Congratulations to our Leadership in Health Coaching Award recipients for the HCTP March 2019 class! Integrative Nutrition believes in, supports, and celebrates all our incredible graduates for spreading the ripple effect of health and happiness in the world. The Leadership in Health Coaching Award was created to recognize the amazing accomplishments of our graduates, specifically those doing outstanding work that aligns with Integrative Nutrition’s core mission. Learn more about the winners below!
Galia Goya
Mckinney, Texas
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
Before joining IIN, I was a yoga instructor and active volunteer in the community. I was also a full-time mom, enjoying time with my kids.
How did your life change after enrolling?
During IIN’s Health Coach Training Program, I was able to apply many of IIN’s coaching recommendations. I could see firsthand the positive benefits of the practice, which strengthened my motivation to become a Health Coach and help people achieve their dreams and enhance their lives.
Brooke Bartolomeo
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
I was working in marketing, which I also very much enjoyed. I definitely feel that the experience has given me a lot of valuable tools that I can use in moving forward as an entrepreneur in health coaching. I was also navigating my own health journey that involved a life-threatening health event in 2014. For several years, my life then revolved around hospitalizations, ER visits, loads of medication, specialists, and endless blood work. After experiencing dramatic transformation through a holistic approach to healing, my passions began to shift and set me up to be a perfect candidate for IIN. I never imagined myself working in a health-related field, let alone find that it’s my professional calling!
How did your life change after enrolling?
I found my life effortlessly transforming as the program progressed! I learned so much invaluable information that I can apply to both my own health journey and to my health coaching career. I became so much more confident in my understanding of holistic healing and my ability to spark change in others. While a student at IIN, I was inspired to begin a playful blog and online community for people with the MTHFR mutation (the underlying factor in my health crisis) called Hey MTHFR. I am now in the process of designing a premium program to work extensively with clients 1-on-1 and am so excited to get started! I would never be turning my dream into a reality if not for my time at IIN! You can check it out at www.heymthfr.com.
Tanya Roydeva
Prague, Czech Republic
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
My life was focused on my job as a country manager and team leader in a Czech company, my son and my family, and my passion to live the healthiest life possible.
How did your life change after enrolling?
After enrolling at Integrative Nutrition, I did major changes in my own lifestyle and healthy habits, which I consider extremely important. I started paying attention to the signs my body was giving me and learned how to take better care of it. Moreover, I am now able to provide science-based knowledge, support, and guidance to my community and help people become healthier and happier. I created my health coaching career, too, and I feel blessed to have discovered the Integrative Nutrition Health Coach Training Program.
Danielle Reardon
Atlanta, Georgia
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
Prior to IIN, I had recently left a 20-year career in advertising and transitioned to wellness blogging, having found an incredible mental and physical transformation after investing in my own health and wellness as a means of recovering from the burnout of business.
How did your life change after enrolling?
The knowledge and experience I gained from IIN helped me create more meaningful content on my blog and social channels, which subsequently led to a number of speaking engagements, podcast guest appearances, corporate workshops, and one-on-one coaching opportunities. It cracked open a second career path that I'm truly passionate about in addition to benefiting my own personal health and that of my family by proximity of influence.
Katie Campisi
Boston, Massachusetts
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
I work in customer success at a software company and was considering what next steps I wanted to take in my career at the end of 2018. While I love my 9-to-5 job, I realized that my true career goals could not be contained to the company, or even the industry, that I work in now. Funnily enough, one of my focuses in my role has been on improving the health of our customers – kind of like a Health Coach for software users!
How did your life change after enrolling?
From the moment I enrolled at IIN, I knew that my goal was to ultimately work full-time as a Health Coach and be my own boss doing it. This immediate shift into an entrepreneurial mind-set was one of the most exciting changes for me! I am now the owner and founder of my own business, operating as a Health Coach part-time. In addition to the professional changes, my personal life has changed in so many ways. The concepts we learn in IIN are not just helpful to share with clients – they improve the students’ lives just as much. Of all the changes, though, I think the most positive has been this newfound purpose I feel through the alignment and passion I have for this new venture. It's amazing to feel so strong about your work!
