How To Become a Certified Holistic Nutritionist & Make a Living Doing It
I’m always a little bit surprised, confused and elated when people ask me how I got to where I am today. Partially because I don’t feel like I've really "arrived" at the place where people think I might be and partially because I can remember myself, not too many years ago, reaching out to people to ask them the same thing.
In the same breath, I’m also learning that you never really do “arrive” and that there is no true destination – only a journey – which is why I wanted to share mine with you today.
My Career and Business-Building Journey
To save your eyes from reading all of the nitty-gritty details of my career and business-building journey, I’m going to direct you to Episode 21 of my podcast, The Fill Your Cup Podcast, if you haven’t listened to it yet. You can listen to it below or on iTunes, Spotify and/or Google Play.
In the episode, I share all of the details of my entire career journey, from starting in musical theatre, to marketing to eventually becoming a Holistic Nutritionist and an Emotional Eating Coach, as well as tips you can implement to move closer towards your dream career or dream business.
Looking back, it’s almost laughable at how everything happened for a reason; a good lesson for those that might be struggling with where they are currently at. But just know that everything you are experiencing now is simply preparing you for the goodness that lies ahead!
If you have any questions about how to actually listen to the podcast or specific questions about my career journey, you’re always welcome to email me!
The Road To Becoming a Holistic Nutritionist
It wasn’t until mid-way through my fast and furious year in advertising that I started to contemplate a career in nutrition. I was always interested in health and nutrition, but I hadn’t actually contemplated a career in it.
If you listened to Episode 21 of the Fill Your Cup Podcast, you may have heard that Meghan Telpner’s dad, Ron Telpner, was one of the co-founders of the advertising agency I was working at (which is called Bob’s Your Uncle, formerly known as The Brainstorm Group). I must have expressed to him one day that I was interested in nutrition, to which he said, “you should check out my daughter Meghan!” I had no idea who Meghan was at the time, but once I landed on her website, I knew that what she was doing was exactly what I wanted to do. I ended up completing a 3-month internship with her and then went on to study at The Institute of Holistic Nutrition.
For those that are currently considering a career in holistic nutrition and aren’t sure where to study, how to make a living as a nutritionist or how to find your niche, I’ve shared my tips and advice below based on my personal experience but I always encourage you to do your own research as well and find things out for yourself (a strategy that has always served me well) because what jived with me, may not necessarily jive with you!
Finding The Right Holistic Nutrition School For You
It’s really so amazing that there are so many options now to study and pursue a career in nutrition.
Before (and still now), the more common nutrition route was the Dietetics route which is 4 years long and can be covered under most people’s insurance plans. Since Dietetics is a regulated profession, there are more strict guidelines in terms of what you can and can’t advise (i.e. typically Dietitian’s have to teach the Canada Food Guide). If you are interested in pursuing this route, I would suggest reaching out to a Dietitian directly on Instagram or at your local grocery store and asking them about their experience.
If you’d like to take the alternative nutrition/holistic nutrition route, there are a few options for schools you can study at:
The Institute of Holistic Nutrition (IHN)
The Canadian School of Natural Nutrition (CSNN)
The Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN)
Alive Academy
Edison Institute of Nutrition
I chose the Institute of Holistic Nutrition (1 year - full time) for a few reasons.
The curriculum reflected everything I wanted to immerse myself in (holistic nutrition, holistic lifestyle, natural supplementation)
The Mississauga campus was down the street from me and I knew I wanted an in-person experience (they also have a campus in North York/Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver).
I attended the open house for CSNN (I personally didn’t have a great experience)
I wanted a designation that would make me more credible as a Holistic Nutritionist (In hindsight, I’m not sure how much this part matters since holistic nutrition isn’t a regulated profession. I graduated as a CNP which is a Certified Nutritional Practitioner but I refer to myself as a Holistic Nutritionist. I would have preferred to graduate with CSNN’s designation which is RHN, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, but I wasn’t thrilled about the school after attending the open house)
IHN had a 100-hour co-op experience to provide you with hands-on learning
I reached out and met with people who had been to both schools (IHN & CSNN) and I felt like more drawn to IHN after that.
Joy McCarthy (of Joyous Health) went to IHN and was doing great things, so if I went, I was sure to do great things (ha! hilarious, but true)
I never looked at the other options I listed because I didn’t know about half of them and the other one (IIN) was online and I knew I wanted an in-person experience.
