Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joey Szolowicz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Joey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

To speak to the early days of opening my own wellness coaching practice, I need to rewind the clock to roughly 8 years ago to 2016. this may seem shocking considering my business; Aligned Strength & Wellness only officially launched this year (2024)!

Like many in the fitness industry, I got started by virtue of experiencing my own journey to a healthier lifestyle. As a corporate director in a high stress industry I spent years making work my priority while everything else (especially my health) came second. Then one day about 9 years ago, I looked in the mirror and realized that I didn’t recognize who I saw staring back at me. The person in the mirror looked unwell, overweight, unhappy, and as though he needed a change.

I decided to change, in that moment. I spent the 2+ years slowly revamping my lifestyle. I didn’t want to just ‘diet’ and lose the weight. I wanted to burn down the stress that had piled up over decades and rebuild my lifestyle from the ashes.

I quit drinking alcohol. I slowly changed my entire diet (starting with just doing some fun things like exploring local farmer’s markets). And I began prioritizing the types of exercise that brought joy to my life.

And over a couple of years, everything changed. Sure I lost the weight. But that wasn’t what mattered most. What really mattered was that at my core, I re-built the way I interacted with the world around me.

This circles me back to establishing my own practice as a health and wellness coach.

Around that time, I realized that I felt called to help others do the same thing I had just spent 2 years doing. So I sought out certification upon certification. I became widely certified to coach wellness with certifications ranging from nutrition coaching, to motivational interviewing, to personal training, and many others.

This was 2017 and my thinking at the time was: “if I post some before and after photos of myself and put a few posts on social media that I’m a nutrition coach now, people will line up out the door to work with me”.

In retrospect the naivety of this line of thinking makes me laugh.

Nobody lined up. I was able to find a few nutrition clients at the local boxing gym I trained at. But even though I had undergone a massive self-transformation and gotten certified, I still quickly realized that I was ill-equipped to actually help these people.

I had no business structure, no real process for how I would coach, and no systems set up to actually offer a service that I could scale and make a living off of.

So I floundered. I was helping people out of coffee shops for cash and frankly spending more money buying my clients coffee than I was making off of the consults!

Then a very unlikely opportunity presented itself. A close friend of mine had a business selling herbal products out of the local farmer’s markets and she asked me if I’d be interested in running a tent every Saturday to sell her products for a commission.

It was so far out of left-field but I figured “hey, I believe in her product, it’s exposure and will help me learn how to sell, so why not?”

So there I was… working my corporate project management job during the week and waking up on Saturdays at 4am to go put up a pop-up tent and sell tinctures at a farmer’s market with my dog, Billie, in tow.

This seemingly unaligned opportunity was the key to open up doors that I did not yet know existed.

Through the farmer’s markets I was able to connect with real people in the community and learn about their struggles. I was able to start building connections and gaining contacts and emails of people who might be interested in wellness coaching. And I was able to connect with other wellness professionals in the local Phoenix area.

This ended up leading to a job opportunity to coach full time through a well-established brand. Even though I struggled with the idea of ‘not being an entrepreneur’, I jumped at this opportunity.

And it was EXACTLY the opportunity that I needed to establish myself as a credible coach and learn what it meant to coach strength, nutrition, and wellness as a full-time professional in the industry.

Through proverbial ‘reps under the bar’ at coaching literally hundreds of people over the 3+ years I worked for the larger brand, I learned an incalculable amount about how to systematize to coach effectively, how a well-oiled coaching business should run, and most importantly: what people ACTUALLY NEED when working with a wellness coach.

This brings me to the present. Just a few months ago (at the time of this writing), I realized that I was finally ready to run my own practice. And as of a week ago (at the time of this writing), I formally launched my Strength, Nutrition, and Wellness brand: Aligned Strength & Wellness.

It took me 8 years from the day I decided I wanted to coach for a living to actualize fully owning and operating my own practice.

