November 27, 2024 • 43 mins
Health coach and educator Erin Power shares her thoughts on the changing world of health coaching as she ends another year of podcasting. With 20 years of experience in the field, Erin talks about the latest trends in the industry, like how health coaching is becoming more common in healthcare, how tech is changing things, and how we’re focusing more on keeping people healthy.
Erin also talks about some of the challenges that health coaches face, like dealing with rules and regulations and feeling overwhelmed by all the tech out there. But she also gives a lot of great advice on how health coaches can succeed in a tough market. This is a really inspiring and forward-thinking episode that will you help health coaches get ready for the future.
Episode Overview:
0:00 Intro
02:38 Integration into Healthcare Systems
04:48 Advancements in Technology
06:26 Focus on Preventative Health
09:30 Niche Specialization
12:01 Challenges Facing Health Coaches
22:26 The Demand for Health Coaches
23:42 Opportunities in Chronic Disease Management
25:25 Corporate Wellness Programs
28:53 Specialized Health Coaching Niches
30:46 Advocacy and Leadership in Health Coaching
32:54 Mental Health and Emotional Resilience
36:37 Youth and Adolescent Health Coaching
39:32 Cultural and Community-Centered Coaching
Connect with us at:
- Submit your questions to hello@primalhealthcoach.com
- Website: https://www.primalhealthcoach.com/hcr/
- Instagram: @primalhealthcoach
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Well, hello, health coaches. Erin Power here with you. I've got a great one today as we
rebutton up the end of another year. I've been health coach radioing with you for six years,
coming up on our seventh year of the podcast. And that's fun for me because I've been in the
health coaching industry for, I've been as a health coach for 12 years, but I've been an educator
(00:23):
for about eight. And why I'm excited about this generally about today's topic, which I'll get to
in a second, is because man, this industry is growing and changing. And I just want you to be
along for the ride. So let's buckle in for the future of health coaching. We're talking about
(00:47):
trends, we're talking about challenges, and we're talking about opportunities. So this, my friends,
is a forward-looking conversation.
Hi, I'm Erin Power.
I'm a health coach, a health coaching educator and mentor,
and your host of Health Coach Radio.
This podcast delves into the art, science, and business of health coaching.
(01:07):
Whether you're aspiring to land a coaching dream job
or to embark on your own entrepreneurial adventure,
we cover it all.
Our mission is to help you grow your career, elevate your income,
change the lives of the clients who need your help,
and leave a lasting mark in this rapidly growing field. It's time for health coaches to make an
impact. It's time for health coach radio. If you're in practice as a health coach, you know,
(01:34):
I know what it's like, you know what it's like, you're
some excitement. What I like about these kinds of conversations is it speaks to the, again,
(01:57):
the growth of an industry, the industry that we're all in. For many of us, it's a brand new industry,
you know, and it's fun to see it really get a foothold. Now, this topic is important because,
because the health coaching industry is evolving and changing. And, you know, for us,
(02:17):
staying ahead of trends and having a clear picture of what's going on. That can help
position us as leaders in the space. This is for you. This is for you health coaches,
so you know what's going on. So we're going to talk through some of the trends in health coaching,
some of the challenges in health coaching, and then the opportunities. All right, I'm ready to
(02:42):
dive in. Are you guys ready to dive in? Let's do this. So trends in health coaching. Let's start
here. Number one trend that I'm seeing is integration into healthcare systems. There's a
growing demand for health coaches in clinical settings. So we're talking in healthcare, we're
talking primary care, functional medicine practices, integrative medical clinics, telemedicine,
sort of collaborative units where the health coach is an integral part of the healthcare team.
(03:13):
Now, I have some friends and peers who are doctors, okay?
Doctors, naturopathic doctors, functional medicine doctors, MDs, everything running
the gamut.
And they are pulling out of their brick and mortar practices.
They're pulling out of the conventional model because they're kind of frustrated by the
(03:33):
conventional model.
Doctors are because the conventional model is pretty frustrating, isn't it?
So they're pulling out, they're starting their own online sort of concierge practices.
And these doctors are hiring health coaches. I love having these conversations with doctors.
They're saying, hey, I want to hire a health coach. Where can I find one? How much should
(03:54):
I pay one? What can I get them to do? What aren't they allowed to do? You know, a lot of times the
doctors know they need a health coach, but they don't know why or what a health coach can do.
So if you know why and what a health coach can do, that positions you as somebody who can step
into one of these clinical practices and really take that bull by the horns. This is a growing
trend in healthcare. Collaborations between health coaches and licensed medical professionals,
(04:21):
which we are not, which we are not. Health coaches, not licensed, not regulated. I actually
love that for us. We don't need to be. We help clients and patients execute behavior changes
that are very generally simple and not easy though. Simple but not easy. So we are unlicensed,
(04:43):
but licensed medical professionals who are frankly too busy to be in the weeds of health change with
their clients need us. That's one of the most growing trends for health coaches coming up in
2025 and beyond. Another trend I'm seeing a lot of is advancements in tech. We're talking telehealth,
(05:03):
We're talking virtual coaching platforms. We're talking health and wellness organizations that
are using technology to reach their clients, their customers, and want a coach somewhere in the back
end to facilitate these client coaching conversations. And there are AI-powered
(05:25):
tools. We've got chatbots that are working as health coaches, but the in-person, real,
alive, breathing, sentient health coach is still the power player in this. You already know. You've
dabbled in the AI space. It's not that great yet. Humans need humans. I feel this so strenuously. I
(05:49):
know we're worried about AI. Hey, you know what? It's here to stay. It's not going anywhere. So
let's learn to coexist with it. Do you know what I mean? At the end of the day,
Humans need humans. The human to human connection of health coaching is one of the most powerful
parts of the health coaching relationship. Now, AI is useful in these tech platforms for
personalized client plans like symptom trackers, food journaling apps, maybe collecting biometric
(06:15):
data from wellness gadgets. Some of these wellness apps and technology, they bring in lab testing
results. So it becomes this really this dashboard that the health consumer can use. And within that
dashboard is access to a human. And that's you, the health coach. Number third trend that is
emerging, according to some of the research and data and reading I've been doing is actually,
(06:38):
this is exciting, so get excited, a focus on preventative health. Okay. From a health coaching
business perspective, I have said this, you may have heard other health coaches and business
coaches say this too, but quite frankly, it seems as though prevention doesn't quote unquote,
sell. So going to market as a health coach who works in preventing heart attacks, preventing
(07:04):
diabetes, preventing obesity, it's just not an urgent problem for whatever reason, for better
or worse. Human beings just don't seem to be that concerned with delaying the onset of things that
aren't necessarily present in their lives yet. We are more concerned humans by the thing that
(07:26):
presence in our life. So for that reason, the thing that is present, the thing we're dealing
with now, the thing keeping us awake at night right now is generally where you want to position
yourself as a health coach. But what's occurring, what's coming up as an emerging trend, which is
exciting, is preventative health. The health consumer is now realizing, wait, I need to get
ahead. I need to get ahead of my health degradation. And I'll tell you something, I've seen this in my
(07:51):
own health coaching practice. I have seen more and more clients come in, and maybe this is because
I'm aging. And so my clientele is aging. But they're saying things to me like, you know, yes,
I want to feel better. Yes, I want to get in control of my health. And also I'm watching my
parents and my aunts and my uncles and my siblings, my older siblings go through their later stages of
(08:14):
life. And they're falling apart. And I really don't want that for me. So it actually seems as
though, and this is great news, the preventative health narrative is actually picking up steam.
This is awesome for health coaches. We shine here. Health coaching is a key player in reducing
chronic disease rates because most of the sort of modern chronic diseases are a consequence of,
(08:38):
you know, diet and lifestyle inputs, which we have a handle on. We have a hand in helping our
clients make moves on, right? Taking walks, going to bed, eating more supportive whole foods,
you know, eating less processed foods, understanding how to take care of oneself.
So this is right in our wheelhouse. And, you know, alongside this trend is an increased emphasis on
(09:04):
lifestyle medicine and behavioral health. So like the health consumer, which I call them the health
consumer, that's the people who are going to inevitably be our clients, whether we work in
private practice or go work in a medical clinic, the people we work with, that's the health consumer.
They're seeking out lifestyle medicine. They're seeking out behavior change.
(09:25):
There's change afoot. And I think it's exciting and possibly an opportunity for us coming up here.
Here's another trend, niche specialization. Okay, so hopefully you've already been zeroing in on a
niche, but niche specialization will just always continue to grow. It's not going away. It's not
(09:51):
going away. So we put it on the trend list for 2025. So this is, you know, perimenopause weight
loss, or helping men naturally boost their testosterone, or get rid of the dad bod, or,
you know, you know, increase your performance in the gym, or if you're, you know, get better times
(10:11):
at your endurance events, or, you know, perform better on the tennis court, like, we are getting
super specific, the more specific, the better. Other industries do this really well, by the way,
I was thinking of some other peers of mine that are in the coaching space.
