We recently connected with Hilary Meade and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Hilary thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How’s you first get into your field – what was your first job in this field?
I applied for an internship during my graduate degree program which eventually turned into an entry level position for me after I graduated with my masters degree. My goals at the time we to help people with the obesity crises, to promote health, to educate people on eating better, moving more and living a healthier overall lifestyle. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do just yet, but this first job catapulted me into the career I’ve had for about 20 years now which is corporate wellness.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
If I go way back, the reason I got into this field is because I liked sports, movement and eating well. I grew up in a house with one parent being a smoker & alcoholic. I knew I wanted to be the opposite of that. I craved sports and movement during my teenage years and then when it came time to choosing a major I fell into the Exercise Physiology path. I was fascinated learning about the human body and how it works and how we as humans have a lot of control over how it functions. During my years in college I still was unsure of how I would use this degree, maybe a PE teacher, maybe a Health teacher, maybe work with sports. I found a love for helping people one on one when I became a personal trainer during college. Motivating and keeping people accountable. It’s rewarding when you are helping people, when people thank you for encouraging them to walk more so that they can be more active with their kids, so they don’t run out of breathe just carrying groceries in the house. Helping people not only lose weight, but also helping them gain confidence, helping their mental health by blowing off steam through exercise, pushing them harder than they think they can go, helping them release endorphins to have a better outlook on their day is quite rewarding. Personal training lead to teaching yoga which lead to health coaching which lead to more jobs in the corporate wellness world. I enjoy my one on one time with my clients through my personal business; healthier habits with Hilary. And I also have a great passion for my day time job which is population health and helping bigger corporations implement wellness programs at worksites. It’s important for people to have different options when it comes to their health. Not everyone wants to go to a gym and not everyone wants to sit down with a health coach and set goals. Sometimes it can be as small as motivating people to start walking during your lunch hour at work daily or taking the time to stretch 10 minutes before bed. Meeting people where they are at in life and then allowing them to choose which route they want to take next is the business I am in. Helping, educating and being of service to others is what makes my career so fun and magical. Everyone is different, everyone’s needs are different and every year I spend time learning new ways to help people, whether that is through new trainings for Yoga, new trainings on motivational interviewing and behavior change. I will be forever a student to continue to learn something new every year, this helps me grow so that I can help others flourish.
Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?
If I could start over, I’d still stick with the same profession. I am doing something I love and I think if you have a passion for something and you can turn that into a career then it doesn’t feel like ‘work’. There were times such as COVID, when I got laid off for about 6 months. I thought to myself – “OK, maybe this is the time to pivot and do something else” I put out over 50 applications and got no responses. I tried looking into other careers and networking to see if I would like something else, maybe sales, maybe marketing, maybe go back to school but I meditate every morning which helps me clear my mind and everyday, every week, I always come back to “nope, health and wellness is me” I have lived and breathed since I was young, it’s in my DNA, it’s what I love. Luckily being layed off didn’t last too long and that is when I took a risk and started diving deeper into my one on one coaching through my personal business, Healthier Habits with Hilary.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Remembering to step outside of yourself. The days you get burnt out with educating, teaching etc, reminding myself its about serving others, helping others and giving back. If we have more people doing this, helping each other shine, lifting each other up how much greater things would be. Women supporting women, men supporting women and vice versa. We are all humans, we all make mistakes, we all want to be loved and cared about and that starts with yourself. Be kind to others, smile at strangers, help when you can and whatever your passion is, share it with the world because someone will be grateful that you did.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://healthierhabitswithhilary.com/
- Instagram: @healthierhabitswithhilary
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilarymeade/