10 Steps to Start Your Nutrition Coaching Business
Have you been dreaming about ditching your 9 to 5 job, elevating your personal training services with wellness and nutrition coaching skills, or starting a side hustle that not only brings you financial freedom, but also allows you to help others? If so, you’re in the right place. Keri Glassman, our founder of Nutritious Life and the Nutritious Life Studio has revolutionized the field of nutrition and coaching with her whole-person approach to health and wellness. Recognizing the struggle for dietitians, nutritionists, and health and fitness professionals to find their footing in the industry, Keri has dedicated herself to sharing her expertise through her nutrition education platform: the Nutritious Life Studio. This coaching platform is specifically designed to fast-track the success of those passionate about health and wellness. The Become a Nutrition Coach program lays the groundwork for building a successful career in health and wellness, covering the basics of nutrition science and coaching skills and then teaches you how to skyrocket your career with extensive training. If you’re thinking of becoming a coach or upleveling your career in wellness, check out these 10 steps to help you begin (or elevate) your nutrition coaching business. Step 1: Get Clear on Your WHY Why do you want to start a nutrition business to begin with? What do you absolutely love learning about and talking about when it comes to nutrition? Think about what lights you up and how you could use that passion to support you inside of your business. Zero in on your WHY. Step 2: Take some time to dream! What do you see other successful nutrition pros out there accomplishing that you’d like to accomplish yourself? There are so many business opportunities for nutrition coaches from running educational group programs, working with renowned wellness brands to developing apps, creating healthy food products or speaking at wellness events and seminars. If you can dream it, you can do it. Alumni of the Nutritious Life certification course have developed numerous uber inspiring business models. Hollis Tuttle created an innovative app that offers curated workouts tailored to individual goals. Yasaman Vojdani, owner of the company Oat My Goodness, turned her dream into reality by launching a company that shares her passion for nutrition and cooking. Dr. Cori Cooper is a pharmacist turned nutrition coach that uses her certification from the Nutritious Life Studio to help her patients achieve their health goals. Each alumnus followed their passion for nutrition and successfully made their dreams come true and these are just a tiny snippet of examples. Step 3: Find a mentor Connect with a mentor who has years of experience, a business model you admire and someone that can provide guidance, advice and support as you navigate the early stages of your business. Start by identifying professionals within your contacts who inspire you and reach out to them for an informational interview or a casual coffee chat. Make sure to be specific in your reasons for wanting to connect. People are busy and they are less likely to make time for someone who is wishy-washy. Remember, mentorship doesn’t always have to come from formal arrangements. The key is to remain open to learning and to seek advice from those who have walked the path before you. “I am so thrilled to have started this journey into nutrition. Keri is so energetic and sincere that even while studying online I felt connected to her as my teacher. Love the comprehensive 8 pillars of nutritious life. Thank you Keri and team. Looking forward to the master certification now! – – Iram Ahmedi, Nutritious Life Certified, Health and Life Coach“ Step 4: Find a community When it comes to starting a business, continued support and collaboration is paramount. There is nothing more valuable than a network of like-minded individuals who are just as passionate about nutrition and/or entrepreneurship as you are. Find a community that you can lean on for guidance, accountability, inspiration, answers to your burning questions and cheerleading when you need a pick-me-up! The Nutritious Life Studio community has a robust network of nutrition coaches from all over the world with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise: nurses, chefs, dietitians, doctors, acupuncturists, estheticians, fitness trainers, career-changers, social media experts, and more. Members of our group benefit from an incredibly supportive, inspiring, genuine and uplifting environment as well as our weekly “meetings of the minds” where we bounce ideas off of each other, collaborate and share resources for business growth. Step 5: Get certified Now that you have your why, it’s time to invest in your credibility. A reputable nutrition certification program will not only provide you with the necessary credentials to launch your nutrition business, but also deepen your knowledge of nutrition science and coaching techniques. The Become a Nutrition Coach program is the most comprehensive certification for anyone looking to start and monetize their own nutrition coaching business. With over 120 lessons on everything you need to know about nutrition, coaching, and building your own business, this program will provide you with credibility and a treasure trove of resources. When it comes to assessing a nutrition certification program, here are some steps to take: Step 6: Register your nutrition coaching business This may not sound like the fun part, but legitimizing your business means things are getting real–and that is EXCITING! Putting these things in order now will set you up for success when you’re ready to launch. Step 7: Tell the world about your nutrition coaching business Craft your message and spread the word! Some steps I recommend taking for broadcasting your message, building relationships and sharing your business with your community and beyond include defining your brand and developing a strong message. RELATED: How to Share Your Business with the World: A Step-by-Step Guide Step 8: Develop your nutrition coaching skills Now it’s time to hone your coaching skills. Find two or three friends or family members to practice on, or lean on the Nutritious Life Studio community if you
