314: What You Can Do As a Holistic Health Coach with Jim Curtis

Namaste, it's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast, a place where you discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. We have officially made it to September back to school season and we are feeling the huge energetic shifts.

We have confronted so much this year.

And also had so many realizations of who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world and this new evolution in our lives. And I know so many people right now are considering career shifts. You are maybe not feeling fulfilled at the career that you are in, or perhaps you lost your business or you lost your job because of COVID and now stepping into something new. You know, this is what's happened with my husband. He's definitely looking into more of his spiritual side. So with every ending there is a beginning. Or maybe you have been a stay at home mom and you're wanting to get out there. Maybe you just graduated from college, but you are considering something that allows you.

To use your gift of wanting to.

Help people out into the world and take the concepts that you love to learn about in your free time, whether it is holistic health or Ayurveda, self love manifestation, whatever it is, and really bring it out to help other people go through that process. In fact, it brings you so much joy to be able to sit with someone and learn about, you know, the nuances in their mind. Why do they keep going back to, you know, eating muffins in the middle of the night or why can't they exercise or why is this hormonal issue there? Why is this happening on a deeper soul level? If you are that person, then being a holistic health coach is going to be such a fulfilling career and just a first step for you. Because what we're really gonna in this episode is everything that you can do as a holistic health coach. So as many of you know, this is how I started my career and.

I was working as a one on.

One health coach for about five, six years and I wouldn't be here today sharing this podcast, writing books, having my rose, school goddesses membership, community, giving talks, everything that I do, honestly would not be here had I not started at iin, which is Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is the school that I went to back in 2012. So at that time I was just looking for help for my own health problems. I had a host of health issues. I had hypothalamic amenorrhea, which means I didn't get my period for two years. Digestive issues, all sorts of things, and I just wanted to learn more about it for myself because it was a passion of mine and that naturally made me want to help others, and that led to everything else. So I know so many of you are also looking to make your mess, your message and are searching for that true Dharma, your soul's purpose. And this is really the time that we can take action and move towards it. We're in that Vata season, We're in that Virgo season. It's time for us to take that idea and then take action on it because the world is shifting and like we're going to be speaking about in this episode, health coaches are really more needed than ever before. And this is the perfect opportunity for you, as we're already going to be at home for the next couple months, to take that time to be starting your career. Imagine graduating from school in the next couple months and being able to start your career with the certificate as a holistic health coach. So in this episode, I sit down with IIN's head of brand, Jim Curtis.

Who has had an incredible story of.

Healing himself, which he'll share with us in this episode. And then we answer basically all of the questions that you have of, you know, what are the different niches that you can have? What if you want to work with more spiritual or life coaching or emotional eating? What's the difference between, you know, this program and that program and all of the things available for you when you make this decision to become a holistic health coach? I know myself. I had so many questions. I did not know a single person that went to the school before I signed up. I. I definitely did not have a discount or anything.

I paid the full thing and I.

Was really, really scared.

And I wish I had someone who.

Was answering the questions and kind of showing me everything that was possible for me after graduating. So I wanted to create this episode for you, to give you that resource and show you that it is possible and that Ian can truly be a launching pad into so many different types of careers when all it takes is really just saying yes, yes to your soul and yes to that desire within you that is wanting to do something more. So today I am an IIN ambassador because I am so grateful for own education there. And I've teamed up with them to offer you a 2250 discount off of your tuition at I. That's $2250. You can also receive my bonuses, including my how to create a thriving health coach career, which I give you my tips, tricks, everything that I have learned as a holistic health coach from one on one coaching to group coaching to online programs. All of that I share with you in this webinar, which is my first bonus. We have a second bonus, which is a business coaching call with myself, Jim, and the CEO iin, where we share with you more business strategies, et cetera. And we're also going to be giving you reserved seating at the next IIN Live conference because they have these amazing live conferences now. They're going to be doing it again all around the country once everything opens up. And you'll be able to have reserved seating for that. So all of those discounts are available for you. If you do decide to enroll as a holistic health coach, you can find that link in the show Notes. Wherever you're listening to this podcast, if you just click the info, you'll be able to see it. Click that link, I share more information about iin, more about my story, and you just tell them that you were referred by Sahara Rose and you'll get all of those discounts and bonuses available for you. So without further ado, let's welcome Jim Curtis to the Highest Health podcast.

Welcome, Jim to the Highest Self podcast. It's so great to have you here.

It's so good to be here. You know, I've been wanting to be on this podcast for quite some time.

You manifested it.

I did. I've been waiting for you to ask me. I've been thinking about it and feeling it and now it's happening. So I'm really happy to be here.

Yeah. So the first question I'd love to ask you is, what makes you your highest self?

You know, that's a fantastic question. What makes me my highest self is connecting to a higher power. So I need to reconnect on a daily basis to something that is greater than me, or else I get stuck in ego and start to act small. So what makes me my highest self is really connecting to my own higher power. Then I'm big and then I can expand and I can help other people and I can spread the word and I can do the work, but if I'm not connected to my higher power, then I am my lowest self.

Yes. It's like when you're stressed out about.

Something and then you meditate, you come.

Back to it and you just see it from such a different perspective and you're like, why was I so stuck in this, like, whole when I could have looked at it from, you know, this, this greater lens? And it's not a big deal. Anymore.

