April 9, 2025 • 22 mins
Thinking about becoming a health coach – or wondering if you chose the right school when you did? In this episode you'll hear about the 3 essential things most programs don’t teach (but should), so you can make a smart, confident choice before investing more time and money. Get Michelle's free guide to choosing the right health coaching school at https://healthcoachpower.com/
Mentioned in this episode:
Free guide: How to Choose the Right Health Coaching School - https://healthcoachpower.com/
Free guide: How to Choose the Right Health Coaching School - https://healthcoachpower.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hello there, health coaches.
You know what today's going to be alittle bit different today is for those of
you who are thinking aboutbecoming a health coach,
because I know you're outthere and you're listening or
maybe you're already certified,
but you're feeling like youmiss something along the way.
You don't quite feel readyor I know this comes up too,
(00:26):
maybe you got certified like a heck ofa long time ago and you almost feel like
you're starting from scratch.Hey, it happens. So if that's you,
I'm glad you're here.
Tell me in the chat which of thosecategories you fall into or none of the
above. Maybe you just havethis curiosity factor. Hey,
Ashley and Chris and Janelleare so glad that you're here.
After working with thousands of coaches,
(00:47):
what I've noticed is a really frustratingpattern where coaches finish their
certification and yet feel totally,
entirely unprepared to actuallystart doing the work of Health
Coach.Like you're passionate. I know that,
but you don't either have the tools tocoach or the tools to start a business.
(01:09):
Many health coaches are graduating,
having never worked with a single client.
I feel like if you told me that yougraduated from automotive repair
school, having never toucheda car, it's crazy to me.
So I'm here of course,year in and year out.
I've been doing this for a long time.
(01:29):
I'm here to help health coaches findclients and market yourselves and build
your businesses. Yes,
and this is why I hadto bring up this topic.
I can't help if on the inside you're
terrified of actually having to workwith someone or put yourself out there
because you've never done it becauseit's just all new because you
(01:53):
graduated missing key componentsthat every health coach needs to
succeed.
So that's why I'm here today andI created a free guide that goes
deeper into all of this so you don'thave to take notes today. I got it all
spelled out for you in a lot more detailabout how to choose the right health
coaching school, andyou can grab that free
(02:13):
guide
at
healthcoachpower.com/school.
Now, today's episode reminds meof a client that I worked with,
oh gosh, years and years and years ago.
She had a whole bunch of health issues,
many of which were very obscureand I didn't know much about it.
(02:35):
She told me she had thisproblem, that problem,
and I probably just smiled andnodded, but inside I'm like, what?
And that happens. It actuallyhappens pretty frequently.
So I think our inclinationis to find a school that
teaches a ton of nutrition,
science and medical information andfunctional medicine and covers this
(02:58):
type of disease and that type of disease.
But you would have to do years andyears and years and years and years of
studying to really learn everything.And I'm saying everything with air
quotes. I mean it's impossible.
How often have you gone to a doctor evenand they don't know what you're talking
about.
(03:18):
So one approach is to try to pick ahealth coaching school that will teach
you a lot about nutritionand health topics,
and I know we're allinterested in that. Me too.
I know what your bookshelflooks like at home.
It looks just like mine bookafter book. We love this stuff.
But in terms of getting certified,
(03:38):
another approach and myrecommendation is to get used to the
idea and maybe even comfortable withthe idea that you're not going to know
everything. You'll never know everything.
Like this client Istarted telling you about,
I had 10 years of experience as a healthcoach under my belt at this point,
and I had no idea what her healthissues were all about. I had never heard
(04:02):
of them before.
So that's going to happenwhether you like it or not.
So it's like how do youbest prepare for that?
I'm just looking over herein the comments. Chris says,
almost done with the program and feelinglost if I had a nickel for every time
someone told me that I know. I mean,
of course anything that's new is goingto be like, I don't know what I'm doing.
(04:24):
But the point of school is to prepareyou for that, right? Maureen says,
always love to hear what you have tosay. Lost my connection. Oh, okay.
So anyway,
whether you're here because you're goingto school for the first time or you're
just in my community, I thinkthis will be interesting. Also,
health coaching schools havereally changed through the years.
