Nikki Tierney comes from a long line of women entrepreneurs. Her grandmother started a greenhouse in 1975 that later blossomed into an interior plant maintenance and design company for corporate offices. The Middleborough-based company, called Gro-N-Things, Inc., is still in operation today, now under the leadership of Nikki's mom. And Nikki was next in line to inherit the boss' job. But she said 'no'.

"I told my mom right off the bat, I'm not buying your business," Nikki said. "I've just always wanted to do my own thing."

That 'thing' she refers to is fitness and nutrition. In high school she played field hockey and softball (a varsity pitcher). And she constantly craved healthy snakes to get through those vigorous strength and conditioning practices, or 7 innings of launching fastballs. In college she worked at a Curves health club, but given her family genes, she knew reporting to someone else wasn't going to be in her future.

"I like being my own boss," she said.

Now, a registered dietician and personal trainer, Nikki, 24, graduated from the University of Rhode Island last June. In July, she started her Quincy-based company, A Healthy Balance, offering nutritional consulting and fitness training for individuals or small groups.

On the nutritional side, a program includes a BodyGem® metabolic test and body composition analysis; bi-weekly one-on-one consulting; individualized nutrition recommendations; as well as food and exercise journaling, meal planning, shopping lists, and recipes.

"I try to make it easy," Nikki told South Shore Woman. "I'll even meet a client at the grocery store to help them find gluten-free products, or look at labels to help them fill out their shopping lists."

In addition, the personal training aspect of the business is all about helping clients trim down, tone up, and improve stamina, or train for an event. For example, Nikki is currently working with the Quincy Militia semi-pro football team. While she's consulting with them as a group, she's customizing the programs to each player, as one guy needs to drop 50 pounds or he can't play offense, while another guy wants to increase his endurance on the field, she explained.

Every client has a different motivation for coming to see her. And, while she is not affiliated with any hospital or doctor's office, many clients find her because the doc told them to eat a heart healthy diet--- with no explanation of what that means.

While there are many dieticians and personal trainers out there, Nikki's unique differentiator is the fact that she can offer both services.

"As a personal trainer there is a limited amount of nutritional advice you can give your client," Nikki said. "You can say you should be eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, eating more fruits and vegetables, but technically you are not legally allowed to write up meal and diet plans. As a registered dietician, that is in my scope of practice."

As a result, her client list is growing, despite many people's shrinking budgets. That's partly due to the fact that people feel vulnerable and out of control as a result of the current economic conditions. They are in need of something they can feel good about again. "The exercise you do, and what you put into your body are things that you have complete control over," she said.

More importantly, Nikki is not selling a crazy fad diet or trying to turn you into a body builder. She is all about providing subtle lifestyle changes that will give you 'a healthy balance'.

For more information, contact Nikki at:

617-479-0500

nikki@AHealthyBalanceNutrition.com

www.ahealthybalancenutrition.com

By Stephanie Neil

Stephanie Neil is a journalist. Her business, technology, and human interest stories have appeared in a variety of print and online newspapers and magazines including eWeek, Managing Automation, The Harvard Alumni Bulletin, Huggies Baby Network, South Shore Woman, and The Boston Globe.  She lives on the South Shore with her two kids, two cats, and a dog. Contact info: stephanieneil@comcast.net  or 781-378-1652. Follow her on Twitter @StephanieNeil