We are very excited to welcome Michelle Terry, BHC Graduate and ICF-Certified Coach to our Day In The Life Blog. Michelle is in the same place in her coaching journey as many of our students are—she is just starting to build her coaching business. Read below to find out how Michelle manages a full time job, family, and building her business!

A Little About Me…
Hey! My name is Michelle Terry and I’m anew BHC graduate and a longtime writer, dietitian, and healthcare consultant. Empty-nester, mama to two (and wife to one), I’m always stretching, reaching, fluttering; doing something to make my life and others’ lives more joyful places to live, eat, breathe, and dance.

I currently work full-time as a solutions consultant for a large corporation and travel the country helping health systems improve their patient care and health outcomes. I teach doctors, nurses, and other clinicians how to communicate with their patients in ways that activate individuals to take better care of themselves.

As a coach, I spend my days helping people fight aging, chronic disease, and self-doubt by harnessing their internal strengths. I preach the superpowers of mindfulness, self-care, and gratitude and make it my mission to collaborate with clients to live their best life through movement, meditation, and mindful eating. A self-proclaimed sufferer of shiny object syndrome, you are meeting me on my journey to establishing a career as a health coach and nutrition counselor.

I’ve been a registered dietitian for twenty-eight years, but until I expanded my education to include health and life coaching through HCI, I didn’t know what was missing from my conversations. My skills didn’t include addressing stress management, self-efficacy, and stretch goals. When I enrolled in BHC, it was with the intent to improve my teaching and communication skills for my day job as well as enhance some of my writing projects. Since completing the program, I am inspired to launch a career in coaching.

I invite you to walk with me on a day in the life. Hold on to your hat! I don’t stay in one place for very long.

How I Spend My Day…

A self-proclaimed morning joy junkie, I make myself stay in bed until 5:00. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I’m out the door by 5:05 so I can practice hot yoga at a local studio. I prefer vinyasa and the flow sets a positive mood for hectic weeks full of travel, projects, and coaching.

After three years of regular practice, I am pursuing my yoga teacher training and will eventually integrate that into my coaching business (think: yoga/wellness retreats!).

Once I’m home from yoga, I lace up my sneakers and go for a short run. Running has been a regular part of my life for decades, and it’s only in the last four years that I’ve had to lessen my mileage due to aging knees and injuries. I’ve had to change my all-or-none exercise, and use my struggles to make coaching conversations more rich and authentic. Because of my schedule, I can coach people about how to stay active while traveling. No matter where I am or what the weather, I find a way to run, explore the cities, and do yoga on the road. I teach my clients the same skills.

After exercise, I meditate, do some daily reading, and plan my day while in the shower. Breakfast is a must, and I make sure that a high-quality protein is the star of the show. Usually eggs and whole wheat toast, but I’m not against a leftover chicken breast or Caprese salad!

Before I start my consultant job, I set goals for the coaching practice and jot down the daily tasks that I’ll do at the end of the day. Right now, that includes working on my website and blog, building nutrition content for newsletters, and marketing posts for new clients.

I’m at my desk by 8:00 and work at my day-job from my home office or teach in various cities such as Denver, St. Louis, Kansas City, Nashville, Austin, and Oklahoma City. Health coaching and consulting are amazing complements to each other, and I use my BHC skills to provide better classes, lecture series, and client engagement. Most of my close-the-deal conversations have emerged from the students I’ve had in class. It works well in my busy lifestyle because I conduct the sessions over the phone in the evenings—even if I’m in a hotel.

By the time lunch rolls around, I’m knee-deep in projects, teaching, or grabbing a free moment to work on my book (Cultivating Joy: Find Your Inner Peace Through Mantras and Mindset). I often forget to eat, so I try to stay mindful and aware of the time so I’m not munching down low-energy snacks and carbs when I’m hungry later. On the road, I reach for high-protein, high-energy fruit, veggies, and lean meat—usually in a salad and with lots of water. At home, I crave what I grow in the backyard garden.

During workdays, I stay mindful of my activity level and water intake. Both are easy to neglect when inundated with projects and desk-bound teleconferences. I integrate these concepts into client calls, newsletters, and blog content. If I have a live client discussion, I bring that person into my office, always offering water and having healthy snacks at arm’s length. My afternoon go-to is oatmeal, blueberries, and pecans.

If I’m at my home office, I break from work at 4 or 5 and spend one or two hours building my coaching business. If I’m traveling for work, I integrate the tasks at the end of the workday, or before bedtime. My block schedule looks like this:

  • Monday: Schedule review and task organization
  • Tuesday: Client calls (client marketing if there are no calls)
  • Wednesday: Website, newsletter, and social media—prewrite and schedule daily content
  • Thursday: Client calls (client marketing if there are no calls)
  • Friday: Review of the previous week, expenses, clean off the desk
  • Every day: social media engagement—not always health related, but something motivating and relevant to my readers and followers

I’m building a client base through my blog, newsletter, Facebook, and Instagram audiences. At this time, I have more than 12,000 followers in all social media outlets. My goal is to attract clients by establishing authentic relationships. I want clients who want to live their best life and desire more than lower numbers on a scale. Life is a precious gift, and I’m called to help people embrace their natural skills to live a more healthy, grateful, abundant life.

If I’ve sat at my desk all day, I run to the laundry room and do a quick heavy bag workout to clear the cobwebs. Even thirty minutes gives me the energy to finish the day strong with my health coaching tasks. I have been working the plans in the HCI $2K in 2 Months challenge. Right now, I’m completing the Getting Clients Starter Kit and tweaking my starter niche. I love to write and create, and I’m still crafting my descriptor Hot Hook.

At 6:00, if I don’t have client calls (and I’m at home!) I emerge from the basement, often to find a home cooked meal waiting for me. My husband, Scott, and I have been married for 28 years. He is a retired communications executive and now works as a realtor. He makes sure I’m watered, fed, and cared for; and, unlike my houseplants, I thrive under those conditions. Evenings are spent in our recently emptied nest, still talking about our children. Dane, 18, is playing football and majoring in business at college. Our daughter, Tanna, is a 24-year-old college graduate and embarking upon her own health coaching and personal training career. I love my family; they are who keep me grounded, happy, and grateful.

Final Thoughts

Some parting tips I’d like to leave with you today.

  • Be yourself. Your clients, your referral partners, your family—they only want the real you. Don’t be afraid to show your authentic, amazing self.
  • Practice gratitude. Being grateful for this life sets the stage for the abundance that will follow.
  • Write volunteerism and charity into your business plan. What you put forth comes back tenfold. That applies to money, service, kindness, and so much more.
  • Be open to vulnerability. People connect with us when we shed our armor. Let down your guard. Share your stories.
  • But not too open! You are sharing pieces of yourself every day in this coaching space. Take time for self-care, plentiful sleep, and healthy relationship boundaries.
  • Just jump. This was the hardest part for me. Always a careful planner and list-maker, I wanted everything in place before starting. When an unsolicited client called and asked for a consultation, I said yes. Even though my website wasn’t ready and my office was a little messy, I invited her over that night. She is still my client and doing amazing things.
  • Just keep swimming. There will be days when life is overwhelming and you can’t possibly imagine getting it all done. Remember that those busy days are what you hoped for when you first signed up for this BHC journey.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and follow me a day in the life. I am so grateful for you!
You can find and follow me here:
Website: http://www.mamamickterry.com
Instagram: @mamamickterry
Facebook: fb.me/MichelleTerryHealthCoach
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mamamickterry/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mamamickterry
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