So I have the benefit of seeing somany of you on the other side of your
(04:46):
schooling and what happens and what fearsyou have and if you're feeling lost or
if you're feeling some coaches marchright out and have a million clients.
That's not most anyway.So like I was saying,
you could have all the schoolingin the world and I guarantee you,
you're still going to come acrossclients that you're like, you have, what
do you want? You're just goingto have no idea what it's,
(05:09):
so it's almost not worth trying tothink that you're going to be able to
learn everything and we'll talkmore about this one important
note. The opposite willhappen of course, too.
Sometimes you will know a lot about aperson's health issue as a health coach.
Maybe you went throughthe same problem yourself,
maybe you've done a lot ofreading about it, whatever,
(05:32):
but when a lot,
you tend to want to try and fix them,
and that's not what a health coach does.
So you can actually get into some trickylegal territory by knowing too much.
I think it's so ironic. We always wantto learn more and learn more and learn
more. But in terms of a healthcoach scope of practice,
(05:53):
is it really that helpful?
Because we can't diagnose and we can'tprescribe and we can't tell people what
to do.
So in some ways it's like a littlebit of a curse to know lots about a
particular health diagnosisbecause when you do,
it's so easy to go outsideyour scope of practice. Now,
I'm not here to say that we shouldn'thave any knowledge about health and
(06:14):
wellness. It certainly can behelpful and it's definitely very,
very interesting to learnabout these health topics,
but I am suggesting you're nevergoing to know all the answers.
It's probably for the best.
It's actually better in many ways to justget comfortable with that not knowing.
And you will learn a ton,
you'll get an unofficial PhDjust by working with clients
(06:38):
so you don't have to know everything andit can become a liability when you do.
Now, why am I talking about this?
It's important because in choosingthe right health coaching school,
despite everyone's first impulse,including mine when I first started out,
I'm going to encourage you to not makeit all about which school is going to
turn you into a healthexpert like a mini doctor.
(07:01):
That's not what this is. And weirdly,
it's what a lot of health coachingschools have been teaching and have been
promising.
And I know because I meet their graduatesand the graduates that come out of
these schools have learned a lot andthey've generally loved the education
because we're all a bunchof health nerds. I get that.
But these graduates do not have clients,
(07:23):
and they're worried about going outsidetheir scope of practice and they think
they're going to get a jobworking for a clinic or a
corporation,
and a few of these opportunitiespan out here and there. But please
hear me on this.
It is incredibly rare for a healthcoach to find a decent paying job
(07:44):
working for someone else.Is it impossible? No, I see it happen here and there,
but I am talking about beingin this field for 16 years.
We have over 15,000 healthcoaches in our community,
and yet it is the rare one, twohere and there that find a job,
like a job that paysmore than minimum wage.
So I think that is really importantto hear upfront because some of these
(08:07):
schools are going to tell you otherwise,
they're going to kind of gloss over itand make you think you have all these
options to acquire a positionin all these different places.
It's just not quite there. We'lltalk more about this in a bit.
Chris says, for me,
it's more about the business side. Weare going to talk about that in a second,
Chris, I'll get to it. So anyway,
(08:28):
if you're looking at schools that aredoing the real science heavy stuff,
the real functional medicineheavy stuff, does that work?
You will get an education. I just don'tknow that you're going to get a career.
And I do know that you'll sink a lotof money into those programs because of
that in depth science curriculum.
It's almost like goingto college or med school.
(08:49):
And I've done programs like this.
So I'm speaking from my ownexperience in addition to what I see.
Is it really that useful?Big question mark.
Many programs, this is the bottomline here on this one point. Anyway,
many programs are heavy on healthand nutrition. That's fine,
but they're light onactual coaching skills.
(09:14):
Mimi saying over here, yes,
locally in the Denver area to work forsomeone that only pays 18 to $24 an
hour, not sustainably.
And sometimes it's even worsethan that if you can believe it.
What we want is a schoolthat is teaching coaching
skills in addition toslash instead of going real
(09:38):
deep into the healthand medical information,
because coaching is not aboutgiving information or giving
advice,
being a coach is not about figuringout what's wrong with someone and then
fixing them. Coaching is aboutguiding a client towards change.
