Restorative Wellness Practitioner

Introduction and Speaker Background 0:00

Gosh, I'm so glad to be back folks and you're really gonna enjoy today's speaker and fisher Silva, one more person I've known for a long time but I really think it's providing tremendous leadership in the health coaching field, you know, as independent health coaches. We want to go out there in the world and help people and make a good living and live the lifestyle that we deserve to live and you know, set the example for our clients so they have something cool to follow and I want to tell you you couldn't follow a more genuine person, a healthy person thank goodness than an fisher Silver Silva. And she's going to talk to us today about her functional nutrition nutritional therapy program.

She is a functional nutritional therapy practitioner and restorative wellness specialist. So she's going to talk about her program. She's been serving clients around the world for 21 years with an emphasis of course on root causes and then helped start the nutritional therapy association. If you're not remember that you should join. I'm a member my whole organization as a member actually. And um she helped start that in 2000, like a long time ago I think somebody weren't born yet, but before she, I'm just kidding, but she founded the restorative wellness Solutions which you can find it restorative wellness solutions dot com and that's where she currently teaches health professionals how to be successful, confident and skilled using lab interpretation along with her own unique proven methods of healing again, I've known and for a long, long time and uh I know she's one of the most sincere people you'll ever meet. She's very passionate too about nutrient dense foods. Uh and also of course about her family as we all are and helping others live their best life and connection around the table.

So um and it's so great to have you here. Why did you start restorative wellness solutions and tell us any more about your background that you'd like to mention. Thank you Reed, thank you so much for having me. You know, I started with sort of all the solutions because um I had the opportunity to work with some of the early nutrition pioneers, a lot of them aren't even around anymore and I was able to kind of put together a lot of techniques that I learned from them and when I looked around at my colleagues, it I really felt like they weren't really optimizing, they weren't successful, they were weren't really able to get their practice off the ground. And so I realized that there was a huge need for education, advanced education beyond a nutrition certification.

So I started with sort of wellness solutions in 2013, that's beautiful. I remember when you started and we've had some conversations and I just commend you so much for, you know, planting your own flag in the space and for uh getting a lot of people to salute it, you know, that's a good thing and it proves that it can be done and another purpose of our event, this summit is to get to open people's eyes up to possibilities. You know, if you want to help others and you're willing to walk the talk, you also want to be healthy and, and set an example and things like that, then you're in the right place. We've just had so many good speakers and I couldn't wait to get to you. So why don't you, um, if you have, I think, you know, you've got a little presentation for us here, like you just jump into it and and if I could, but in here and there and make sure we get some other questions answered. That would be lovely.

Yeah. You, you just come in any time, you know what I want to talk about today, I'm gonna share my screen. And what I want to talk about today is, um, it's not letting me share my screen. So if you could. So what I really want to talk about today is client compliance because I see that as such a deal breaker for a lot of practitioners, you know, we have all this knowledge, all this expertise, but if we can't get our client to comply, then, you know, it's, it's all for not. So that's why I think this is such a good topic for all of us to really talk about.

Alright, looks like you should be able to share now. Oh, yeah. Great, Great. And you're absolutely right. Yes. It looks beautiful. It's taking up the whole screen client compliance Now. I just wanted to do my first but in and say that you could, you couldn't be more on top of it. And you know, uh you know, we've been doing this a long time together and you can, you can run labs and you can figure out exactly what's wrong with the person or real close to it and then you can have an effect upon whatever that is that you find with the correct program, which you know, we have each developed some amazing similar but you know, with with the twist kind of programs. So you you you investigate and you figure out what needs uh, improvement and then you design a protocol for that unique individual.

Guess what? Someone still has to run the program. So I'm so glad you're talking about this today and I think you're the first one of our speakers. You have so, so good on you. Awesome, awesome. Well, I'm excited to share kind of the things that I've discovered about it. So what we're gonna talk about today is why it's a deal breaker. We're gonna talk about about four strategies to help increase your client compliance. And then we're gonna talk a little bit about restorative wellness solutions. So why is this such a deal breaker?

You know when you think about it, we've all been there. You have that client that comes and and you know, they're they're so excited to work with you and maybe they're not digesting well or they're not sleeping well or they've got a laundry list of issues. Um And the symptom presentation can vary, but the results are mostly they're miserable and you do your assessment you come up with

Why Client Compliance Matters 6:00

feels like an amazing plan for them. Um You recommend some changes to their diet but you know, not so much that they're gonna have a hard time with it. You recommend some supplements, just the key ones because you don't want to overwhelm them. Um and you send them on their way they get going, but maybe they hit an overwhelm and you know, life happens and then they're quickly back to their same old habits and then the next time they come to your office they're like, you know what, this doesn't work um Or they write you off altogether, but when you really dig into that situation, you discover that they really didn't do what you asked them to do or the moment they ran into, you know, some big obstacle, they just threw in the towel and walked away and if you've been practicing for any length of time, I bet you've discovered this in your practice as well.

