143: Looking for a Career in Wellness—Listen to This with Sahara Rose

Namaste, it's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. Cannot believe we are now officially in the holiday season. 2018 has come to a wrap and so much amazing stuff has happened. So I really want you to just acknowledge how far you've come this past year, whether it's in your career, in your relationships, in your self care practice, your nutrition exercise, whatever it is that you have really been cultivating in 2018. And I want you to just take a moment to acknowledge that and wow, 2019 is going to be even more epic. I mean, each year as more and more people awaken, we are experiencing rapid transformations of growth. And I think that this is really the year that people are stepping up and not being ashamed anymore of being high vibe, wellness oriented spiritual warriors. And we are so ready to come together and support one another and to really make our passions our careers and not just keep this as something that we do on the side on the weekends once in a while, but something that we're coming after in full force because the world needs us and the world needs this. So I wanted to take a moment right now to tell you guys about a decision that I made in 2012 that changed my life. And when I say changed my life, I mean, I don't think there are many decisions like this one that have changed my life so drastically. I don't even know where I would be if I did make this decision. But the thing is, I think that somehow or some way I still would have ended up being here or making that decision. But who knows, you know, it's the free will versus destiny conversation which could be another podcast episode of how much of it really is our free will and how much of it really is our destiny. So I believe it is both and that we came on this planet with different soul contracts that we chose and were co assigned before we came onto this physical dimension. And essentially when we were still soul bodies between lives, we came here to decide what it is that we want to create in this human experience. Which sounds really trippy and weird, but essentially it's that we chose this journey. However, we sometimes go off track, which we talk about here on the Highest Self podcast. We go off track and that's when we start experiencing the blocks and the obstacles and things aren't flowing anymore. And this is called karma. So it's not. Karma is just not what goes around, comes around. It's actually bounded action of the universe. Now when we are in flow when doors are just opening up, we're meeting the right people at the right time and things are just lining up. We're experiencing synchronicity. This is called Kriya alignment flow. And this is the way that life was meant to be lived. So in 2012, I was still a junior in college and I was so interested in health and wellness. I was studying it all the time. Time. And when I was in class I'm like looking up nutrition and different types of dietary theories. And I was also going through my own health problems too, which I spoke about. And this is before I even came across Ayurveda. So I was looking up digestive theories and this and that and just really trying to heal myself, but also becoming really interested and wanting to help other people too. I was just that person that everyone would come to when they had like a health problem. Diet issue, whatever it is that I loved to do. It sound familiar? Anyone listening? So I kept seeing ads come up for Institute for Integrative Nutrition and it looked really cool. I clicked on it a few times. But honestly my thoughts were who are you to become a health coach? You aren't in perfect health. You have to go a long way before anyone will listen to you. So I thought that this could never be a career of mine because here I am with digestive issues, hormonal imbalances, anxiety, blah blah, blah. So I can't be a pinnacle of health, I can't be a health coach. So I kept ignoring it. But you know how the Internet is and whenever you think about something, the ads just keep showing up. I swear they have a tracking device in our head. So it kept showing up every website I would go on. And also I was on a lot of nutrition websites so that could have played a role. And I was really intrigued. I was intrigued on being able to actually study this like professionally and not just be looking up blogs and websites and forums and articles, but to actually be able to learn about not just nutrition, but holistic nutrition from a school. And I honestly never ever thought that I would be able to be a health coach. I didn't think that, I thought that I was going to be more of like a behind the scenes person. And I was creating my website, which I had. I had been blogging as Eat Feel Fresh and I was making that as an online magazine. I had like 30 ish different writers who would write for this magazine. And I was kind of the one like behind the scenes orchestrating it, making sure they got their things and I would Write articles too. But I didn't think I would ever be like someone who had their picture on their website. Like, I did not have my picture anywhere on my website. But at the same time, it's kind of funny now that I'm thinking about what I do now, but the thought of it really intrigued me. Secretly, deep down inside, I really wanted to, but I just didn't think that I was good enough for it. And the idea of studying holistic nutrition kept coming in my periphery that eventually I just realized, you know, the next year 2012 is going to go by whether I sign up for this program or not. And I would love to be able to have like a set reading for each week about, like this week we're going to learn about like paleo and veganism