Not necessarily health coaching, per se, but coaching. For example, I know a gal who is a
(10:32):
specialist in helping train or coach parents to potty train their toddlers. Now that's niche.
That's niche. But hey, if you're a parent with a toddler trying to potty train it, you're like,
take my money, teach me how to do this. So anyway, niche specialization has always been a thing.
(10:53):
It's not a new thing. I'm just putting it on the list for 2025 because it's still a thing.
There is a growing and consistent consumer demand for tailored approaches rather than generalized help.
And you already know that because you're a consumer.
And as a consumer, you seek out tailored, specialized help.
(11:17):
Right?
If you need to get your drain unplugged, you're not calling a general contractor.
You're like plumbers near me. Right? You already know. That's how you shop. That's how I shop. That's how we shop for services. I have blonde hair. When I'm looking to get my hair colored, I'm looking for blonde experts. You know, you already know. So just me reminding you that your tailored approach, the niche specialization continues to be a booming industry trend. So what's yours? What is your
(11:56):
your expertise. What is it? What are you a world-leading expert at? Oh, just called you out.
I just called you a world-leading expert. How do you feel about that? How do you feel about that?
Did the imposter syndrome kick in? That's okay. Just sit with it for a minute. But don't be shy
about declaring yourself a world-leading expert because clients want to work with a world-leading
expert. So if it's not you, it's going to be somebody else, okay? Just putting that out there,
(12:19):
a little pep talk. Well, let's be well-rounded about this conversation on the future of health
coaching. You talk about challenges facing health coaches. So we are always, number one,
slightly besieged, shall we say, or at least we should be hyper aware of the regulatory and scope
of practice limitations of health coaches. So I contemplate this to actually be one of the
(12:46):
blessings of health coaching, which is that we are unregulated. I mentioned that earlier.
I like being unregulated. I like it. I'm not in a hurry to get regulated because as soon as I'm regulated and you're regulated, things change for us. Here's an example, just an anecdote. Recently, I had a client call me. Now, if you don't know, I live in Canada. So I had a client come through for a consultation. She wanted to lose weight, which is what I do. And she said, I'm trying to decide between you and a dietician. And I said, oh, that's interesting.
(13:17):
I'm curious why we're the two that made the short list and she said well you're on my short list
because I really like your approach and you seem like you have a solution to my problem
ding ding ding the dietician is on my short list because my insurance covers it
so darn and wouldn't you know she went with the dietician because it was going to be free
(13:38):
she didn't have to pay for it now I don't love that for her I don't want her to pick the cheapest
option. I want her to pick the best. That's me. That's you. That's us. Dietitians are regulated.
Well, all respected dietitians. I mean, we need them. We need dietitians. Oh my gosh, we do.
They're a regulated profession and we're not. So sometimes in those situations, a health consumer
(14:01):
might say, well, I'm going to go with a dietitian because they're covered by my insurance or my
doctor recommended it or here in Canada, they can be free, right? So we're up against that.
We're up against the limitations of being unregulated.
And I just want you to know there's also some upside to being unregulated.
We're not as beholden, shall we say, to the conventional wisdom around health and wellness topics.
(14:24):
You know, we don't have to prescribe food groups and all foods fit.
And we have a lot of leeway.
As long as we're well behaved, something you should know about me as a health coach educator is that in the school that I'm on the faculty of, Primal Health Coach Institute, we are staunch advocates for health coaching scope of practice.
(14:46):
We do not waver.
We do not test the limits of the loopholes of our scope of practice.
Health coaches, I beg of you, don't do that.
Don't do that.
We just need to stay in our lane.
We can help a lot of people, but we don't want to push the boundaries of scope, of practice,
of professional conduct, because then we're going to get noticed by regulators.
(15:11):
And that's going to take away a lot of our freedoms and rights to do what we want to do.
So our unregulated status has its ups and downs. It has its pros and cons. The cons
are people who are seeking regulated health professionals are going to think, I'm not going
to work with a health coach. I'm going to work with a doctor or dietitian or what have you.
(15:34):
That's okay. That probably wasn't your ideal client anyway. Your ideal client is somebody
who has maybe been in the regulated sort of medical system and hasn't had success and is now
looking to take it out of the conventional realm and take matters into their own hands.
One thing I would encourage you to do if you're a health coach is just really understand your
(15:55):
scope of practice. One of our favorite resources is the Council of Holistic Health Educators. I think they're called the Holistic Council now, holisticcouncil.org. Really good group of people, first of all, that aggregate scope of practice information regionally, so that predominantly this is in the United States. But it gives you a good sense of generally what scope of practice regulations are for health coaches. The other thing the Holistic Council is doing is
(16:25):
they're actually advocating for us. They're seeking out legislation that might be on the
verge of changing and they're showing up to the lobbying sessions and going to bat with legislators
to try to get some wiggle room and get us in the room. So great group of people to help you
understand your scope of practice and also to help us all, you know, fight for our rights to help
(16:52):
people. It's an exciting time to be a health coach. Scientists are uncovering the mysteries
of the human microbiome. We're now gaining clarity into complex gut health issues we didn't even know
about a decade ago. This means it's also a great time to become a gut health expert. Primal Health
Coach Institute's Human Intestinal Microbiome and Health and Disease Specialist Certification
(17:15):
is for health coaches who want to help people heal the root problems of many of their health
symptoms and conditions. A recent survey spanning 73,000 people across 33 countries found that nearly
40% of adults suffer from a gastrointestinal disorder. As an expert in gut health, you can
offer unique programs and services to clients looking to manage or reverse a diagnosis such as
(17:39):
an autoimmune disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or type 2 diabetes, or those who wish to improve
their overall health. Gut health expert, cardiologist, and best-selling author Dr.
William Davis teaches you everything you need to know about the human microbiome,
including coaching tips to give you the confidence and credibility to support your clients
and help them heal their guts, sleep better, gain more energy, and enjoy stronger immunity,
(18:06):
balanced mood, smoother skin, and more. Find out more about how to become a gut health expert.
visit primal health coach.com all right another challenge facing health coaches would be technology
overload interesting because it's an opportunity i mentioned it a minute ago but it's also possibly
(18:26):
a struggle so it's like how do we balance the use of tech tools with the fact that we're humans
we're humans again i go back to what i said a minute ago the human to human connection
shoulder to shoulder with your client. That's what they want and need. At the end of the day,
we are still humans. We're not cyborgs yet. Yet. And we have access to amazing technology. Some of
(18:53):
it's good, some of it's bad. So we, what our opportunity is here is to figure out how to
coexist with the technology. So how can you bring some technology into your business? You know,
I've said this to a lot of our students that I think we do need to accept and embrace technology
(19:14):
to a certain extent. It's again, not going anywhere. It's 2025. It's the future. Computers
are here to stay. The AI robots are here to stay. We have gadgets. We have technology resources.
Clients are using them already. Can we coexist? So that's my encouragement to you. Learn new
(19:35):
platform, stay updated on digital trends, and try to do this without burnout. And that's a very real
concern. I think that's why I put this on the list of challenges, right? It can feel very overwhelming
to try to stay updated on technology, which is ever changing. So all I'm asking is just dip your
toe into it, be open to it. Don't be closed off to it. Because if you are closed off to technology,
(20:01):
you might be left behind. I don't want that for you. One more challenge. Oh, I know you're going
to know this one. I know you're feeling this one. You're waiting for me to say it.
Competition in a growing field. There are more health coaches entering the market.
And it probably feels like in some corner of your mind that it feels hard to stand out in a crowded
(20:24):
industry. Well, listen, I want to validate that. And I also want to remind you that there are
plenty of unwell people to go around. All you need is 10 clients this year, 15, 20 clients this year
to have a good year. 30 clients, 50 clients. 50 clients is usually my goal. And I hit that goal
(20:47):
the last three or four years. Four years, I think I hit that goal. 50 clients or more.
50 people. There's hundreds of millions of people that need my help. And I got 50 and I had a good
year. That's all you need. You don't need all the clients. You can't help them all anyway. So don't
stress about that. I know you hear this pep talk a lot, but like, it's just actually objectively
(21:07):
true. You need one client, 10 clients, 25 clients, 50 clients to have a good year. I say one, by the
way, the reason why I put one on the list, you're like one client. Well, you need one to start.
Just worry about getting the first one. If you haven't even had a client yet, the last thing you need to be worrying about is how saturated the market is.