Yeah. Yeah. Or when you start to focus on things based on your ego, and then when you kind of come out of it and say, what if my ego didn't matter? What if I didn't matter as much as maybe I. What if I had something bigger than me? Would this still matter? And oftentimes it's no. Those things matter because my mind is telling me they matter. But what does my heart tell me? And then I can rise above it and like those little annoyances or something someone said or something that may. It really becomes nothing.

So true.

So you have an incredible story of healing and transformation. So can you tell listeners how you got personally into health and wellness?

Sure. Well, started about 20 years ago, and I was just kind of like that guy that, you know, that was in the fraternity and wore his hat backwards and could crush a beer can on his forehead. That was me. And in fact, I did all of that. But I was also an athlete, and sports was my thing. I got recruited to college to swim. I was always very athletic until I started to feel some pain in my chest. And then one day I was riding my bike. The next morning I woke up and I was numb on my left leg. And so we knew something was wrong. And my mother, being a nurse in the er, often didn't get excited about anything. And with this, she's like, there's an issue. So I got an MRI way back when, when MRIs took an hour and a half to do, and they found lesions on my spinal cord, which, to make a long story short, progressed and progressed and progressed. And every month there'd be a new issue until I woke up one day and I couldn't walk. So my journey started there. And it started with fighting that. It started with transitioning my sense of self from, okay, I'm this tough guy that can. Athlete, can do anything, to now I can't at all. And trying, fighting that, fighting it, fighting it, fighting it. Still getting a job as a trader on Wall street and just fighting kind of where what I know now is kind of like was my purpose, was my path was leading me. I was constantly trying to stray from that path, and it constantly kept putting me on the path. So eventually I went to see about 200 different practitioners all over the world, and I kind of got a handle on what I was dealing with. Although I was never diagnosed, it manifested just like many other things, and I got a handle on it. And I still walk with a limp today, and I have some issues, but overall, I'm really healthy. And what this has allowed me to do. It's allowed me to help start major websites that now the world uses. It helped me to open up my own wellness center and to write a book and to give a TED talk and to now be head of BRAND at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which has allowed me to be on your podcast. So I'm continually blessed every day as long as I can keep my head out of kind of this sickness mindset.

Such a beautiful story. And I think that so many of us, we resist the path that we're meant to be on, and the universe keeps on, like, showing us. And sometimes it takes, like, that breakdown moment, growing through pain, and then we realize, oh, I don't have to grow through the hardest situation ever. I can start to grow through joy, grow through nuances. And then your listening powers pick up. And then before it manifests into this huge, like, brick wall, you can those changes.

I love that. I love that you said that. And I never even thought of it that way until you said it, but I used to almost brag, like, I learned, but I learned slowly. I need to hit rock bottom before I learn and everything, believe me, from my illness to love, relationships going awry to everything. I thought that, you know, once I was just a tough learner. I hit rock bottom and then come out of it. But now I'm learning through love, and now it's a lot easier for me to learn. I don't have to be in the most traumatic situation to actually get a lesson. I can kind of actually look at how I'm feeling and what's happening and how I'm behaving, change that behavior, get a lesson and do it in love, and it's a lot easier. I love that you said that. I've never thought of it that way.

Yeah, I mean, I think that we don't know it until we have to get to that point. And then once you get to that point, you're like, is there a better way for me to do this? Because we're all on a growth path, right? So it's like, okay, am I going to keep banging my head against the wall to learn, or am I going to be like, okay, I know not to do that anymore. I'm going to do it anyways. But I think it's like layers of resistance. And then, you know, the more intuitive you become, it can just feel like a little. A little whisper, a little caress, and you're like, okay, that's that feeling that something's off.

Yes, yes.

Well, globally, I mean, we are going through it. We are going through the biggest shift, the biggest mass awakening of especially of health right now. I mean, there's never been a time ever in our lifetimes or even in the past 100 years. I don't know what it was like during the Spanish flu, but a time that all of our conversations are around health. We open up the news, we talk to someone. I mean, even physically, we see everyone wearing masks. So it's like health is on the forefront of our minds. And so many people who were completely in avoidance or ignoring health are suddenly, for the first time, becoming a little bit more curious about it. And then the people who already were curious are really taking that up a notch. So just there's such a huge demand right now for people to support. So what are you seeing, especially as, you know, head of brand at IIN and really working in this field for the past, you know, two decades and having your salt room, which I had the pleasure to experience when I was in New York. What are you seeing now, especially with the wellness spiritual space post this coronavirus world?

Well, what I'm seeing is a much higher increase in demand for health coaches and a much higher increase in demand for health coach training. So, you know, typically 9 to 10,000 people will go through the school a year, and this year it's more like 12. But not only that, there are more people reaching out to find a health coach. So. And I think when I say health coach, and they're not just. This is a little bit of a scare, right, because you want to eat to build your immunity. Right. But also, it's so much more than Covid now because we have this political structure. We have social injustices that are just bubbling over and need to be resolved. We have all these different things that are weighing on people emotionally and waking them up spiritually. So they're coming to places that can not only teach you how to eat for your immunity, for your medicine, for, you know, for your connection to other people and intimacy, but they're coming for really what we teach first and what we call the primary foods, is that connection to a higher power, that relationships, what to do with your career, the purpose in life, and really living in a state of love, which oftentimes, especially when I talk to my guy friends that are not really into this, it's like, okay, living in a state of love. I'm like, yes, that's actually a thing. You can, like, check out Ram Dass. You can actually start to teach yourself to live in a state of love, even when you get angry. So that's what we're starting to teach more of, and that's what people are coming for. So we've seen a revolution, like you said, and it's really showing up in the amount of people that want to be a part of it.