Read, you know what I'm talking about, right? So this challenge is actually really unique in the nutrition space. You know when you think about it, if you go to a massage therapist whether you do anything else at all, you're still gonna get the benefit of the massage. You could do a few things before or after the massage to enhance it. But just by showing up, you're gonna benefit from it. And that that's true of chiropractors and acupuncturists and lots of hands touch touching kind of therapies. But that's not really the case for us in the nutrition space. You know, our clients come to us for advice and in order to get real results, they've got to take that advice.

They're the ones that have to really do the work. And the kicker. And the whole thing is that when they don't follow our recommendations, it actually reflects poorly on us on us as the practitioners with very few exceptions. You know, the clients aren't out there taking responsibility for their own compliance. They're rationalizing why it was too hard or why it didn't work. And ultimately, that failure is a reflection on us because I'm so glad you're making that point that our success depends on theirs.

And in a way, rightly so, um, I can't wait to see the rest of this. Uh, but, but yeah, it's, it's frustrating if your clients aren't doing it because, you know what they do is they go and they tell the people your program didn't work. That's it. That's it. No, and on our side, it's, it's really easy to blame the client right. It didn't work because they didn't do this or they didn't do that. But the hard part to swallow is that we have to take responsibility for this. You know, it's it's really hard and I know that that's a really hard thing to take in.

But it's taken me years to figure this out. That, you know, behavior change is the hardest thing. And yet our entire business relies on our ability to inspire and support behavior change. And like it or not, You know, our client's success is on us. So here's another really hard part, you know, and this is sort of counterintuitive that when the client starts to feel better, that's when we're in the most trouble. You know, when somebody isn't feeling well, when they first come to you, they're miserable and of course they will do anything to feel better.

But when things start to kind of work and they sort of kind of get their groove back. That's when we're at the most risk of them bailing. And there's a school of thought that I have found very accurate in my practice and that is that when their symptoms start to abate, you're about halfway to healing. And this is when we're at most risk for losing them. So we acknowledge that there's this problem of client compliance and we realize that in order for our clients to be successful, we've got to set them up properly.

We just can't give them their marching orders and expect them to obey, that just never works. You know, you could have the best plan in the world? But if they don't follow it, it's all for not. So let's take a look at a couple of strategies. No one. is that real compliance really starts with that first time you talk to a client, you know, we all want to have more clients, but if you don't pre qualify them properly, you know, you can't just take on anyone, you know what I'm talking about, right? You absolutely have to screen them.

You've got to screen them and take on people who you like and who you expect to be able to follow the protocols. You know, we all enter this field because we have these huge altruistic cards, we want to help people. Um But if you don't navigate this first piece right, you end up taking on clients that either aren't ready or um You know, the reality is that doing objective testing and supplements and our expertise present that real costs. Not everybody can afford to do this work. You know, I have pro bono clients in my practice, I'm sure you do to read you know in the work that you do, but I can't do that with everybody.

And so part of pre qualifying is are you ready and can you afford this work? Uh in order to get real resorts they have to be ready to do the work. Are they ready to make really hard dietary changes? Are they ready to take their favorite foods out of their diet. Are they ready to add more movement? Are they ready to take a handful of supplements a couple times a day? Are they ready to work on their sleep and their stress management? You know when you think about it, we ask a lot of our clients and of course I loved what you said that we have to be walking our own talk to be able to ask this of our clients as well.

But part of really really understanding whether they're ready to do the work is presenting the entire package to them. Here is what I'm going to ask you to do and honestly, it can almost feel like you're talking them out of it, you know what you're saying? Okay, here's what it's gonna look like. I'm gonna ask you to like really make hard dietary changes. I'm gonna ask you to incorporate more movement. I'm gonna ask you to take supplements. I'm gonna ask you to work on some stress management and here's what it's gonna cost, you know, and if you don't do that though, it's sort of like going to a car lot, you have this new car you want to buy and you've looked it up, you know what the prices you get in there, you now you negotiated for hours like it takes and then you get into the finance guy and they tell you it's gonna be several $1000 more.

Nobody likes that experience and that's not how we want to operate right? We want we want to be completely up front, we want them to know everything about what's involved because there is a real cost and there is a real expectation of what we're gonna do. And I'm telling you when you do that, when you kind of lay this out to a client, it's almost like they are going to beg you to take them on because you've been so honest and so transparent about all of it. We can't sugarcoat this process. You know, it just doesn't work, we can't withhold anything, we can't, you know, just wait for them to sign up and then start laying on all these hard things we're gonna ask them to do.

