We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amber Frauenholtz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Amber, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you recount a time when the advice you provided to a client was really spot on? (Please note this response is for education/entertainment purposes only and shouldn’t be construed as advice for the reader)

Most of the client recommendations I make are all very tangible, for example drink more water, add in electrolytes, hit a protein goal, take this supplement to aid with digestion, and so on.

I love that part of my job but I think I love the mindset piece of it way more. Of course the things you do matter but the real work is in how you come to grips with the doing of those things. The best piece of advice, client learning, aha moment, whatever you want to call it, is about the realization that you don’t have to be perfect in order to see progress.

Healing journeys are not about perfection, they’re about making progress most days, no matter how small. It’s realizing that in every moment you have a choice. It doesn’t matter whether or not you worked out yesterday, you still can today. It doesn’t matter that you ate “like crap” at lunch, you can choose to have veggies at dinner. Don’t let your actions and choices of the past impact the steps you take in the future, you pick up where you left off and just keep moving forward.

This is what consistency really means. When you allow yourself the great honor of not being perfect, there is freedom there. You WILL see results if you just don’t give up. Keep going.

This mindset piece is the most important component of what I do and by far the most rewarding.

Amber, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) and health coach specializing in women’s health. I work with women in all stages of life – pre-pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond – to help them feel their best. This means something different to everyone but the big items I see a lot are hormone imbalances, fertility journeys, body composition goals, and gut health issues.

I founded Amber Dawn Wellness after experiencing my own health journey (which continues on today). I’m sure many moms can relate but after I had my first kiddo James (he’s 6 now) I not only experienced some gnarly postpartum anxiety but I also had a complete identity crisis. I felt ill prepared to be a parent and balancing my busy corporate marketing job with trying to be the perfect mom just about broke me. The thing that ultimately helped me get through it was the decision to put my health and well-being first. I had to make myself a priority again, from the food I ate, to exercise, to learning how to deal with my stress levels, and so much more.

From there I embarked on a multi-year learning experience, soaking up all I could about managing stress and nutrition. When I was in the heat of my burnout postpartum I felt like there were very few resources out there that could help me. I want to change that, which is why I went back to school for nutrition and started my business. I absolutely love what I do now. Being able to help other women go from burned out and exhausted to thriving is incredibly rewarding.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

There are lots of life coaches, health coaches, nutritionists, macro coaches, and so on out there today. In my opinion the secret to succeeding can be summed up into 2 key components – stay true to your authentic self and create amazing client results. For me this looks like sharing my story and my unique points of view of health and wellness. My approach and opinions are what make me unique, these are the things I talk about in my marketing. Secondly I go above and beyond for my clients, they always come first. When you are delivering amazing value the results speak for themselves, thus negating the need to do a bunch of marketing because your clients will do it for you.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I’ve thought about this a lot because I actually come from a software engineering background. I worked for 7 years at a tech company doing all sorts of roles from sales engineering to technical marketing. I often wonder what my trajectory would have been if I had chosen nutrition first but ultimately I needed that crash and burn when I became a mom to inspire me to do my own thing. I’m so grateful for all the knowledge I gained in tech and the money I saved while doing it. All the life lessons makes me a better health coach to the women I serve. I am so incredibly happy to be doing what I do now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://amberdawnwellness.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amberdawn_wellness/

Image Credits
Photos by https://www.carleyephotography.com/ (white skirt with flowers) and https://jbellatx.com/ (chopping cabbage and blue outfit)