it’s that X factor in creating a brand. When your clients or consumers feel those three things you are on your way to establishing trust and loyalty. 

Tip 2: Have a clear message of your brand and your expertise. You don’t need to be a master of everything and you don’t need to have all the answers. But what you do need to successfully build and scale your brand is one clear message that you stand by. For me, I’m a naturopathic doctor. I’m all about using natural ways to stay healthy and I believe it all starts in your gut. That’s why I’m such a big fan of bone broth and the natural amino acids, protein, and collagen it possesses. Whether it’s yourself, or a spokesperson you select to represent your brand, that person should have a clear focus on the messaging you want to generate. When you or your spokesperson positions themselves as a jack of all trades, you could fall victim to becoming a master of none. You risk your messaging becoming confusing, or worse, contradictory. When you are specific with your brand’s messaging, you position yourself as a top voice, a trusted authority in the space. 

Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Dr. Kellyann: To be an effective leader you must first lead by example - meaning how you manage your team significantly shapes the type of environment that is created. For instance, if you interact with your employees on a daily basis, you can naturally encourage communication and create an environment open to collaboration. However, if you are far away in an office, it may create an illusion of disconnectedness, which can create a more silent and independent workplace. If you don’t have regular “face time” (in person or on Zoom) with everyone on your team, make yourself available for “office hours” once or twice a week.

You must also be open to the ideas of your team. As the boss, it is great to have your own goals, agenda, and outline for your business, but you must also be open to collaborative ideas from others. A manager who encourages communication and an open dialogue can generate a culture of acceptance. This can also be a great self-esteem booster for employees, as they feel comfortable speaking up and contributing ideas. These fresh perspectives might also lead to business growth by finding untapped opportunities.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?

Dr. Kellyann: First, you must take care of yourself in order to be the best leader you can be. You must be mindful, and truthful with yourself about how you are feeling. Most people walk through their days numb, just going from thing to thing, and that’s a recipe for burnout. Instead, ask yourself every morning: “How am I feeling today? Tired? Dehydrated? Happy? Sad?” It is so important to have this self awareness.  When you see that you’re not feeling your best, take a step back and figure out what you need and then make that need a priority.

Second, don’t be afraid to seek support from your team. Remember, one is the loneliest number and being a leader does not mean you have to do everything alone. You must trust your team and delegate tasks. Delegation not only empowers your team members to take ownership of their work, but it also helps distribute the workload more evenly and gives your direct reports and their direct reports a chance to shine and be noticed by a larger group of people within the organization. 

Third, always remember to know yourself, to be yourself, and to love yourself. It’s one of my favorite quotes and it applies to both business and in life. You must know your brand and be authentic in who you are. More people will want to do business with you if they can relate to your story and your product.

Adam: What are your most important tips on health and wellness?

Dr. Kellyann: My number one tip is to focus on your gut health. I can’t say this enough - your gut is so important for your overall health. It does more than we probably give it credit for. On average, the gut is 30-feet-long, and has its own nervous system. Some experts refer to it as the “second brain” and that is why the “gut-brain connection” is being explored now more than ever before. One delicious way to support a healthy gut is to drink bone broth. Bone broth is slow simmered which allows the marrow bone cartilage to release collagen-rich gelatin and other beneficial compounds like vitamins and minerals that can benefit your gut wellness in more ways than one.

Another top wellness tip is to stay hydrated. I start every morning with a big glass of water with a lemon squeezed into it. This gives my skin a double dose of beautifying power - first from the water and second from the vitamin C, which helps build collagen. You can also build hydrating meals using high water content foods such as a cucumber noodle bowl, grapefruit and avocado salsa, pizza with watermelon crust, nachos using apple discs instead of chips, and swap out hamburger buns for tomato slices.

Lastly, I would say to manage your stress. This is essential for your overall health and it’s a topic I talk about a lot. One easy - and free - way to manage your stress is to get outside. Stepping outside to inhale the fresh air, feel the sun on your skin, and listen to rustling leaves, grounds us and reminds us of life’s simple joys. One great way to enjoy time outside is to garden. The connection to nature that you have when you garden has the power to refresh and revitalize your mind, offering a sanctuary from the daily hustle and bustle. Engaging in gardening can help reduce stress and improve your overall mental health by encouraging mindfulness.

Adam: What are your best tips on the topic of anti-aging?

Dr. Kellyann: How fast or slow you age has almost everything to do with what you eat and how you choose to live your life. Here are some of my best tips for anti-aging: 

Drink bone broth. Bone broth is loaded with the building blocks of collagen, so it smooths and strengthens your skin. In addition, the soothing gelatin in bone broth helps support digestive health. A radiant gut translates into radiant and wrinkle-free skin, while a bad gut is a leading cause of skin aging. 

Eat foods rich in omega-3s. Think of aging skin cells as slightly deflated balls. Omega-3 fatty acids plump up the walls of these cells, making them bouncy again. To get plenty of omega-3s, incorporate fatty fish and walnuts into your diet. 

Eat potassium-rich foods. Here's a tip I give my patients: Switch from regular table salt to sea salt. Why? Regular salt pulls water out of your cells, leaving them flabby and prone to promoting wrinkles. But sea salt, which is high in potassium, does just the opposite. It pulls water into your cells, making them firm. You can also get skin-hydrating potassium from fruits and veggies, nuts, meat, poultry and fish.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Dr. Kellyann: Believe in yourself, but believe in yourself with guardrails. Make sure that whatever you go out into the world to do, it makes sense on paper as well as in your heart and mind. 

I know the common idea is that if you’re passionate about something, you should “just go for it.” But regardless of your passion, make sure it’s something you can monetize and commercialize.

Also, build your fortress – build a team of smart people around you who are happy for your successes and prove to be healthy advisors and enthusiasts. This is incredibly impactful when you’re building a business. 


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one-on-one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

Follow Adam on Instagram and Twitter at @adammendler and on LinkedIn and listen and subscribe to Thirty Minute Mentors on your favorite podcasting app.