It's so much better To just be straight up with them up front. Say look, this is what it's gonna take and I know I can help you. But honestly the work's gonna be on you, I will be there with you 100% all the way through. But you're the one that's got to do the work. So the second thing is that we have to structure our business so that it really complements this particular process. There are two things that we know for sure true healing happens over time. And at some point the work gets really hard and one of the things that has occurred to me is that, you know when people go to their doctor for health advice, they only do that when something's wrong. You know, they really only make an appointment to go to the doctor when they're not feeling well and then once they start to feel better that they're like, okay, I'm done with you, I don't need you anymore.

But for true healing to happen, it is a process, you know, it's not gonna happen overnight to really accomplish the kind of health goals that we set out for our clients and so we need them to make a commitment over time. You know, it's it just doesn't, they can't be done once they start to feel better because again they're about halfway there and then the work can get really hard, You know, we're asking our clients to change behavior and that doesn't happen overnight either. You know, it can take several months for things to happen. And there's some research out there that says that our excitement for something new lasts about three weeks.

And so if that happens with our client three weeks in, they're not gonna be there. And if they don't get the results, they're not going to refer their friends and family to. That's just the nature of this work. So there's these two business models, you know, in our, in our field right, you can go session by session or you can set your clients up in in a package, what do you what do you recommend? read? Do you do packages? Yeah, packages Cause if they're not committed for a certain length of time, then you know, you're probably not going to get the results they're seeking.

Pre-Qualifying Clients and Setting Expectations 16:00

So we would do a very similar thing this session by session. I would say do that after an initial time period. Like you could see me session by session afterwards. But you know, I imagine, yeah, that's kind of how I would do that. But you know when when uh when people in the nutrition space start out, you know, they're very timid to ask for that kind of package situation because you're asking for a big outlay of money up front. Right? And that's not easy. But session session like all you're really asking the client to do is commit to the very next appointment and hopefully they come back and you can tweak their program a little bit and make another appointment and hopefully they come back.

But at any point in time you're at risk for them, you know, bailing on you. So setting up a package where you let them know, hey this work is gonna take three months, four months however long your packages sets them up for success in a big way. So we always wear these two hats right? The clinician and the coach and we need both hats in order to be successful at various stages in the process. You know, we wear the clinician hat when we are assessing when we we're interpreting when we're making our recommendations, but then we we use that coaching hat when we want our clients to lean in when we want them to, you know, make those hard behavior changes, working around a restricted diet, working around handfuls of supplements, you know, they're looking for any excuse to bail on us and these two hats help keep them engaged with us.

So this is something that I've also discovered is a really big deal and that is asking a client with their big y is. And this question comes like right up front in your initial initial consultation, when you're doing your intake, you're taking your history. And one of the things that you can ask people is, you know, Susan, if our work was completely successful, what would you be able to do that you're not able to do right now? And it's amazing some of the responses you'll get. You know, some people will say, wow, you know, when they really kind of feel into it, if we're successful, I wouldn't always have to worry about where the next bathroom is or you know, you can help me with my energy. I wouldn't be so crabby with my kids all the time. You know, you hear some really profound things from people, but this is also something that you kind of keep in your back pocket because when they reach that inevitable, you know, speed bump in their program where they're frustrated, you know, they're, they're tired of, you know, eating a restricted diet and they can't eat their favorite foods and you know, it's just like, it's getting old for them. That usually happens about halfway when they start to feel better. This is when you pull out their big y you remember what you told me that, you know, you, if we were successful, that you wouldn't be so crabby with your kids and I still want that for you and I know you still want that too. You know, like we're almost there Susan, we got to keep going.

So this is a way to really keep them engaged when they start to feel like, you know, things aren't quite as easy as they were initially or they're starting to feel better and they think they're done. Yeah, this is huge. You know, we also want to support them. I don't mean to interrupt, but, but I just think that's worth it for a minute. You know why? Because it also helps you decide if you're gonna work with that person. You know, if you're doing that during the initial interview as we do, uh, you, you decide, hey, they've got a good why something that you can commission with them on that you feel like even more like you really want to help this person because they're why is like really cool and you really get to know like, hey, I just want to spend more time with my quality time with my spouse.

You know, we haven't gone dancing in three years because of this X, Y, Z. Whatever the problem or you find it really cool wise, you really get to know a person. So it's really good thing to do in the on boarding process. Um including being able to remind them about it later on. And the other thing is that it helps them to to make the commitment if they don't visit the y during your on boarding session, then um they're not, maybe not as likely to sign up with you, you know, if they've connected to their Y. And then because when you tell them the price and you know what and the commitment that they're gonna have to make, then they need to have that y right up there in the front of their brain, you know like like uh Yeah, you know just the other day I had a client who has been on an acid blocker for 20 years and been poking around on the Internet and realized that this medication wasn't, you know, 100% safe and he was concerned about, you know, the long term repercussions of it. So he came to me for a strategy for getting off of a myth result.

