Am I Crazy for Adding Another Credential?

Emily Woods Wellness (part one)

Health is everything. Photo by Vitalii Pavlyshynets on Unsplash

I’ll never niche my writing.

Never say never, but I don’t think I ever will.

I enjoy the variability and randomness of writing whatever I feel in the moment. On Medium, I’m even more random.

I suppose I’m niche-adjacent here, as I often write about career exploration, parenting and all the shiny objects that stand in my way of obtaining clarity and working toward a solid goal.

It’s sort of a niche-esque newsletter.

I’m so grateful for all of you who’ve stuck with me as I’ve navigated my very long and very confusing return to work after an 11 year hiatus.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned paying $13 for a Find Your Niche course by Emily Woods Wellness. But enrolling in this mini course wasn’t about writing— I was exploring business ideas.

And so far, I’d say it was money well spent.

I mean, it wasn’t as if I experienced a groundbreaking revelation or learned anything new, per se. But Emily provided food for thought through some of her exercises.

And I don’t know about you, but I appreciate any time someone is able to make me ponder something in a new way or consider an idea I’ve never considered before.

So, in this newsletter edition, I’d like to start digging a little deeper into her exercises and outline what I’ve learned so far.

But let me back up first.

How did I stumble upon Emily Woods Wellness to begin with?

I recently had an epiphany of sorts.

I’m not quite sure what sparked this change in thinking, but seemingly out of the blue it dawned on me that the reason I’m struggling to get back into the workforce, commit to a specific field or even try therapy on a part-time basis, is because what I really, truly want is to do things on my own terms.

I sat with that epiphany for quite a while, allowing it to sink in and resonate deeply.

And I realized, it has to be my project, my way of doing things and my vision in order for me to feel comfortable getting back into the field of therapy.

And why not? After all, we now live in a permissionless society.

And everything’s online. With the click of a few buttons, we can reach thousands of people. It’s never been easier to start an online business.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t require a steep learning curve before I get there. Regardless, I’ve become resigned to the idea of starting my own business and doing therapy my way.

I call it therapy light, where I combine the convenience of AI and the heart-centered humanness of traditional talk therapy.

That’s all I’ll say about the idea for now.

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But let me back up again.

I knew I needed a niche. So I dug deep and really got to the bottom of who I wanted to work with and what issues I wanted to help solve.

One thing kept coming to mind as it’s something near and dear to my heart; health. Specifically, how the brain and body are connected and how one effects the other.

My ideal client would have a solutions-focused mindset and would be open to learning about how daily habits effect mental and emotional wellbeing.

In order to feel more confident getting started, I felt I needed to brush up on my health and fitness knowledge to better serve clients.

In hindsight, I knew more than I thought I did. The health coaching course felt like a review vs. new information. Enrolling was kind of a silly decision, really. I mean, for the past decade, I’ve been living and breathing health and fitness.

This was yet another example of me getting stuck in my old way of thinking; believing I needed to ask permission to engage in health and fitness-related change talk with clients.

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At this point, I stumbled upon Emily Woods Wellness.

I resonated with her views and her personality, so I signed up for the same health coaching certification course she took before she switched gears to focus on the business side of things.

Her first recommendation was to examine my personal story before deciding on a niche.

I won’t get too far into it here because I’ve written my story before, but here’s the shortened version:

I suffered from anxiety and panic attacks throughout my twenties. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what was wrong or how to fix it.

It’s easy for me to look back and say I was completely clueless then. And while that’s partially true, the reality is much more nuanced than cluelessness alone.

I treated my body like a trash can. I drank, smoked and ate shitty food. I stayed out late, consumed too much caffeine and attempted to juggle too many things at once.

I was in graduate school, working full time, managing an internship, trying to keep up with my hard-partying friends while struggling financially and barely able to pay my bills.

It’s no wonder I had anxiety.

The reasons seem so obvious now.

But back then, I simply couldn’t figure it out. I didn’t know what to give up, how long to give it up for or what changes would have the biggest impact on my mental health.

So, I tried everything and stuck with nothing.

For example, I gave up drinking for 2-3 weeks, saw no improvement and jumped right back into drinking again.

Or, I’d give up smoking and take up jogging only to throw in the towel a couple weeks later after determining my symptoms hadn’t changed.

I kicked toxic people out of my life while welcoming new ones in.

Nothing was working. Eventually, I gave up on self-experimentation and turned to medication. I was prescribed an SSRI to manage my symptoms.

I’d like to say this was the magic pill I was after— that it worked implicitly.

But again, the truth is more nuanced.

The medication was only part of the solution. More impactful than the SSRI was the timing of meeting my husband, conceiving our first child and embarking on an epic quest for health that changed the course of my life.

My son became my main focus and my main reason for staying healthy, giving up alcohol, ditching cigarettes, learning to cook healthy food and sticking with an exercise routine.

I wanted to be the best mom and healthiest version of myself for him.

And low and behold, as soon as I changed my habits, I no longer needed the medication and the anxiety all but vanished.

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It’s been a long journey to get to where I am today.

If only I had someone to guide me back then. If I had a therapist or health coach available to listen, to help me get to the bottom of why I always turned to alcohol—to help me explore my feelings and understand how those feelings were directly tied to my habits, I may have been able to enjoy my twenties more.

I’ve learned so much in the past several years and all the health-related information I’ve gained through first-hand experience has played a major role in me leading a happy, healthy and contented life today.

I’m so proud of how far I’ve come.

And I’m confident in my ability to guide others through similar struggles.

So, that’s my story.

My therapy niche is holistic wellness.

My ideal client is someone who’s struggling with mood and health-related issues but who’s open to learning new concepts and trying new approaches.

I’m excited for this next chapter. And the best part? I’ve stopped waiting to be given opportunities. I’m carving my own path now.

And I’m no longer asking permission.

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Thanks for being here!

I’ll dive deeper into these exercises next week in part 2.

Care to buy me a coffee?