Get one client. Get your second client. Get your third client.
(21:29):
Eventually you get up to 50 clients and you'll see, wow, there are way more people here than I can possibly help. I'm good.
Does this make it harder for you to stand out in terms of your branding and your positioning?
Possibly. A lot of noise, right?
I call the telephone here the old rectangle of doom. We're on it all the time. That's where
(21:50):
people are shopping now. Case in point, I'm in the weight loss industry. Well, how many weight loss
products, programs, coaches do you think my average ideal consumer bumps into during a
casual afternoon scroll? Probably 100. I'm one of them. So I just need to stand out. Well,
(22:11):
How do I do that? Well, here's how I do it. This is just a quick little marketing, you know, hit for you. I just firmly plant my flag in the ground and I say one thing. I have one point of view. I do one thing. I don't jump around and do sleep and longevity and optimizing performance. I don't even know. Optimizing, by the way, I just, this is just a parenthetical. Optimizing. I think you need to delete that from your marketing vernacular. It doesn't mean anything to the consumer, the average consumer.
(22:41):
You know, so this is where we go back to narrowing your focus and really targeting your niche.
What's the one thing you're the world leading expert in?
And then just repeat it and repeat it and repeat it so there's no ambiguity.
People who find you and follow you will say, ah, this person does that one thing and that's what I either need or don't need.
You're making it easy on the consumer because it's hard for the consumer.
(23:01):
Let's make it easy for them.
I want to say one more thing, though, about a growing market.
Quite frankly, I only want to be in industries that are growing.
I don't want to be in an industry that's dead.
If it's not a competitive market, if it's not quote-unquote saturated, I don't want to be in it.
(23:23):
I don't want to be in some random niche dead market that nobody's paying attention to.
What's the point?
Being the only person in a non-flourishing market.
A saturated market is a good sign.
Listen, if health coaching has become a saturated market, which it has not, it is not saturated, but it's getting busier, what does that tell you?
(23:45):
It's because people need health coaches and consumers are seeking out health coaches and the opportunities abound.
I always think about this.
This is my analogy that I use often.
I was driving around and I noticed a brand new dental clinic had opened up.
Brand new, now accepting patients.
So some dentist just came out of dentistry school, found a building, opened a clinic,
(24:11):
hired a bunch of hygienists and a receptionist and whatever else you need in a dental clinic,
and just went to business.
He's like, all right, let's go.
You got teeth?
I'm a dentist.
Come on in.
And he's not worried about a saturated market.
There's a dentist down the street.
There's a million dentists everywhere, right?
(24:31):
But people have teeth.
People need a dentist.
When this person went to dentistry school,
I don't know how long it takes to become a dentist,
but I'm assuming it takes a long time,
and you have to get a pretty expensive degree,
and nothing stopped this person from doing all that work,
and then putting in the effort to open a dentistry clinic,
knowing there's a dentist just down the road,
(24:52):
just around the corner there's another dentist.
I don't hear dentists worrying about saturated market.
I don't hear hairstylists working around,
worrying about saturated market.
In fact, most hairstylists I know,
the good ones are booked,
They're not accepting new clients. That could be you. It's a busy industry. That's a good thing.
Let's go. Reframe. Let's talk about opportunities for health coaches. I have a lot. I have a huge
(25:15):
list and I'm just going to give you a few. Okay. Number one, expanding roles in chronic disease
management. So I touched on this earlier. Health coaches are helping to bridge the gap between
patients and healthcare providers specifically in the realm of chronic disease management.
What are we talking about? We're talking about type 2 diabetes. We're talking about metabolic
(25:36):
syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, heart disease. The number one killer, unfortunately,
not to get morbid, of Americans, humans on the planet. Chronic disease management. Chronic
disease doesn't appear to be getting any better. It's probably getting worse. That's not great.
We're not happy about that, but we can help. So we help healthcare providers, the licensed ones,
(26:02):
bridge the gap between the busy provider and the bewildered patient. The provider says,
hey, your blood pressure is too high. Deal with that. Eat right and exercise. Okay, I got to go.
The patient's scared now. Oh no, I have high blood pressure. Ah, what does that mean?
That's where you come in. Hey, patient. Hey, Bob. The doctor just told you you have high blood pressure.
(26:27):
Do you know what that means? Bob's going to say, no. Am I going to die? Okay, Bob, if you're cool with that,
I'll just teach you a little bit about blood pressure. What did the doctor say about managing your blood pressure?
Well, he said I have to eat right and exercise. Okay, let's talk about that. You can help Bob do that.
We help address behavior change, which is the overlooked component in medical care, right?
(26:48):
That's our job. How exciting. How lucky are we to help people? Wow. Number two opportunity,
partnering with employers for workplace wellness. Now this is an area that a lot of health coaches
are very excited about. A lot of health coaches want to specialize in corporate or workplace
wellness. I think it's a bit of a hard market still to get into, but just like any sub market
(27:12):
of the health coaching broader market, it's growing. I think you'd be doing a little bit
of pounding of the pavement to find organizations that are looking to bring a health coach in,
maybe fractionally on a contract basis to introduce programs to help people, you know,
maybe manage stress or start a walking program or a weight loss challenge. There's lots of ways
(27:33):
you can do it. If it's something that's really, really important and feels exciting for you,
then you know you have to put together a like a pitch deck to pitch yourself to hr managers
and and and like the executives in charge of people and and corp and culture right at the
companies to make sure that they're even looking for that kind of help and then how can you
(27:55):
position yourself to get in there so something really always on the agenda as an opportunity
for the very enterprising shall we say health coach that wants to get out there and get back
into that office environment and help office workers get healthy. And we all know, I mean,
I know because I had a 20-year corporate career before I left it all to become a health coach,
(28:15):
and people at offices are pretty unhealthy. They sit around a lot. They're kind of trapped
indoors a lot. They're under a lot of pressure. There's a lot of burnout. And we can help.
I think an opportunity that's coming up is, I call this emerging niches.
So when you're contemplating a niche to get into, explore underserved populations.
(28:40):
So midlife health is a big one.
We've got the Gen X and millennial generations coming into midlife.
And what I think is exciting about this is that we are problem, we're solutions-oriented generations.
We, I'm a Gen Xer, so we are solutions-oriented populations, unlike maybe our boomer parents,
(29:01):
the boomers that preceded us who just kind of maybe were more accepting of their degrading
health and accepting of what the doctor said. Oh, the doctor said I have high blood pressure. I'm on
this medication, such is life. Gen X and millennials aren't quite putting up with that.
They're looking more for solutions. So hey, midlife health. If that's you and you know how to help,
(29:21):
you know, your midlife Gen X or millennial peers stay, get and stay healthy, zero in on that. Zero
in on it. There's always pre and postnatal. I think there's an emerging trend with respect
to fertility. Fertility seems to be a growing concern for women. If you have some kind of
fertility knowledge, if you yourself improved your own fertility through health improvement,
(29:47):
that could be amazing. We had a student in our school who specializes in the Amish.
That's incredible. You could develop expertise in like cutting edge areas. So things like
circadian biology or biohacking or, you know, I'm going to mental health optimization. There's
(30:07):
that word I don't like. Now what I will say about this, I just want to put this out there.
When I, I wanted to include these types of sub niches in this list because I know that's
exciting to a lot of health coaches. Let's say for example, here's an example that comes up a lot.
say you want to be a carnivore coach okay the carnivore diet right you went on a carnivore diet
(30:29):
and it solved your struggles so now you want to be a carnivore coach coach i'm susie the carnivore
coach well putting yourself out there as a carnivore coach or a biohacker or a circadian
biology coach means you're going to be attracting clients who know that that's what they want like
if i'm the client and i'm like i want to go carnivore i need a coach to help me go carnivore
(30:50):
then I will search a carnivore coach. But just know that you're really, really narrowing the
playing field a little bit. What you could do and what I think you should do
is I think it's still wise to speak to like the lived experience of the client. So for example,
let's say you went carnivore because you had some kind of an autoimmune disease. I don't know which
(31:11):
one, just pick one. If you had an autoimmune condition, you went carnivore and it seemed to
resolve your symptoms or at least put them into remission and you're excited about that.
Cool. So maybe you become a health coach that focuses on those autoimmune symptoms,
and maybe you use a carnivore diet approach or something plant-based. You can do whatever you
want, quite honestly. But my encouragement to you would be, if you are going to go into a
(31:34):
very narrow niche, you still want to speak to it from the perspective of what clients are looking
for. Okay, now if you if you want, again, if you want to be a biohacker, we get this a lot.
