We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lauren Balterman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

For ten years I had two careers, two major passions; therapy within schools by day and a health coach, trainer and nutrition coach by night.

In 2020 I found out I was pregnant, the state I lived in shut down due to COVID and I moved.

After moved, I had 6 months to find a new job (I was able to work remotely for a bit) and the thought of starting my own business really began to manifest. I thought, do I stay where I am, stay complacent and go for it and start my own business.

I had several components to think through. I was a brand new mom and my family did not have a ton of money saved. Several people in my life said, “stay with the stability of a 9-5.” When you wake up every morning want something, I’ve learned you have to go for it. I took a chance on myself, my practice, my knowledge and believed in changing women’s lives so deeply I developed a business model of transformational coaching and started the LLC.

The risk was huge but I knew the reward (for myself and for everyone I would work with) would be incredibly worth it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I battled my own eating disorder at a very young age and grew up in a household with a family member diagnosed bipolar type II, I saw and knew at a very young age the power of someones mind.

I became a Mental Health Clinician in 2011. This same year I got certified as a personal trainer and nutrition coach. Since 2011, I worked in hospitals, colleges, K-12 education, private sectors helping women understand their own thoughts. I also rented space in gyms to provide the physical aspects of health.

For these ten years I did both. Every single client who had the massive results I knew they could, were willing to dig into their thoughts, their beliefs, how this translated into every area of their life and effected their physical health and/or goals.

When I took the risk to leave a stable job, I was determined to help woman on a larger scale.

I work with women entrepreneurs, corporate women who put themselves last (because everyone else in their life comes first) and anyone who understands their type A and driven personalities have both pros and cons and want to learn how to find balance, be present, truly change any limiting belief stemming from trauma or childhood stress and elevate themselves both mentally and physically,

What sets me a part is my knowledge, education and life experience. I climbed the ladder within corporate to be on the administration team at Growing Up Green Charter Schools. I was the Director of Mental Health supervising other clinicians. These same years, I took my body to extremes as a national level bodybuilding athlete.

Being very involved in both the mental health world as well as the health and fitness, space, I saw the need to connect the two.

I do this through therapy, personal development, education on nutrition and fitness through a deeply supportive coaching experience.

I am most proud of showing women, they too can take the risks. It is scary to take a risk, to make an uncomfortable change. Whether someone wants to work through trauma, change their body and/or learn to live a healthier lifestyle, I am incredibly proud that women throughout my programs learn to believe in themselves and increase their self-esteem and self confidence.

I believe every single person has a story who has shaped them, and every single person who has a goal, an intention or something they are desiring can achieve it with the right tools, knowledge, support and someone helping them unfold their beautiful story.

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

A lesson I had to unlearn is that someone is paying for time, people are paying for change and transformation.

When I first started I was very specific and over gave sessions to make sure all the dollars and cents added up. I use a text message service and would be worried if someone wasn’t using it.

Some people are going to have less questions than others. Some people will like a phone call more than a zoom.

As long as you take the time to determine what peoples needs are and how they learn and are supported best, change will occur and this is what it is all about.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is a crucial part of building a business.

When I first started I hired someone to help me with my messaging and learn the various platforms.

If you know who your ideal client is, you know how they speak and what their problems are this will greatly help in your messaging.

Building an audience on social media requires a great deal of dedication, consistency and patience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://laurennicole.life
• Instagram: laurennicolebalterman
• Facebook: LAUREN BALTERMAN