and this and that. Like, that would be so cool. Even though I was still a full time college student. So I decided, you know, why don't I just sign up? Because the worst thing that can happen is what? I'm spending a little bit too much time reading about nutrition. Like, that's not even a bad thing. I actually like reading about this stuff. And I'm not going to ever become a health coach. So I'm just going to sign up for my own personal reasons. Like, I just wanted to learn about what they were going to teach for my own personal education and healing. And I asked them, is that okay? And they said yes. We got about 20% of people who just sign up for their own personal education and don't have any intention to make this as a career. I said, okay, cool. So I signed up and I was probably one of the youngest people, if not the youngest person in my class that year. And it's very interactive. Like you have a Facebook group, you're communicating with people, you have accountability partners. There's live events that happen. I went to a live event in Boston and I loved it. It was so cool for me to have a school that was teaching me the subjects that I actually wanted to learn. Not just rhetorical subjects that have been taught for hundreds of years and no one has questioned, but things that were current and recent. Looking at the body from a new perspective and seeing the mind and the body as interrelated entities. And we weren't just talking about nutrition. In fact, we were talking so much more about psychology. One of the first lessons that we learned was that the reason that people make food poor choices has to do with their mental state. And these are called our primary foods. Our primary foods are actually more important than our physical Foods, those are called secondary foods. Like the things, apples, bananas, sandwiches. That's secondary food. Primary food is your relationships, your practice to your spiritual practice, your family, your community, your sense of purpose, your sense of accomplishment. These are our primary foods and these are actually what create the fabric of our well being before our secondary foods, the foods that we put into our mouths. And that was something that intuitively I knew. But just to hear it like that, to be taught like that, it made so much more sense to me. And not only did they teach us about nutrition, that was actually my first exposure to Ayurveda. I remember one of the modules, each week you learn about over a hundred dietary theories. So one of the weeks it was about Ayurveda. And I had heard the word Ayurveda before, but I was like, oh, this is cool. It's like a health system with a personality quiz. Like I'm into personality quizzes. So this is kind of resonating. So I even got introduced to Ayurveda that if I had not, who knows where I would be today. And after the first six months, which are all about nutrition, the second six months are all about business and how to actually create a business for yourself as a health coach. So what does it look like to sit down and have a health history consultation? What questions do you ask? What forms do you use? What legalities do you need? How do you set up a website? How do you get set up their whole program for them? What are the types? How do you charge people? What do payment plans look like? I didn't know any of this stuff because obviously I wasn't considering being a health coach. But it was really fascinating to because I was literally being handed this guidebook on how to create a thriving career doing what I loved. And for some reason I was still blocked that I was not good enough to do this thing. Sound familiar anyone? So finally after graduating, I was still working on my blog. But what they have you do in the first six months of the program, before you even graduated, is you start training with just the people in your program. So we would do health history consultations with one another. Like I probably did 20 or 30 just with the other students and they would do it with me. So I was doing a lot of work with my own personal health practice just from signing up for ion, which was exactly what I needed, what I signed up with. Because here I was practicing with 20 people who were asking me, how's your health, how are your primary foods, how are your relationships, et cetera. But then I was also asking it to them, and I was falling in love with it. And I've always been someone who's known. My purpose here is to help people. My purpose here is to make this world a better place. And I always thought the way to do that was through becoming a human rights lawyer or volunteering at a nonprofit or something that, you know, looked like charity. But I didn't realize just sitting down with people and just asking them how they feel, what's really going on? What's behind the reason why you're making those food choices? What do you really need right now? In IIN Institute for integrative Nutrition, they teach these as high mileage questions. And this has helped me in every aspect of my life. If you just ask someone the right question, they can come up with their own answer. So I realized that health coaching is a spiritual practice. And honestly, more than health coaching, I ended up life coaching because really it starts with food, but it's so much more. And the reason why people make these dietary choices, binge eating, anorexia, whatever it is, always has to do with something going on mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It never actually has to do with the fact that they love the taste of cereal and want to eat six boxes of. Never has to do with. Oh, they, you know, they just want to be skinny and that's why they're not eating deeper than that. It comes down to