We want to be a biohacking coach, well, then you are attracting a biohacking crowd. You're
attracting somebody who's already a super health nerd, and they just want to level up their
(31:57):
nerdiness alongside you. So that's a really specific niche. But I think we need those. I mean,
I go back to what I said earlier, the more specific your niche is, the better. Sometimes we
can go a little too specific though. Just think about what people are searching for, but have fun
with it. You know, there's opportunities. This is kind of a fringe idea, but one of the opportunities
(32:19):
that came up for me was this idea of like advocacy and leadership. So I was, I was referring to the
holistic council earlier. There's an ad, that's an advocacy group that's advocating for health
coaching and health coaches. And they're going to legislators and they're having conversations,
you know at like at hearings and things right at their local government level interesting right
(32:40):
could be something that maybe if you have some advocacy background you could blend your
backgrounds in fact blending your background with whatever you did before if you had a previous
career as a health coach really good idea bring in what you already know are you were you a teacher
were you a I was advertising executive whatever you were what what do you bring from your past
life that you can fold into your health coaching practice. I mean, I think about health coaches
(33:04):
that, you know, had a health coaching business of their own. Their business grew so much that
other health coaches came to them and said, hey, how did you grow your business? And now those
health coaches are business coaches, right? Same idea. You could become a health coaching advocacy
coach, right? There's lots of ways to become a thought leader in wellness communities.
(33:25):
I work at a school, for example. I'm a health coaching educator. So I am a health coach and I get to teach other health coaches how to be a health coach.
You know, there's soon to be opportunities with like insurance companies.
As we get closer and closer to maybe someday health coaching being a reimbursable thing through insurance policies, well, potentially insurance companies are going to need some kind of health coaching expert on staff to help them understand this model.
(33:57):
So something to contemplate.
I think there's another niche, a sub-niche that came to mind that I just think is worth mentioning.
I want to know from you folks.
you know as you listen to this episode if anything comes to mind or you want to ask more questions
please make sure to reach out to me at hello at primalhealthcoach.com by the way if you're a
practicing health coach and you have an interesting story to tell i would love to talk to you on the
podcast that's my favorite talking to health coaches but i was thinking about a few more
(34:22):
like sub niches and one that came to mind is like mental health and emotional resilience
so using lifestyle interventions to support mental well-being reduce anxiety
promoting emotional resilience. I think this is emerging because there's just rising mental
health challenges. And there's a desire for holistic approaches that go maybe beyond therapy
(34:47):
or medication or work adjacently, right? So adjacent to medication and therapy, right? I
think that's a big one. You know, for us, it's sort of like, we're not out here trying to,
This is a personal crusade, but we know that stress is unhealthy.
You know, chronic stress is not great.
A lot of downstream poor health effects from unchecked chronic stress.
(35:11):
Something I tell my clients all the time is, you know, hey, your life is stressful.
It is.
Modern human life just is stressful.
And that's, in some cases, there's inevitability to that.
However, is there some aspect of your sources of stress that you can claw back a little power from, right?
(35:31):
So maybe you have a really unique approach to helping people carve out time for themselves, have quiet moments.
Maybe you're really good at, like, phone addiction.
Oh, my gosh, a phone addiction coach.
Oh, talk about a niche.
Ooh, I like that one.
You guys should take that one.
Somebody should be a phone addiction coach.
I can think of all kinds of ways you could be a phone addiction coach.
(35:53):
I mean, there's tools you could, you could, I saw this tool called a brick. It's a physical
little device where when you tap your phone on it, it locks all the distracting apps off your
phone. You can't access them until you tap the brick again. Imagine if you're a phone addiction
health coach and you, you have the brick, you hold onto your client's bricks and you tell them,
(36:14):
I don't know, it's a bit extreme, but we might need that kind of extreme approach.
phone addiction is becoming a real problem. I'm thinking in terms of like sub-niches,
very focused like performance and recovery coaching. So maybe this is supporting athletes
and fitness enthusiasts with recovery protocols, injury prevention, performance optimization. I do
(36:37):
see a lot of physical therapists doing this. It's pretty cool. Like physical therapists that maybe
were working in clinic for a long time are now coming out of clinic and creating online programs
for like tennis elbow or, you know, knee pain for runners. Like, I just think there's so many neat,
I mean, imagine if you were the tennis elbow person. Have you ever had tennis elbow? Oh my
gosh, you'll do anything to get rid of it. It's the worst. If I had found a tennis elbow specialist
(37:02):
when I was battling tennis elbow, I would have paid them. Like, get rid of this. It's brutal.
So I think that's pretty cool. You know what else I was really getting excited about when I was at
the gym today, young people, it seems, maybe I'm just focused on women because I'm a woman,
but young people are really embracing fitness and lifting, right? They're lifting. They're
(37:25):
in the weight room. Nobody's hitting fitness classes anymore. No one's in the spin room.
They're in the weight room. This is very cool. So just think about all these people lifting and
trying to get stronger and how they will need recovery protocols to make sure they don't break
their bodies down. I think this is emerging because there seems to be, at least in some
circles, a greater emphasis on getting stronger and maintaining good performance. And, you know,
(37:50):
assuming that these up and coming fitness, you know, peeps have a well-rounded holistic approach
to their bodies. They're not just in there grinding. They're working hard and they're
recovering hard. Well, we need recovery coaches. That could be really amazing.
What about like adolescent and teen health coaching, guiding young people through nutrition
(38:12):
and emotional resilience and healthy habits? I don't know. That could be something.
You know, we know there's rising rates of childhood obesity and anxiety and early signs
of metabolic dysfunction. I mean, wasn't one of the weight loss medications just approved for like
six-year-olds, it's getting a little weird. Now, what I will say with working with kids is sometimes
(38:38):
their stage of change, if you know the stages of change, they're not quite at the readiness stage
of change. Kids aren't necessarily thinking about their health because they have that resiliency on
their side, but their parents might be. I had an acquaintance whose son needed to go on one of the
GLP-1 medications. He was very overweight and he wasn't taking care of himself. And she set him up
(39:02):
with me to talk about food. He's going to work with a doctor on the medication dosing, but he
also needs to eat. And that's where he came to me. And then she set him up with a personal trainer
to get him moving well. So, you know, you could zero in on the parents of adolescents or teens
that need help. So speaking of GLP-1s, I actually think that's a niche as well. Okay, don't come at
(39:25):
me, but they're not going anywhere either. Not for a while anyway. We don't know. We don't know
what's going to happen, but they're here now. They seem to be pretty easy to get and people
have high hopes for them. But what we know is that, well, I don't know if we do know this,
but what we're kind of hearing is that it, the way the medications work, it makes it really hard
(39:47):
to, it can make it hard to eat right. And it can make it seem like, oh, easy weight loss. I'm just
going to take this injection or this, they have them in pill form now, and that's going to do the
work for me and I don't have to do anything. Well, we know that that's not a long-term solution.
So health coaches who are open to GLP-1 medications could find themselves
(40:09):
with a big audience. Just putting that out there. Now, flip side, flip side. If that really grossed
you out to even consider it. I want to just validate that. Flip side, substance-free weight
loss. You can be a proudly anti-GLP-1 weight loss provider. You can say, don't take an untested
(40:32):
medication. They're tested. They're honestly tested. We have to watch our language because
I just think sometimes health coaches can get a little worried maybe about medications and
pharmacy. But you can say this. You can say, before you jump to medications, come work with me.
I can help you lose weight without medications. So there is, just as there's rising interest
(40:55):
in the weight loss medications, there's also rising skepticism. So you could pull either
one of those levers. I had one more. Cultural and community-centered coaching. So I talked
about the coach who focuses on the Amish. We've had coaches who focus on certain indigenous
So this caters to specific cultural or community needs and traditional dietary practices and values, like fasting or grain-based or whatever types of diets different cultures and communities adhere to.
(41:29):
And, you know, it could be really interesting, especially if you yourself obviously have exposure to a certain culture. You leverage that.
I think it's actually crucial to acknowledge, I think it's important to pay attention to the cultural relevance when helping people achieve sustainable health outcomes.
(41:50):
You know, I think about a client I had who was, she was from Pakistan.
And just as part of her diet, she consumed a lot of rice.
And it's like, I couldn't tell her to stop consuming rice.
That was her cultural diet.
So we had to work with that, right?
Maybe I'm not the right person to work with somebody who has that kind of cultural diet.
I don't know it.
Maybe that's not my wheelhouse.
(42:12):
Maybe that's somebody else's wheelhouse.
I think that's pretty cool.
These niches all matter.
There are a lot of them.
You could think of a million.
I think I gave you a few good ideas.
Take those ideas and use them as sort of a launch pad to think of other ideas.
(42:33):
I just think the opportunities are pretty endless for us, as long as you're pretty open-minded.