Joshua Phelps
Winchester, Virginia
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
I've been part of a small steel manufacturing, fabrication, and processing business for 20 years. I've been working out since college and been into nutrition for at least the past 10 years or so. I really like my job and will continue it but want to grow my coaching practice selectively and sustainably to help others and also provide some extra income for my family.
How did your life change after enrolling?
I had to learn the counseling part from scratch. While I've had many trainings over the years in leadership, speaking, and listening, I really had no experience in coaching and counseling. I also didn't really think about the deep emotional connection people have with their food, their health, and their primary food, and I really needed my eyes opened to that realm. IIN did that profoundly, and I'm so thankful. I'm now much more aware of my need to work on primary food in my own life and help guide others as well.
Ana Rita Faria
Lisbon, Portugal
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
For the last seven years, I have been working as a flight attendant, and before that, I was a journalist for five years.
How did your life change after enrolling?
The IIN program allowed me to give structure to this new world of health and wellness that I was trying to go into. You have so many new diets emerging every day, and there's so much conflicting information that you just feel lost and don't know what to rely on. IIN gives you all the information and tools you need to find what suits you the best (bio-individuality). That was the main change for me: I was able to set free from the so-called fad diets and discover the type of food that is best for me, without any preconceptions or biases. The other big change is that I found a new purpose: helping other people achieve their own transformation process and regain control of their physical and emotional health.
Surekha Sadana
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
I was a renowned artist, having done paintings on consciousness and other more abstract topics. I received 10 awards for my work, in places such as New York, India, and Dubai.
I have been a vegan educator since 2011 and conducted many cooking classes and workshops. I have been helping and supporting people through communities I created on digital platforms and will continue to do so.
How did your life change after enrolling?
I changed as a person as did my relationship with myself and my partner. I became more open about my own food choices. I truly understood the concept of bio-individuality – that NO ONE DIET IS THE RIGHT DIET FOR EVERYONE.
In general now, I see every problem/individual on deeper levels and try to look at the underlying reason/factor.
Susan Scollen
Canberra, Australia
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
For the last few years, I have been deep in personal development books, learning how to move my body, eat well, and say yes to things that light me up. I began this following postnatal depression and working as a government contractor. My contract role is great, however I knew I needed to be of service to the world through work that lights me up.
How did your life change after enrolling?
I lit up the moment I started learning through IIN. I knew this was where I was meant to be. Every aspect of my life started to change. I learned how to create time, grow my relationship with myself and my husband, eat better, and move my body in ways that light me up. I love that I have learned how to let people go on their own journey, to be the guiding light simply by doing what I love and showing others how to turn up for themselves.
Julietta Sebastian
Melbourne, Australia
What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
Before IIN, I was “just a mum” for about a decade, with two master’s degrees in international tourism (marketing and promotions) and public policy/international relations, and worked in government and education sectors in Europe and Australia. My experience was enriching and interesting, and I have always felt drawn to connect professionally with people I was meeting in various countries and their stories.
Staying home with children showed me how much I can research topics related to well-being, including nutrition, meditation, relationships, exercise, home cooking, feng shui, and finances. I became passionate about making sourdough bread and fermenting food and drinks, which is another way for me to contribute to our family home economics.
How did your life change after enrolling?
I have been preparing for this change for a very long time since I was introduced to the holistic health world by a kind and wise doula to whom I am sending my eternal gratitude for the enlightenment she gave me as a base for my research and now new career. My life changed exactly like IIN teaches us to introduce transformation into our clients’ lives – slowly, consistently, and in sustainable steps.
I am very happy and finally feel settled with my future career path as it reflects who I really am on the inside and allows me to do what I am destined to do in this life. My personal life is a work in progress. I embrace it and feel confident, positive, and certain I will succeed in this area as well with everything I learned at IIN.