And a lot of schools are just notteaching that or they're not teaching it
(09:58):
adequately so that you feelcomfortable sitting down.
You should feel comfortablesitting down anywhere, anytime,
any place with anyone and coachingthem. You don't need a program.
You don't need any clientmanagement system. I mean,
just the act of coaching issomething that could happen,
like sitting on a park bench and someonesits down next to you. If you have
(10:21):
coaching skills, this is easy.
That's all you need.
Just create a container for coachingright there on the spot. Now,
you might be thinking,all right, Michelle,
so what did you do when you have thisclient that I was telling you about and
she had all these terrible healthproblems and you couldn't help her in the
(10:42):
sense of knowing what she should doto solve her problems? I couldn't,
couldn't give her answers.
I couldn't give her a plan to followif I wanted to because I did not know.
So I did what a coach does,
and I asked her the questions thatreally mattered. And guess what?
Between just having theseconversations and her just really being
(11:07):
engaged as a client, shewas a fantastic client.
We had amazing conversations.
We talked about things like her career.
We talked about what was going on inher whole life, not just the food,
not just the exercise, right?And within a couple of months,
she was able to leave this job that shewas in that was totally stressing her
(11:29):
out, and she found another job that hadthe exact same pay but part-time hours.
This is a woman who is very,
very highly educated out of the bestschools and she didn't want to work
full-time anymore.
And we manifested that together becauseshe and I had a conversation about what
she was looking for in her career.She named this arrangement,
she spoke it out loud, shewanted to work, and a week later,
(11:53):
she got an offer for exactlythat, which is incredible.
She didn't even have to look. Now,
I'm not saying that we cando magic as health coaches,
but sometimes just by voicing something,you know how powerful that is.
We explored other things too,
topics that were on her mind and weighingher down about being a woman, a mom,
like I said, a very well-educated,
(12:15):
high achieving person.By the end of our time together, you guys,
she had stopped coloring her hair,
she started riding amotorcycle. She was working,
she was spending moretime with her family.
And you know what happens when someonereally finds themself like that?
Those nagging health symptomshave a way of lessening,
(12:37):
and that's what happened forher. Now, did I fix her? No.
Was she cured? No, of course not.
But she found her path forward and insteadof her health issues taking up like
90% of her thoughts all the time,
they became just this small thing in thebackground that she had to deal with in
the context of living a larger,happier well-lived life.
(13:00):
And if that's not health,I don't know what is.
So this is all to say nutrition matters,
but it's not the make or break piece.
If I could go back and redo my healthcoach training, which I did in 2009,
I'd put way more emphasis onlearning how to coach people
(13:21):
through change. How to coach peoplethat think they want one thing when they
actually need another thing.
Think of how many of our clientscome to us to lose weight,
and that's rarely the most importantchange that takes place during the course
of a coaching relationship.That's what we need to do,
not just explain to our clientswhat we think is healthy.
(13:41):
So like any practical skill,
you can't learn to coach from a book.
You can't really learn to coachjust by watching people do it.
You need to practice coaching real people.
You have to actually coach realpeople. So when I was in school,
I had eight paying clients.By the time that I graduated,
(14:03):
that was the best thing that I evercould have done because while I was
still in school, it was lowpressure. I felt like, okay,
it's like an internship.
No one expects me to be perfect at this.My clients knew that I was in school.
They knew they weren'tpaying me full price either,
and I'm sure they witnessed mefeeling my way through those coaching
(14:26):
moments. It's like learningto ride a bike, right?
Sometimes you're a littleunsteady, but here's the thing.
By the time I graduated,
I'm so glad that my school encouragedme to actually work with real clients.
I graduated, I was fully confidentin my ability to work with people.
I didn't have that fearholding me back anymore,
and I knew I could handle itbecause I already was handling it.
(14:46):
So when you're looking fora health coaching school,
in addition to finding aschool that teaches skills,
find a school that's going to have youworking with clients early and often,
something that's going to hold youaccountable to doing the work because real
life experience builds theconfidence that you need. Now,
(15:07):
in that free guide I mentioned,
I go into greater detail about whatsort of coaching skills and real life
experience you want during your healthcoach training program. So remember,
you can get that free guide athealthcoachpower.com/school.