In hindsight, I would do ZERO things differently if given another opportunity. From transforming my own lifestyle, to seeking certification and education in wellness, to coaching out of coffee shops, to selling herbal tinctures at farmers markets, to working underneath the umbrella of a well-established brand… everything tied together to make me the coach that I am today.

I think if any one of those pieces were missing, then part of me and how I approach helping people would be missing with it.

As I embark on my new adventure of building my own practice, I’d offer one small bit of advice to any new people who might be considering starting a practice: DON’T GIVE UP.

It is going to take longer than you think. And that is OK. The longer you continue on, figuring out what works and what doesn’t, categorizing your own style vs. the style of others, and persevering through successes and failures alike… the better leveraged you will be to run a business that looks like you and no-one else.

And at the end of the day, I think that’s what any business owner wants… to build something in their own imagine.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I own and operate Aligned Strength & Wellness.

At Aligned Strength and Wellness, I’m all about reimagining what it means to be healthy, strong, and balanced. I know that as humans with full lives, our every day can feel like a whirlwind of work, family, and everything in between. But here’s the truth: you can feel amazing, be strong, and truly love the way you show up for yourself, all without relying on extreme diets or unrealistic goals.

Our mission is simple: we want to help you build strength, improve your relationship with food, and find wellness practices that feel good and make sense for you. Forget about restrictive rules that leave you feeling drained and frustrated. It’s about setting healthy boundaries with food, movement, and self-care, so you can have long-term success—without the stress.

Let’s be honest: modern diet culture has stolen the fun out of eating. You’ve been overwhelmed with all the rules and it’s left you feeling more stressed than satisfied. At Aligned, we want to help you rediscover the joy of food. Because food isn’t just about numbers, nutrients, or what’s “allowed” and what’s not. It’s a part of who we are—our culture, our memories, our connection to others.

We want to help you let go of the fear and find a healthy balance that actually feels good. No more guilt or stress around meals. It’s all about enjoying food in a way that nourishes your healthiest self, without feeling restricted. You deserve to experience food with confidence, pleasure, and without the constant pressure. Let’s bring the joy back to your plate.

Through our one-on-one coaching, education, and support, we’ll help you tap into your own potential, build resilience, and make lasting changes. Think of us as your partners in the journey to becoming your strongest, healthiest, most authentic self—at your own pace and in a way that truly fits with your life. You deserve to feel empowered and confident, and we’re here to help you make that happen.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Showing up.

This is the key to everything.

I think it is paramount to pick how you want to approach being present and then own it… day in and day out.

Personally, I chose to leverage social media from day 1 to establish myself as a leader in the nutrition, strength, and wellness space.

But whether it’s social media, a strong community presence, an email list, a facebook group, or some other place where you are trying to establish your credibility – the key comes down to showing up consistently.

It will not happen fast. But by being present in the places you commit to being present, people will start to recognize your unique style and capability. They will begin to trust that you are an authority in your market, and most importantly: they will think of you first when the time comes that they want to make a change.

I believe with 100% certainty that simply showing up day in and day out (whether I felt like it or not) was the secret to building the reputation and trust that I have in my market today.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

This will NOT happen fast.

I was lucky at various instances of my life. I always worked hard, sure. But I had a few lucky breaks throughout my life and career that gave me the impression that professional success could should come quickly when you put your mind to it.

Breaking into the wellness coaching space forced me to ‘unlearn’ this. Like I mentioned, from the day I decided to open my own health coaching practice to the day it launched was an 8 year journey. That journey was FILLED with ups and downs along the way.

At the beginning, I honestly thought that a few social media posts and certifications would be all it took to be successful. But I was wrong.

And I am glad that I was wrong. Because I believe ‘unlearning’ the idea that this should happen fast, has propelled me into helping my clients better understand that this is far more about the journey than the destination.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alignedstrengthandwellness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joeyszolowicz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoachJoeySzolowicz/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephszolowicz/
• Twitter: https://x.com/jszolowicz
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachjoeyszolowicz1818
• Other: Join My Email List:
  https://mailchi.mp/a7f5f813a793/unsolicited-advice

Image Credits

Shahana Khan Khalil