And when we were talking about it, I asked him what his big Y was and he said, you know, and I am a marathoner and I want to be able to run marathons into my seventies without worrying about, you know, am I getting osteoporosis? Am I getting my or my bones getting brittle because I'm not absorbing minerals. And believe me, as we went through our process, I had to pull that out a couple of times with him because you know, there were speed bumps in the process as there inevitably are and it really served both of us well.

Right, right. And and another thing about why again not to dwell too much, I want you to finish, but you know, sometimes you need to get them to go a little deeper, like what will that do for you if you're able to run? You know, marathons when you're seven, is it just to prove your bones are brittle or do you have some deeper reason for that? And then and then so you exploring the why it should should not be overlooked every So good job. So the fourth strategy is we want to base our recommendations on real data from objective testing and you know, working with nutritionists who don't have the ability to use objective testing. Um It's oftentimes a guessing game in both, you know, their their dietary recommendations and their supplement recommendations.

And when we use real data from objective lab testing, it's so much more targeted as I know, you know, well read. Um So this is like an important part of getting really, really good results and getting targeted um being real targeted in your recommendations. So this is a client that I want to just use this as an example. So this is an adrenal panel on her. You know I've been seeing her for years and I always you know suspected that she had adrenal issues And I kept telling her you know she was a high-powered exact worked 60 hours a week, constant stress and she wasn't really doing anything about it. And finally I convinced her to run this adrenal panel and you can see that you know, she's got some real cortisol rhythm issues here and it wasn't until she saw it on paper that she finally said you know you've been telling me this for years, my chiropractor's been telling me I have adrenal issues and now I really see it and understand it and it was only based on this that she was willing to cut back stop, do some, you know, meditation really mitigate those stress.

So using objective data can really really be helpful in this regard. And same with this, you know this is part of one of my clients G. I. Panels and you can see that this anti Goliad in which is the polyp peptide of gluten antibody, you know I had asked her to go gluten free and she was hit and miss because she didn't think it really bothered her, but it wasn't until she saw this that she was actually reactive to that gluten, that she was really able to remove it completely from her diet. So objective data is really powerful. It allows us to really get specific with our clients and they are more motivated and compliant as a result.

And when that happens we all get better clinical outcomes. So when I talk a little bit about resorted wellness solutions, this is our entry level programs, we have four levels, level one is mastering the art and science of gastrointestinal healing. It's a 12 week online certification program and um this is what part of our curriculum is. You learn a lot about how to assess G I function through a number of different testing options. We talk about adverse food reactions, we have modules on how to really dig deep into the diet, supplements, lifestyle emotions and then putting it all together, we have 10 Coaching calls throughout the 12 weeks.

We have an exclusive online um membership board where our policy is that no question goes unanswered. We also give you this master list of healing solutions, you know, we're not tied to anyone's supplement line, we recommend what we have found successful in our practices for the last you know,

Packages, Coaching, and the Big Why 26:00

20, years. We have a big team of instructors um that we allow every instructor to have a personal relationship with students and um and we also have the ability for you to when we go back. We also have the ability for you to run your own labs, develop your own protocol, you know sort of like healer heal thyself first and have it reviewed by one of our instructors and this is just a few comments from some of our students, Jordan says before taking your class, I thought I'd need to go to medical school to have the impact I want to make. Now I have everything I need dr Rachel Yan says resorted wellness solutions transformed my practice and has given me the confidence to approach difficult cases. And Marriott says that it's brought it all together for her and increased her confidence.

So, master in the art and science of gastrointestinal healing, we have a class starting in september september 1st. Um we're also adding for for summit members only, we're adding three bonuses, building your own personal brand, the ins and outs of supplementation and then a webinar on ketogenic diets, intermittent fasting, a weight loss, which are all the three techniques that we use a lot in our practices. So if you're interested you can go to master gut healing dot com. Hey, that's fantastic, thank you for that presentation.

I was missing seeing your face, you know uh we've been, we've been having some really great conversations, so let's pick it up where you left off there. Um I started making some notes around the time you mentioned the packages versus sessions because um you know the commitment is pretty big that they're gonna make and uh you can get them to buy a package, you're right, it takes a little bit of experience. You know, when you first come out of the training like yours or mine, I'm sure that's the same day, they're like, well, I don't know, you know, something in patches, sounds expensive, whatever, but if you go to sessions by sessions, I don't see how you can actually make as much money either. You know, since this is a professional, this, this event, this summit is for people who are considering professions, you know, that this is, you're gonna be your career or maybe it is your career and you just want to kick it up a notch, you know, and most of, most of my grads have, have had four or five different training programs, you know, that's another reason why I don't mind sharing and just introducing everybody to everybody cause you're gonna pick what feels right and then you're gonna find your niche, You decide where you need other training and things and different courses offer different stuff. You should probably have a handful of certifications if you're not a licensed practitioner, it's a lifetime education is a lifetime when it comes to nutrition, right?