Alright,
so now we're going to go back to thatpart where we talked about how most
coaches can't find a decentpaying job working for someone
(15:30):
else. And even just now asI'm recording this episode,
some of you are piping up and saying,yes, I've had that experience. I know,
right?
We have so many coaches in our communityand a few have found jobs that offer
decent pay, but by and large,
they're very difficult to come byand they often are asking for lots of
(15:51):
further credentials.
But health coaching itselfdoes not require advanced
credentials. My very, very,
very first paying clientlost a ton of weight,
saw her skin clear up after a lifetimeof eczema and trips to the doctor and
various prescriptions, and aftera few months of working together,
(16:13):
listening to her body and experimenting,
it was like voila.She saw huge changes.
And that's super valuable. If you knowhow to coach, you can get someone there.
Even if you're brand new like I was,
all you got to do is holdspace for someone to figure out their own next steps.
You do not need advanced credentials,
so don't get freaked out when you seethese job listings asking for all these
(16:35):
degrees just for a health coach position.
But what you do need if you're goingto be able to sustain yourself and turn
this into a career,
this leads me to the third thing thatmost health coaching schools are not
teaching,
but definitely should isyou need to learn how to
connect with clients.
(16:56):
You got to be able to find themor else you won't be helping
anyone. You can be a really, reallygreat coach over here in your bubble,
but if you don't knowhow to market yourself,
it's just going to feel like an expensivehobby. And what I hear over and over
from health coaches who have graduatedfrom various programs is I posted to
Facebook a couple times, still nobites, and they're really disappointed.
(17:21):
I don't know why health coaching schoolsare perpetuating this myth that you
can post to social media a couple timesand that's how you're going to find
clients.
Posting online and crossingyour fingers is not a
business plan. That is arecipe for frustration.
So the way I see it is health coachingschools should be providing the necessary
(17:45):
business training that is partand parcel to this type of,
we're not dentists.
People aren't finding us through theirinsurance company's website listings.
So it's my opinion you shouldn'tgraduate without at least the
basics of business and marketing training.
(18:06):
No one's born with this knowledge.
I didn't know how to do any of this stuffin the beginning either. You have to
either learn it painfully bymaking mistakes over many,
many years and figuring it out, or itneeds to be taught to you. And honestly,
a lot of health coaches giveup before they ever get there.
You should know how toschedule appointments,
(18:27):
accept payment from onboard new clients,
what to do in a client session.You should be holding workshops.
You should have starteda mailing list. To me,
this is like baseline stufffor starting your business.
You should have an offer that's readyto sell something that people actually
want to buy because withoutthat stuff, there's no job.
(18:51):
There are no clients. There's no impacton anyone's life. Like Chris is saying,
over years, when to set up anLLC, get a checking account,
registering your business. Youknow what? I can tell you, Chris,
that you don't need any of that stuffto get started. I am telling you right
now, you don't need any ofthat stuff to get started.
But your school should have told you that.
They should have given you someguidelines as to how to do these things so
(19:15):
that you don't get hung up there and thenyou never actually go out and find the
clients or do anything else.Do you know what I mean?
I just think that there'ssomething missing.
So if you are consideringa health coaching school,
and I know many of you go through multiplecertifications because you feel like
something was missing in the one you didbefore, anyone, I hear it all the time.
(19:39):
Here's what really matters. Number one,
are they teaching realcoaching skills? Number two,
are you getting hands on coaching time?
Are you practicing with real people,
not just other students?
And are you learning how tofind and work with clients
(20:01):
because about to invest, right?It's your time, it's your energy,
it's your money, and you deserve tofeel confident about your decisions.
So there you go. That's what I've seenfrom all of you for the past 16 years.
Just reflecting back what I seemust be missing from the many,
many different curriculums out there now,
I created this free guide that walks youthrough everything we've talked about
today and more breaksdown what to look for,
(20:22):
what to avoid when choosing a program.
You can grab it athealthcoachpower.com/school,
and I highly recommend doingthat before you enroll anywhere,
if it's your first, your second,or your 10th certification.
Thanks so much for joining me today.
If there is a certain topic thatyou'd like to see on an upcoming show,
you can text directly to
(20:45):
healthcoachpower.com/text.You'll get the number there.
