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

Alright, Katie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

There’s so much corporate America gets wrong in my industry. It’s honestly hard to think through what they actually get right! Corporate America glamorizes working hard all the time, that your worthiness and value comes from your productivity, you put yourself last and on the back burner always, and you just grind it out all the time without ever stopping. There’s never enough time, money, energy or health and you just assume everyone is just as miserable as you are. It’s debilitating. I’ve done it. Especially for highly sensitive emotional people. That’s really the start of my journey actually – it was burnout from corporate America. I was working all the time in my twenties, trying to prove I was good enough (I didn’t know that at the time but 100% that’s what was happening), stuck in endless cycles of trying to always get it right, do better, be better, paralyzed by the fear of getting it wrong, and always being behind, never having enough time, and always and forever having too much to do. I think a lot of people can probably relate to this story because that’s really corporate america in a nutshell. Work hard, feel inadequate, work harder, burnout, repeat. So because of all the stress, worry, anxiety, fear, and overwhelm I developed a bunch of health issues – gastritis, celiac disease, insanely painful cycles, headaches, brain fog, and just an overall feeling of not having any energy/ being totally depleted. As I began to investigate these issues and heal myself one by one, I learned that they were all tied to one common denominator: stress. So that was the start of my journey. I became licensed as a clinical nutritionist and functional medicine provider to help client’s with the same issues – adrenal dysregulation, thyroid conditions, digestive issues, hormonal imbalances. After working with clients for a few years I started to see patterns emerge – all of my clients were stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, burnt out, and overworking. A lot of them also had childhood trauma — there’s a ton of research showing the relationship between childhood trauma and later health conditions. I realized that stress is tied to a dysregulated nervous system – so I decided to go all in on becoming a trauma informed coach and I’ve never looked back. It’s literally the most rewarding work I could ever do in my life – healing my clients from all these old stories, beliefs, and patterns that live in the body holding them back from being who they are meant to be. And we’ve all got it. And most of it stems from family dynamics AND corporate america. There’s also of course the fact that women and men are wired differently – and the fact that we’re all expected to work 9-5 (or more) every day without stopping – is ridiculous. Women and men have different hormonal cycles – we are literally different every single day of the month, whereas men are exactly the same every day of the month. The 9-5 5 day a week work life cycle was set up for men BY men. It wasn’t built for women at all. It’s scientifically impossible for us to be the exact same every day of the month — so why are we in a system that requires it?

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?

Yes, absolutely. I’m a trauma informed nervous system coach and a mind body medicine practitioner. My goal is to help my clients reclaim their most authentic, confident, joyful selves so they can be who they came here to be.

My foray into this work is actually quite interesting. My background is in functional medicine and clinical nutrition. For years I worked with clients with an array of different physical issues including fatigue, exhaustion, brain fog, hormonal imbalances, digestive issues, anxiety, insomnia and other sleep issues, thyroid conditions, and adrenal dysregulation. I started to realize quite quickly that there were patterns in the work I was doing with my clients – they were all extraordinarily stressed out, overwhelmed, burnt out, and quite a few of them had previous trauma in their family of origin. I started to look into the research and learned that there’s a HUGE correlation between childhood trauma and health issues developing later in life. I also quickly realized that all of my client’s nervous systems were dysregulated – turns out that a dysregulated nervous system is at the root of almost every single chronic health condition in the world. I started to change how I was treating my clients, letting nutrition and other aspects of functional medicine fall to the back burner, and focusing instead on helping them understand and regulate their nervous systems (and get them out of sympathetic – fight/flight/freeze response). The results were immediate. Brain fog disappeared within weeks, hormonal issues plaguing clients came back into balance, exhaustion and fatigue disappeared, anxiety significantly lessened, digestive issues subsided, and sleep issues solved themselves.

As I dove further and further into the world of nervous system healing I learned that the nervous system is really the command center of the body. We’re wired for love, belonging, and safety and if we don’t receive that – we immediately move into a state of survival. Most people today are living in survival and have absolutely no idea. But the amazing thing about nervous system work is that you can actually teach your body to come out of a state of survival/dysregulation and learn to live in a state of regulation/thrive. Being regulated is where creativity, joy, love, belonging, freedom, authenticity, confidence, happiness — all the good emotions and experiences live. They are only available in a state of thrive. I realized that healing the physical body is only the tip of the iceberg – and now my work is to help my clients heal physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically, and spiritually so they can recover and reclaim ALL of whom they are.

