We recently connected with Emily Golin and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard
My coaching method revolves around the idea of pleasure, focusing specifically on incremental habit change that strengthens the mind-body-movement connection.
Knowing a lot about health is one thing, but actually IMPLEMENTING these healthy habits into your life is a whole other story. Why? Simply put, humans are wired to not like change. We seek comfort in what feels familiar and will always choose to move toward what feels good and move away from what doesn’t. So if you’ve been having trouble committing to your health goals and keep crawling back to your old, unhealthy habits, this is actually good news. Because at the end of the day, you are following what’s most pleasurable to you at the time, and even though these choices might not currently align with your long-term goals, we now know that your brain is working properly. This makes our work together – this whole let’s try and change my lifestyle thing – a whole lot simpler.
The key to long-lasting behavioral change is shifting the neurological connection between what you do and what’s pleasurable to you. When these two components align, there’s no willpower involved. You’re simply gravitating toward what feels good to you, and the improvement in your health becomes a lovely side effect. Rather than trying to adopt someone else’s lifestyle plan or play by someone else’s rules hoping it will work/last – you’re simply living your life. No rules. No restrictions. No more ‘shoulds’ and ‘shouldn’ts.” Just you, waking up every morning as your most aligned, energized, authentic self.
Ok, so HOW do we do this?
The solution is to remove unnecessary tension and set up conditions for inevitable success so that follow-through becomes easy. As your coach, I take you through my signature Embody You Method to help you transform your health and your life while actually ENJOYING the process so that you can turn these healthy habits into behaviors that (finally) last and love the life you’re getting healthy for in the first place.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
Who I am and what I do: I am a certified health and transformational life coach, founder of Embody Health & Mental Wellness Coaching, public speaker, and podcast host of the To Bra Or Not To Bra Podcast. Once a financial consultant, now turned health and life coach, I have a passion for helping women step into their most aligned, confident, vibrant, healthiest versions of themselves.
As a health and life coach, I work with women to unlock their personal power and shift their well-being through incremental habit change that strengthens the mind-body-movement connection. Together, we move past the anxiety and overwhelm that comes from feeling stuck so you can start stepping into a life of empowerment, confidence, strength, and ease. My coaching philosophy is simple: if you’re not having fun, it’s time to change it up.
My services: I offer 1-1 coaching, small group coaching, and a membership platform.
Ways you can work with me:
– The Embody Group Program: This is my signature small-group coaching program. It is a 12-week intimate group coaching experience specifically designed to help you release weight, gain confidence, and step into the best headspace of your life. During our weekly live group coaching sessions, I take you through my Embody YOU Method to break free from the self-sabotage cycle and start feeling like you again. If you’re craving community and you know you thrive in a group setting of like-minded women while also getting individual support, this is the one for you.
– Embody 360º Private Coaching: In this 90-day transformational journey, we will discover what’s been holding you back from having the health your body deserves and break those bad habits from ever coming back again. This is for the woman who is ready to dive into her epic transformational journey with customized 1:1 coaching support and guidance every step of the way.
– The Embody Membership: Join for free or sign up for a monthly subscription as a VIP Member! The Embody Community is for women who are ready to raise their baseline of living and embody the wholeness of who they are – mind, body, soul. I provide you with community, motivation, curated information/resources, fun events, and the support you need to start thriving in your life. With the Free Embody Membership, you will get access to The Embody Community Platform to connect, learn, grow, support, and celebrate with like-minded women in a safe, judgment-free space. Additionally, you will have 24/7 access to exclusive content/resources on all things mental, physical, & emotional wellness. In the VIP Embody Membership, you also get access to exclusive live monthly interactive workshops with me, live monthly group coaching sessions with me, and a library full of workshops/resources I use with my clients. This is a great place to start if you’re a beginner with this work – surrounding yourself with the community, support, motivation, and tools you need to live your healthiest, most fulfilled life.
– Follow the To Bra Or Not To Bra Podcast, available on all platforms: In each episode, I invite a new expert in the health and wellness world to come on the show and hang out with us as we unapologetically deep dive into some of life’s juiciest questions, explore life’s unpredictable twists and turns, and navigate how to claim your personal power in the midst of it all. Follow us on Instagram @tobraornotpodcast for bonus content and behind-the-scenes clips.
Areas of specialty: Transformational habit change, weight release, mental wellbeing, chronic pain, chronic fatigue/burnout, digestive health, anxiety & overwhelm
My story: Eight years ago, I was overweight, exhausted, anxious, weak… I was stuck. I was addicted to sugar, constantly bloated, had tons of digestive issues, and my confidence levels were at an all-time low. I craved energy but didn’t know how to get it. I was so far removed from the happy, free-spirited Emily I used to be. I knew there was more to life than what I was currently experiencing, but I had no idea how to get there. I just wanted to feel like myself again, and it was exhausting.
Once I started making healthier choices with the intention of feeling better – to relieve anxiety and get in a better headspace mentally, emotionally, and energetically – that’s when everything started to fall into place. I started releasing weight without it consuming me, my acne cleared up, my knee pain significantly improved, my energy levels were up… simply put, I felt ALIVE.
And as I started investing in a healthier lifestyle, I had this “aha” moment that life can actually be FUN and ENJOYABLE if you let it be (crazy, huh?!). As a health coach, my goal is to help you discover your “aha” moment for yourself and take action to make it a reality.
