I’ll be honest with you. Before I graduated, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my certification. Actually, let me clarify—I had no idea what my options were. My understanding was that you go to school to become a health coach and then you see clients one-on-one—that’s it.
The truth is that there are so many ways to use your health coaching certification, and in today’s post, we’re sharing 21 of them. Plus, we’ll introduce you to health coaches who are making money in these formats right now.
1. Create an online membership-based community
That’s what Jasmine from Gymlessly Fit did. This Primal Health Coach posts workouts 5 days a week for her members in exchange for a small monthly fee. Members also get exclusive access to nutrition advice, healthy eating practices, and support.
2. Collaborate with schools
Recently, Ste Lane has been working with elementary schools in the New York area on a Mindfulness in Education program, teaching staff members, faculty, and kids about the importance of being mindful, and making smart choices around nutrition and play.
3. Design and sell an online course
Online courses are an easy way to share your knowledge about health and fitness on a platform that reaches your audience and generates income while you sleep. It’s even easy to get started. Check out this blog post we wrote about it a few months ago.
4. Teach others how to create one
Amie from Rebelle Nutrition is helping nutritionists and health coaches create, launch, and sell their own profitable online courses through her new training program, Online Course Academy.
5. Self-publish a book
With services like Lulu and Kindle Direct Publishing, you can bring your book to life without needing an editor or agent. Maybe you’ve got a primal movement book in mind, or a cookbook like Korean Paleo from Jean Choi at What Great Grandma Ate.
6. Open a restaurant or catering service
Got a culinary background? Consider making healthy, paleo-friendly meals for the masses, like Ana Gonzalez. This pastry-chef turned restauranteur now serves up primal treats and to-go meals at her Anaheim, California-based shop.
7. Work with corporations
There’s a huge need for wellness in the workplace, whether it’s to help employees move more, eat better, or manage their overall health. A lot of large companies hire on-staff health coaches or nutritionists, and some corporations like Limeade specialize in well-being initiatives for other companies.
8. Take advantage of your expertise
Don’t let your previous experience in the world go to waste. If you have a law background, consider working as a legal consultant for health coaches. If you’re an IT specialist, think about working behind the scenes to troubleshoot computer problems for coaches or companies. Or if you’re a graphic designer, sell your design services to coaches needing a website, logo, or marketing materials.
9. Write for health and wellness companies
I spent 20+ years burning the candle at both ends as a copywriter in the advertising industry, so I was thrilled to put my writing, marketing, business-building, and health coaching experience to work for the Primal Health Coach Institute. Think about the health and wellness companies that inspire you. Most of them could benefit from hiring a blogger or content manager with a health coaching background.
10. Go after public speaking engagements
You might start small, securing paid gigs at your local gym or health food store, then work your way up to national venues such as Paleo(fx), like best-selling author and host of the Primal Blueprint Podcast, Elle Russ.
11. Get hired at a wellness center or chiropractic clinic
Not interested in being self-employed? Work for someone else. Sarah Eno was one of my group leaders at the Nutritional Therapy Association, and now loves her job working with the holistic doctors and naturopaths at Serene Natural Health.
12. Launch a product
Primal Health Coach Darryl Edwards is busy training clients, writing books, and sitting on the PHCI Board of Advisors, but he also recently released a deck of primal-inspired fitness cards called Animal Moves, designed to make it easy to incorporate cardio, strength, and mobility exercises throughout the day.
13. Become a virtual assistant
As a certified heath coach, you have an understanding of the ins and outs of a coach’s schedule. As a virtual assistant, you can operate as their must-needed support system—just like Australia-based Joanna Mitchell. Her company, the Healthy VA, employs dozens of virtual assistants for entrepreneurs in the health and fitness industries.
14. Run online challenges
Graduates of the Primal Health Coach Institute have access to the 21-Day Challenge, based on Mark Sisson’s 21-Day Total Body Transformation. Challenges like these are scalable—they have a low barrier to entry, they’re a great opportunity to upsell, and best of all, they allow you to help more clients without spending more time.
15. Work as a nutrition educator
If one-on-ones aren’t your thing, you might like coaching groups either online or in-person, like Jeni Hall, the creator of The RESTART Program. While working as an NTP, she found that most of her clients had the same struggles around blood sugar balance, and now shares her knowledge as an educator.
16. Help prospective health coaches follow their passion
Consider working at places such as the Primal Health Coach Institute, just like our Product Manager, Erin Power, and Director of Admissions, Laura Rupis. Being part of a team that helps others embark on their lifelong dream of becoming a health coach can be really fulfilling.
17. Cook with your clients
Take a page out of Hannah Markow’s book, and host dinner parties for people who want to learn more about what Primal foods to make and how to make them. The nutritional therapy practitioner puts on Wine + Wellness events that include all the ingredients to make one meal (including wine), a goodie bag with a recipe card and souvenir wine glass, plus a nutrition Q&A session while you eat.
18. Follow your wanderlust
It’s not only gyms and wellness clinics that need health coaches. If you love to travel, think about combining your passions into one career, like Rob Hourmont. As of last year, the Primal Health Coach and former Olympic skier partnered with the Anatara Uluwatu Resort in Bali to offer primally-inspired outdoor movement sessions for the hotel’s guests. International cruise lines hire coaches, too. In fact, I did a quick search on this site and found 14 places hiring right now—for everything from a Well-being Coach to a Sports Coordinator.
19. Host a retreat
If you’ve ever been to PrimalCon, you know how inspiring retreats can be. They’re a great way for people to come together, step away from their everyday habits, and learn new things in a hands-on way. That’s why Amber and Kelly from Vibrancy Health Coaching make retreats a big part of their service offerings. The Primal Health Coach and MD duo hosted a Digital Detox Retreat last fall, and have two more retreats in the works for 2019.
20. Monetize your blog, vlog, or podcast
While you don’t necessarily need a health coaching certification to write a blog, have a YouTube channel, or record a regular podcast, it certainly doesn’t hurt. And it’s fairly easy way to make money doing what you love through affiliate links, online advertising, and sponsorships.
21. Photograph your food
Donna from Eighty 20 Nutrition turned her food blog into a Paleo food photography business. The Primal Health Coach was already making healthy recipes and blogging about them, but took her certification and her business to the next level by adding ‘photographer’ to her list of services. Donna not only shoots all of her own photos, she teaches other aspiring food bloggers how to style and shoot their creations during one-day workshops at her home in the UK.
How will you use your certification?
If you thought your health coaching certification was only good for seeing clients one-on-one, think again. There are so many ways to use it—and so many health coaches out there doing amazing things as we speak. From creating online courses and hosting tropical retreats to teaching elementary school kids the importance of being mindful, the opportunities are endless.
Whether you’re considering enrolling in a program like the Primal Health Coach Institute or you’re already working as a health coach, just know that whatever you’re doing now could be the beginning of something big.