self worth. So by learning this for myself and then practicing this with the other students, they encourage us to find our first clients. You have to disclose that you're still a student. So I found my first client and she was someone, her name was Kara. And she wanted to lose weight for her wedding. She had a wedding coming up, which is really interesting because now my wedding is coming up. And she was, I think 29 years old at that time and I was 21. And she wanted to lose weight for her wedding and I helped her her with that. And then a few months later, she contacted me and she wanted help getting pregnant. And I helped her with that, Read tons of books about hormonal balance and foods with estrogen, et cetera. And then she contacted me again like about a year later, and she showed me a picture of her baby. And because of our consultation, she was able to get pregnant and she had this baby and then she wanted help to lose the weight after the baby, and I helped her with that. So because I stepped up, I was able to help someone literally create this transformation of life, which is major. And just that that taste of really providing Significance for others. Oh my God, that, that is what makes me high. So I started to work with clients while I was still in iin. And by the time I graduated, I had so many clients that I was able to start my own health coaching practice. And I lived in India, I lived in Bali, I was traveling, and I was still health coaching with people. I would health coach from anywhere because it was all online on Skype and I would talk to them while I was walking or I would Skype with them from a coffee shop. And it provided me with the flexibility to live the kind of life that I wanted. One that was nomadic, one that allowed freedom, one that allowed me to really help people while doing something that I loved and created abundance for me. And here I was in an hour making more than most 20 something year olds make, like if they worked the entire day. So I'm really, really passionate about helping people find careers that fuel them up. That's really what this whole podcast is all about. And that's why I wanted to share with any of you that are resonating, that are feeling like you are ready for a career switch. Maybe you work in the corporate space and you feel burnt out and you're seeing that people around you are burned out too and you want to help them with that. And you have tools and resources that you've used. You have ways that you've prepared foods and been able to bring them to the office and set them in the office kitchen, or use essential oils or practices that you do to meditate in your chair. All of these things that you just do intuitively for yourself. You don't realize how many people would actually pay you to know these things because it doesn't come naturally for everyone. Not everyone is actually interested in health and wellness. They may want health, they may want wellness, but they don't know how to get there. And they don't have the time to go on all of these websites and listen to podcasts and blogs, et cetera. It's not their passion. But the thing is, it's our passion and we can provide a massive service by being able to learn what we love, listen to podcasts and read books and do the work that we're doing anyways and not getting paid for and to provide service with for people and to be able to have an exchange of value with that. Because what is money? Money is just an exchange of value of energy you're giving your energy. We don't realize sometimes how much energy we are exuding towards things that we love, that that easily can become a business. We don't because we love it. So we're like, oh, of course. Doesn't everyone like spend their whole day at Barnes and Nobles reading like every cookbook and nutrition book and listening to all of the latest podcasts on it? Like, no, actually 99% of the population does not and they don't want to. But there are still many gems of insights that will benefit their lives in those materials that you're consuming that if you were just to able to essentially package it up for them and hand it to them, this is providing an immense service that they are willing to pay for and that you are honored to give as well. So it is a mutually beneficial exchange. So there are so many ways that you can become a health coach and you don't even have to be a health coach too. Let me say that as well. A lot of people sign up for IIN and it's just their gateway drug into the wellness world. For example, the granola company Purely Elizabeth. Have you seen it? It's like in every Whole Foods ever, all over the place. She's an IIM grad. She went, she learned about nutrition, she set up her Purely Elizabeth granola and there she is. Or Latham Thomas of Mama glow. She's a doula and she has a whole doula school and a beautiful center in Brooklyn and she's going to be on the podcast soon. She went to IIN and that actually gave her the holistic tools that she needed and the coaching tools that she needed to work as a doula and she's doing that. So you don't just have to be a health coach. This can just be your baseline career to bring you into any wellness sphere. For example, I'm not a health coach anymore. I spent about four years working one on one with clients and I realized that I prefer to work more with larger groups with doing speaking and online programs. And so I do that. I don't work with clients anymore. I write books and podcasts and do group things. So it doesn't have to just look like being a health coach. But knowing how to be a health coach really helps you in every other avenue. It helps you understand that wellness can be a business, doesn't just have to be a hobby and it provides you with