Like you're never done. Yeah. Their studies done in the typical professional health coach has caused degree of some sort, some work experience and two or three certifications or more and I think today, you know that it's probably gonna end up being, they've all got a whole bunch personally, I think I have 15 and they're from everything from nutrition to personal training to massage to all these different things. So I don't think you can never stop learning. And so so with the packages, you know, you're gonna initially be able to make a good living, um, session by session, people might really not value that whatever you're trying, you know, because if you're not making 200 bucks an hour, I think you're underpriced doing what we do, lawyers charged one lawyer, he's 1100 an hour, you know, and I don't know any that aren't 500 bucks an hour and what, you know, they just have special knowledge in a special area and so do we, so we should be well paid and the reason you want to get well paid.

So you can live the lifestyle that you're trying to model for your clients. You can't model the right lifestyle if you're working out of the back of your car, you know, and these kind of things, um, you can start there but don't stay there very long. Um, another thing, I was just gonna say, I find that the package commitment so much of it has to do with the practitioners conviction that this is really what it's gonna take for you to get where you want to go, you know, and so you have to, you have to have complete faith in yourself in the process You totally do. And it may it should come quickly and and try to learn from other people's mistakes when I first started running lab work, when, when bio health opened in 1999, I just would run one or two labs on my clients. I had lots of clients that were my, there was all for bones and hormones back then. That was what was really huge.

You know, different studies. So, so bones and hormones, you know, and I'd run run a saliva test and urine test, you know? And then then I said, well, I want to look at, you know, for pathogens, okay. And they do it, you know, that's okay. Now, now we need to look for food sensitivities and they go, okay, let's do it. And you don't know how many clients said to me read, why didn't you just have me run all these labs in the beginning? And I just said, well, I don't know, I didn't think you'd run them all because it's, you know, you invested a lot of money and I can and they said, no, you should have just had me run them all in the beginning.

And because I'm because they're so into it and they get it and they like working with an objective and that's when I just started selling packages, that that's the deal. And from then on, I never looked back, you know, and, and uh, and that's what I've been teaching ever since, because people, if you go through that on process where you get there, y and you get other things that we ask in that process, they'll go, okay. I mean, most of them have seen 46 or eight different practitioners already anyway, it hasn't helped them.

And the reason is they haven't collected enough of the data, identified enough of the healing opportunities and they don't have a protocol that will address every all of it at once, every cell tissue organ system. So, so there really is a method to our madness isn't there in Absolutely, absolutely. And I, you know, when early in my career, I was afraid to do to ask people for the major commitment of a package. So I did go session by session and, you know, people would hit that speed bump and then I would just never hear from them again. And I thought, you know, I failed that. That was really what I thought.

But then what I've discovered over the years is so many of them come back, have come back back and said, you know, you were the only one that really helped me, even though I thought I'd lost them, you know, it was on me that I didn't do, I didn't make them make that commitment. That's why I think it's so important. Yeah, yeah, and um, totally. So I'm so glad to you brought up the idea of the two hats, you know, the clinician and the coach and I'll just give you and then you can, I think I understand what you're saying that um in the office when I spent those 10 years at the wellness center, I was a clinician and pretty much, you know, we run the labs and we, they would look at the results and we, you know, design a protocol and it was all highly customized things like that.

But then it was like um okay, I'll see in two weeks, you know, and that's the clinical model where um, most physicians aren't giving you much guidance on what to do between visits. At least we were given the the instructions, the guidance, the recommendations and things. But still most physicians kind of sit back and and wait for when the next appointment comes around. You know, they get out the chart and go, okay, let's see now. Oh yeah, you've got this, you know, and then well we gave you this to take and have you been taking your medication?

You know, and how you're feeling and what are your vital signs and things like, okay, keep going. But what I learned was it's what you do between the visits that really matters and that's where the coaching hat has to come on if you and why we're not, we're not clinicians really were coaches, there's there's two sides of it when you're doing the lab work. But but absolutely you can, you can't expect people to just go home and follow a complex set of instructions without some help. Right? It's hard, it's hard, you know, and so that we've got to be their cheerleader, we've gotta, you know, you know, make sure that they're successful.

And I think that the clinical hat comes in in developing trust, you know, that we really do know what we're doing, that we have that, you know, understanding of the human body. So you go back and forth between the two hats. Absolutely. Yeah. That's a really smart thing. And um what else? Let me see uh do we want to talk about here as far as your co you know, because I think coaching is going to be the number one go to place for people who have a health condition, especially if they're not getting results anywhere else. You know, like professional health coaches, more or less your independent health coach who's uh doing this as a profession.

