My Story.

Hello! My name is Nik Ignjatovic, owner of Pure Balance Cancer Support.

First off, thank you for reading this blog and for stopping by! I’d like to explain a little bit about myself and why I decided to create this company and why I want to help those who have recently been diagnosed with cancer, have already started their treatment(s), or have gone into remission.

On New Years Day of 2020 I woke up jobless, as my time at Netflix came to a close. There was a customer service office located here in Salt Lake City where I had worked from July 2015 until the last day that the site was open, 12/31/2019. At this point I had zero idea as to what I wanted to do for work, but I told myself that whatever job I get in whatever field it ends up being in will be my career and where I’ll work for the rest of my life. I took this as an opportunity to study any topic that interested me and really figure out what it is that I want to do.

I had originally gone to school to study Theoretical Physics, but later decided that it wasn’t the career for me. During my time at Netflix I even considered Operations Management or Data Analytics. The issue was that while they sounded like great options in terms of job security and pay, I wasn’t excited about them and didn’t know if I’d truly enjoy them.

Just before the pandemic I met my wife and we began dating. She was working on her Master’s Degree in Financial Planning and was, and still is, very career driven. I’ll admit that I did feel some embarrassment from not having a job and not knowing what I wanted to do, but thankfully she never once judged me for it. As lock down hit and we were all forced to stay inside, she packed up and moved in with me at my parents house where she worked in the spare bedroom. I was still jobless and spent my days watching travel shows on YouTube and working out as best as I could with bands I bought on amazon, as I was prepping for my first Men’s Physique Bodybuilding show.

After talking to my dad I decided to go into I.T, specifically as a systems administrator, because a spot opened up on the same team that he and my brother are on. It also helped that I know all of their co-workers and boss, so applying almost guaranteed that I would get the job and make good money and be able to work from home, or anywhere with an internet connection. So, I spent hours studying with my dad, learning how he did his job so that once the posting was live on the University of Utah’s site I could apply. I started to make some progress and was enjoying learning something new, but again, I had that feeling that it was not what I truly wanted to do. More time had gone by and I started to dread going into his office to study more and work on some small projects that he created for me. I didn’t want to risk disappointing him by telling him that I changed my mind on applying for the position, so I did my best to keep going.

Fast forward a few months to everything opening up again and I can finally start going to the gym and training with my childhood friend, who is also my coach, Yohan. One day after a training session, him and his former business partner pulled me into their office and asked if I’d ever be interested in becoming a trainer and nutritionist. I honestly wasn’t sure, as this was something that I never considered to be a career option, but decided to explore the idea in hopes that I’d finally find what I wanted to do with my life. Later that night after I had gotten home from the gym, I went online and registered for a course through ISSA and started to explore the idea of being self-employed as a trainer and nutritionist. Once I had passed the tests and was certified, I went back to Yohan and his business partner ready to get started and join their team, only to be told that there actually wasn’t enough room at the gym or in their office for me. I was confused and upset and felt as if I had wasted both time and money learning something and getting certifications just to be told, “never mind.”. Yohan’s advice was to try and do it on my own and if i’m able to afford it, get my own little office to work out of rather than at my parents house or at their gym where there wasn’t enough space for me. Again, I was confused and upset and felt like I was back to square one.

Then, in July 2020, Yohan calls me to tell me that he was going to leave the company he was with and start his own and asked if I’d like to join as a coach. I immediately said yes, and fast forward 4 years later, our company Unfinished Lifestyle has grown and exceeded every goal and dream we had set. I have finally found what I want to do with my life.

During my time as a coach, I have made it a point to do continued education and learn as much as possible about exercise, nutrition, and have even learned how to read blood work (I want to make it clear that I am NOT a doctor and do not and cannot diagnose my clients with any health conditions. I simply use their blood work results to create their nutrition plans). My goal is to be the best coach and nutritionist that I can be and to continue to learn all that I can to ensure that I am fully capable of helping my clients reach their health goals.

This past summer, a few months after my daughter was born, I would do my cardio around Daybreak Lake before going to work. It was a nice and relaxing way to get my cardio done and to be able to enjoy the fresh air and sun. While I’d walk I’d either be listening to music or to audiobooks. More specifically, GaryVee’s audiobooks “Crush It!” and “Crushing It!”. I’d frequently listening to both of these books when I felt like I needed to reset and figure out what I should do next with my business and my career. Every time I’d listen to them I’d end up thinking of something new and implement it into the business with success, but I still felt like something was missing. Then one day while out walking, Gary mentioned in “Crush It!” that you need to figure out what your target demographic is, or your niche. I really listened to what he was saying and decided to sit on a bench and really think about what I wanted my niche to be, and that’s when I started to think about my Grandfather who passed away in 2006 from colon cancer. I then quickly googled “cancer nutritionists” in my area and got zero results. That’s when I decided to figure out how I could learn more about oncology nutrition and what I could do to be able to help a large demographic of people who seem to have little-to-no resources around this subject, or who are being completed ignored.

I then spent the rest of 2024 learning as much as I could about oncology nutrition, reading verifiable studies, and earned a certification from the Edison Institute as a Holistic Cancer Practitioner (though I don’t like using the term “practitioner”, as this makes me sound like a doctor when I am not one). I now plan on furthering my education through the Oncology Nutrition Institute to earn a certification as an Oncology Nutritionist.

If you’ve gotten to this point in this post, thank you for sticking around to read about me! I’m excited to start this new journey and to be able to help as many people as I possibly can.