the exact legalities, business tools, everything that you need need to really take this as your career. I would not be where I am if it wasn't for this. I would not have had the courage to share what it is that I was already studying and already knowing. I would not have the know how of what steps to take and what that looks like. I would not know how to hold space for people. I would not be as good of a coach, as good of a friend. I would not be able to really just go after what it is that I wanted to do because I thought I had to go get my Master's or my PhD, or I had to have a doctorate, et cetera. And I've really realize that health coaches are entirely different industry. It's not that they're competing with any of these things, it's just a different industry. What I wanted to do is I wanted to talk to people about their self care practices and their mindset and all of these other things. I did not just want to like write up meal plans and like count up their macros and stuff. I actually did not want to do what a dietitian did. Like that is a beautiful role. It's just a different role. I did not want to just be a doctor that prescribes people things and doesn't have time to really sit down and talk to people because I'm on such a tight deadline. And I didn't want to work with medicine. Doctors work with medicine and I did not want to work with that. I want to work with lifestyle and mindset and more holistic consciousness with health, like health coaching, life coaching, together. So that is where health coaches come to play. And that is why doctor's offices now, like across the world are hiring health coaches full time. My friend Liana, who's been on this podcast, she wrote the Earth Diet, she has a new book, the Cancer Diet, coming out, she works full time at a doctor's office because the doctor's office knows that the people who come there who have issues, it's so much more than just taking a pill and giving them a few suggestions and like go on with their way. They need ongoing support. They need someone checking up on them. They need someone to guide them. What do I eat? What do I get at the grocery store? Oh, what about meditation? Like, oh, but I'm feeling like this. They need someone to have the patience and the know how to really navigate that landscape. And that's different. That's a different ball game than what a doctor is doing. So they complement each other really, really well and there is space at the table for both. Health coaches truly are the new health professionals of the this new paradigm shift. They are able to look at our lifestyles holistically and you know, the reason why we have health problems is not because we didn't have the medicine that we needed. It's because of our lifestyle. So we need professionals to really be experts in the lifestyle, to be able to help and support people with that. So I'm very passionate clearly about encouraging people to follow their dreams. And if you're listening to this podcast, I'm sure wellness, Ayurveda, holistic well being, these are all part of your interests. So even if it's not something that you think you have the time for or capable of doing, I really just encourage you to look into it. Because the world needs more health coaches. And any health problem that you've had to undergo, you have the total capacity to change that. For example, if you've had thyroid disease, Hashimoto's you are the perfect person to become a thyroid coach. Your whole entire practice can be just around thyroid coaching because the more specific that you are, the more clients you're actually going to get. You know, that's something that I talk about on. I do a webinar for people who've signed up for IIN which I'll talk to you about. But the more specific, the more niched you are, the bigger your clientele will be. Because if I had a thyroid problem, would I want to go to the person who just works with everyone? Any health problem you have come to me. You want to lose weight, gain weight, get married, get divorced, I'll help you with that. No, you want to go with that person who's also had the thyroid problem and also healed it. So niching is major and you undergoing that health problem yourself. What a niche is that? If you're an athlete and you want to work with athletes, you want to work with burnt out businesswomen and guess what you are, you have been a burnt out businesswoman and you have the tools to heal it. Like there you go, there's your business right there. Do you know how many burnt out business women there are who need help? Do you know how many corporate places there are that have budget for corporate wellness? And there aren't people coming forth with programs. So every single big company or office has a budget for, you know, employee practices, corporate wellness, these kind of things. Like this is a ready budget that if you just create a system or a program for them, you have your entire business right there. Corporate wellness is such a big thing because they're realizing their employees are more productive when they are healthy and you can provide them with the resources. So maybe you're a lawyer, you could get right into those law offices and say, hey, working 14 hours a day is not gonna work for the long term. Here's some tools and practices that you can use. Or if you worked in a bank, or if you worked in a dental office, wherever it is that you worked, there's your target audience right there. You know, you don't have to look outside of you just look, what are the things that you already know? Get the knowledge of how to be that health coach, that leader in the wellness industry, and apply it to where you already are. So there's so much space at the table, there's so many ways that you can