Growth-oriented, which I think is a really crucial health coaching life skill. But hey,
2025 is upon us pretty soon here, and health coaching is just growing. It's just growing, so
hang on. Hang on for the ride. Come along for the ride. And you'll be surprised at where you
(42:59):
can be this time next year. I can't wait to connect with you again. All right. But for now,
there's some trends, some challenges, some opportunities we're seeing in the health
coaching industry. Very timely content as we wrap up another year. I will see you very soon
for another episode, but I hope that was helpful. All right. Take care, health coaches.
(43:20):
This podcast was brought to you by Primal Health Coach Institute.
To learn more about how to become a successful health coach, get in touch with us by visiting
primalhealthcoach.com forward slash call. Or if you're already a successful health coach,
practitioner, influencer, or thought leader with a thriving business and an interesting story,
we'd love to hear from you. Connect with us at hello at primalhealthcoach.com and let us know
(43:43):
why we need to interview you for Health Coach Radio. Thanks for listening.
time.
Well, hello, health coaches. Erin Power here with you. I've got a great one today as we
rebutton up the end of another year. I've been health coach radioing with you for six years,
coming up on our seventh year of the podcast. And that's fun for me because I've been in the
health coaching industry for, I've been as a health coach for 12 years, but I've been an educator
(00:23):
for about eight. And why I'm excited about this generally about today's topic, which I'll get to
in a second, is because man, this industry is growing and changing. And I just want you to be
along for the ride. So let's buckle in for the future of health coaching. We're talking about
(00:47):
trends, we're talking about challenges, and we're talking about opportunities. So this, my friends,
is a forward-looking conversation.
Hi, I'm Erin Power.
I'm a health coach, a health coaching educator and mentor,
and your host of Health Coach Radio.
This podcast delves into the art, science, and business of health coaching.
(01:07):
Whether you're aspiring to land a coaching dream job
or to embark on your own entrepreneurial adventure,
we cover it all.
Our mission is to help you grow your career, elevate your income,
change the lives of the clients who need your help,
and leave a lasting mark in this rapidly growing field. It's time for health coaches to make an
impact. It's time for health coach radio. If you're in practice as a health coach, you know,
(01:34):
I know what it's like, you know what it's like, you're
some excitement. What I like about these kinds of conversations is it speaks to the, again,
(01:57):
the growth of an industry, the industry that we're all in. For many of us, it's a brand new industry,
you know, and it's fun to see it really get a foothold. Now, this topic is important because,
because the health coaching industry is evolving and changing. And, you know, for us,
(02:17):
staying ahead of trends and having a clear picture of what's going on. That can help
position us as leaders in the space. This is for you. This is for you health coaches,
so you know what's going on. So we're going to talk through some of the trends in health coaching,
some of the challenges in health coaching, and then the opportunities. All right, I'm ready to
(02:42):
dive in. Are you guys ready to dive in? Let's do this. So trends in health coaching. Let's start
here. Number one trend that I'm seeing is integration into healthcare systems. There's a
growing demand for health coaches in clinical settings. So we're talking in healthcare, we're
talking primary care, functional medicine practices, integrative medical clinics, telemedicine,
sort of collaborative units where the health coach is an integral part of the healthcare team.
(03:13):
Now, I have some friends and peers who are doctors, okay?
Doctors, naturopathic doctors, functional medicine doctors, MDs, everything running
the gamut.
And they are pulling out of their brick and mortar practices.
They're pulling out of the conventional model because they're kind of frustrated by the
(03:33):
conventional model.
Doctors are because the conventional model is pretty frustrating, isn't it?
So they're pulling out, they're starting their own online sort of concierge practices.
And these doctors are hiring health coaches. I love having these conversations with doctors.
They're saying, hey, I want to hire a health coach. Where can I find one? How much should
(03:54):
I pay one? What can I get them to do? What aren't they allowed to do? You know, a lot of times the
doctors know they need a health coach, but they don't know why or what a health coach can do.
So if you know why and what a health coach can do, that positions you as somebody who can step
into one of these clinical practices and really take that bull by the horns. This is a growing
trend in healthcare. Collaborations between health coaches and licensed medical professionals,
(04:21):
which we are not, which we are not. Health coaches, not licensed, not regulated. I actually
love that for us. We don't need to be. We help clients and patients execute behavior changes
that are very generally simple and not easy though. Simple but not easy. So we are unlicensed,
(04:43):
but licensed medical professionals who are frankly too busy to be in the weeds of health change with
their clients need us. That's one of the most growing trends for health coaches coming up in
2025 and beyond. Another trend I'm seeing a lot of is advancements in tech. We're talking telehealth,
(05:03):
We're talking virtual coaching platforms. We're talking health and wellness organizations that
are using technology to reach their clients, their customers, and want a coach somewhere in the back
end to facilitate these client coaching conversations. And there are AI-powered
(05:25):
tools. We've got chatbots that are working as health coaches, but the in-person, real,
alive, breathing, sentient health coach is still the power player in this. You already know. You've
dabbled in the AI space. It's not that great yet. Humans need humans. I feel this so strenuously. I
(05:49):
know we're worried about AI. Hey, you know what? It's here to stay. It's not going anywhere. So
let's learn to coexist with it. Do you know what I mean? At the end of the day,
Humans need humans. The human to human connection of health coaching is one of the most powerful
parts of the health coaching relationship. Now, AI is useful in these tech platforms for
personalized client plans like symptom trackers, food journaling apps, maybe collecting biometric
(06:15):
data from wellness gadgets. Some of these wellness apps and technology, they bring in lab testing
results. So it becomes this really this dashboard that the health consumer can use. And within that
dashboard is access to a human. And that's you, the health coach. Number third trend that is
emerging, according to some of the research and data and reading I've been doing is actually,
(06:38):
this is exciting, so get excited, a focus on preventative health. Okay. From a health coaching
business perspective, I have said this, you may have heard other health coaches and business
coaches say this too, but quite frankly, it seems as though prevention doesn't quote unquote,
sell. So going to market as a health coach who works in preventing heart attacks, preventing
(07:04):
diabetes, preventing obesity, it's just not an urgent problem for whatever reason, for better
or worse. Human beings just don't seem to be that concerned with delaying the onset of things that
aren't necessarily present in their lives yet. We are more concerned humans by the thing that
(07:26):
presence in our life. So for that reason, the thing that is present, the thing we're dealing
with now, the thing keeping us awake at night right now is generally where you want to position
yourself as a health coach. But what's occurring, what's coming up as an emerging trend, which is
exciting, is preventative health. The health consumer is now realizing, wait, I need to get
ahead. I need to get ahead of my health degradation. And I'll tell you something, I've seen this in my
(07:51):
own health coaching practice. I have seen more and more clients come in, and maybe this is because
I'm aging. And so my clientele is aging. But they're saying things to me like, you know, yes,
I want to feel better. Yes, I want to get in control of my health. And also I'm watching my
parents and my aunts and my uncles and my siblings, my older siblings go through their later stages of
(08:14):
life. And they're falling apart. And I really don't want that for me. So it actually seems as
though, and this is great news, the preventative health narrative is actually picking up steam.
This is awesome for health coaches. We shine here. Health coaching is a key player in reducing
chronic disease rates because most of the sort of modern chronic diseases are a consequence of,
(08:38):
you know, diet and lifestyle inputs, which we have a handle on. We have a hand in helping our
clients make moves on, right? Taking walks, going to bed, eating more supportive whole foods,
you know, eating less processed foods, understanding how to take care of oneself.
So this is right in our wheelhouse. And, you know, alongside this trend is an increased emphasis on
(09:04):
lifestyle medicine and behavioral health. So like the health consumer, which I call them the health
consumer, that's the people who are going to inevitably be our clients, whether we work in
private practice or go work in a medical clinic, the people we work with, that's the health consumer.
They're seeking out lifestyle medicine. They're seeking out behavior change.
(09:25):
There's change afoot. And I think it's exciting and possibly an opportunity for us coming up here.
Here's another trend, niche specialization. Okay, so hopefully you've already been zeroing in on a
niche, but niche specialization will just always continue to grow. It's not going away. It's not
(09:51):
going away. So we put it on the trend list for 2025. So this is, you know, perimenopause weight
loss, or helping men naturally boost their testosterone, or get rid of the dad bod, or,
you know, you know, increase your performance in the gym, or if you're, you know, get better times
(10:11):
at your endurance events, or, you know, perform better on the tennis court, like, we are getting
super specific, the more specific, the better. Other industries do this really well, by the way,
I was thinking of some other peers of mine that are in the coaching space.
Not necessarily health coaching, per se, but coaching. For example, I know a gal who is a
(10:32):
specialist in helping train or coach parents to potty train their toddlers. Now that's niche.