I also chose the Full Time program (2 classes at a time, 4 days/week, 4 hours/day for 1 year) instead of the Part Program (1 class at a time, 2 days/week, evenings optional, for 2+ years, or however long you take to complete it up to 10 years) because I wanted to get it done sooner.
Admittedly, I went into the program a bit cocky, thinking “whatever, I’ve done university – 1 year will be a walk in the park” – and it was the furthest from that. It was WAY harder than university!
I haven’t been to college but I would imagine it being somewhat similar, in that it was way more hands-on applied learning. Not to mention, you actually want and need to remember the things you're learning, whereas, in university, you could get by with simply knowing the information for your exam (at least in my field of Communications).
In terms of my actual experience, I am still very glad that I went to The Institute of Holistic Nutrition – it was the best year of my life and I left feeling so inspired and filled to the brim with knowledge every day. With that said, I didn't love all of my teachers and the actual curriculum could use an update. I graduated in Fall of 2016 so this might already be in the works.
Setting Up Your Holistic Nutrition Business
When you graduate from nutrition school, you're going to be so excited and will want to hit the ground running right away. But it's so important that you first take the time to build a strong foundation of your business, which includes getting clear on the "why" behind what you're doing, your niche, your offerings, building a website, starting and growing a community, an email list and getting the admin stuff in order.
Once you do this, everything will run much more smoothly. You can even start doing some of this while you're in school. IHN has a course called Professional Practice which somewhat prepares you for this, but unfortunately, there's so much more that goes into this process.
It's why I'm such a huge advocate of the Joyous Health Business program for those that are starting their nutrition or wellness business. The Joyous Health Business program is a 12-week online learning experience created by wellness entrepreneurs (Joy McCarthy, Walker Jordan and the Joyous Health Team) for wellness entrepreneurs.
Over the 12-weeks, you'll be taken through 6 modules covering everything from:
Building The Foundation of Your Business – mapping out your business model, getting clear on your "why" and defining your niche.
Cultivating Community – creating an engaged and loyal community, best practices for all social channels, the best community-building tools and time-saving tips to create and execute content
Making Money – how to actually monetize your passion, price your offerings, create engaging and profitable content and feel-good sales strategies
Business Administration – key accounting practices to keep everything organized, automation tips and tricks, creating seamless customer experiences
Leaving Your Mark & Staying Motivated – an opportunity to hear and learn from industry professionals who occupy roles as podcasters, CEOs, nutritionists, naturopaths and public speakers
How To Make It All Happen – setting clear and actionable objectives to get your business moving, choosing the right website and CRM (email list) platform for your business, generating leads for your newsletter list
Depending on your needs, there are 3 ways to join the program – Basic (start whenever you wish!), Essential or Premium, which also come with bonus perks. You can find all of the information for the program over here.
Am I biased because I previously worked with Joyous Health and played a minor role in putting the program together? Maybe. But I would never recommend anything that I didn't give my "Rach stamp of approval" of, or that I didn't experience and use myself.
I cannot recommend this program enough, especially if you are a new graduate or a current wellness professional looking for support and guidance with your business, or strategies to take it to the next level.
How To Make Money As a Holistic Nutritionist
One thing they don't tell you when you become a Holistic Nutritionist is that there aren't many jobs waiting for you upon graduation like there are jobs waiting for say police officers or nurses after graduating. There are definitely some though and IHN is great at sending out a monthly newsletter with job opportunities/listings, but for the most part, you need to be ready to create your own opportunities.
Some ways you can go about generating revenue as a Holistic Nutritionist are:
1:1 Coaching (my Intuitive Way For Eating program is an example of this)
Online Program (my Break Free Method program is an example of this)
Group Coaching (online program OR in-person)
Workshops (online OR in-person)
Brand Partnerships (sponsored Instagram posts, Instagram stories, Facebook posts, podcast ad sponsorship)
Content Marketing (sponsored blog posts)
Content Creation (writing, food photography or styling for a brand)
Public Speaking/Corporate Wellness/Workshops
Spokesperson/Brand Ambassador Work
Podcasting (shameless plug – check out the Fill Your Cup podcast!)
