Bethany Cameron shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Bethany, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Wake up, tongue scrape, then brush my teeth, wash my face, take the dogs outside, feed the dogs, drink water, then make my morning carnivore coffee and sit at my computer responding to new emails that came in from the night before.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Bethany and have dealt with digestive issues for most of my life and nearly died because of it. I’ve experienced quite more than most people will in their entire life (all before the age of 30).
This was me in 2015.
I had a slew of gut issues ranging from gastroparesis, crohn’s disease, colitis, parasites, “IBS”, IBD and I wasn’t able to digest food nor evacuate properly and had to do daily enemas just to have a bowel movement because my stomach muscles weren’t contracting and moving food through my body, resulting in the food rotting inside me if I didn’t act on it.
I saw the top doctors all over including specialists from cedar sinai in Beverly Hills with no solutions but medication. There was no “cure” or protocol they gave me, just a way to manage symptoms which made things worse.
I eventually visited a family friend who was a holistic doctor who worked globally helping the top movie stars, models, and even royalty from other countries – and thankfully he was at my disposal.
He took me under his wing and worked very closely with me and truly opened up my eyes to what the food industry was doing to food and also made me realize I didn’t have to be a victim and could heal through eliminating common “healthy foods” that are pushed and widely consumed today by “health influencers”. I also learned not only what to put into my body but how to prepare it in a way that was easy to digest such as soaking, peeling the skins of certain produce, special food combining such as rice and yogurt, and even pureeing my meat.
I made everything from scratch. If I wanted bread, I made it. If I wanted milk, I sprouted almonds, peeled the skins, blended them, then strained them through a cloth. I was so sick I couldn’t hold a job – getting well was my job and a full time one at that!
I saw my holistic doctor at least once a week and spoke to him almost daily on the phone. He taught me everything he knew and that’s when I truly became interested in the lies we were all told.
I investigated and researched studies in the food industry, how things were industrially produced, and where our food truly came from. I had already learned a little bit from a previous job I had in the “wellness space” as the marketing manager for 4 years. I headed up Expo West for that company from 2011 – 2015 and became the personal assistant to the owner.
Now, 10 years later, I help educate others of what’s REALLY in their food and – on occasion – share recipes that are actually CLEAN ranging from vegan, carnivore, grain, gluten, and dairy free. But most importantly, share the truth because I don’t want others ending up like me: deceived in the health and wellness space.
In 2018, I created my very own protein powder because I could not find one I could personally consume with clean ingredients that wouldn’t upset my own gut – and I knew others were looking for the same without any stevia, monk fruit, natural flavors, gums, fillers, or lecithin. I personally chose every single ingredient to help support the gut, not harm it. Every ingredient is intentional down to the peas we source from Europe of which the lectins (AKA: anti-nutrients) have been removed and no glyphosate residue.
At the time in 2018, this was just a trial limited edition collab with the company Nuzest with just one flavor, however we sold out time and time again that Nuzest realized there are thousands of people looking for what I created. So then I developed 2 more flavors with the same strict stipulations along with gut supporting supplements. This digestive support line has now changed into its own entity called Bethany’s Pantry – with the same ingredients and formulation as when I started in 2018. Since then, it’s helped hundreds of thousand of you get your life back and has been a part of your gut healing journey. The testimonies that slip into my DM’s daily are incredibly touching – many even saying it’s helped their crohn’s disease. This was never intended to get this big, it was just something I wanted to create for myself and a few others I knew could benefit, but now it’s my business.
I now run Bethany’s Pantry, am a full time blogger, recipe developer, podcast host of the Digest This podcast, and cookbook author of the book, Digest This, who focuses on gut health and healing your body naturally through specific foods as I personally have done myself.
God had a plan. He knew what he was doing well before I got sick. If I hadn’t nearly died from gut issues, I probably wouldn’t be doing what I am today.
If you’re going through a hard time, remember to keep the faith and to continue to trust and rely on God. His plans are far better than your own.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
Work itself. When you are in this space, the only thing that will teach you is doing it, making mistakes, and growing with it. No one else can tell you how to be YOU and you have to learn from YOUR audience what they like and want to see more of. No organization or agency can teach you how to “do” social media.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Almost every week over a 10 year span! But I kept with it.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
100%
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
Building Bethany’s Pantry. Many think I make tones of money from my protein powder line, but reality is, any money made get’s put right back into the business. One day I hope things will change.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lilsipper.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/lilsipper
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIvGN6PeCYFayAnPuyOzrPQ
- Other: www.bethanyspantry.com
www.tiktok.com/@lilsipper_official
