We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Hays Coomer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.

Sarah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?

About a decade ago, I was teaching my first health coaching group to support women in my community. We got together every other week to talk about what we needed to feel healthy and reduce stress, habit changes we hoped to make, obstacles we were dealing with, and how we might work together to take better care of ourselves. We were a diverse group with a graphic designer, a tech administrator, a bluegrass musician, two social workers, a medical student, and a woman who ran a dog rescue organization, among others.

An annual arts festival was coming up in a few weeks, and some of the women decided to run the 5K that kicked the event off in the morning. In spite of having been a personal trainer and health coach for many years, I don’t love running, so I was on the fence about participating, I hesitated until one of the women, who is an incredible musician and mom, said she wanted to walk the race. At the time, she weighed nearly 400 lbs. She was nervous but had been working on her endurance, so I decided to walk the 5K with her.

On the morning of the race, we came fueled with water and snacks. People cheered from their front porches as we passed by. We kept a good pace but my companion steadily fell to the back of the pack with a police escort creeping along behind us with its lights flashing silently. As we got closer to the end, street merchants had begun setting up their tents and blocking the streets we were meant to walk down, but we picked our way past the grinding generators and piles of boxes. By this point, my client was in tears. The police car and the fact that all the other racers finished so far ahead that the festival had begun was more than she could take. But, when we rounded the final corner, there was a huge crowd waiting for us and cheering us on as we crossed the finish line.

One of the things I love most about my job is the power and flexibility I get to witness in people with every imaginable kind of human body. I see the beauty and strength in folks of all shapes and sizes every day, but it’s rare that I get to see that kind of recognition and support in the community. We didn’t know most of the people in that crowd, but I will never forget the love they showered on us. It made me realize that we make a lot of assumptions about how other people view us, but I think, for the most part, people are kinder and more generous than we might imagine. Also, if we take our time and proceed with care, we can do a whole lot of things we might not have thought possible.

Sarah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a Forbes columnist, Mayo Clinic- and National Board-certified health coach, speaker, and author. I have been coaching for nearly 20 years, and I work primarily with creative people and entrepreneurs who want to take care of themselves but don’t enjoy following rules.

Nonconformists have a fundamental problem with being told what to do, so when they try to manipulate their bodies or time to fit into generic, pre-determined regimens, the whole situation tends to fall apart. They rebel and go right back to old habits they were trying to quit in the first place.

My research-based approach teaches people how build adaptable, self-directed routines for health and productivity without adhering to restrictive diet and fitness plans. In other words, instead of teaching them how to “control” themselves, I help them learn how to put themselves in a position of power to actively choose what they need in the middle of their most challenging moments.

I coach one-on-one, give talks and workshops at universities and associations, and I write! My Forbes health coaching column comes out every other week, and I’ve written three books: The Habit Trip, Physical Disobedience, and Lightness of Body and Mind. I love this work. It’s such a pleasure to help people discover that health can be about freedom rather than control. From there, decisions about how to take care of themselves get a whole lot easier.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Curiosity and listening have made me so much better at my job. As an author and speaker, I’m often in positions where I’m at the front of a room with a microphone or sitting in a meeting where I’m expected to offer expert solutions. Early in my career, when my confidence was lower, I put a lot of focus on proving my value, shoveling information into people’s brains, but, over time, I realized that listening to them was far more helpful—for them and for me!

I can’t possibly know what a room full of strangers needs if I don’t get curious about their experiences. I can offer research and tools, but those are only useful when they apply directly to people’s lives and they can build their own perspectives on how to incorporate a new approach to get the results they want. When people feel seen and heard, they open up and find their way to all kinds of unexpected insights.

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

Writing has been crucial to my professional and personal development. It has helped me clarify what is (admittedly) a unique perspective on health and wellness, and it has offered countless opportunities for me to reflect and honor the experiences of the people I’ve worked with over the years.

There is so much shame and silence around food and body image issues, so I find it incredibly empowering to be able to say, “Hey, look! This is how other people feel. You are not alone, and there really are concrete, accessible ways to heal and make peace with your body.”

My goal with this work is to make myself irrelevant in the end—to get my clients to a place where they simply don’t have to worry about diet and exercise any more—and the only way to do that is to shine light on assumptions that are usually ignored because they’re too complicated or confusing to process. Writing has been my avenue to do that, and it has brought incredible people and opportunities into my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sarahhayscoomer.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah.hays.coomer/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahhayscoomer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahhayscoomer/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahhayscoomer
• Other: Forbes column – https://www.forbes.com/health/author/sarah-hays-coomer/