Clients come to me with a range of issues stemming from the overworking/never enough world we live in – they are frequently overachievers, perfectionists, people pleasers, they have high anxiety, overwhelm, burnout, exhaustion, fatigue, ruminating thoughts, negative thinking, lack of confidence, insecurity, worry, stress, feeling like they aren’t good enough/aren’t worthy, being constantly burned out and not having energy, not feeling like they can go after the big things they want in the world, not pursuing their own goals, feeling blocked creativity, feeling like they lack joy in their daily lives, feeling shut down/collapsed, being stuck in past trauma.

I think what sets me apart is honestly just the kind of work I do — not many people are talking about healing the nervous system – yet. It’s already starting to pick up in some circles – and it’s going to get bigger and bigger. Nervous system healing is definitely the future.
I’m probably most proud of the environment I create for my clients — the foundation of this work is creating a safe space where they belong and where they are safe to share everything on their mind. That’s so important. Most people do not have safe spaces where they feel seen, heard, validated, appreciated, and held. It seems so simple but in a world that prioritizes productivity equals worthiness – it’s actually really profound to just be seen and loved for all of whom you are – without having to do anything. That’s what makes my work unique. That’s what we do in sessions together and it’s tailored specifically to the individual. It’s not a one size fits all approach because every single person is different and requires a different set of tools for healing and honestly has a different journey they are on. When someone works with me they can expect a unique blend of somatic healing work, nervous system rewiring, polyvagal theory, cutting edge neuroscience, mindfulness, trauma informed coaching, positive psychology, attachment theory, functional medicine with a focus on adrenal/cortisol support, but it will always be tailored to the individual – that’s so important in healing work.

After working with me my clients experience:
– feeling connected with themselves again
– truly at home in themselves
– secure
– confident
– free to express their authentic self
– happier, more joyful
– increased peace and ease
– increased well being
– more time in ventral vagal
– more time being creative
– far less time feeling shut down
– far less time being stressed out
– decreased coping habits
– increased positive habits – more journaling, more morning time in the sun, more movement/exercise because it feels good
– a different belief system based on what THEY believe and want for their life
– much faster bounce back from burnout
– far greater stress optimization and resiliency
– increased energy and ability to do the things they want to do
– increased joy
– less time working but more money made
– if they run their own business higher revenue
– if they work for someone, promotions are common
– stronger boundaries
– far more life fulfillment
– increased feeling of being safe and connected
– going after their dreams and building the life they want for themselves
– they believe in and love themselves far more
– they are far kinder to themselves and have learned to be self compassionate and kind

When clients are done working with me they feel powerful, secure, certain, increased self trust in themselves, secure, confident, wealthy, abundant, lives and loves from their whole heart, lives from their heart, joyful, happy, loves their life, they are grateful and appreciative, calm, connected, free, expansive, and open.

I want people to know there is NOTHING wrong with them – if they are feeling stuck or trapped or depressed or anxious or experience tons of brain fog, exhaustion, fatigue, ruminating thoughts – etc. There is nothing wrong with them. Thats really most important from my work – is that people know it’s NOT them, it’s their nervous system. And they can get regulated and learn to create safety in the body for themselves and when they do everything changes. Their dreams are meant for them — if you have a dream, it’s meant for you. We want to learn how to create safety in the body to go after all the things you want in life – not to squish them down and tell yourself it’s not possible for you. IT IS. You just have to learn work with the body instead of against it.

I’m on a mission to help as many women as possible rewire their nervous systems so they can truly reclaim their most authentic, confident, joyful self. I’m passionate about helping my clients heal from their past, shed their old stories, beliefs, and traumas, develop greater stress resilience and build their capacity for being regulated more often, so they can experience feeling safe and connected while they go after their goals and dreams. Nervous system healing work really is the future. The nervous system is the command center of the body – if you can get yourself regulated and feeling safe and secure, you can really create anything you want in life. It has huge implications for business growth, profitability, entrepreneurship, relationships, for literally any area of life.

My goal is to help as many women as possible come fully home to themselves.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Yes, and I think this is really important. It’s not completely related to the work that I do with my clients, but damn am I passionate about this. Too often I see entrepreneurs and small business owners feeling inadequate and giving up/throwing in the towel when things don’t work out immediately. We all see so many entrepreneurs sharing all the time huge revenue wins – five figure months, six figure months, $50k month in 5 days – kind of things. And that’s NOT the norm. I honestly don’t even think it’s the destination. Entrepreneurship is all about the journey. My friends and I always joke that entrepreneurship is literally the biggest personal development boot camp you could ever embark on. We’re all damn superheroes JUST for showing up and deciding to decide our own fate on purpose – to stick our own flags in the sand and build on our terms. Period, end of story. I think every entrepreneur is an absolute superhero. For listening to the voice within, for having the courage to go your own way, for trying something new. I think it’s really important not to get caught up in the vanity metrics of income every month, but instead to realize that entrepreneurship is going to push you – it’s going to shine a light on every single area of you that is not free, everything that makes you feel inadequate and not good enough (and we’ve all got it), every area in your life where you truly aren’t free. But it’s all there to serve you.

