We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Washington recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

There was a moment when I was shopping for clothes preparing to go back into the office after working remotely for a while. While in the dressing room failing to find dress pants that actually fit, I broke down and tears started rolling down my face. I didn’t realize how much I had changed since having kids. Seeing the physical change also made me realize that I was so far removed from who I used to be. I felt like I lost a piece of myself, I lost my confidence. I rarely did anything for myself anymore, it was always something for the kids and the family. I was making sure that everyone and everything else was taken care of first and by the end of the day I was too exhausted to even think about myself. And not to mention the demands of my career as an engineer. I knew that I had to make different choices and start focusing more on my health but I had to find something that actually worked for my busy lifestyle.

I tried several different diet programs but they were either too restrictive that I couldn’t sustain it, or they required too much time and a rigid schedule that wasn’t ideal for a working mom with young kids. So, that’s when I decided to find an approach that worked for me and that I could realistically do without adding more overwhelm to my life. Once I figured out the strategy and experienced amazing results for myself and for a couple of other working moms who volunteered to test my strategy, I knew that I had something golden.

I knew that I could help other working moms who were struggling with lack of time, weight gain and burnout to start feeling like themselves again in a way that felt easy and manageable. That’s when I created the Revitalize and Thrive Health Coaching Program. A highly personalized coaching program that is tailored to each individual to fit their unique lifestyle.

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

I’m Ashley, wife, mom of young kids, engineer and the founder of Revitalize and Thrive Health Coaching Program. I’m a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and I help career-driven moms struggling with time management, eating habits, weight management and burnout to implement small sustainable habits that fit seamlessly into their busy lifestyle.

My journey to health coaching started with first helping myself. I lost control of my health after having kids. I started trying new diets, losing weight, only to gain it all back plus extra pounds and I wasn’t happy. Trying to juggle work, children, being a wife and just living, was very overwhelming. I put myself on the back burner because I just didn’t have the time or energy to even think about myself.

I decided to ditch the extreme diets and food restrictions and just focus on what feels right for me and my body for this phase of my life. I don’t stress about food or how many times I exercise per week. I just make small changes that allow me to better myself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

There is a lot of dieting advice on the internet but majority of it is not ideal for working moms who don’t have a lot of time to spare and not only that, the advice is normally not sustainable and can make women feel like a failure when they revert back to old habits and the changes don’t stick.

That is the main reason why I made it my purpose to help other career-driven moms who are facing the same struggles that I once had to stop spinning their wheels and to stop feeling pressured to get it “right”. Instead, I help them to incorporate healthy habits in small sustainable steps to manage their time, manage their weight and boost their energy in a way that’s tailored to their unique lifestyle without it feeling overwhelming so that they can get back to feeling like themselves again.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Coming from a corporate background to now in the coaching industry, I had to quickly unlearn the belief that I can control the outcome. That was absolutely the case as an engineer, I can control the outcome of the work that I produce.

However, in the coaching industry it doesn’t work that way. When I first started coaching, it was very hard for me to grasp this concept. I would doubt myself when a client wasn’t getting results until I realized that results come when the client is taking action and not just because I’m feeding them with information and telling them what to do.

When I coach working moms along their health journey, the coach-client relationship is very important. It takes commitment from both sides to fulfill the goal. It’s my promise to guide them and provide them with the tools and resources to make their journey easier, but ultimately it is up to them to actually implement the necessary steps to control their outcome.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

It’s very important to me to keep in touch with my clients to continue to foster our relationship. I’m really big on relationship building with my clients because establishing trust can lead to major breakthroughs.

I communicate to my clients in whatever way is more convenient for them, whether that’s via email or text. Whichever method, the main thing I focus on is having authentic conversations and being consistent with reaching out. I want them to know that I listen and understand their struggles. I also send small unexpected notions when they may need it the most.

A ripple effect of building that strong relationship is when my client refers me to someone who they feel will benefit from being coached by me because they trust that I can help .

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleywashingtonwellness.com/breakthrough
• Instagram: @ashleywashingtonwellness
• Facebook: Ashley Washington Integrative Nutrition and Health Coach
• Other: TikTok: @beactivewithash

Image Credits

Lori Sparkman Photography