I am 100% seeing that and people seeing how interconnected it all is. I mean, not only do we have Covid, we have the mental health crisis around this right now. We have people that are in total isolation and a lot of old habits are coming up, whether it's emotional eating. Right. Or it's addictions or it's eating disorders or, you know, whatever was there. But you may have been able to distract yourself has just come completely in your face. So I'm seeing more than ever, people are like, I have an addiction with eating sugar at night because I'm so stressed from work. I hear at news or I have this issue that I deprive myself or whatever it is, and there's no running away from it anymore. I think where people get stuck is like, they can't fix it on their own. They've tried and they've tried and they've tried, and they reached this point that they're like, I need someone who can help me with my problem. But I think the issue is they don't know who that, like, your doctor is not going to help you with that, you know, or like your.

Your average therapist.

And I feel like that is what makes health coaching so unique because of all of the niches that people choose afterwards. Like, I remember myself when I graduated back in 2012, I. I had a completely different niche. I've switched niches so many different times. From at first, I was actually working with people with eating disorders, you know, because that was my background, and it kept shifting. Maybe more digestive and candida focused, et cetera. So I think what I'd love to share with with the listeners right now is a lot of them, they don't want to be a nutrition coach or health coach or something like that. What are the different niches that they could take from doing this program?

Yeah, if you don't want to be a nutrition coach, don't be. Because this is. There's so much more that you can be in that sense, because we have. And like you said, the doctor is not going to help you with this. The doctor gives you a prescription, and then when you're triggered by everything in the world, it's like we got every trigger possible thrown at us this year, and it's like, okay, sometimes you just need someone to talk to that can say when you're triggered and you're in the grocery store and you're about to buy donuts and need someone who can have the ability to say, why are you going to buy donuts? Not, hey, choose celery. No, why are you feeling that you're about to choose donuts? Can you be aware that you were just emotionally triggered and now psychologically, unconsciously, you're looking for security in donuts? So that's kind of what we teach. So some of the specialties are emotional eating. That takes the psychological route of why you're doing this and then figuring it out. And guess what? A lot of eating disorders come from emotions. Emotional eating. We get into that as well. So if I was. Because I'm an emotional leader, if I was to do this again now, I would do the health coach training course and specialize in emotional eating. That's one way to go. We have a lot of people. We have a lot of people that come to us that have gone through their yoga training, the yoga teacher training, and they want to eat well for fitness, but also have that spirituality aspect. And that's the circle of life that we teach. And all quadrants of your life need to kind of be hitting it once to be at your best. And so that's someone who can specialize. There are people. We have hormone health courses so that you can kind of add that on to your specialty and specialize in hormone health. Gut health is a big one. That's the microbiome that gets into depression, that gets into other things. And you need to be able to not only eat for that, but lower your stress and learn techniques to lower your stress. And then I say to folks, maybe you don't want to join the health coaches to coach people and consumers or patients or clients that are coming to you. Maybe you want to be the health coach that coaches. Coaches, meaning I am a health coach. I am a coach. I have always been a coach. I am a teacher, and I coach coaches or executives, meaning someone that I specialize in. Someone wants to build their business. How do you build your business? To be the best health coach, to get the most out of it, and to have the most clients. And that is your advanced business coaching. So you can get all that at in. But even in just a core curriculum, the health coach training program, we teach pieces of that. So you can say, okay, this is where I want to go. And then you have the toolkit to be able to switch if something Else interests you like you did.

Mm.

I love that so much.

And I think that having that niche.

Is major because people I know for myself. When I graduated, I wanted to just. I thought if I was as versatile as possible, I would get the most amount of clients possible. So, like, anyone I met. Bodybuilder. Sure, I'll help you. Someone wanted to get pregnant, I'll help you. Someone wanted to lose weight, I'll help you. And, you know, it obviously wasn't very sustainable because I would spend all this time trying to research about this one person's issue, and then when they were gone, now I'm like, okay, well, what do I do with this? It helps me figure out what I do and I don't like. But it's like, you know, if I had thyroid issue, do I want to go to the jack of all trades or do I want to go to, like, the thyroid whisperer or whatever else it is? Like, you want to go to that person. And I think people feel like, oh, well, if I'm not, you know, a doctor, if I don't have my master's in that thing, I know for me, like, coming from a family, that education was so important. I had that block of like, well, should I go get my PhD in nutrition or my master's or something like that? So if someone's, you know, thinking about, do I do, like, that type of schooling or iin, what are the differences there?