You'll be able to send a text message.
I do see all of these messagesand most of our 300 plus
episodes have come from yourquestions and suggestions.
So keep 'em coming and I'll seeyou soon. Everyone. Take care.
Hello there, health coaches.
You know what today's going to be alittle bit different today is for those of
you who are thinking aboutbecoming a health coach,
because I know you're outthere and you're listening or
maybe you're already certified,
but you're feeling like youmiss something along the way.
You don't quite feel readyor I know this comes up too,
(00:26):
maybe you got certified like a heck ofa long time ago and you almost feel like
you're starting from scratch.Hey, it happens. So if that's you,
I'm glad you're here.
Tell me in the chat which of thosecategories you fall into or none of the
above. Maybe you just havethis curiosity factor. Hey,
Ashley and Chris and Janelleare so glad that you're here.
After working with thousands of coaches,
(00:47):
what I've noticed is a really frustratingpattern where coaches finish their
certification and yet feel totally,
entirely unprepared to actuallystart doing the work of Health
Coach.Like you're passionate. I know that,
but you don't either have the tools tocoach or the tools to start a business.
(01:09):
Many health coaches are graduating,
having never worked with a single client.
I feel like if you told me that yougraduated from automotive repair
school, having never toucheda car, it's crazy to me.
So I'm here of course,year in and year out.
I've been doing this for a long time.
(01:29):
I'm here to help health coaches findclients and market yourselves and build
your businesses. Yes,
and this is why I hadto bring up this topic.
I can't help if on the inside you're
terrified of actually having to workwith someone or put yourself out there
because you've never done it becauseit's just all new because you
(01:53):
graduated missing key componentsthat every health coach needs to
succeed.
So that's why I'm here today andI created a free guide that goes
deeper into all of this so you don'thave to take notes today. I got it all
spelled out for you in a lot more detailabout how to choose the right health
coaching school, andyou can grab that free
(02:13):
guide
at
healthcoachpower.com/school.
Now, today's episode reminds meof a client that I worked with,
oh gosh, years and years and years ago.
She had a whole bunch of health issues,
many of which were very obscureand I didn't know much about it.
(02:35):
She told me she had thisproblem, that problem,
and I probably just smiled andnodded, but inside I'm like, what?
And that happens. It actuallyhappens pretty frequently.
So I think our inclinationis to find a school that
teaches a ton of nutrition,
science and medical information andfunctional medicine and covers this
(02:58):
type of disease and that type of disease.
But you would have to do years andyears and years and years and years of
studying to really learn everything.And I'm saying everything with air
quotes. I mean it's impossible.
How often have you gone to a doctor evenand they don't know what you're talking
about.
(03:18):
So one approach is to try to pick ahealth coaching school that will teach
you a lot about nutritionand health topics,
and I know we're allinterested in that. Me too.
I know what your bookshelflooks like at home.
It looks just like mine bookafter book. We love this stuff.
But in terms of getting certified,
(03:38):
another approach and myrecommendation is to get used to the
idea and maybe even comfortable withthe idea that you're not going to know
everything. You'll never know everything.
Like this client Istarted telling you about,
I had 10 years of experience as a healthcoach under my belt at this point,
and I had no idea what her healthissues were all about. I had never heard
(04:02):
of them before.
So that's going to happenwhether you like it or not.
So it's like how do youbest prepare for that?
I'm just looking over herein the comments. Chris says,
almost done with the program and feelinglost if I had a nickel for every time
someone told me that I know. I mean,
of course anything that's new is goingto be like, I don't know what I'm doing.
(04:24):
But the point of school is to prepareyou for that, right? Maureen says,
always love to hear what you have tosay. Lost my connection. Oh, okay.
So anyway,
whether you're here because you're goingto school for the first time or you're
just in my community, I thinkthis will be interesting. Also,
health coaching schools havereally changed through the years.
So I have the benefit of seeing somany of you on the other side of your
(04:46):
schooling and what happens and what fearsyou have and if you're feeling lost or
if you're feeling some coaches marchright out and have a million clients.