It means, like you said, you know, your your livelihood depends on it. You better get people well, you know, so that you can get referrals and instead of having a market all the time. So, right, that's it, that that should be a referral. Uh there's a very special time in our program when we asked for the referral, almost insisting like, well you feel better, you just said, so I'm sure you want other people to feel better too, who do you know, that has a health problem that concerns them that that they actually want to do something about and all I want is an introduction.

I can't help people if I can't talk talk to them and you go in and telling them isn't gonna work. It's it's me. I'm the one that needs to talk to them and interview them. See if they're ready and you know, willing and able. So tell us tell us um any other obstacles you see practitioners having today besides not enough training. You know, if it if it's in addition to that for sure and knowing how to handle client compliance, I would say the other part of it is just, you know, we we enter this field because we have these big hearts and we want to help people and we need to also understand that we're running a business and you know know how to how to make that part of the practice successful.

And um like you said, you know have our clients referring people to us like I've never marketed my practice a day in my life. And you know, I've had a waitlist practice for many, many years. So it really comes back to your own success and your ability to get your clients to become client compliant. That just is a circular thing that will just keep coming back to you for sure. It's so funny you said that and I just had a conversation this morning about what it takes and if you're out there giving, you're going to be successful. So there's this idea, I grew up in the era of go get her, go get her, go get her, I was a real go getter and no matter what job I did, I tried to be the best that ever did it and uh you know, kind of, I don't not show off, but just show what I could do.

Uh just this is absolutely true. Just this morning,

Using Objective Testing to Improve Results 38:00

I was telling my staff, you know, in high school, one of my jobs that I had was working in a dog kennel and you know, I was not at the top of the totem pole, I was at the bottom and you know what that means in a dog kennel, you're picking up poop, you know, and I just decided that I would, no matter what the job I did, I would do it the very best and I was a great Pope paper picker upper, but I took pride, it's because I took pride in what they do, and I tried to be a professional, be a go getter.

Now that took me a long ways, but now that, you know, we're in, in the industry, in, in a big way, it's more being a go giver, and when I realized looking back the way I built my business was to go out and give lectures to go out and give these screenings to go out and give workshops and things like that when you think of it as a go giver, you go out there and just deliver, deliver, deliver, like, information, helpful stuff, get in front of as many people as you can and just show them that you love what you're doing and and be walking that talk, you know, trying to set an example when you're out there giving it's gonna come back to you, people are gonna sign up, like you just said, you've never marketed, I didn't consider all that really marketing. I just there's something I love to do and I knew I'd get clients, but, you know, you love going out there and giving those lectures or workshops or talks or webinars or things like that.

If you're into writing blogs, give them, you know, go give and you will receive Absolutely, it's so important. Read. And, you know, you and I come from the same cuddle cloth, I think, you know, I've never marketed, but I've put myself out there over and over and over again um in community talks, you know, in chiropractor offices, you have to get people to know that you're out there and, you know, it takes a little bit of courage and a lot of self confidence to do that, and I think that that's part of like developing that trust in yourself and in your own process, that, you know, the gift that you have, that you can like give people and you're so confident in that you want everybody to know it.

Yes ma'am. Absolutely there. So now some more stuff about your program. Tell tell me what some of your most successful uh students are doing well. We have such a wide variety of people come through our course. We have a lot of nutrition people health coaches but we also have chiropractors and M. D. S. Who are really wanting to understand functional nutrition. Um We have the level one is mastering the art and science of gastrointestinal healing because we believe that the gut is the highest healing priority of the body and then level two is mastering the art and science of hormone regulation where we really dive into adrenal, male cycling, female and post menopause and bone health. And then level three is functional blood chemistry from a nutritional perspective. And then we're currently in the process of writing less Four which is going to kind of be the coup de gras culmination of everything else we haven't covered. It will include the brain, auto immunity, um genetics and deep detoxification, things like mold and that kind of thing. So that will be available in April of 2021.

So we're busy over here. I know I thought I would maybe after 20 years not work so hard but it's actually the opposite. It's just cause it's bigger and bigger and there's just so much to do and uh yeah so well I hope you're getting some time off and you'll be down here in southern California at some point? Um well I'm looking forward to that, you know, I think the last time we saw each other was in Maui Hawaii. Yeah, we'll do that. Um yeah, we have a conference coming up in october, we'll talk about that afterwards. But um, so one more thing on my notes here that I want to talk about this, we talked about packages and sessions, but why do so many practitioners under charge?

Is it Justin experiences or something else too? Well, you know, um we have a way of helping a practitioner really determine how to price themselves, that I think works really well and that is um, you know, when you, when you first have to consider everything that you've invested in your education, how long you've been doing it, you know, your ability to truly help people the kind of success that you've had, when you consider all of that, then sit down and start playing with numbers and come up with.