So I just want to say one thing to what you're saying is just think of healthcare as more advanced than us, and look back in healthcare, and it's kind of 1800s, 1900s, you went to the doctor, and now you go to the endocrinologist, the cardiologist, the neurologist, the whatever it is. And health coaching is moving in that direction as well. So if you go to a school and it's just like, okay, I'm going to become a dietitian or a nutritionist, they talk about diet and nutrition in regard to very specific science, which is great, if that's what you want. But with a health coach, your spectrum really opens up because you know how to. Then as a health coach, your job is to advise and to guide, right? So if someone goes to a dietitian and they get their blood tests and then they give them a, you should eat this. And then typically, what happens with a patient, they go to a doctor, they come home and forget what they said, or they're confused, and a health coach is really there to say, okay, clearly this is the issue. X And your nutritionist gave you X. But, okay, now call me when you're. Or here is your supermarket buying guide. And then you can't just eat. You have to also meditate. You have to get a gratitude journal. You have to like, what's happening in your job and what's happening in your relationship. How are you relating to people? Because that's the major indicator of happiness. And health coach can do all that. And other then you can start to specialize in the things that you do best. Other educational courses really are much longer, and they're much. I think they kind of pigeonhole you, in my own opinion. Not to mention, we really have health coaches that are coming and being trained and doing their work that is steeped in experience. Meaning I have gone through this, and then I got the training to be able to coach you in it built upon my experience. Right. And that is super powerful. Like, I have gone through a trauma. I have learned, I have recovered. And now I want to show you. And guess what? I was certified to do so as opposed to I am interested in some medical or some dietitian and I'm going to learn about the nuts and bolts and then give you a prescription.

Exactly. I think I would much rather want to take advice from someone who's gone through my same problem because they'll know the triggers. They'll know, okay, when you're, like, awake at midnight and really craving that same cereal that you always eat, and this is the thought in your mind, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. Here's what's worked for me. Here are some tools, et cetera, versus someone who just, like, maybe, like, read it in a book and might intellectually know, but doesn't know all of the, you know, triggers that come with something like that. I think we all know, like, there's not someone that's like, wait, sugar is bad for you. What, you're not supposed to have bread? Like, what? It's the reason why we keep going back to it. And what I also love about iin too, is, like, I remember I was working a lot with, like, eating disorders, and one woman had binge eating.

She.

She would get into sort of like a trance and just start binge eating. And actually, that really helped me deepen into my own spirituality because I started to guide her through meditations of, like, okay, what's happening? What's the emotion that's showing up there? And we were able to trace it back to, like, when she was a child and she wasn't allowed to buy sugary cereals because her mom wouldn't let her do it. So she would go to her friend or neighbor's house and suddenly eat as much of the cereal as she could before her mom got there. So it became this like, kind of like a neurological bliss in her mind of like when I'm here with the cereal, like I got to eat as much of it as possible. And she would X out of the world. So when she was able to realize, wow, it's coming from this eight year old self who feels like I'm not allowed to eat this even though I'm now like 40 years old, then she was able to have so much more compassion for herself. And then the work became so much less around like, why do I keep doing this? I'm such a shitty person, why am I doing this? Versus like there is a wounded inner child within me that needs healing. And that work shifted so much. So I feel like that is what is the unique thing that a health coach gets to hold space for is like the deeper spiritual, emotional component underneath that. Because without that you're never going to solve the issue.

I couldn't agree more. And so how do you build that awareness in someone so they know what they have to work on instead of not knowing what they don't know and just knowing that they have an issue? And as a health coach, you're a guide to be able to help people through that. And it's extremely powerful. It's extremely powerful. So that's an excellent example. Did she get better?

She did. She got so much better and now.

She actually works in the wellness space herself.

Ah, I love that.

Yeah, I love that.

You know, when you light someone up like that and they see a result, you can't help but not want to do that yourself and help other people. It's like you have a real desire to oftentimes and this leads into something else I want to say, but oftentimes people have a real desire because they've been helped. And now I'm kind of lit and I want to help the world and go forward and kind of share that light, but I can't possibly charge for it. That's wrong. And so I'm just going to be a health coach that doesn't charge. And part of that is making a living for yourself and earning so that you can be in a comfortable, safe place, secure with income, so that you can then go out there. Health coaching, we teach the business aspect too because, okay, you could be spiritually great, you could be eating great and physically Great. And now you have a block against business. You don't know how to get started, or you feel as though you're not worth earning. And that means that you're not there yet. Because it's okay to have a fair price and receive something for your efforts, especially when you're helping. So we kind of teach that as well. It's like, you be the best, you can make a great living. You deserve it. In doing so, you'll be better capable of. Of helping more. So we teach all that stuff.

And I think that was definitely my biggest block and also my biggest learning from doing iin because I have always loved to help people. And I think a lot of people who are drawn to this work, they're that person their friends and family come to when they have an issue, when they had a breakup, whatever it is. So it's almost like they find such a sense of joy and fulfillment doing it. So they feel wrong. They feel like it's icky or slimy to charge people for doing it. And also a lot of them are kapha doshas, which is that. That earth energy type. So those people are naturally just healers. They want to connect with people and dive deep. So at first I would have like $20 consultation on my website, and I was like, how come no one's coming to me? Well, probably because they weren't going to trust me with their life and all their issues. And I'm like, $20 consultation. I did not listen to what Iin taught me. I went off, I was like, no one's gonna pay me that much because I had my own worthiness issues. I thought, if I'm just the cheapest health coach out there, I'll get the most number of clients. Which, in retrospect is hilarious, but that's what we go through. But it was so fascinating for me because then even when I would start, I wouldn't obey. Like IIM suggests, about 50 minutes to an hour per consultation. I would let them talk for as long as they needed to. Two hours, two and a half hours. Text me whenever you want. I'll hop on a call with you. And I thought that that was me being the most helpful, but it was actually enabling. And it was also me not showing boundaries to myself. So I'm. Once I actually started to take into account everything IIN shifts of, like, how to do the first consultation, how to set, like, the program and agreements and all the paperwork, I would not have known any of that stuff, but it allowed me to actually help people at a greater Capacity.