That's not most anyway.So like I was saying,
you could have all the schoolingin the world and I guarantee you,
you're still going to come acrossclients that you're like, you have, what
do you want? You're just goingto have no idea what it's,
(05:09):
so it's almost not worth trying tothink that you're going to be able to
learn everything and we'll talkmore about this one important
note. The opposite willhappen of course, too.
Sometimes you will know a lot about aperson's health issue as a health coach.
Maybe you went throughthe same problem yourself,
maybe you've done a lot ofreading about it, whatever,
(05:32):
but when a lot,
you tend to want to try and fix them,
and that's not what a health coach does.
So you can actually get into some trickylegal territory by knowing too much.
I think it's so ironic. We always wantto learn more and learn more and learn
more. But in terms of a healthcoach scope of practice,
(05:53):
is it really that helpful?
Because we can't diagnose and we can'tprescribe and we can't tell people what
to do.
So in some ways it's like a littlebit of a curse to know lots about a
particular health diagnosisbecause when you do,
it's so easy to go outsideyour scope of practice. Now,
I'm not here to say that we shouldn'thave any knowledge about health and
(06:14):
wellness. It certainly can behelpful and it's definitely very,
very interesting to learnabout these health topics,
but I am suggesting you're nevergoing to know all the answers.
It's probably for the best.
It's actually better in many ways to justget comfortable with that not knowing.
And you will learn a ton,
you'll get an unofficial PhDjust by working with clients
(06:38):
so you don't have to know everything andit can become a liability when you do.
Now, why am I talking about this?
It's important because in choosingthe right health coaching school,
despite everyone's first impulse,including mine when I first started out,
I'm going to encourage you to not makeit all about which school is going to
turn you into a healthexpert like a mini doctor.
(07:01):
That's not what this is. And weirdly,
it's what a lot of health coachingschools have been teaching and have been
promising.
And I know because I meet their graduatesand the graduates that come out of
these schools have learned a lot andthey've generally loved the education
because we're all a bunchof health nerds. I get that.
But these graduates do not have clients,
(07:23):
and they're worried about going outsidetheir scope of practice and they think
they're going to get a jobworking for a clinic or a
corporation,
and a few of these opportunitiespan out here and there. But please
hear me on this.
It is incredibly rare for a healthcoach to find a decent paying job
(07:44):
working for someone else.Is it impossible? No, I see it happen here and there,
but I am talking about beingin this field for 16 years.
We have over 15,000 healthcoaches in our community,
and yet it is the rare one, twohere and there that find a job,
like a job that paysmore than minimum wage.
So I think that is really importantto hear upfront because some of these
(08:07):
schools are going to tell you otherwise,
they're going to kind of gloss over itand make you think you have all these
options to acquire a positionin all these different places.
It's just not quite there. We'lltalk more about this in a bit.
Chris says, for me,
it's more about the business side. Weare going to talk about that in a second,
Chris, I'll get to it. So anyway,
(08:28):
if you're looking at schools that aredoing the real science heavy stuff,
the real functional medicineheavy stuff, does that work?
You will get an education. I just don'tknow that you're going to get a career.
And I do know that you'll sink a lotof money into those programs because of
that in depth science curriculum.
It's almost like goingto college or med school.
(08:49):
And I've done programs like this.
So I'm speaking from my ownexperience in addition to what I see.
Is it really that useful?Big question mark.
Many programs, this is the bottomline here on this one point. Anyway,
many programs are heavy on healthand nutrition. That's fine,
but they're light onactual coaching skills.
(09:14):
Mimi saying over here, yes,
locally in the Denver area to work forsomeone that only pays 18 to $24 an
hour, not sustainably.
And sometimes it's even worsethan that if you can believe it.
What we want is a schoolthat is teaching coaching
skills in addition toslash instead of going real
(09:38):
deep into the healthand medical information,
because coaching is not aboutgiving information or giving
advice,
being a coach is not about figuringout what's wrong with someone and then
fixing them. Coaching is aboutguiding a client towards change.
And a lot of schools are just notteaching that or they're not teaching it
(09:58):
adequately so that you feelcomfortable sitting down.
You should feel comfortablesitting down anywhere, anytime,
any place with anyone and coachingthem. You don't need a program.
