Get To Know Byrd Schas, Registered Dietitian and Founder of Second Summer Nutrition | Canadian Business Owner Spotlights by Kelsey Reidl, Marketing Consultant.
Meet Byrd Schas!
Registered Dietitian and Founder of Second Summer Nutrition, helping women 40+ navigate the physical and emotional changes of midlife with evidence-based nutrition, strength, sleep, stress management, and realistic behavior change.
Welcome to our Canadian Business Owner Spotlight Series hosted by me… Kelsey Reidl (Business & Marketing Consultant).
In this series, I'll be catching up with the most talented, generous & inspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners in Canada & beyond.
Enjoy learning more about these wonderful humans, and give them a ‘follow’ or get in touch in order to collaborate with them + work with them.
-Kelsey
The TL;DR for Byrd Schas of Second Summer Nutrition.
Byrd Schas is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Menopause Coach, and the founder of Second Summer Nutrition — where she helps women 40+ navigate the physical and emotional changes of midlife with evidence-based nutrition, strength, sleep, stress management, and realistic behavior change.
Before becoming an RD, Byrd spent more than a decade as a health and weight-loss journalist — writing and editing for publications like Women's Health and New York magazine, which means she can explain exactly why your hormones are staging a quiet coup at 2 a.m., in language that doesn't require a medical degree to follow.
Her work is built on one stubborn belief: Midlife isn't a problem to manage, or the beginning of a decline. It's a turning point and an opportunity — and women who understand what their bodies actually need in this phase don't just get through it. They come out stronger, clearer, and more themselves than they've felt in years for their next best chapter.
Byrd lives in Connecticut with her husband, two teenagers, and a giant fluffy poodle named Fred. She's happiest outside, dancing in the kitchen, or laughing loudly with people she loves — and she'll tell you, without a shred of irony, that this is the richest chapter of her life so far.
Okay, let’s get to know Byrd!
Name
Byrd Schas
Profession / Title
Registered Dietitian and Founder of Second Summer Nutrition
Business Name
Second Summer Nutrition
Industry / Niche
Nutrition and wellness for 40+ midlife women navigating midlife and peri/menopause
My Business Was Founded In
2025
Current Location
Ridgefield, CT
3 words you would use to describe yourself…
Curious.
Candid.
Compassionate.
Tell us more about your business
My days are split between my “day job” providing 1:1 medical nutrition therapy through the telehealth company Berry Street, and building Second Summer Nutrition, where I help midlife women through my Midlife Body Reset program.
Whether they’re struggling with weight gain, fatigue, or mood changes, many women come to me with the unnerving feeling that they don’t quite recognize themselves anymore. My job isn’t to hand them another restrictive diet. It’s to help them understand what has changed for them physiologically, and what their bodies really need now. We address nutrition, meal timing, strength and movement, sleep and recovery—and the bigger vision for what they want this stage of life to look and feel like.
I’m also developing a video podcast series and a newsletter. People can find me at www.secondsummernutrition.com, or on the socials:
FB at @secondsummernutrition
IG at @secondsummernutrition
LinkedIN at linkedin.com/in/byrdschas/
In one or two sentences, what specific problem does your business solve for your clients?
I help high-capacity midlife women (40+) who feel out of control with their weight, energy, and mood stop blaming themselves and learn to work with their changing bodies, so they feel energized and like themselves again. Instead of doubling down on restriction and willpower, they learn how to eat, move, recover, and care for their changing bodies in order to set themselves up for what can be the healthiest and most rewarding years of their life.
Recent milestone you've celebrated in your business
I recently started a video podcast series called Midlife Simplified with my friend and fitness expert, Nicole Farr. I also just got my first organic newsletter sign-up through my website, which might seem like small potatoes, but is huge for me. So, yay!
What is a recent investment you’ve made in your business
I recently recommitted to working with my business coach, Cindy Schulson, for another six months while I build and launch the next phase of Second Summer Nutrition, and ramp up my client base.
I made the investment because I realized my biggest challenge wasn't a lack of ideas or expertise. If anything, I had too many ideas. I needed help turning them into a clear offer, message, and path forward—and, maybe more importantly, someone willing to challenge the perfectionism, second-guessing, and fear that can keep a good idea safely sitting on your laptop instead of out in the world.
What changed after that investment? Why do you see it as an investment, not an expense?
The biggest change has been clarity—and momentum. I've gotten much clearer about who I want to help, what I want Second Summer to mean, and the transformation I want my work to create beyond a number on the scale. I've also realized that building a business requires a completely different skill set from being good at your profession. I'm a dietitian; I wasn't automatically born knowing how to position an offer, sell it, build a funnel, or confidently put my work in front of people.
I see coaching as an investment because I'm not simply paying someone to tell me what to do. I'm shortening the learning curve, building skills I will continue to use, and getting challenged in the places where I'm the bottleneck.
What would you tell a new entrepreneur who's considering investing in the same thing, but is hesitant?
Don't invest because you think another person is going to magically build the business for you. They won't. Invest when you've found someone who understands where you're trying to go and can help you see what you can't see from inside your own business.
And then use the hell out of the investment. Ask questions. Show them the messy draft. Admit when you haven't done the thing you said you were going to do. Let yourself be challenged. The value isn't just in what the coach knows—it's in what you're willing to do with it.
Now for some fun stuff!
Always…
Always be kind. Stay curious–about people, science, business, yourself—pretty much everything.
Never…
Never waste time perfecting a program that has never seen the light of day. Being ready is a myth. You start. You suck. You figure it out. You get better.
Advice for other entrepreneurs, who are slightly less far along…
Don't wait until you feel completely confident before you start putting your work into the world. Confidence seems to arrive after you do the uncomfortable thing, not before.
Also: being excellent at what you do and knowing how to build a business around it are two different skills. Give yourself permission to be a beginner at the second one.
What is a tool, resource, podcast, book or person you’ve invested in that’s added value to your entrepreneurial journey
Podcasts: Kelsey’s, but of course. I also enjoy Laura Schoenfeld’s “The Nourished CEO”
Books: You are a Badass at Making Money, by Jen Sincero; The Prosperous Coach by Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin
Coach: Cindy Schulson, Marketing from Within
Tool: Practice Better, an all-in-one practice management software and electronic health record platform built for health and wellness professionals that makes hosting sessions, programs, and packages easy peasy.
Favourite way to wind down after a long workweek
Oh man, by gleefully turning off my computer and the lights in my office and heading upstairs to see my kiddos, and then outside for a walk, ideally looking forward to a weekend full of friends, family, laughter, and love (and, ok, a little work).
Before starting my workday, I make sure to…
Make my bed, make my coffee, and head outside (yes, still in my robe) to get some morning sunlight in my eyes.
Best part of my work is…
Helping women realize that midlife doesn’t have to be the first step down a long staircase, but can be an incredibly vibrant, expansive next chapter, and–with the right guidance–they can have a body that supports whatever they want to do with it. I love watching someone go from frustrated and confused—convinced she's somehow failing at something she used to be good at—to understanding what's happening physiologically and realizing there are concrete things she can do about it.
Last vacation you took (and where did you go)
The last vacation I took was in June, to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida–an area of the Emerald Coast on the Florida panhandle that I’ve been visiting since I was wee, and to which we’ve returned annually for the past several years with our two kids and their childhood BFFs. To make it possible for everyone to come, we drive every year–in a big minivan with four teenagers, for two 16-hour non-stop driving days (something we call “an adventure” in our family). The blue-green sea and softer-than-flour quartz sand is the perfect antidote to … literally anything that ails you.