Yes, yes. And you said boundaries. You know, we operate better with boundaries, right? We can be. When we set up emotional and mental boundaries for people in our lives and for ourselves, you know, we kind of, we gain a little bit of a sense of security. Like this is. I know, I know where you know it is. So you burn out if you just let people talk for four hours straight. And also they're not getting as much out of it because they don't have time to reflect and they've just kind of thrown it all up on the plate and once. So you figured it out for sure.

So do you recommend for someone who is thinking about becoming a health coach, do you recommend that they start kind of working with people in a program, like a six month program, or do you suggest people do one off consultations.

As well after they've gotten their degree and they're ready? Within ion we have some practical experience like you have to go out and start coaching people. And we say a minimum of six, right? So you get your friends and family and you're like, I'm going to do health intake and then I'm going to give you a coaching session. We're going to go through this. And I say really during that time while you're in school, do like 12, do 15, do as many as you can and you have time for. So you really feel confident and ready to get out into the world and set up your marketing funnels and set up your zoom webinars to attract clients and offer what people want. Meaning oftentimes what I'm hearing is that sometimes people don't have the financial flexibility to have a one on one hour long health coaching session every week. So get them to bring a friend, get them to bring two friends and have a zoom coaching session around the issue that they kind of all have in common. And you can do that really effectively now with zoom. And then I get a combination and see what you like working with best because once you start actually getting paid for it and finding who you can benefit most, you're going to find your specialty. So you're like, okay, maybe I specialize in group coaching for women who are 35 plus dealing with emotional eating. And I can get them in a group and I can get them resonating with each other and resonating with me and they walk out there feeling emotionally empowered. That's great. Or maybe I'm just, I've realized that through group coaching I'm better one on one with someone and I'd like to work with moms who are dealing with feeding their family and not having time to connect to their higher power. So test it out and see what you enjoy most because when you enjoy it most, you're going to derive the most value. So that's what I always recommend.

I love that. And there's so much flexibility now that things are on zoom because you can actually see a lot more clients. You know, you can be at home and see so many different clients throughout the day. Do group programs. And that was another question that I know a lot of people have. They're not sure if they want to do the one on one thing. They're not sure if they're like a coach. They're more interested in doing online programs, courses, maybe a membership community writing books. Can iin help them achieve those goals as well?

Yeah, listen to some of our grads. So Melissa Wood Health, you must know her, she's become a fitness phenomenon. I think I may have seen you do some of her fitness. She is an IAN grad and she went on to be fitness and she's created her own fitness app and courses and that kind of thing. Danielle from Sakara Life, she started Sakara Life which is a food delivery service which has done really well. Sarah at the well, which is one of the premier wellness centers in New York City. Yourself Sahara, who's become extremely successful with writing and speaking in all your courses that you do. We've had grads that have even started up large schools. The HCI is a competing school that the graduates have gone on to start. So you can do everything from one on one coaching to we have maybe 10,000 authors that have graduated from our course and have even taken our launch youh Dream Book course. So writing books, TED talks, we've got a lot of TEDx speakers. So there's a lot of different things that you can do. It's not only like you were saying before, relegated to okay, I'm going to be in an office and I'm going to wait for that person to come and I'm going to talk to them for an hour and when they leave, that's it. The world is really open to you in terms of of career potential.

It's so true because people always ask me, they're like, well, because you're doing spiritual stuff. How did IIN help you? I'm like, I wouldn't be doing the spiritual stuff had I not started iin. I wouldn't have had the confidence. You know, it's like when you sign up for a school, it's like an energetic container. You know, you're saying, I'm putting my focus into committing to achieve this goal, this milestone. And it's like reading a book. It's not the same. Even if the exact same information was in a book, it's not the same because you're not moving through a curriculum. You're not, like, receiving this, like, certificate at the end to really commemorate it. So if I had not signed up for, I honestly, I probably would have gotten distracted somewhere along the path, signed up for, you know, whatever job or whatever thing I could have gone at the time. And, you know, I think source would have worked through me somehow. I would have found my way back, but it definitely wouldn't have been, you know, as early in my career as it had. So I'm super grateful that I. Cause at the time when I signed up, I didn't even want to be a health coach. I just wanted to learn about health for myself because I had health issues. So it really just, like, pushed me on that path to keep listening and keep listening. And I love that. Like, Sakara life, it's like a food delivery service. Or Latham Thomas, who we're going to have on the podcast soon, she works with, you know, with doulas and midwives. But it all comes down to the same information, confidence and courage that we got from signing up at iin.

