We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amy Walton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amy below.

Amy, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?

One of the most important lessons I have learned is that a “no” doesn’t always mean “no.”

I was in the nonprofit fundraising sector for years. When you ask for a monetary gift or sponsorship, you don’t typically receive a “yes” the first time (although many times you do).

Just as I did in nonprofit development, I massage relationships with potential coaching clients–people who have consulted with me but who, for various reasons, don’t commit at the time of the consult. I want women to know I believe in them and that they can trust me. It can take time, but I do believe that the women with whom I am supposed to work will be the ones who eventually commit. I am not a salesperson, because I get tired of being trolled on both LinkedIn and Instagram; but I do take the time to earn someone’s trust and believe that their “no” will become a “yes” at some point–if I am the right coach or teacher for them.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

One of my former coaching clients said in a testimonial that some things that set me apart is my intelligence and my authenticity. I gladly accept her feedback!

I’ve always had a calling in my life to help people, so I started on this journey by taking a retreat coach certification program while I was still working as a director of development. I’ve always loved attending well-planned (not overly planned!) retreats and creating retreats, so I earned a certification as a retreat coach. I met several women in my group who were also life coaches, so I thought that would be a great path to follow and took a couple life coaching and grief coaching programs. As I leaned into coaching,

I realized that one aspect I was neglecting is body work. I have been committed to my fitness since college, and I began to realize that people hold grief and trauma and negative emotions in their bodies, so I became a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT200) with additional certifications in trauma-sensitive yoga, yin, and yoga for disordered eating (I am a recovered anorexic of many years).

Through experience and sifting, I finally felt God leading me to insert my own grief story into my coaching and to use my coaching certifications, my yoga and breath work training, my teaching background, and my own grief journeys to help women grow through their grief.

What sets me apart?

Most grief coaches likely don’t do much body work with their clients–it’s all talking. I believe we have to address the WHOLE person who’s grieving, and I do that through coaching and body work. I am certified in healing touch as well. I will not hold a first session with a client until we each have ready my privacy statement and signed it. People are trusting me with their stories and lives, and I want them to KNOW they can trust me!

I also provide a summary of sessions for each client within 48 hours of a session. I list the insights they had, their successes, their challenges, and the action steps and completion dates they identify. I honor where each client is on her grief journey, but I coach her to GROW through her grief.

I’ve lost both parents and beloved pets and friends, but my most significant loss was losing my husband at sea over 30 years ago, leaving me to raise two little boys into men. I certainly made mistakes, but I did most things right. My older son is a battalion commander in the US Army, and my younger son–after a decade with Apple– is the head drummer in one of Cirque du Soleil’s shows. More importantly, they are great and caring humans!

Have you ever had to pivot?

Well, I certainly had to pivot from being a wife and mother to being a widowed mother of two boys! THAT was a huge change, and I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning years for which I give myself an abundance of grace.

When I started life coaching, I wanted to be a “mom coach,” meaning I wanted to help young mothers learn to parent with joy and to have balance in their lives. It seemed like many I knew were hiring their peers whose kids were practically swinging on light fixtures in the backgrounds of reels (slight exaggeration, but you get the picture!). Mom coaching was NOT working for me, and honestly? I had to admit I wasn’t feeling it, as that stage in my life had passed, so I pivoted to Christian life coaching but with no true niche.

The grief coaching–which I have done alongside my other offerings–started to emerge as what I really love doing, because I can really address the whole person, and my heart is into helping people heal through their grief.

Funny: I said years ago I would never be that woman who wears the “widow card” throughout my life; and while I really haven’t (I’ve had a few relationships and even an engagement), I find that grief coaching gives me the most joy.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Before my late husband’s near-fatal car accident, I was an independent woman but also considered myself a bit of a wimp. I knew I had strength through both my Christian faith and having been raised by a father who endured four years in a POW camp in the Pacific, but I wasn’t prepared for what happened when that loaded dump truck plowed into my husband’s car head on, nearly killing him and costing him–an amazing and disciplined athlete–his right leg above the knee. I was teaching elementary school at the time one state away and had a toddler. My husband owned a business. Through supernatural strength, I was my husband’s cheerleader, patient advocate, protector of my son, and a dedicated teacher who went home once a week to check in with her students and my sub. I worked with his business partner to try to keep the business afloat, and although we lost it, we refocused on other paths.

Four years later, my husband and his father were killed in a boating accident at sea. Our entire family was flipped upside down by this double loss. My husband’s body was lost at sea, so I had my back up against the wall financially for over a year because when a body isn’t found, one has to go through a legal process to have them declared dead, so any insurance and survivor benefits are frozen during that time. There’s a true miracle story there! My sons and I made it through that year, and I have to say that while I am no braggart, I WILL say I am a strong woman!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.holygrounding.com
• Instagram: @holygrounding
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.walton3
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amywalton317/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@amywalton-holygrounding

Image Credits

Kacie Steinmetz

Jody Ottersen

Echard Wheeler

Brandi Zenzel

Amy Walton

Esmel Meeks