We were lucky to catch up with Brynn Barale recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brynn, appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.
It was the fall of 2019, I was working as a nurse for a small hospital. This literally was my dream job for about 1 year or so and my department restructured and I was assigned a new manager who micro-managed me to a fault. In the process of this micro-management, she also bullied me, asking about “suspicious” personal appointments on my calendar and purposely not aligning my work with my strengths. I was being set up to fail and I let those around me know this, they agreed but let my world crumble. I decided the best thing to do would be to give my 30 days notice and find another job. This was the first time in my life I quit a job without having another job lined up, I was learning to be a rebel! I knew I could easily find another job, but I was going to take my time and enjoy the holidays not working. The beginning of the year came around and I was going to interviews, getting amazing job offers, and saying no to them all. I was perplexed with my new rebel attitude, it was so unlike me.
During this time, I dreamed about what I really wanted to do and knew I wanted to use my clinical background combined with being a breast cancer survivor. Then BAM the pandemic hit and I was suddenly home with my then preschooler and kindergartener. It was an honor to be able to be home with them but being a stay at home mom was never the plan. I continued the quest for what’s next, I looked into health coaching, something I wanted to do 5 years prior but wasn’t brave enough, I hadn’t stepped into my rebel era until I could leave behind my soul sucking job in 2019.
So I took the leap and did the accelerated Health Coaching program with IIN, The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. This was a perfect match to combine my evidence based nursing experience while learning coaching techniques and also furthering my education about nutrition. That leads me to what I do now, I empower breast cancer survivors to lose weight without dieting so they can feel stronger and live a kick ass life after cancer.
Brynn, 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?
When I left my soul sucking job as a registered nurse, I gave myself permission to dream.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, when I was 26 years old. This forever changed my life, it was the driving force behind becoming a nurse and it was the driving force behind me treating myself like an experiment. I did great during treatment for the most part, surgery and chemo went smoothly but radiation was difficult for me. Then I was on a clinical trial for 5 years, this made me feel awful. I was medically induced menopause at 27 years old, I felt like I was 100 years old. I had achy joints, severe hot flashes, weight gain, body composition changes, and such low energy. I also was depressed and slogged through the days. It wasn’t until the day that my husband called me out, that I did something about the depression. Don’t get me wrong, there was a stage of defiance but I eventually realized I had some control over how I felt. I slowly dug myself out of depression by eating real food, moving my body, and living again. It didn’t happen overnight, but through a process of trial and error, I figured out what made me feel good so that I could lose weight, sleep better, and enjoy this one life we are blessed to live.
Weight loss doesn’t have to be complicated, that is how I work with my clients. We work together to make small sustainable changes that add up. It’s about what you can add, not what you take away. It’s about how to have more joy in your day, how to laugh more, and most importantly how to love your body after breast cancer. That is what I am most proud of, helping breast cancer survivors navigate life after breast cancer, lose weight without dieting, and helping them live a kick ass life after breast cancer.
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
I love this question so much. My first career was in public accounting then I became a nurse and now I am a holistic health coach. I couldn’t imagine it any other way, I know I was meant to be a health coach but my clinical experience as a nurse helps me understand how our bodies work. My experience as an accountant helps me run my business. I think it’s a perfect combination!
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
I think to succeed as a health coach you need to really care about people. To think my clients hire me to help them with some of the most intimate areas of their lives, I can’t help but become emotional. I couldn’t do this work if I didn’t truly become invested in their success and to do that I need to care about my clients. I want every breast cancer survivor to feel more confident and love their bodies, this is precisely why I do so much in the online space, guest speak for support groups, and do countless complimentary consultations. I truly care about their well-being and think you need to in order be a health coach.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.CoachBrynnB.com
- Instagram: @yourkickasslifeaftercancer
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildflowerHealthCoaching
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yourkickasslifeaftercancer
Image Credits
Carol Spags