Mm. I think you're right. I think you're right. And I hear that a lot. Like, I just did this so I could be healthier or because I wanted to do something and something interest me. I was led here and I didn't want to be a coach, and I wanted to do this just to make my life better or my family's life better. And then they go on to, like, say, oh, shoot, this could actually be a career. I'm going to get going. Or they don't. And they just, like, are opened up to this. Like, Pandora's box of spirituality and wellness has opened up. And by that, they automatically don't want to eat refined foods. Right? When you have, like, a connection and you're feeling your best and like, okay, like, God's light is shining down on me. If you believe in God and, like, I am feeling strong and emotionally connected, you don't really want to go eat processed foods or McDonald's or drink. You want that stuff. When it's like, okay, the world, I don't know what to do. I'm confused, I'm overwhelmed, or I'm unhappy. So we teach that with crowding out meaning, like, when you get your spirituality, your relationships, your career kind of in the right perspective. You don't have to have all the willpower to eat appropriately. It just kind of falls in place because you crowded out the bad stuff. You start drinking more water. You start eating some healthier foods when you go to go for a snack. And that kind of just leads to feeling better in your body and eating better, because you don't want to be doing all that good stuff and then putting garbage in your body. And as a health coach, oftentimes people are like, I couldn't possibly give advice to someone. And as a health coach, you're not actually giving that advice. A lot of it's listening. You ask a question, you allow the person to explain what's happening in their lives, and then you identify a path for them that may be better. And then you keep identifying and keep identifying it. So hopefully they move down that path as opposed to a prescriptive medicine that a doctor or nutritionist or dietitian may give.

And that was such a game changer for me, the high mileage questions, because I went into it thinking, okay, if someone is hiring me to be their health coach, I need to be rambling off as much as I can during that three hours. So I felt like if someone's paying me for something, I have to talk as much as possible. When the opposite was true, I had to learn how to just listen to action questions. And that was where the real progress was had. And that's a template that you can add to anything. And what I and really teaches you is to hold space. You know, to hold space, let someone come to their own conclusions. Because when someone comes to their own conclusions, it's so much more valuable for them than someone else telling them what to do.

You know, you probably felt like you were listening in other areas of your life and holding space in other areas of life, because all of a sudden you're holding space for someone, you're listening to someone, and you're like, okay, this is effective. You know, I'm going to listen more often. I'm going to hold space more often for other things outside of my clients, maybe my husband, maybe my job, maybe my mother. And then, you know, all of a sudden your relationships start to get better. So, you know, it is a continuum. It's a circle. All this stuff is connected. So if you want to, like, be healthier in all areas of your life, it takes a few key levers. And we've been explaining that. But. But that's where it is. That's why I recommend it to everybody.

I mean, totally. It's such a great template for. Because I think a lot of people feel like, oh, well, I don't need a certificate to be a coach. You know, I'm already doing it myself, I don't need a certificate. But I feel like going to a school gives you a template of like, tried and true methods. And where we might be at right now, we might think that, oh, well, I'm creating this new methodology and I know better and it's great. Maybe you will create your own methodology, but if you've never seen studied what works, then you're, you know, there's a reason why it's there. There's a reason why coaching is the way that it is, why you have people ask questions, etc. And what do you suggest for people who feel like, well, I'm already living this, so I don't need to go to school to become a coach.

One thing to live it for yourself. It's another thing to have a formula and some training and how to live it and teach or show or guide people to live it themselves. That's a big difference. You know, like before I got training, you know, I was like, well, I've experienced everything, so I could just tell people what I experienced. And it's just not that at all. You build upon your experience with actual learning and skill so that you can guide someone down the path and it's a much more effective way. And guys, not to mention, you need to learn how to earn from this, right? So, like, we all want to be healthy in our financial lives as well. And this is becoming. Health coaching is no longer fringe. Think about chiropractic. Twenty years ago, people like, who's there, what they're. You're cracking your back. You know, insurance didn't even cover it. And now 20 years later, massage is covered by insurance, chiropractic is covered by insurance. And we are there for health coaching now too. We started this health coaching school 30 years ago and people like health coaching. What? That's weird. And now we're all the way to the point where the AMA is partnering with insurance companies to study the effectiveness of health coaching in what's called CPT1 codes. When we get to CPT3 codes, maybe a year or two down the road, after we get the data, health coaching will be covered by insurance. And that's a fantastic thing. So exciting. Like, we've hit the mainstream, right? Yes, Very good. Because you can make more money and people have to pay you less. Out of pocket because insurance will cover it. But that means there will also be more regulation, right? So all those people try to go to a doctor now that didn't graduate med school and didn't have a certificate or doesn't get continuing educational credits. And so down the line, I predict a year or two from now it will be required to have a fully licensed certificate by a school that is audited and licensed by a state department of education. And that's why I always say be careful with where you go. And I've written a few emails and I've written a lot about this because I've been seeing a lot lately people capitalizing on this trauma of the world today and the desire to be healthier and to be a health coach or to get a coach. And all of a sudden literally 60 schools have popped up offering health coaching. And what's interesting is that it's always based on price. It's like get your health coaching degree from $1,500 or for $249 you can do whatever it is. And I just say be careful because you want to invest and you want to go to a Harvard, you don't want to invest in someone that has set up a health coaching school because they knew how to do it technically. And then when it comes time to be regulated by the government, which it will, as soon as you get insurance paying for something, it's regulated. Your certificate means nothing. You need to have a school like an IIN is this. And there are other schools too, but IIN is certified and audited and licensed by the New York State Department of Education. We have a number of different colleges. The credits count towards it is constantly updated with content. We're going through a few million dollars it costs to do a complete overhaul of the chorus now. And we're doing it. And I think you'd be hard pressed. You know, oftentimes someone will say, well, I'm going to go to this school because they're a graduate of IN and they recognize what was wrong with IN and they just made it better in their course. And I say to that God bless because our students can do that. And I'm so proud of you. I'm so incredibly proud of you. Diane has literally 160 employees and working like I work 80 hour weeks. And these schools have come and try to recruit me to work for them. And if they're trying to recruit me to work from them, that's because they think we're the best and because we are like you can't just graduate and start something like this. With 160 employees, we're barely getting it done. So be careful, be skeptical. And that's not in life. But when you're making a decision that costs you an investment in your future, really be smart about it.