So for me – I am honestly one of the most resilient people I know – and I am proud of that (it’s taken me some time to be able to say that though!) — because I am stubborn and committed and determined. And again, to be an entrepreneur you really have to have grit. I think everyone has grit – I love the quote “adversity introduces you to yourself” – but if you are pursuing entrepreneurship – you better have grit. You’ve got to be willing to put in very real blood, sweat and tears. I’ve been there. I built my functional medicine business extraordinarily fast – it all just happened really quickly and it became profitable in the first year. Which looking back is truly amazing. Of course I wanted it to hit six figures the first year because I was comparing myself to everyone around me and it looked like others were – so I actually did not end the year feeling proud of myself – that’s work I had to do *after* the fact to realize how amazing that first year in business truly was — but it did just come easy to me. It’s probably important to know here that I’m a manifestor in human design – and I’m born to lead and more importantly to blaze new trails — and functional medicine/clinical nutrition became a bit too cookie cutter-y for me at some point. Yes, it’s holistic, but it wasn’t allowing me to do new, innovative, ground breakingly different things with my clients – and I really wanted to be helping them with more than just their physical bodies – but actually their minds, hearts, and souls. So then I systematically broke down/torched that business – and built a new one in it’s place. But it took me a while to really realize what I was doing and in the meantime my revenue went down significantly – and times were tough. There really was a lot of blood, sweat and tears. In entrepreneurship you’ve GOT to have community – it’s essential. I’ve seen amazing humans with incredible business ideas give it all up and return to the 9-5 because they didn’t have community. I’ve always immersed myself in community because it buoys you. It keeps you afloat when things are hard. I turned to my own tools to create safety in my nervous system – and I worked my booty off to learn how to sell a new offer, how to market a new offer, how to talk to my clients about my new offer, and how to get the word out. Today I am on the other side – things are really really good right now. I know it’s because now I am truly doing what I am meant to be doing – I know this is the work I’m meant for. But I am really proud of myself for pushing through and learning to be kind and compassionate with myself and doing my own healing work as I built my business. And I don’t want to share this because I’m on the other side – I am on the other side now – that’s true, but I KNOW what it’s like to not be on the other side, to be in the dirt, the grime, the hard, sticky “is it going to work” part of entrepreneurship and I want everyone to know it’s meant for them. You can do this too. Don’t give up, don’t stop. If you have a dream, keep working it. Find a community. Find support. And just keep going. It’s not that simple but it IS that simple. You’ve got this.

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

I love this question – because honestly it’s a big part of my work with clients. Unlearning old stories, beliefs, patterns, habits, old ways of being. Part of the reason I’m so passionate about this work is because I’ve done it for myself and I’ve seen the results. I had to systematically undue an entire belief system. Just like everyone my family of origin factored in heavily into my identity. I have an older brother and a younger sister and I’m the middle child. Growing up my role was really to just be the good kid, I learned very early on that there really wasn’t room for me to be me in my family – my brother and sister just always needed attention and my parents were playing zone defense most of the time instead of man to man. My siblings were both … demanding to say the least. I learned really early on that the best way to get love in my family was to be perfect, to do everything right, to be the good kid, to be quiet, to take care of everyone else and put my needs last. So since growing your business is *literally* self development boot camp, these old stories and beliefs I didn’t even know were there – and running my life in the background – came back up. When I’d go to market and share how I could help my clients, I’d hear thoughts like “no one cares” and “you don’t matter” and “no one wants to hear from you”. And I had to learn how that’s just a younger, hurt version of me living inside of me – making my day to day decisions every day. Side note – most of us live like this. There’s younger versions of us running our lives most of the time – until we wake up and decide to listen and to challenge what we hear. So I had to learn how to disarm and prove these thoughts untrue and create safety for myself in my marketing, in getting visible, in believing in myself, and in having my own back. Self- validation is also another huge thing I work on all the time in my business, and it’s a huge part of what I coach my clients with too. Learning how to validate from the inside – instead of seeking validation from outside of us. It’s a lifelong journey, but it’s so freaking worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: katieoldermancoaching.com
• Instagram: katie.olderman
• Other: Free Reclaiming Her Facebook Group for free weekly nervous system training and coaching to help leaders reclaim their most authentic, joyful, confident selves: https://www.facebook.com/groups/reclaimingher

Image Credits
Cathryn Bonitz