In this interview, former ER nurse of 36 years, Crystal Jorgensen, shares her journey from emergency medicine to becoming a health coach focused on preventing chronic disease. She explains why she left the ER—frustration with treating emergencies rather than preventing them—and how she built a coaching practice centered on reversing type 2 diabetes, improving gut and metabolic health, and addressing insulin resistance. Crystal describes her coaching model, which evolved from one‑on‑one work to 3‑month programs and now group coaching with a community feel, noting she currently serves over 20 active clients and has worked with more than 30 total. She recounts client success stories, including a client who reversed pre‑diabetes and another who lost medication dependence, and highlights the emotional impact of seeing patients die from preventable conditions. Crystal discusses the challenges of transitioning to entrepreneurship, such as asking for money, pricing, and self‑doubt, and how a mentorship program gave her a step‑by‑step map, a guarantee, and confidence to co‑create programs with clients. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing one’s worth, confronting common objections about time and money, and using a “do it scared” mindset. Crystal’s personal why is rooted in family—her mother’s health and the desire to spend time in Canada—driving her commitment to preventive health. She offers advice to aspiring coaches: start even if you’re unsure, leverage community resources, iterate programs based on client feedback, and trust the process, noting that fear and opportunity coexist.
Chapters
My client last week wishes he would have had time and wish he would have done that, but instead he died. We don't do anything for prevention. It scared me more to stay where I was than it was to take that leap of faith. I learned that I didn't have to have everything done at one time.
Today we've got Crystal Jorgensen here to tell us about her story, about how she started coaching journey from scratch, right? Oh my God. To now where she is. How many clients do you have now?
Oh gosh, probably over 20. Wow.
From all the way from scratch to now over 20 clients.
Currently, I've had more than that throughout the time, but currently active.
Currently you have 20 clients. If you were to add up in total, how many clients have you had?
Probably over 30-ish. They've all done different stages. I have 1 year, I've had many 3 months, 6 months, and now I'm really into the group coaching and they, all my coaching people just went into my 3 months. So now they're getting a whole community together so we can build the group coaching. After being a nurse for over 36 years, the majority of it's been in the ER. So I kept seeing firsthand all the devastating consequences of unmanaged healthcare. And I just got tired of just treating the emergency. I wanted to do more of a prevention. And so at first my niche was starting to help people that were diabetic and reversing their type 2 diabetes and had great success with that. But then I started broadening out to gut health, metabolic health, and still including insulin resistance, which encompasses type 2 diabetes also. That has been my big thing. So I've been really passionate about helping people heal their gut so that they can connect it to our brain, anxiety, depression, all these different things. So I'm finding it fascinating and seeing such incredible results with people, providing the map so that they can get from point A to point B. And so they feel that, that accountability. And I love my clients when I get in with them. So I'm very personable with them. And I think that is probably one of the biggest reasons that people keep coming back. So funny because I share this story often. I followed you and I saw you after we did the Tony program. I reached out to you because you just gave incredible notes and that was the first thing I reached out to you. And I was in situations where I was all over the place. I wasn't in a position to start a new business because when I do, I want to put 150% into it. And I remember reaching out to you and I remember following you and knowing I'm going to work with Hui eventually because I loved your integrity. I loved the results you were getting. You were true and I didn't want somebody that just viewed things spewed words and didn't mean anything or have it follow behind it, right? And you definitely did. I had all of those same feelings that people have. What if I fail? What if no one listens to me? Uncertainty of leaving my career and coaching people and what if I didn't give them the results they wanted? So there's always doubts that we're going to have. I knew that if I stayed where I was, I was going to be stuck, right? So it scared me. It scared me more to stay where I was than it was to take that leap of faith. And so I was scared, I was unsure. I wanted that freedom to reach more people and have a bigger impact, and I wanted that flexibility in my life. I was going to get all of that with your program. So your program was that map I needed so that I could— from point A to point B. I learned that I didn't have to have everything done at one time. I could do it. I didn't have to have everything figured out before I took this journey, that I could just do small chunks and I could just grow and refine, and as you used to tell us, build your program with your clients. When I was doing my pro bono, I was just a week ahead, and if I asked them questions, I co-created my program so that the next week I was teaching them what they wanted. I just followed your plan and just did it how you said to, and it works. Have $25,000 sitting there? No, but I made it work because I knew, and you give such a good guarantee. You work with us till we make it back at 4 times that amount. For me, it was a no-brainer. I knew you were going to get us results. You bring something to the table all all the time. I'm always learning something new. And to me, it was a no-brainer. At the beginning, I was very nervous because that is something that we, we're not used to asking people for money, right? We're not used to asking. In my job, I've always just given and I've never really asked for money in return. Yeah, I get paid, but not like this. So I think when you start to realize how much you're worth and what their life is worth and what those changes are for them, and that's always an obstacle people will have, right? I don't have time and I don't have money. The two biggest obstacles. And I always say, you think you don't have money now, but wait until you're sick because you're going to need a lot more money and a lot more time for hospitals, missed milestones with your family. You're not going to be going to work. I can bring them from where they are now to those points. And that's something I've learned through the program, how to have those comebacks when they say things like that. And then I share, you know what, my client last week wishes he would have had time and wish he would have done that, but instead he died. But I'm very matter of fact with them and they're like, oh. Gosh, I do see that hard side when I tell them, make this change now so you have a chance and you're not on your— in that ER wishing you could make those changes later. You only get one chance sometimes. And if you're lucky enough to get another chance, then take it. It's your sign. And I share it because I thought I was doing all the right things and I was told I was pre-diabetic and I was totally stunned and they wanted to put me on a pill and I said, no, I'm not going to go on a pill. You're writing a prescription. You've not even asked me any of the key questions. Am I stressed? Am I sleeping? Am I eating okay? You didn't ask me any anything. You're just writing a prescription. When I come to the community, I feel their pain. I can feel what it's like to be just prescribed a pill and sent home, because I've seen people come in and, oh, they've got this crazy blood sugar, they're given a pill and they're sent home. And they're— they go home and try to figure it out on Dr. Google. A month later, now their toes aren't working great, or not a year later, their kidneys are fried. Can be prevented if they have the right information, is to educate these people. And I think the biggest advice I could give is you don't have to have it all figured out, right? You just have to take that step and just do it. And like you say, do it scared, do it messy, but just do it. There's always going to be fear there. I still have fear now, but so will opportunity. So what's the difference? If you look at yourself in 1 year of where you're going to be, if you do nothing, then you're going to be where you were, right? So why not do it scared and see where it takes you?
