Why people need you (story about my daughter)
Do you ever have doubts about whether people really need what you have to offer?
Do you sometimes wonder why someone would hire you, when there’s so much free valuable information out there?
There certainly are people who are DIYers. They’ll do their own research, make a plan, and be determined enough to carry out their plan independently. Some portion of these DIYers will be lucky enough to see long-term results. These people are not the norm.
Most people aren’t able to (and don’t want to) go it alone.
I’m a good researcher, can be very self-directed, and I’m great at following a plan. That said, I’m a prime example of someone who wants and needs support on my health journey – and my family’s health journey.
Today, I’m going to share a personal story about my daughter’s health, our family’s journey towards healing her, and what we’ve needed along the way.
The last two years have been challenging for our family as my six year old daughter has been struggling with a variety of health issues (physical and emotional/behavioral in nature). You can certainly understand this if you have children who have struggled with health issues.
Despite taking her off gluten, dairy, eggs, and refined sugar, her symptoms continued to get worse.
A couple of months ago, I found out that she has dysbiosis (yeast and bacterial overgrowth). Her yeast overgrowth is off the charts. (I’ve been sharing about our journey on our Facebook Page.)
I am grateful to have, what will hopefully be, the answer to why our daughter has been experiencing the kinds of symptoms we’ve observed.
I was only able to get this diagnosis by working with my amazing nutritionist, Andrea Nakayama. The doctors we’ve seen weren’t able to uncover this diagnosis. And, in fact, they felt it was foolish to test for yeast or bacterial overgrowth.
Immediately after learning her diagnosis, I went into research mode. I’m a former health coach and I know a fair amount about health and nutrition. I never worked with clients to help them overcome yeast overgrowth, but I was familiar with candida and the basics of the anti-candida diet.
I was in a better position than most to figure things out on my own and get my daughter on an anti-candida diet.
But the more I researched, the more confused I became. I had heard there were hundreds of anti-candida diets out there and in fact there are! And each protocol I found had different parameters. I was left wondering what was truly OK to eat and how long we needed to stay on the diet. (We decided to go on the diet as a family.)
As you can see…
My health coaching background wasn’t enough.
Knowing where to look for information wasn’t enough.
Having a wealth of recipes at my disposal wasn’t enough.
What I needed was hand holding. I needed someone to tell me exactly what to do. I needed someone to answer my questions each step of the way.
This is what I’ve gotten from my nutritionist and her team.
And this is what clients need from YOU!
There’s no lack of information (even free information) on most health issues. But people desperately need and want more than information. I speak from personal experience when I say that your potential clients want someone knowledgeable to provide them with trustworthy information and to support them as they navigate their journey towards better health.
Trust me when I say that you can’t be replaced by a book, website, or magazine article.
The work you are doing is incredibly important!
Without your guidance and coaching, your potential clients are dramatically less likely to improve their health. I want to express my deepest gratitude for all that you do to effect change in people’s health (and the world).
Now I’d love to hear from you.
Think of a time when you supported a client, friend, or family member and felt very clear that you played an important role. I’d also love to hear about a time when you were supported by a health practitioner in a way that aided your healing. What did you find specifically helpful? Please share your thoughts below.