A Guide to Group Workouts in the COVID Era
Pre-COVID, maybe you frequented a hot yoga class that involved purposeful heavy breathing in a crowded room filled with heavy, recirculating air. Or maybe you went to a packed bootcamp class and shared sweaty weights, mats, and treadmills with your classmates without a second thought. Wow, that’s clearly in the past. These days, anything you do that’s even in the vicinity of another person can feel like a gamble. But the urge to get back to a regular workout routine is real, and for many of us, bicep curls, burpees, and barre pulses just aren’t the same when you have to go it alone. Group fitness is uniquely motivating and effective, thanks to group energy and instructor corrections and encouragement. It’s also uniquely dangerous—compared to home workouts or going to the gym solo—during a global pandemic. So, will it ever be safe to support your favorite studio and go to a workout class again? Here’s what you need to know. Consider the Type of Workout and Class Size In the early days of the pandemic, researchers traced more than 100 coronavirus cases to Zumba classes in South Korea. Part of the problem, they observed, was that Zumba involves lots of heavy breathing in crowded spaces, and COVID-19 primarily spreads through respiratory droplets. “Characteristics that might have led to transmission from the instructors in Cheonan include large class sizes, small spaces, and intensity of the workouts. The moist, warm atmosphere in a sports facility coupled with turbulent air flow generated by intense physical exercise can cause more dense transmission of isolated droplets,” the researchers wrote. Interestingly, the cases were all traced to classes that had between 5 and 22 participants; classes that had fewer than 5 people in them did not result in any new infections. Another important observation was that an instructor who taught Pilates and yoga classes of 7-8 students did not have any new infections in her classes. “We hypothesize that the lower intensity of Pilates and yoga did not cause the same transmission effects as those of the more intense fitness dance classes,” the researchers wrote. In other words, while there are still risks, the risk of contracting coronavirus may be lower in smaller classes and when the workout is less cardio-intensive. Indoor vs. Outdoor Exercise By now, you’ve probably heard doing almost anything outside is better than doing it inside when it comes to contracting coronavirus. (Hello, outdoor dining.) That rule applies to exercise, too. “We have very little evidence of outdoor transmission. It’s not zero — there are definitely cases reported — but it’s much, much lower than inside,” one infectious-disease physician told The Washington Post. Many factors like sunlight, wind, and humidity affect how transmissible the virus is. But experts still recommend staying at least six feet away from people when you’re exercising outside and wearing a mask. In New York City, workout studios all over the five boroughs have started to move classes outside, with Mile High Run Club offering outdoor group runs in Manhattan and The Fit In Bed-Stuy offering strength sessions in Brooklyn parks. Which brings us to… What Precautions Are Being Taken? If you do decide there’s a class you feel safe enough to attend or you choose to go back to the treadmill and weight rack at the gym, make sure you evaluate the facilities’ COVID precautions, first. Inside at a gym or a studio, experts say you should see evidence of routine cleaning and disinfecting of machines, physical distancing should be enforced (you may even consider stretching it to twelve feet if cardio is involved), and staff should be wearing masks. And make sure you’re doing extra due diligence cleaning shared equipment before touching it. Air flow is also incredibly important—the bigger the space is, the better, since more space will dilute concentration of the virus in the air. If your gym has open windows, even better! Outdoor air circulating in is a major win (maybe not for your sweat situation during summer, but hey, priorities). The safest bet is to wear a mask, although it can be difficult depending on the type of exercise. Outside, distancing is, again, the most important element. It’s going to feel exciting to be back among fitness friends, but the fact is, you’ve got to stay as far away as possible. And hey, the good news is that while it’s impossible to eliminate all risk from group fitness classes, so many of your favorite studios are now offering online classes, from CorePower Yoga and 305 Fitness to guided audio runs from Mile High. Even studios you wouldn’t think would be able to make their workouts virtual have, like SLT, Swerve (you can rent a bike!), and CityRow (after you invest in an at-home rower). You can do almost anything you did in person at home, minus giving your sweaty workout neighbor a high five at the end of class. —Written by Lisa Held