I never want to live my life in regrets, right?
No, no. I just know that if I can transition from ER nurse to a coaching business that's feeling like it's starting to pick up and be my way of life, then I think anybody can do it. You just have to take the chance. And I think you have to figure out your why. My why is my mom is getting her memories going and I want to be able to go back to Canada and stay there for a month at a time. And that's my big why. I can't nurse or I can't do anything else and be there with them. And to me, that biggest priority, family's everything, right? That's definitely my big why of why this is going to work and why I will do what I have to do to make sure. I think the biggest thing I would say is you don't have to have it all figured out, right? You just have to take that first step and just be a part of the community, do what's in the library, show up for the meetings, and just— you're going to grow. You're going to learn. The fear is always going to be there. We're always going to have that, right? But so will opportunity. So we have to take that opportunity when we can and just do it. Opportunity won't wait. That opportunity could be missed tomorrow if we don't take the chance and we don't do it. If you feel stuck, just do it. Just Trust your gut. I think my biggest mind shift that has been, if you— we're always going to have doubt and we just have faith in ourselves. We just have to believe what we're capable of and just take a chance and just do it. If I can transition from never being a Coach, never doing anything like this, to absolutely waking up thrilled and excited to teach my Clients and talk with them and see their changes, anybody can do it. You just have to put yourself in there and take that fear out of the question. Then just do it. You've got the community, you've got the library, you've got the people, you've got it all. You can't fail if you do the work. And I, again, after a year of being with this lady, she's already reversed her prediabetes. She's healed her gut. She's done that. Now we're working on detoxing. We're working on different things that are deeper after you've been together for a year. And we've become really good friends. It's very doable. You just have to have it all figured out as you're going along. You're just adding your program and creating it again. Sometimes I create a 3-month program and I have no idea what it's going to consist of, and I have to figure it out. So you listen to what they say they want and then give them what they truly need. You're building it so that they're going to get the best result. And once they start getting results, then they start sharing. They still build that relationship. And I just think the skills we learn in this program and where I was when I started to where I am now, it's unbelievable. Masterclasses don't scare me anymore. Challenges don't scare me. We're always evolving. We're always trying something new. Like I said, you'll right in and you'll say, oh, try this. And so we implement it. And it's just incredible how much I've learned and how much I've grown from a year ago. For example, after 23 years, reverse his type 2 diabetes and get off of kind of his medications and just feeling like he's living his life again. And when people come to me and say, I've gone to my doctor and my doctor wants your number because— and I'm thinking, why is your doctor not teaching this? It amazes me how they just don't get that time to teach them those things. And that's been my biggest happiness is seeing clients come to me and saying, my inflammation's gone. I've had this pain in my leg for years and I can't believe we've been doing this 3 weeks and I don't have pain anymore, or I'm getting off my medicines, or my A1C has gone down. Those are things that make it so worth it for me. It's not always just about the money. It's really about when you see those changes people have and when they say, my life is different. I love my life. I'm feeling like I'm living life. And that to me is so joyful. The biggest wins have been just learning as I go and then seeing the clients, my rock stars and different clients getting the wins that they really want, right? Feeling they're living their best life, feeling— when I hear comments like that, or I get somebody that reaches out to me and says, I've been following you for the last year and I just want you to know I've been trying this and this. And I'm thinking, I didn't even know this person at all. And then even when I went to the hospital, when I was working, one of the paramedics or firefighters came up to me, apparently we're friends on Facebook. I didn't even know. And he said, I've changed this about my diet and I've been watching everything you're saying. And I'm like, I didn't even know who he was. And I said, oh, I didn't know we were even friends on Facebook. So I think when you don't even think people are watching, they're paying attention. One of the quotes I always share in my masterclass is that Steve Jobs on his deathbed, and I said, this is one of my favorite quotes and I hope you can relate to this, that Steve Jobs was one of the wealthiest men in the world, and he would've traded it all to have his health back so he could be with his family, so he could walk his daughter down the aisle, so he could be the one to live his life and trade his millions and millions of dollars in because none of it mattered to him when he didn't have his health. I said, so I want you to think it's so powerful for people to hear and see. We think we don't have enough money. We think we don't have this, but if you don't have your health, When people's health get to the point where it's irreversible, money can buy it back. My biggest transformation is that I've learned to trust the process, that I've built a community that's my own now. I'm learning to shift from nurse mode to health coach and learning to change lives in a preventative way, as opposed to having to follow the rules at work all the time. I can bend the rules. I'm not a good rule setter. I'm not a good rule follower. I like to work with what I have and tweak it as I need to go. And that's what this coaching is all about. Just going with where, what your client needs at the time and making it the best experience for them. Right? So I'm following a passion to help people working on mindset, working on the whole package for them, not just fixing an instant problem and sending them home. We're fixing their life. We're fixing their mindset, their health. How they feel, how they're responding to their family so they're not missing those milestones.