That's niche. But hey, if you're a parent with a toddler trying to potty train it, you're like,
take my money, teach me how to do this. So anyway, niche specialization has always been a thing.
(10:53):
It's not a new thing. I'm just putting it on the list for 2025 because it's still a thing.
There is a growing and consistent consumer demand for tailored approaches rather than generalized help.
And you already know that because you're a consumer.
And as a consumer, you seek out tailored, specialized help.
(11:17):
Right?
If you need to get your drain unplugged, you're not calling a general contractor.
You're like plumbers near me. Right? You already know. That's how you shop. That's how I shop. That's how we shop for services. I have blonde hair. When I'm looking to get my hair colored, I'm looking for blonde experts. You know, you already know. So just me reminding you that your tailored approach, the niche specialization continues to be a booming industry trend. So what's yours? What is your
(11:56):
your expertise. What is it? What are you a world-leading expert at? Oh, just called you out.
I just called you a world-leading expert. How do you feel about that? How do you feel about that?
Did the imposter syndrome kick in? That's okay. Just sit with it for a minute. But don't be shy
about declaring yourself a world-leading expert because clients want to work with a world-leading
expert. So if it's not you, it's going to be somebody else, okay? Just putting that out there,
(12:19):
a little pep talk. Well, let's be well-rounded about this conversation on the future of health
coaching. You talk about challenges facing health coaches. So we are always, number one,
slightly besieged, shall we say, or at least we should be hyper aware of the regulatory and scope
of practice limitations of health coaches. So I contemplate this to actually be one of the
(12:46):
blessings of health coaching, which is that we are unregulated. I mentioned that earlier.
I like being unregulated. I like it. I'm not in a hurry to get regulated because as soon as I'm regulated and you're regulated, things change for us. Here's an example, just an anecdote. Recently, I had a client call me. Now, if you don't know, I live in Canada. So I had a client come through for a consultation. She wanted to lose weight, which is what I do. And she said, I'm trying to decide between you and a dietician. And I said, oh, that's interesting.
(13:17):
I'm curious why we're the two that made the short list and she said well you're on my short list
because I really like your approach and you seem like you have a solution to my problem
ding ding ding the dietician is on my short list because my insurance covers it
so darn and wouldn't you know she went with the dietician because it was going to be free
(13:38):
she didn't have to pay for it now I don't love that for her I don't want her to pick the cheapest
option. I want her to pick the best. That's me. That's you. That's us. Dietitians are regulated.
Well, all respected dietitians. I mean, we need them. We need dietitians. Oh my gosh, we do.
They're a regulated profession and we're not. So sometimes in those situations, a health consumer
(14:01):
might say, well, I'm going to go with a dietitian because they're covered by my insurance or my
doctor recommended it or here in Canada, they can be free, right? So we're up against that.
We're up against the limitations of being unregulated.
And I just want you to know there's also some upside to being unregulated.
We're not as beholden, shall we say, to the conventional wisdom around health and wellness topics.
(14:24):
You know, we don't have to prescribe food groups and all foods fit.
And we have a lot of leeway.
As long as we're well behaved, something you should know about me as a health coach educator is that in the school that I'm on the faculty of, Primal Health Coach Institute, we are staunch advocates for health coaching scope of practice.
(14:46):
We do not waver.
We do not test the limits of the loopholes of our scope of practice.
Health coaches, I beg of you, don't do that.
Don't do that.
We just need to stay in our lane.
We can help a lot of people, but we don't want to push the boundaries of scope, of practice,
of professional conduct, because then we're going to get noticed by regulators.
(15:11):
And that's going to take away a lot of our freedoms and rights to do what we want to do.
So our unregulated status has its ups and downs. It has its pros and cons. The cons
are people who are seeking regulated health professionals are going to think, I'm not going
to work with a health coach. I'm going to work with a doctor or dietitian or what have you.
(15:34):
That's okay. That probably wasn't your ideal client anyway. Your ideal client is somebody
who has maybe been in the regulated sort of medical system and hasn't had success and is now
looking to take it out of the conventional realm and take matters into their own hands.
One thing I would encourage you to do if you're a health coach is just really understand your
(15:55):
scope of practice. One of our favorite resources is the Council of Holistic Health Educators. I think they're called the Holistic Council now, holisticcouncil.org. Really good group of people, first of all, that aggregate scope of practice information regionally, so that predominantly this is in the United States. But it gives you a good sense of generally what scope of practice regulations are for health coaches. The other thing the Holistic Council is doing is
(16:25):
they're actually advocating for us. They're seeking out legislation that might be on the
verge of changing and they're showing up to the lobbying sessions and going to bat with legislators
to try to get some wiggle room and get us in the room. So great group of people to help you
understand your scope of practice and also to help us all, you know, fight for our rights to help
(16:52):
people. It's an exciting time to be a health coach. Scientists are uncovering the mysteries
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(17:15):
is for health coaches who want to help people heal the root problems of many of their health
symptoms and conditions. A recent survey spanning 73,000 people across 33 countries found that nearly
40% of adults suffer from a gastrointestinal disorder. As an expert in gut health, you can
offer unique programs and services to clients looking to manage or reverse a diagnosis such as
(17:39):
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William Davis teaches you everything you need to know about the human microbiome,
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(18:06):
balanced mood, smoother skin, and more. Find out more about how to become a gut health expert.
visit primal health coach.com all right another challenge facing health coaches would be technology
overload interesting because it's an opportunity i mentioned it a minute ago but it's also possibly
(18:26):
a struggle so it's like how do we balance the use of tech tools with the fact that we're humans
we're humans again i go back to what i said a minute ago the human to human connection
shoulder to shoulder with your client. That's what they want and need. At the end of the day,
we are still humans. We're not cyborgs yet. Yet. And we have access to amazing technology. Some of
(18:53):
it's good, some of it's bad. So we, what our opportunity is here is to figure out how to
coexist with the technology. So how can you bring some technology into your business? You know,
I've said this to a lot of our students that I think we do need to accept and embrace technology
(19:14):
to a certain extent. It's again, not going anywhere. It's 2025. It's the future. Computers
are here to stay. The AI robots are here to stay. We have gadgets. We have technology resources.
Clients are using them already. Can we coexist? So that's my encouragement to you. Learn new
(19:35):
platform, stay updated on digital trends, and try to do this without burnout. And that's a very real
concern. I think that's why I put this on the list of challenges, right? It can feel very overwhelming
to try to stay updated on technology, which is ever changing. So all I'm asking is just dip your
toe into it, be open to it. Don't be closed off to it. Because if you are closed off to technology,
(20:01):
you might be left behind. I don't want that for you. One more challenge. Oh, I know you're going
to know this one. I know you're feeling this one. You're waiting for me to say it.
Competition in a growing field. There are more health coaches entering the market.
And it probably feels like in some corner of your mind that it feels hard to stand out in a crowded
(20:24):
industry. Well, listen, I want to validate that. And I also want to remind you that there are
plenty of unwell people to go around. All you need is 10 clients this year, 15, 20 clients this year
to have a good year. 30 clients, 50 clients. 50 clients is usually my goal. And I hit that goal
(20:47):
the last three or four years. Four years, I think I hit that goal. 50 clients or more.
50 people. There's hundreds of millions of people that need my help. And I got 50 and I had a good
year. That's all you need. You don't need all the clients. You can't help them all anyway. So don't
stress about that. I know you hear this pep talk a lot, but like, it's just actually objectively
(21:07):
true. You need one client, 10 clients, 25 clients, 50 clients to have a good year. I say one, by the
way, the reason why I put one on the list, you're like one client. Well, you need one to start.
Just worry about getting the first one. If you haven't even had a client yet, the last thing you need to be worrying about is how saturated the market is.
Get one client. Get your second client. Get your third client.
(21:29):
Eventually you get up to 50 clients and you'll see, wow, there are way more people here than I can possibly help. I'm good.
Does this make it harder for you to stand out in terms of your branding and your positioning?
Possibly. A lot of noise, right?
I call the telephone here the old rectangle of doom. We're on it all the time. That's where
(21:50):
people are shopping now. Case in point, I'm in the weight loss industry. Well, how many weight loss
products, programs, coaches do you think my average ideal consumer bumps into during a
casual afternoon scroll? Probably 100. I'm one of them. So I just need to stand out. Well,
(22:11):
How do I do that? Well, here's how I do it. This is just a quick little marketing, you know, hit for you. I just firmly plant my flag in the ground and I say one thing. I have one point of view. I do one thing. I don't jump around and do sleep and longevity and optimizing performance. I don't even know. Optimizing, by the way, I just, this is just a parenthetical. Optimizing. I think you need to delete that from your marketing vernacular. It doesn't mean anything to the consumer, the average consumer.