You don't need any clientmanagement system. I mean,
just the act of coaching issomething that could happen,
like sitting on a park bench and someonesits down next to you. If you have
(10:21):
coaching skills, this is easy.
That's all you need.
Just create a container for coachingright there on the spot. Now,
you might be thinking,all right, Michelle,
so what did you do when you have thisclient that I was telling you about and
she had all these terrible healthproblems and you couldn't help her in the
(10:42):
sense of knowing what she should doto solve her problems? I couldn't,
couldn't give her answers.
I couldn't give her a plan to followif I wanted to because I did not know.
So I did what a coach does,
and I asked her the questions thatreally mattered. And guess what?
Between just having theseconversations and her just really being
(11:07):
engaged as a client, shewas a fantastic client.
We had amazing conversations.
We talked about things like her career.
We talked about what was going on inher whole life, not just the food,
not just the exercise, right?And within a couple of months,
she was able to leave this job that shewas in that was totally stressing her
(11:29):
out, and she found another job that hadthe exact same pay but part-time hours.
This is a woman who is very,
very highly educated out of the bestschools and she didn't want to work
full-time anymore.
And we manifested that together becauseshe and I had a conversation about what
she was looking for in her career.She named this arrangement,
she spoke it out loud, shewanted to work, and a week later,
(11:53):
she got an offer for exactlythat, which is incredible.
She didn't even have to look. Now,
I'm not saying that we cando magic as health coaches,
but sometimes just by voicing something,you know how powerful that is.
We explored other things too,
topics that were on her mind and weighingher down about being a woman, a mom,
like I said, a very well-educated,
(12:15):
high achieving person.By the end of our time together, you guys,
she had stopped coloring her hair,
she started riding amotorcycle. She was working,
she was spending moretime with her family.
And you know what happens when someonereally finds themself like that?
Those nagging health symptomshave a way of lessening,
(12:37):
and that's what happened forher. Now, did I fix her? No.
Was she cured? No, of course not.
But she found her path forward and insteadof her health issues taking up like
90% of her thoughts all the time,
they became just this small thing in thebackground that she had to deal with in
the context of living a larger,happier well-lived life.
(13:00):
And if that's not health,I don't know what is.
So this is all to say nutrition matters,
but it's not the make or break piece.
If I could go back and redo my healthcoach training, which I did in 2009,
I'd put way more emphasis onlearning how to coach people
(13:21):
through change. How to coach peoplethat think they want one thing when they
actually need another thing.
Think of how many of our clientscome to us to lose weight,
and that's rarely the most importantchange that takes place during the course
of a coaching relationship.That's what we need to do,
not just explain to our clientswhat we think is healthy.
(13:41):
So like any practical skill,
you can't learn to coach from a book.
You can't really learn to coachjust by watching people do it.
You need to practice coaching real people.
You have to actually coach realpeople. So when I was in school,
I had eight paying clients.By the time that I graduated,
(14:03):
that was the best thing that I evercould have done because while I was
still in school, it was lowpressure. I felt like, okay,
it's like an internship.
No one expects me to be perfect at this.My clients knew that I was in school.
They knew they weren'tpaying me full price either,
and I'm sure they witnessed mefeeling my way through those coaching
(14:26):
moments. It's like learningto ride a bike, right?
Sometimes you're a littleunsteady, but here's the thing.
By the time I graduated,
I'm so glad that my school encouragedme to actually work with real clients.
I graduated, I was fully confidentin my ability to work with people.
I didn't have that fearholding me back anymore,
and I knew I could handle itbecause I already was handling it.
(14:46):
So when you're looking fora health coaching school,
in addition to finding aschool that teaches skills,
find a school that's going to have youworking with clients early and often,
something that's going to hold youaccountable to doing the work because real
life experience builds theconfidence that you need. Now,
(15:07):
in that free guide I mentioned,
I go into greater detail about whatsort of coaching skills and real life
experience you want during your healthcoach training program. So remember,
you can get that free guide athealthcoachpower.com/school.
Alright,
so now we're going to go back to thatpart where we talked about how most
coaches can't find a decentpaying job working for someone
(15:30):
else. And even just now asI'm recording this episode,
some of you are piping up and saying,yes, I've had that experience. I know,
right?