Yeah, I mean, I see this happen a lot too. Of all sorts of. You get your certificate in three days, you know, get your certificate for $200. And what those things are, it's, you know, they're giving you their certificate. But what does it mean? It's like I can hand you a certificate for your high self podcast grad now, you know, but that doesn't mean anything. Doesn't mean anything in the world. So I think that people don't realize, like, yes, right now at this moment time, people can do that. But it's just going to be like being an acupuncturist, being a chiropractor, et cetera. There are going to be more rules and regulations. I mean, already Mark Hyman and so many different doctors are hiring exclusively health coaches to be working for them. Are they hiring? I know one doctor is hiring only IIN health coaches, Frank Lippman.

Only Dr. Frank Lippman. He's the man. He only hires I health coaches. The well, which is kind of where Dr. Frank Lippman is, is kind of head of his own practice. But in New York City, if you guys haven't heard of the well, it's a wonderful place. As soon as it opens again, I'll be back. But they only hire ion health coaches. At my own modern sanctuary in New York City, I only hired I coaches. But that's just a small area. There are hospitals like Peace Health, big hospital system. They send all their people through in exclusively. So Cleveland Clinic has health coaches, some in. They may get some other training. That's where Mark Hyman is. But so, yeah, more and more, because we have that very trusted brand name, our grads get hired first.

Yeah, I mean, it's like the Internet.

Is a wild, wild west.

And it's very hard to monitor different.

Things that are happening.

But go with like, for me, I think the biggest thing was the fact that so many bloggers or people that I had looked up to, I kept seeing IIN on their website that I'm like, okay, there's something to this place that all of these different people who are inspiring me all happen to have, you know, congregated there. I wish it was in person. I was like, I want to be with everyone in person. But now it's like, you know, it's a no brainer. Everything is online. So it's like, do you want to pay for like a complete college tuition or, or something that was created online? And it is actually, I mean I, I was fortunate enough to be there last year and just seeing the studio and everything and like the design is created for having the best online experience. Whereas now we're seeing so many universities, et cetera, trying to go online. They don't, it's their first time doing it. They don't know how to do it. And online education is so different than, you know that in person. But then there's also the option of, you know, several different universities that you can take the credits towards your master's. So can you share a little bit more about that?

Yeah. There are University of Maryland, there are five or six different universities across the United States that we've selected to partner with that if you're going for your master's or any higher education. These Credits, up to 40 credits, which is actually a lot that could be, you know, a full year of school. This counts towards it. So there's more information on the website about that, but it is online. And you spoke at our conference last year. That was a lot of fun. A couple thousand people came. We got the community together and had a lot of fun. This year we actually plan seven big events like this. That and I know because I was trying to get you to speak at another one in California and we had to cancel them, but they will be back.

And Deepak Chopper was speaking too. Yes, yes, it'll happen next year.

Yeah, yeah, it was you, Deepak and a few others. And it was, I was so excited about it. We were going to it.

It's like what school do you just casually see Deepak Chopra speaking at your like school event? You know, there's no other school that your teachers are like Mark Hyman, Gabby Bernstein, you know, like people who really doing incredible things. These are who you get to learn from and it really does make a difference.

Yeah. Yep. And the live events will be back next year hopefully or maybe a little bit later than that, but we'll see how the world goes.

Yes. And there's a great, you know, the Facebook community there. Each class had their own face. Are you guys still doing Facebook groups? And when I went, yeah, we sure are.

Yes, we're doing Facebook groups. Those kind of the Facebook groups and the coach moderator groups and then the coaching call are all ways that you get real time. People have long lasting friendships because they meet on these coaching calls, we kind of set you up with a coaching buddy, someone in your coaching call that you can call while you're studying or just to bounce things off of. And it's really long lasting relationships. And then of course message boards and private communities within Facebook.

Yeah. It is so important for people to have a sense of community that you feel like you're doing this at the same time. I signed up for this like sports nutrition certificate thing because I wanted to learn more about the nutrition and they literally sent me a textbook and sent me a quiz and the certificate was I read this book and fill out this quiz, this open book quiz. That was the certificate. No human.

It was only $1,000.

Yeah. No human interaction. It's literally a book and a quiz. And I was like, you know, imagine if that was my only experience or my only, my only background. And there are so many quote unquote certificates that that, that's what it is. But you need to feel, especially in this online world, you need to feel like you're part of a school, you're part of a community, you have someone to ask questions to. Otherwise you're honestly not going to do it. You're not. Most people never even end up graduating from those certificates because there's no accountability there.

Right. You don't finish. Yeah, you don't finish. Or it's just so it's not interactive enough and you don't read the material or something like that. And that's. These are the kind of things we do student surveys a lot to be like, what'd you like? What'd you didn't like? Like. And the best feedback is what you didn't like. Because we don't have to guess what people want, we just go in there and change it.