Creating products
The reality is that you will likely end up doing an eclectic mix of all of these things and I personally think, that's what makes this industry so wonderful! I don't love doing the same thing day in and day out (hence why you may know me as a Holistic Nutritionist, Intuitive Eating Coach, former Kombucha Making Workshop Facilitator and a Marketing Guru!), so this really works for me and of course, you can gravitate to the things that you enjoy doing the most!
How To Become an Emotional Eating Coach or an Intuitive Eating Coach
While I wrote this post intending to provide support for aspiring Holistic Nutritionists, I also get this question a bit as well so I wanted to address it – how I went on to become an Emotional Eating Coach.
After a year of practicing as a Holistic Nutritionist, I was noticing a pattern with my clients, and that was emotional eating. If you've ready my Disordered Eating story, you may already know that emotional eating and a disordered relationship with food was very much part of my past. Once I started seeing it come up in my practice, it became clear to me that I needed to move my practice in that direction. It was what I found myself to be most passionate about and there seemed to be a need for it.
I contemplated whether I pursue more education, but at the time, I felt like I needed a break from school. From working 1:1 with clients for a year, I also realized how much learning came from actually diving into the work and doing it – so I did that.
I started listening to every emotional eating and an intuitive eating-related podcast, read every book and connected with professionals in the field. I ended up hiring Dr. Jillian Murphy who is a Naturopathic Doctor and also an Intuitive Eating/Body Image Coach as my mentor and would pay her to tell me everything I needed to know.
In the next year or so, I may consider enrolling at the Institute for the Psychology of Eating or explore Intuitive Eating Studies and getting certified as an Intuitive Eating Coach through Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch. I share that with you in the event that you're looking for further education on the topic. But for the time being, I am learning a ton by diving in, doing the work with clients and connecting with other practitioners in the industry and learning from them.
If you are not interested in becoming an Intuitive Eating Coach, but want to introduce an anti-diet approach with your clients that will set them up for success without restrictions or triggering recommendations, I recommend my colleague Stephanie Dodier’s Non-Diet Professional Mentorship Program.
Advice For Aspiring Holistic Nutritionists or Wellness Professionals
Start before you're ready – You may not ever feel ready (I know I didn't and still don't), but you just need to start. Trust that you will figure things out along the way. One day you will look back and see what you built and be so glad that you just started! Plus, nobody actually knows what they're doing :).
Start marketing yourself right away – One day when I was mid-way through my studies at IHN, I just decided that from that day forward I would aim to post on Instagram every single day. I would start marketing myself as a holistic wellness professional. I knew that not everyone would be ready to invest in me and my services right away, but one day when they realized they themselves, or a friend or family member needed holistic nutrition support, they would think "ah, Rachel can help me with that!" because I continued to keep myself top of mind.
The industry is not as saturated as you think – Yes, there are a ton of us Holistic Nutritionists and wellness professionals out in the world today (which is AMAZING!) but there are actually only so many of those people that are actually doing something with it, which brings me to my next point ...
This industry and career will be what you make of it – Becoming a Holistic Nutritionist is one thing, but actually doing something with it is, well, kind of important if you want to succeed in this industry. You need to be ready to work and create your own opportunities. I remember when working for Meghan Telpner, telling her that I was so ready to do this work and that I just wanted an opportunity to fall into my lap so I could start building. The best piece of advice she said to me was "Rachel, nothing is going to fall into your lap. Put something into place and start building". And so I built (and continue to build!).
You can't just work when you're feeling inspired – Being a Holistic Nutritionist (and an Emotional Eating Coach) is incredibly rewarding, but it's still a job. There are going to be days where you're filled to the brim with inspiration and motivation and other days where you feel like you aren't being heard, you're not making as much money and you feel like you're failing. But you need to keep going. This career is a rollercoaster and it's going to come with highs and lows. The difference between the people that are really making it in the field and those that aren't doing anything is that they didn't stop; they kept going. Keep. Going!
I hope that gives you more insight and a better understanding of how to become a Holistic Nutritionist or an Intuitive Eating or Emotional Eating Coach. What I can tell you for sure is that if you are passionate about either of these areas and thinking of making a career out of it, GO FOR IT. It may be hard at first when you're setting up your business and everything (another reason why I recommend the Joyous Health Business program), but once you're 2.5 years in (like I currently am) or even later, you'll be so glad you just started.