Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelsey Cohrt. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kelsey, Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
The biggest risk I’ve ever taken is starting my own business.
I was previously an elementary school teacher in a nice, structured, comfy position. As I started to heal my body and become really passionate about health and wellness, I felt a shift in me that I couldn’t ignore.
I started to day dream about helping others heal, and I loved researching recipes and nutritional profiles. It was obvious to me that teaching was no longer my passion.
But taking a passion and creating a profitable business out of it is terrifying! It doesn’t always end well. And I wasn’t quietly sitting on a bunch of people knocking at my door to help them heal. No one outside of my circle even really knew I was passionate about it!
I started to explore the idea and get more comfortable with the thought of running a business. My dad owned a business my whole life and I started asking him tons of questions, later visualizing myself successfully pulling off his tips.
My husband heard so many stories from me about, “what if this happened with my business” or, “imagine if I could solve this for others!” . One day he turned to me and said, “just do it already!”
Having his support, the boost, experience, and confidence from my dad that could help me troubleshoot, and my own determination to change my life, I took the leap in 2017.
And it’s the best (and scariest) thing I’ve ever done!
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 background and context?
I’m Kelsey, Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, gut health guru, digestive fire gal pal, healthy habits hype girl, recovering calorie counter, and pizza connoisseur.
I have my health figured out today (mostly), but boy has it been a journey.
I have lived an active lifestyle for as long as I can remember, always participating in sports, being outdoors, and swimming all summer long in the PNW. However, my journey to feeding my body nourishing food has had many twists, turns, and backups.
In Junior High I started dealing with body image issues, trying all the diets, and struggling with shame and guilt around eating. After college I became a kindergarten teacher (5 year old’s are rad!) and my health issues were heightened. I was exhausted all day but couldn’t sleep at night. My skin erupted with acne that I couldn’t fix with any cream or “wellness” routine. And my digestion was a struggle- constantly bloated and constipated, feeling so insecure because of my belly that hung over my work pants by the end of the day.
Eventually, I was introduced to the idea that food can be used as fuel, nourishment, and medicine. I read a cool cookbook about the healing effects of food that my husband’s grandma gave us, inspiring me to teach myself how to cook, and learn how to heal my insides.
It ignited a spark in me that led me to The Institute for Integrative Nutrition where I was able to marry my love for educating and new found love for nutrition into a career. I took their advanced course in Gut Health and started using the fundamentals from that course, along with my lived experience of healing my gut, to support clients as a gut health coach.
It took me about 15 years of trial and error (so many diets- Slim Fast, Atkins, Paleo, yada, yada, yada) to finally get to a place where I felt good. And honestly, it kind of pissed me off…
I don’t believe this information should be so hard to come by. We should all have access to it!
It should be broadcasted to everyone, but especially those that are having any kind of health issues.
I was recently working with a client that had a surgery because of a chronic health condition not long ago and he’s lost weight, which at his age is a worry.
His doctor suggested that he drink Ensure every day to bulk up.
Ensure… which has 15 grams of sugar per serving, multiple toxic seed oil, and 44 ingredients (most of which are unrecognizable).
I’ve also had a client that has seen doctor after doctor over the last 20 years to heal her bloating and constipation. After 2 months of working together, her digestion is the healthiest it’s ever been.
They deserve better. Our kids do. We all do.
It is why I work with people to heal slowly, intentionally, and realistically.
I haven’t taken any short cuts. I don’t back random shakes, extreme programs, or try to slang supplements that may or may not be right for you. That’s not my style.
I tried that route for years and I know it doesn’t work.
I worked on my health with science backed strategies for five years and have seen my body heal because of them.
It takes some work, but now that I’ve got it figured out and have helped hundreds of others as well, I know that my program and lifestyle is effective.
It has been incredibly fulfilling to have people come to me in pain and leave my program healed, energized, and excited about their life again. *Cue praise hands emoji.
I support my clients through 1 on 1 health coaching, my Digestive Fire Membership, my signature Happy, Healthy Belly Program, and my fun Batch Cooking Course, all designed to help people heal their gut and incorporate healthy habits that are fun.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
For me it’s been word of mouth. I know that’s not a super exciting response, but it’s the truth and I honestly feel really proud of that.
My focus is always on my current client experience first and marketing second. When you have a really good program or product, the clientele will do some the marketing for you. But I do think it’s important to ask them for the referrals.
I like to ask my clients at the end of the program if they have anyone in their life they can think of that would be a good fit for my program. Or if at anytime they mention someone that would benefit from the program or tell me they were talking about my program and their friend was interested, I ask them if it would be ok that I contact that person. 9x out of 10 they are happy to share because their experience has been so great!
Testimonials are also really helpful to share on social media and on your website, and if you can get the persons picture, or best of all, get them on video sharing their love for what you do/how it’s changed their life, they are really powerful. However, I do send them questions to answer so the testimonial is really specific and highlights the parts of my program I think people will be most interested in. And if someone is slow to complete the testimonial, I definitely follow up with them!
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
The biggest impact my business has seen has been my work with a mastermind.
A mastermind (in my experience) is coming together with a group of other people working toward the same goal. There is a leader of the mastermind that has proven success and shares their knowledge of the topic while the rest of us learn, implement, and troubleshoot together.
This year I invested in my first mastermind (Robyn Youkilis’s Rockstar Mastermind- anyone in health and wellness should check her out!) and I’ve already seen a huge shift in my business. I’ve learned so much about how to run a business, marketing, how to share your story, social media, launching products, finance.. I mean the list goes on.
For me it’s been really important to have a community to bounce ideas off of and that supports each other, all while having the expertise of a leader that has really been through it. I honestly wish I had invested in this years ago, I think my business would be very different if I had!
Contact Info:
- Website: northwesthealthcoaching.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/northwesthealthcoaching
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/northwesthealthcoaching
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseycohrt/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/northwest-health-coaching-renton?osq=northwest+health+coaching
Image Credits
Carley Jayne Photography