Um even though you're working in packages, you kind of want to think about it in terms of an hourly rate and then how many hours you're gonna put into that package, but when you're considering your hourly rate, think about a number, let's just say you come up with, you know, a figure, you want to sit with that and go, how does that feel? Do I feel like that feels good or is it not enough or am I like, oh God I could never ask for that amount of money and then just start moving up and down the scale until you come to a point where it feels just right for where you are right now, you know? But that feels like a really fair and adequate amount to charge. I I don't think it's a great value to ask other people what they're charging or you know like it's up to you to determine your own value and most people undervalue themselves tremendously. So you know, I think that right? I mean for what people invested in their in their education, you need to be charging for it.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean and no one can tell you uh what you what you should charge. No man can put a price on my service. And likewise, I'm very respectful, I can't put a price on another person's service. If someone comes to me to fix my pool or do some plumbing or build, build a brick wall in the backyard and they tell me, well here's what I charge. You know I have, I have a laborer, he charges this, I charge this for supervision. I have another guy who's a skilled worker. He this is uh that's that's great. You know like what am I gonna do?

Beat the guy down, you know like I don't do that. Yeah I was like okay if I want you, this is what I'm gonna have to pay and, and you, you know, you either have the money or you don't, or you go get it. You know, one of the funny thing is, uh, one of my biggest promoters, Sean Croxton tells the story when he, when he first wanted to take my course, he had just bought a tv, ended up taking it back to Lowe's or wherever, getting his money back so he can pay for the course. So don't let people tell you, they don't have the money, you know? Oh, I love that story.

That is so good. You know, people, people will get it if it's really important for sure. Another thing I bring up sometimes and is, um, and sometimes I just do it automatically when, when I give the price, I'll say now that might sound like a lot of money to you, but if this was your dog that we were talking about saving its life and you wouldn't even think about it, you would write me the check right now if it was your dog and people do, I mean, I've had pets, you know, and if the doctor says, oh, he needs a new something, you know, we've got to repair this, repair that and it's five grand, you just go okay, you don't think about where the money is coming from and so should I spend it? You just go, okay? If it was your kid, you'd pay three times that much, whatever it is.

So why, why won't people spend that on themselves? It's just so you can have that conversation with them. And I started, I break the ice with that. If it was your dog, you'd spend it. I like that. I like that. And of course you, the other thing you could do is decide how much money you want to make in a year And how many clients you can handle and do the math. If you, if you want to make, you know, $100,000, that should be easy, easy money with an organized, uh, you know, if you're a go giver in the health business, um, that should not be a stretch to anyone's imagination, 100 grand a year.

But if you only charge a dollar per person, you'd have to see 100,000 people. So you can start doing the math. Well, I can reasonably see this many a week, therefore I have to stay in business and to meet my goals. I'm gonna have to charge at least this much and it's more than you think. And so if you're not charging that much, you're underpriced.

Restorative Wellness Solutions and Training Programs 47:00

I also think that, you know, when, when somebody hears about you and how great you've done with them, that that makes the price all the more palatable result. Like who do you hear about me from? Oh yeah, good one. So, um, so you know that they kind of have an idea what the ballpark might be, you know, and look, you can do charity work if you want to, but that's on the side, you know, like I've got my charities a number of them, but it's not my work, even though we do give scholarships and things like that, you can still do lots of charity work. You can be as altruistic if you like.

Yeah, but you know, you you just, you gotta find some customers and and treat them like, like good customers, that means charge them. So, let's see, I have just maybe a couple more questions here. And um, we we alluded to this a little bit in our conversation here and before we started recording, we were talking about the role of health coaching in today's healthcare space or sphere. Let's talk about that. I'd love to Yeah, I feel like we have so much to offer above the conventional medical system, partly because of what I talked about the whole model is that you only go there when you're sick, That's not our model.

You know, you come to us to Optimize wellness and that's a completely different model and one that I'm thrilled to be a part of. Yeah, let's say it another way to help people be their best, you know, sometimes Optimize wellness is a bit of a euphemism, what, what the hell does that mean? You know, it's like, be your best, have lots of energy. Get up every day with your feet hitting the floor feeling pretty good about yourself, having a sense of well being, um, having all your meals be very satiating and producing lots of energy.

And again, that, that sense of well being, so, you know what to eat and you're, you're getting a good night's sleep and all the energy. You got clear thinking and, you know, it's not just a lack of symptoms because a lot of people like you just said, they, like, if this was the wellness meter, you know, and here's no symptoms, people say, oh, I'm fine. Why no symptoms as soon as they have a symptom headaches or you just fatigue, you know, they'll, they'll take something to get back to no symptoms.

Well, if this is fatigue, that's a symptom, well, here's no symptom, what's this? An abundance of energy, you know, and if you're like sick, all the, yeah, and if you're sick all the time, or, or a lot you're catching every cold and sniffle when your kids, what's this? This is a kick ass immune system that doesn't get sick, it takes something really virulent. And even even if you do get a bug or something, you, you usually can get over really fast without a lot of sense. So there's a lot more than just no symptoms or symptoms, no symptoms and, and symptoms, You know, there's like, all this, uh, immune system working great and lots of energy and clear thinking and sense of well being and you know really that's how you can work on joy and being happy in the world. You know, you can't do it.