(22:41):
You know, so this is where we go back to narrowing your focus and really targeting your niche.
What's the one thing you're the world leading expert in?
And then just repeat it and repeat it and repeat it so there's no ambiguity.
People who find you and follow you will say, ah, this person does that one thing and that's what I either need or don't need.
You're making it easy on the consumer because it's hard for the consumer.
(23:01):
Let's make it easy for them.
I want to say one more thing, though, about a growing market.
Quite frankly, I only want to be in industries that are growing.
I don't want to be in an industry that's dead.
If it's not a competitive market, if it's not quote-unquote saturated, I don't want to be in it.
(23:23):
I don't want to be in some random niche dead market that nobody's paying attention to.
What's the point?
Being the only person in a non-flourishing market.
A saturated market is a good sign.
Listen, if health coaching has become a saturated market, which it has not, it is not saturated, but it's getting busier, what does that tell you?
(23:45):
It's because people need health coaches and consumers are seeking out health coaches and the opportunities abound.
I always think about this.
This is my analogy that I use often.
I was driving around and I noticed a brand new dental clinic had opened up.
Brand new, now accepting patients.
So some dentist just came out of dentistry school, found a building, opened a clinic,
(24:11):
hired a bunch of hygienists and a receptionist and whatever else you need in a dental clinic,
and just went to business.
He's like, all right, let's go.
You got teeth?
I'm a dentist.
Come on in.
And he's not worried about a saturated market.
There's a dentist down the street.
There's a million dentists everywhere, right?
(24:31):
But people have teeth.
People need a dentist.
When this person went to dentistry school,
I don't know how long it takes to become a dentist,
but I'm assuming it takes a long time,
and you have to get a pretty expensive degree,
and nothing stopped this person from doing all that work,
and then putting in the effort to open a dentistry clinic,
knowing there's a dentist just down the road,
(24:52):
just around the corner there's another dentist.
I don't hear dentists worrying about saturated market.
I don't hear hairstylists working around,
worrying about saturated market.
In fact, most hairstylists I know,
the good ones are booked,
They're not accepting new clients. That could be you. It's a busy industry. That's a good thing.
Let's go. Reframe. Let's talk about opportunities for health coaches. I have a lot. I have a huge
(25:15):
list and I'm just going to give you a few. Okay. Number one, expanding roles in chronic disease
management. So I touched on this earlier. Health coaches are helping to bridge the gap between
patients and healthcare providers specifically in the realm of chronic disease management.
What are we talking about? We're talking about type 2 diabetes. We're talking about metabolic
(25:36):
syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, heart disease. The number one killer, unfortunately,
not to get morbid, of Americans, humans on the planet. Chronic disease management. Chronic
disease doesn't appear to be getting any better. It's probably getting worse. That's not great.
We're not happy about that, but we can help. So we help healthcare providers, the licensed ones,
(26:02):
bridge the gap between the busy provider and the bewildered patient. The provider says,
hey, your blood pressure is too high. Deal with that. Eat right and exercise. Okay, I got to go.
The patient's scared now. Oh no, I have high blood pressure. Ah, what does that mean?
That's where you come in. Hey, patient. Hey, Bob. The doctor just told you you have high blood pressure.
(26:27):
Do you know what that means? Bob's going to say, no. Am I going to die? Okay, Bob, if you're cool with that,
I'll just teach you a little bit about blood pressure. What did the doctor say about managing your blood pressure?
Well, he said I have to eat right and exercise. Okay, let's talk about that. You can help Bob do that.
We help address behavior change, which is the overlooked component in medical care, right?
(26:48):
That's our job. How exciting. How lucky are we to help people? Wow. Number two opportunity,
partnering with employers for workplace wellness. Now this is an area that a lot of health coaches
are very excited about. A lot of health coaches want to specialize in corporate or workplace
wellness. I think it's a bit of a hard market still to get into, but just like any sub market
(27:12):
of the health coaching broader market, it's growing. I think you'd be doing a little bit
of pounding of the pavement to find organizations that are looking to bring a health coach in,
maybe fractionally on a contract basis to introduce programs to help people, you know,
maybe manage stress or start a walking program or a weight loss challenge. There's lots of ways
(27:33):
you can do it. If it's something that's really, really important and feels exciting for you,
then you know you have to put together a like a pitch deck to pitch yourself to hr managers
and and and like the executives in charge of people and and corp and culture right at the
companies to make sure that they're even looking for that kind of help and then how can you
(27:55):
position yourself to get in there so something really always on the agenda as an opportunity
for the very enterprising shall we say health coach that wants to get out there and get back
into that office environment and help office workers get healthy. And we all know, I mean,
I know because I had a 20-year corporate career before I left it all to become a health coach,
(28:15):
and people at offices are pretty unhealthy. They sit around a lot. They're kind of trapped
indoors a lot. They're under a lot of pressure. There's a lot of burnout. And we can help.
I think an opportunity that's coming up is, I call this emerging niches.
So when you're contemplating a niche to get into, explore underserved populations.
(28:40):
So midlife health is a big one.
We've got the Gen X and millennial generations coming into midlife.
And what I think is exciting about this is that we are problem, we're solutions-oriented generations.
We, I'm a Gen Xer, so we are solutions-oriented populations, unlike maybe our boomer parents,
(29:01):
the boomers that preceded us who just kind of maybe were more accepting of their degrading
health and accepting of what the doctor said. Oh, the doctor said I have high blood pressure. I'm on
this medication, such is life. Gen X and millennials aren't quite putting up with that.
They're looking more for solutions. So hey, midlife health. If that's you and you know how to help,
(29:21):
you know, your midlife Gen X or millennial peers stay, get and stay healthy, zero in on that. Zero
in on it. There's always pre and postnatal. I think there's an emerging trend with respect
to fertility. Fertility seems to be a growing concern for women. If you have some kind of
fertility knowledge, if you yourself improved your own fertility through health improvement,
(29:47):
that could be amazing. We had a student in our school who specializes in the Amish.
That's incredible. You could develop expertise in like cutting edge areas. So things like
circadian biology or biohacking or, you know, I'm going to mental health optimization. There's
(30:07):
that word I don't like. Now what I will say about this, I just want to put this out there.
When I, I wanted to include these types of sub niches in this list because I know that's
exciting to a lot of health coaches. Let's say for example, here's an example that comes up a lot.
say you want to be a carnivore coach okay the carnivore diet right you went on a carnivore diet
(30:29):
and it solved your struggles so now you want to be a carnivore coach coach i'm susie the carnivore
coach well putting yourself out there as a carnivore coach or a biohacker or a circadian
biology coach means you're going to be attracting clients who know that that's what they want like
if i'm the client and i'm like i want to go carnivore i need a coach to help me go carnivore
(30:50):
then I will search a carnivore coach. But just know that you're really, really narrowing the
playing field a little bit. What you could do and what I think you should do
is I think it's still wise to speak to like the lived experience of the client. So for example,
let's say you went carnivore because you had some kind of an autoimmune disease. I don't know which
(31:11):
one, just pick one. If you had an autoimmune condition, you went carnivore and it seemed to
resolve your symptoms or at least put them into remission and you're excited about that.
Cool. So maybe you become a health coach that focuses on those autoimmune symptoms,
and maybe you use a carnivore diet approach or something plant-based. You can do whatever you
want, quite honestly. But my encouragement to you would be, if you are going to go into a
(31:34):
very narrow niche, you still want to speak to it from the perspective of what clients are looking
for. Okay, now if you if you want, again, if you want to be a biohacker, we get this a lot.
We want to be a biohacking coach, well, then you are attracting a biohacking crowd. You're
attracting somebody who's already a super health nerd, and they just want to level up their
(31:57):
nerdiness alongside you. So that's a really specific niche. But I think we need those. I mean,
I go back to what I said earlier, the more specific your niche is, the better. Sometimes we
can go a little too specific though. Just think about what people are searching for, but have fun
with it. You know, there's opportunities. This is kind of a fringe idea, but one of the opportunities
(32:19):
that came up for me was this idea of like advocacy and leadership. So I was, I was referring to the
holistic council earlier. There's an ad, that's an advocacy group that's advocating for health
coaching and health coaches. And they're going to legislators and they're having conversations,
you know at like at hearings and things right at their local government level interesting right
(32:40):
could be something that maybe if you have some advocacy background you could blend your
backgrounds in fact blending your background with whatever you did before if you had a previous
career as a health coach really good idea bring in what you already know are you were you a teacher
were you a I was advertising executive whatever you were what what do you bring from your past
life that you can fold into your health coaching practice. I mean, I think about health coaches
(33:04):
that, you know, had a health coaching business of their own. Their business grew so much that
other health coaches came to them and said, hey, how did you grow your business? And now those
health coaches are business coaches, right? Same idea. You could become a health coaching advocacy
coach, right? There's lots of ways to become a thought leader in wellness communities.