We have so many coaches in our communityand a few have found jobs that offer
decent pay, but by and large,
they're very difficult to come byand they often are asking for lots of
(15:51):
further credentials.
But health coaching itselfdoes not require advanced
credentials. My very, very,
very first paying clientlost a ton of weight,
saw her skin clear up after a lifetimeof eczema and trips to the doctor and
various prescriptions, and aftera few months of working together,
(16:13):
listening to her body and experimenting,
it was like voila.She saw huge changes.
And that's super valuable. If you knowhow to coach, you can get someone there.
Even if you're brand new like I was,
all you got to do is holdspace for someone to figure out their own next steps.
You do not need advanced credentials,
so don't get freaked out when you seethese job listings asking for all these
(16:35):
degrees just for a health coach position.
But what you do need if you're goingto be able to sustain yourself and turn
this into a career,
this leads me to the third thing thatmost health coaching schools are not
teaching,
but definitely should isyou need to learn how to
connect with clients.
(16:56):
You got to be able to find themor else you won't be helping
anyone. You can be a really, reallygreat coach over here in your bubble,
but if you don't knowhow to market yourself,
it's just going to feel like an expensivehobby. And what I hear over and over
from health coaches who have graduatedfrom various programs is I posted to
Facebook a couple times, still nobites, and they're really disappointed.
(17:21):
I don't know why health coaching schoolsare perpetuating this myth that you
can post to social media a couple timesand that's how you're going to find
clients.
Posting online and crossingyour fingers is not a
business plan. That is arecipe for frustration.
So the way I see it is health coachingschools should be providing the necessary
(17:45):
business training that is partand parcel to this type of,
we're not dentists.
People aren't finding us through theirinsurance company's website listings.
So it's my opinion you shouldn'tgraduate without at least the
basics of business and marketing training.
(18:06):
No one's born with this knowledge.
I didn't know how to do any of this stuffin the beginning either. You have to
either learn it painfully bymaking mistakes over many,
many years and figuring it out, or itneeds to be taught to you. And honestly,
a lot of health coaches giveup before they ever get there.
You should know how toschedule appointments,
(18:27):
accept payment from onboard new clients,
what to do in a client session.You should be holding workshops.
You should have starteda mailing list. To me,
this is like baseline stufffor starting your business.
You should have an offer that's readyto sell something that people actually
want to buy because withoutthat stuff, there's no job.
(18:51):
There are no clients. There's no impacton anyone's life. Like Chris is saying,
over years, when to set up anLLC, get a checking account,
registering your business. Youknow what? I can tell you, Chris,
that you don't need any of that stuffto get started. I am telling you right
now, you don't need any ofthat stuff to get started.
But your school should have told you that.
They should have given you someguidelines as to how to do these things so
(19:15):
that you don't get hung up there and thenyou never actually go out and find the
clients or do anything else.Do you know what I mean?
I just think that there'ssomething missing.
So if you are consideringa health coaching school,
and I know many of you go through multiplecertifications because you feel like
something was missing in the one you didbefore, anyone, I hear it all the time.
(19:39):
Here's what really matters. Number one,
are they teaching realcoaching skills? Number two,
are you getting hands on coaching time?
Are you practicing with real people,
not just other students?
And are you learning how tofind and work with clients
(20:01):
because about to invest, right?It's your time, it's your energy,
it's your money, and you deserve tofeel confident about your decisions.
So there you go. That's what I've seenfrom all of you for the past 16 years.
Just reflecting back what I seemust be missing from the many,
many different curriculums out there now,
I created this free guide that walks youthrough everything we've talked about
today and more breaksdown what to look for,
(20:22):
what to avoid when choosing a program.
You can grab it athealthcoachpower.com/school,
and I highly recommend doingthat before you enroll anywhere,
if it's your first, your second,or your 10th certification.
Thanks so much for joining me today.
If there is a certain topic thatyou'd like to see on an upcoming show,
you can text directly to
(20:45):
healthcoachpower.com/text.You'll get the number there.
You'll be able to send a text message.
I do see all of these messagesand most of our 300 plus
episodes have come from yourquestions and suggestions.
So keep 'em coming and I'll seeyou soon. Everyone. Take care.
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