Who I work with/my approach: Typically, the women I work with come to me feeling insecure, hopeless, “bleh”, not confident, tired, unfulfilled, and weighed down – both physically & emotionally. They desperately want to experience life through a lens of joy and pleasure but don’t know how to get there. After working with me, my clients have a newfound sense of awareness and aliveness for life that they didn’t know existed. They feel energized, fueled, nourished, lighter, and fully aligned – mind, body, soul. They connect to their purpose and worth and are capable of calling in the life they desire.
My approach to health and wellness coaching focuses on shifting the neurological connection between what pleasure is linked to in the brain, thus exponentially increasing motivation for follow-through while removing willpower from the equation. When my clients learn how to tap into their body’s innate wisdom, their confidence levels skyrocket, and all the awesome physical results simply become a side effect of naturally gravitating toward what’s most pleasurable to them. Clients release weight, boost their energy levels, reduce heartburn and headaches, and experience less joint pain, digestive issues, and bloating. They become physically stronger, have clearer skin, and improve their quality of sleep.
What I love outside of work: When I’m not coaching, I love being in nature, running along the Chicago lake path, doing yoga, laughing with friends and family, listening to music, starting impromptu dance parties, and creating yummy, healthy recipes.
Why I love being a health coach: My absolute favorite part of my job is seeing all of the positive changes happening in other areas of my clients’ lives that they were not expecting when they signed up to coach with me. Examples that I hear frequently from clients include: stronger relationships with their parents or children, drastic improvements in their sex lives, promotions and raises, and career shifts to something they’re passionate about. My clients who come to me single often develop meaningful romantic relationships; feeling a love they’ve never felt before. My entrepreneurial clients experience epic growth in their businesses. And then there’s the ripple effect of clients’ family members and friends adopting healthier habits just by witnessing their transformation. The list goes on and on, and it’s just freaking incredible.
In short, I help women reclaim their health in a way that is sustainable, natural, and fun, so they can start enjoying the process and love the life they’re getting healthy for in the first place. And if you can’t tell, I absolutely LOVE what I do.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
The major lesson I’ve had to unlearn is the idea that you must hustle in order to achieve success. This stress = success mindset had been ingrained in me since I can remember, partially due to societal expectations and partly self-induced. And for most of my life, I thrived off of it.
For me, the stress created pressure and motivation to get my shit done and do it well. When it came to achieving anything, I had proven to myself over and over again that if I hustled, spent more time on something than my “competition,” and checked my work a million times, only THEN would I be worthy of recognition, applauded for my hard work, and get the results I wanted.
So I kept on climbing. I went to a great college, graduated with my master’s in accounting with a 4.0 GPA, did multiple (not so fun) summer internships along the way, landed a high-paying job at a prestigious financial consulting firm right out of school, got my CPA, moved into a nice apartment in the city… I was checking alllll the boxes. My go go go method was working.
The only issue is I never stopped to ask myself if I actually WANTED what all of this effort and work was leading toward.
Multiple self-help books and a spontaneous yoga retreat in Costa Rica later, I realized I had been working my ass off and depleting myself both physically and mentally for years, just to get to a place that I didn’t even want to be at. But, at the same time, I also didn’t know what the heck I wanted to be doing instead.
Rather than quitting my corporate job right away, I gave myself space to figure out what was next for me. I knew that forcing myself to figure it out right then and there would have only added fuel to the hustle fire.
A few months later, I came across a friend of a friend on Instagram whose profile said she was a health coach, and I started getting super curious about it. I reached out to her and decided to get my health and life coaching certification on the side just for fun. I quickly realized that even though I was working 60+ hours a week in my corporate job, while also spending 30+ hours a week studying for my coaching certification/working with practice clients, I was the happiest I had ever been.
Somehow, removing all of the pressure to become a super successful coach was exactly what led to the growth and success of my business. I started attracting paying clients while I was still working in corporate, and I got to a point where I was like, omg… I could actually leave and do this full-time… I could do something I love AND make a living off of it without being in a constant state of stress. It almost seemed surreal.
I had, for the first time ever, proven to myself that I could achieve success without the stress.
And then, one morning, almost exactly 4 years ago, I went into the office with a huge smile on my face, quit, and never looked back.
Of course, after years of conditioning, the stress=success mindset still creeps back in once in a while. But the universe never fails to keep showing me, time and time again, that it’s when I release all of the pressure and allow myself to move through my days in flow and in alignment with my purpose, that I create success with ease, both financially and personally.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
About six months after going full-time with my coaching practice, I decided to get super specific with my niche and zone in on brides. I really wanted to disrupt the crash-diet mindset in the bridal industry and help women use this occasion as an opportunity to truly transform their bodies in a way that lasts beyond just their honeymoon. I was on a mission!
But as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t make it work. After about 5 months in, I quickly realized this was not something brides were looking for. I was targeting a market that didn’t want my services – trying to convince women that this didn’t have to be a lose-weight-fast game, that it could be an opportunity for a long-term total body transformation.
Put simply, I realized I was offering a service that helps solve a problem that no one was looking for a solution to. And although it was hard to make the choice to pivot out of that niche after putting so much time and money into it, I knew it was the right move.
The best part of this story is that the second I stopped trying so damn hard to make this niche work, three bride-to-be’s reached out to work with me within just a few weeks.
The universe works in mysterious ways.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.emilygolin.com
- Instagram: @emily.golin
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/emilygolincoaching
- Join the (free) Embody Membership: embodymembers.
emilygolin.com - Listen to the To Bra Or Not To Bra Podcast: available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most streaming platforms. Follow us on Instagram @tobraornotpodcast
Image Credits
KLEM Studios Photography