Alana Scott

Alana Scott is the owner-manager of A Little Bit Yummy, a successful online business offering healthy living advice and delicious recipes for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Growing up on a deer farm in the small Waikato town of Tirau, Alana spent her childhood helping in her family’s restaurant. "My mum taught me that good food is simple food made from fresh ingredients, and I learnt to engage with the local community," she says.

As a teenager she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and coeliac disease, which forced her to be home schooled. But Alana refused to let those challenges define her, and at 18 she started a four-year Bachelor of Management Studies at the University of Waikato, majoring in Marketing and Strategic Management.

An outstanding academic achiever, Alana says she had a fantastic time at Waikato and her BMS degree gave her the confidence to tackle every challenge. Her top advice for new students is to get to know your lecturers. “They have extraordinary knowledge in their subject areas and are more than happy to help students who put extra effort into their work.”

Driven by a passion for community service, Alana joined the student social enterprise group Enactus Waikato. This led to a five-year restoration project at Lake Okoroire, where she managed over 320 volunteers to plant 14,000 trees, aiming to restore the lake’s biodiversity and reduce farm runoff.

This experience gave her strong leadership and project management skills, she says, as she navigated complex relationships between councils, landowners and volunteers.

While still at university, Alana received another life-changing diagnosis in 2013: irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). She was put on an incredibly restrictive Low FODMAP diet that cut out gluten, dairy, fructose, and many everyday foods, making it seem impossible to follow.

"It was at that moment I decided that my medical conditions weren’t going to define me," says Alana.  “This is where I discovered the idea for my business and decided to turn adversity into opportunity,” she says.

A year later she launched A Little Bit Yummy, an online platform offering healthy living tips, advice, and low FODMAP recipes designed to make life easier for people with IBS and other dietary restrictions.

Today, Alana runs every aspect of the business - from strategy, accounts, digital marketing and web content, through to recipe development. Her goal is to grow the platform so she can help people around the world live well with IBS.

Alana was one of just six New Zealanders selected for the prestigious Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF) in 2017, recognising entrepreneurs and change-makers making a positive impact in their field.