I'm really proud to be part of changing that paradigm of, you know, let's, let's not look for a medication. There is no magic bullet. You know, like we really have to take responsibility for our own sense of wellness, energy, joy, you know, whatever we have, it's really on us to, um, to optimize to, to be your best. Absolutely. You know, how many drugs are on the market today, I'll just tell you it's almost 1500 it's over 14, it's like over 1400 different you think there's not enough drugs in the world.

There's a drug freaking for everything, you know, And I think personally that most of them are just made up. Uh, but they're patented, you know, drugs, new molecular entities that exist and it's, it's going on 1500 different drugs. How many conditions are there that you can think of? It just like this just crazy to me, you know, and to a lot of the people in our space. So, um, we don't need more drugs, We need more, we don't need medication, you know, we need education and uh, so we say we don't medicate, we educate, you know, the other thing I think about with medication is that, you know, there are no clinical studies of any kind of drug combination beyond two or three, you know, and think about how many people are on 456 medications they're taking drugs to treat the side effects of medications. You know, we have to change that paradigm of that works because it doesn't work.

You know, we have to, we have to real, we have to make people realize, help them understand, educate them that there's more to life and that, you know, eating well, moving, sleeping well is not that difficult, you know? And and like the results are amazing. Yeah, just just um, but as we wind it down here, um, you know, and we were talking about the role of the health coach today, um, the only study being done now, uh if you go to uh clinical studies dot Gov or something like that, the only study being done on health coaching is can they increase compliance with medication taking in cases of IBD irritable bowel disease. It's the only, the current only study on health coaching is can it help people stay on their medication now, that's the wrong system for us. That's not what that's not what health coaches want to do for a living is, is make sure you're taking your medication on time, you know? And so, um, it tells me that in the future as health coaching becomes more prevalent, that on the medical side it will be uh we're going to start calling institutional health coaching.

That's what their job is just to basically just going to foster and continue to foment the idea of disease management. And it will help you, you need coaching to help manage that. Disease doctors get that. It's what people do between visits that matters, not what they do in the office. Other unless it's surgery. So, so there there they get that health coaches could be helpful, but that's not what. So they're actually appropriating health coaching because health coaching was founded in helping people reach those optimum states of health.

There be your best, you know, not be compliant and manage your disease. That's not what we started health coaching for all those years ago before we called it health coaching. You know, so I don't like this appropriation by the american or Western medicine model personally. Well, that's certainly not what you and I are about. And we're doing everything we can to turn that around. Well, what else could we be doing here as we wind it down again. Uh, what else should we be doing as professionals to help the space?

I think there's so much to be said for. Um, you know, walking your talk as you said. You know, we can't, can't ask anybody anything that we're not doing ourselves. And, you know, one of the things that has become really apparent to me in this whole lockdown of the coronavirus is, um, how important my own health is.

Pricing, Professionalism, and the Role of Health Coaching 55:00

And the things that I need to do to be more proactive about that. Not that I wasn't before, but I'm even more committed, you know, I have a, have a big birthday this year and um, you know, and I'm, I'm super proud of the health that I have, you know, and I wanna, I wanna keep it going as long as I can, I'm not gonna ask which birthday, but I'm sure I saw it a long time ago, whatever it is. Um, I'm gonna tell you, I'm turning 65 this year. Oh my God. Yeah, well, you sure don't look it, you know? Yeah, I didn't think that at all, so, uh, but I still got you beat now, so, so, last thing, last thing here, and it's been so much fun talking with you.

Uh, what, what, what do you think really separates a pro from a hobbyist in the, in health coaching field, commitment, um, commitment to your purpose, um, experimentation, You know, Like, I'm sure you could say the same thing that I'm about to say, read in your career, you know, I practiced a million different ways of presenting things to people until I found what really works because I knew it worked, you know, and, and just really being your most creative self, being 100% committed, taking classes, getting more education, never quitting, you know? One of the things I love about this field is we can't ever know it all, you know, it's what's kept me engaged for all these years.

You know, I can't ever know it all because it just is ever evolving and then you're dealing with biochemical individuality of every person is different. And so you know just keep going, keep growing, keep going, keep growing. Let's end it with that. It's a very positive note. And I thank you so much. And for being here, I'm sure people are gonna really like. Yeah yeah. Good to be with you. We did. Um uh we're gonna make sure your information goes in the show notes too. And I'm gonna encourage people to go out there to those show notes right now and by your V. I. P.

Passes while they are still available because once this is off the air and you won't be able to buy them anymore. And uh so there's your word of advice from an and I and thanks again. Thanks reed. Take care