So now you guys have two tracks that people get to choose from if they want to do 6 months or 12 months. So for people who are listening, they're like, okay, I know I want to do this, I'm just not sure do I want to do the six months, 12 months, what's the difference?

So we now have the six month accelerated course, which we call it in Spanish assistance. So a lot of the content is subtitled in Spanish and a lot of the documents are in Spanish. So it's Spanish. And then we have English six month accelerated and then the 12 month program. 12 months. And so with the six month program, it's the same exact thing as the 12 month program. We just open the modules and you take the quizzes quicker. It's probably about 10 to 11 hours a week, whereas the 12 month program is 5 to 7 hours a week.

Okay. And I know the next start date for the year long program is September 21st and. Yes. And do you know the next start date for six months or same time?

Same time, same time, same time. It's back to school. Whether you want to do it fast or you're ready to take a full year, it's back to school. So we are hoping to get a really big September 21st class and it seems like there's a lot of interest. So we're excited for it.

Yes. I mean it is. It's vata season. Vata is the fall energy of like, new change, new ideas, creation. And whether you're technically going back to school or not, you're feeling that it's Virgo season, which is like putting things into action. And also we're just getting out of the most crazy, you know, past six months of, of coronavirus and quarantines and all of these, these realizations people have been having of like, okay, I want a career change. I know that I don't want to go back to my desk job or maybe I even lost my job or my business. And I'm something that actually makes me feel good every day that I'm helping the world. So if this is you, you know, the next six months to a year are going to go by anyways, right? That's, that's really what helps me understand, like they're going to go by anyway. So I could either graduate from a school in this time or be back at square one wondering what to do with my life. And I'm so glad I just took the plunge and said yes. So if anyone's listening right now, honestly, you're never, you're never going to regret education. You're never going to regret growth and fulfillment. And if you resonate with my work, you resonate with the work of all the people we just mentioned who went to IIN or teach at iin. Just seeing in my Rose Gold Goddesses community the conversations because we have a coaches support group in there too. And a lot of them are IIN grads. And they're like, you know, I had no idea what to expect, but my life has improved so much from doing IIN because I'm doing the work myself. I mean, I think that was the coolest part. Like I was getting health coached by everyone else in the group too. So it's like you're looking at, oh, wow, I have this, I have that. Where is it coming from? So it's like personal development on top of career and business growth. So I'm excited for everyone that's going to be signing up.

Me too. And you know, we don't typically do this, but the folks that sign up with you or whoever listen to this podcast just have to mention your name and our admissions representative will take care of them with a special payment plan or a special price or something.

Yes, yes. So we do have a special offer for you guys that we will be.

Giving a 22, 250 off discount for.

Pay in full as well as 1500 for payment plans. They have amazing payment plans. We also have some bonuses for you. I actually recorded an entire webinar of everything I've learned on how to have a thriving health coaching career. So how I got my first clients, how I transitioned to group coaching into online programs, into memberships, kind of when to do those things, how your dosha has to do with what you could be the best at. All of the questions that people have around, like how much money can I make? How do I structure this? How do I that like super, super nerdy. All of the things. I answer that all for you in this webinar. And then we also did a call with Linda as well a couple months ago, like a business coaching call. So they'll have access to that and then also reserved seating whenever the next IIN live conference is. So take advantage of that. Guys. The next start date is September 21st, right around the corner. If you're listening to this later, there will be another start date too. I'm assuming in the winter, so just be sure to in November. Perfect. So just be sure to head over to the Show Notes. Wherever you're listening to this on the podcast, you'll see the link there. You'll find it on my website. Click the link so you can get those bonuses, get enrolled and get started with your future. We are excited for you. So thank you Jim, so much for being on the podcast today.

It's always fun talking with you. Thanks.

Namaste.

Are you feeling on fire? Ready to take on the world and launch your career as a holistic husband health coach? So head over to my show Notes or my website. I'm sahararose.com you will find that link has more information for you. Be sure to tell them you were referred by Sahara Rose to get your discount, get your bonuses and get started September 21st or in November. If you're listening to this later, there's start dates throughout the year. Whenever you're listening to this, you can get on board, receive this discount, receive my bonuses, and begin your career as a whole holistic health coach and see where the journey takes you. So I'm so excited to see all that you create, whether it's books or centers or retreats or whatever else it is. And please know that the world needs it right now more than ever. So thank you for stepping up into your Dharma. If you love this episode, I would love to send you a free gift which is the first half of my unreleased book Eat Right for your Mind Body type. This is a different book than Eat Feel Fresh, my first book ever which is not released released anywhere and I am gifting it exclusively to those who leave a review of my podcast in the itunes store. So all you gotta do is head over to itunes where you may be listening to this podcast and leave a review. Take a screenshot that you've left it and email it over to me@saharaatfieldfresh.com again that's Sahara S A H A R A@eatfeelfresh.com and I will send you back the first half of my unreleased book Eat Right for your mind body Type which goes all into Ayurveda, doshas, plant based nutrition, body types, all of the things in a really fun and engaging way. So this is my gift to you for free for supporting the podcast. Every single review I personally read, it really helps the podcast be listened to by more people so we can raise the vibration of the planet together and I am so grateful to have you on this journey. Thank you you so much for listening and I'll see you on the next episode. Namaste.

J.