(33:25):
I work at a school, for example. I'm a health coaching educator. So I am a health coach and I get to teach other health coaches how to be a health coach.
You know, there's soon to be opportunities with like insurance companies.
As we get closer and closer to maybe someday health coaching being a reimbursable thing through insurance policies, well, potentially insurance companies are going to need some kind of health coaching expert on staff to help them understand this model.
(33:57):
So something to contemplate.
I think there's another niche, a sub-niche that came to mind that I just think is worth mentioning.
I want to know from you folks.
you know as you listen to this episode if anything comes to mind or you want to ask more questions
please make sure to reach out to me at hello at primalhealthcoach.com by the way if you're a
practicing health coach and you have an interesting story to tell i would love to talk to you on the
podcast that's my favorite talking to health coaches but i was thinking about a few more
(34:22):
like sub niches and one that came to mind is like mental health and emotional resilience
so using lifestyle interventions to support mental well-being reduce anxiety
promoting emotional resilience. I think this is emerging because there's just rising mental
health challenges. And there's a desire for holistic approaches that go maybe beyond therapy
(34:47):
or medication or work adjacently, right? So adjacent to medication and therapy, right? I
think that's a big one. You know, for us, it's sort of like, we're not out here trying to,
This is a personal crusade, but we know that stress is unhealthy.
You know, chronic stress is not great.
A lot of downstream poor health effects from unchecked chronic stress.
(35:11):
Something I tell my clients all the time is, you know, hey, your life is stressful.
It is.
Modern human life just is stressful.
And that's, in some cases, there's inevitability to that.
However, is there some aspect of your sources of stress that you can claw back a little power from, right?
(35:31):
So maybe you have a really unique approach to helping people carve out time for themselves, have quiet moments.
Maybe you're really good at, like, phone addiction.
Oh, my gosh, a phone addiction coach.
Oh, talk about a niche.
Ooh, I like that one.
You guys should take that one.
Somebody should be a phone addiction coach.
I can think of all kinds of ways you could be a phone addiction coach.
(35:53):
I mean, there's tools you could, you could, I saw this tool called a brick. It's a physical
little device where when you tap your phone on it, it locks all the distracting apps off your
phone. You can't access them until you tap the brick again. Imagine if you're a phone addiction
health coach and you, you have the brick, you hold onto your client's bricks and you tell them,
(36:14):
I don't know, it's a bit extreme, but we might need that kind of extreme approach.
phone addiction is becoming a real problem. I'm thinking in terms of like sub-niches,
very focused like performance and recovery coaching. So maybe this is supporting athletes
and fitness enthusiasts with recovery protocols, injury prevention, performance optimization. I do
(36:37):
see a lot of physical therapists doing this. It's pretty cool. Like physical therapists that maybe
were working in clinic for a long time are now coming out of clinic and creating online programs
for like tennis elbow or, you know, knee pain for runners. Like, I just think there's so many neat,
I mean, imagine if you were the tennis elbow person. Have you ever had tennis elbow? Oh my
gosh, you'll do anything to get rid of it. It's the worst. If I had found a tennis elbow specialist
(37:02):
when I was battling tennis elbow, I would have paid them. Like, get rid of this. It's brutal.
So I think that's pretty cool. You know what else I was really getting excited about when I was at
the gym today, young people, it seems, maybe I'm just focused on women because I'm a woman,
but young people are really embracing fitness and lifting, right? They're lifting. They're
(37:25):
in the weight room. Nobody's hitting fitness classes anymore. No one's in the spin room.
They're in the weight room. This is very cool. So just think about all these people lifting and
trying to get stronger and how they will need recovery protocols to make sure they don't break
their bodies down. I think this is emerging because there seems to be, at least in some
circles, a greater emphasis on getting stronger and maintaining good performance. And, you know,
(37:50):
assuming that these up and coming fitness, you know, peeps have a well-rounded holistic approach
to their bodies. They're not just in there grinding. They're working hard and they're
recovering hard. Well, we need recovery coaches. That could be really amazing.
What about like adolescent and teen health coaching, guiding young people through nutrition
(38:12):
and emotional resilience and healthy habits? I don't know. That could be something.
You know, we know there's rising rates of childhood obesity and anxiety and early signs
of metabolic dysfunction. I mean, wasn't one of the weight loss medications just approved for like
six-year-olds, it's getting a little weird. Now, what I will say with working with kids is sometimes
(38:38):
their stage of change, if you know the stages of change, they're not quite at the readiness stage
of change. Kids aren't necessarily thinking about their health because they have that resiliency on
their side, but their parents might be. I had an acquaintance whose son needed to go on one of the
GLP-1 medications. He was very overweight and he wasn't taking care of himself. And she set him up
(39:02):
with me to talk about food. He's going to work with a doctor on the medication dosing, but he
also needs to eat. And that's where he came to me. And then she set him up with a personal trainer
to get him moving well. So, you know, you could zero in on the parents of adolescents or teens
that need help. So speaking of GLP-1s, I actually think that's a niche as well. Okay, don't come at
(39:25):
me, but they're not going anywhere either. Not for a while anyway. We don't know. We don't know
what's going to happen, but they're here now. They seem to be pretty easy to get and people
have high hopes for them. But what we know is that, well, I don't know if we do know this,
but what we're kind of hearing is that it, the way the medications work, it makes it really hard
(39:47):
to, it can make it hard to eat right. And it can make it seem like, oh, easy weight loss. I'm just
going to take this injection or this, they have them in pill form now, and that's going to do the
work for me and I don't have to do anything. Well, we know that that's not a long-term solution.
So health coaches who are open to GLP-1 medications could find themselves
(40:09):
with a big audience. Just putting that out there. Now, flip side, flip side. If that really grossed
you out to even consider it. I want to just validate that. Flip side, substance-free weight
loss. You can be a proudly anti-GLP-1 weight loss provider. You can say, don't take an untested
(40:32):
medication. They're tested. They're honestly tested. We have to watch our language because
I just think sometimes health coaches can get a little worried maybe about medications and
pharmacy. But you can say this. You can say, before you jump to medications, come work with me.
I can help you lose weight without medications. So there is, just as there's rising interest
(40:55):
in the weight loss medications, there's also rising skepticism. So you could pull either
one of those levers. I had one more. Cultural and community-centered coaching. So I talked
about the coach who focuses on the Amish. We've had coaches who focus on certain indigenous
So this caters to specific cultural or community needs and traditional dietary practices and values, like fasting or grain-based or whatever types of diets different cultures and communities adhere to.
(41:29):
And, you know, it could be really interesting, especially if you yourself obviously have exposure to a certain culture. You leverage that.
I think it's actually crucial to acknowledge, I think it's important to pay attention to the cultural relevance when helping people achieve sustainable health outcomes.
(41:50):
You know, I think about a client I had who was, she was from Pakistan.
And just as part of her diet, she consumed a lot of rice.
And it's like, I couldn't tell her to stop consuming rice.
That was her cultural diet.
So we had to work with that, right?
Maybe I'm not the right person to work with somebody who has that kind of cultural diet.
I don't know it.
Maybe that's not my wheelhouse.
(42:12):
Maybe that's somebody else's wheelhouse.
I think that's pretty cool.
These niches all matter.
There are a lot of them.
You could think of a million.
I think I gave you a few good ideas.
Take those ideas and use them as sort of a launch pad to think of other ideas.
(42:33):
I just think the opportunities are pretty endless for us, as long as you're pretty open-minded.
Growth-oriented, which I think is a really crucial health coaching life skill. But hey,
2025 is upon us pretty soon here, and health coaching is just growing. It's just growing, so
hang on. Hang on for the ride. Come along for the ride. And you'll be surprised at where you
(42:59):
can be this time next year. I can't wait to connect with you again. All right. But for now,
there's some trends, some challenges, some opportunities we're seeing in the health
coaching industry. Very timely content as we wrap up another year. I will see you very soon
for another episode, but I hope that was helpful. All right. Take care, health coaches.
(43:20):
This podcast was brought to you by Primal Health Coach Institute.
To learn more about how to become a successful health coach, get in touch with us by visiting
primalhealthcoach.com forward slash call. Or if you're already a successful health coach,
practitioner, influencer, or thought leader with a thriving business and an interesting story,
we'd love to hear from you. Connect with us at hello at primalhealthcoach.com and let us know
(43:43):
why we need to interview you for Health Coach Radio. Thanks for listening.
time.
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