use this. And I'm really just honored if this is like your first time hearing about it and you're considering it. I'm just honored to be any part of your journey and in that and part of helping people. Because all of the people out there who are waiting for someone just like you, who understands them, who has the empathy, who has the skill set that only you do, by you stepping up, all of those people will also be healed. So I wanted to share this really special offer that I've teamed up with IIN Institute for Integrative Nutrition, my alma mater, to offer you guys this really, really special discount. So for this week only, just until the 30th. So if you're listening to this, in the next few days, they're offering an $1800 discount off tuition, which is major, major, major. And this is for Cyber Monday. And you can also, Instead of the 1800, choose a package that is $1000 off tuition, a tablet, a $200 off Amazon gift card, and $100 Thrive Market gift card, plus their one year membership. Either way, he will get an invitation for seating, reserved seating at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition live conference, which is awesome. Last year, Deepak Chopra was their speaker. They have Chris Carr as one of their guest teachers, Dr. Andrew Whale, Dr. Mark Hyman. Really, you're learning from the best in the industry, which is super, super cool. I remember when I actually Deepak's like, oh, where do you study nutrition? I told him Iin, he's like, oh, I'm a guest teacher there. So it was like, you know, these people trust you and they understand because they guest teachers there as well. So it's like, where else in this world are you going to be taught firsthand by like Mark Hyman and Deepak, like, I don't know where? And on top of that, IIN will donate a hundred dollars to a charity in your honor, which is really, really special. So this offer is going on just until November 30th. But if you're listening to this after November 30th, don't sweat. I as an ambassador am able to offer you a fifteen hundred dollar off discount off tuition. So, so it's three hundred dollars less but it's still a very significant scholarship discount. So $1,500 off scholarship. And for either way, if you're getting it for the Cyber Monday deal or if you're getting it after the 30th, I have two very special additional bonuses that I'm adding. The first one is an exclusive and private webinar where I will be live chatting with you on how to create a thriving health coaching practice with social media. So how am I able to use my social media to get clients to be able to turn them into real customers, you know, not just followers but how to create your business with social media, how to use your niche, which we talked about how finding a niche is so, so important. The more niche you get, the better. And what do some niches look like? What is some copy that you should have on your website? What should your Instagram feed look like to attract these target audience clients that you're looking for? So we're going to dive deep into this in this 90 minute webinar which I'm really, really excited and this is again just for people who are referred from me. As well as that we're going to have a private Facebook group where you will be connected with other members of the Sahara Rose tribe who are signing up for iin so you can talk to each other, become accountabilities with each other, set up meetups. It's just, you know, adding another layer of that community because the IIN each year the Facebook group is quite big, thousands of people. So this is going to be a very intimate and small group that you know, you also have the Ayurveda in common and just everything that we talk about on this podcast. So it's just another layer of familiarity and already this group has started and some best friends have formed and meetups have happened. So really, really awesome. So either way you'll be able to get those to the bonus webinar with me with the business coaching and the private Facebook group. And if you're listening to this before November 30th, you will be able to get the 1800 off savings or those gifts that I mentioned, the tablet, Amazon gift card, Thrive gift card, or if you're listening after then you can get the $1,500 off off discount still. So to get those. You got to send me an email. Send me an email@sahara s a h a r aattfeelfresh.com just send subject I I n. I'm going to personally connect you with the admissions team. They're going to hook you up. They're going to answer any questions you have, talk to you on the phone. Like, really make sure you feel totally in your power, in your knowledge. Anything that you're wondering, what do the classes look like? Can I have a sample class? Can I look at your curriculum? Anything they will provide you with, just email me first so I can connect you with them. So you'll be the first priority there. Just because I want you guys. Like, you are my tribe and I think that you guys are going to make it so so, so far. So I will be able to speed you in. So again, email Sahara S A h a r aat feel fresh.com with subject iin and I will connect you. Institute for Integrated Nutrition for your massive discount or just if you want more info. You don't even know if it's the right time right now, but you just want more info and you want to kind of lock in that discount with me. Just send me the email so you'll be able to lock that in. Thank you guys so much for listening. Wherever you are in your career and your life and your dharma, I honor you. This is exactly where you need to be. And listen to that nudge. Listen to that whisper. Listen to the direction that the wind is lightly pushing you in. And it is there that you will find your dharma. Namaste. That.