---
title: Building Your Business One Client at a Time
description: Learn Health Coach Angelle Batten's story on how she grew her business from a small room to an entire community with the help of IIN.
---

[Health Coaching Blog and News | Institute for Integrative Nutrition ](https://www.integrativenutrition.com/blog)

# [Building Your Business One Client at a Time](https://www.integrativenutrition.com/blog/2013/10/building-your-business-one-client-at-a-time)

 Written by [Integrative Nutrition](https://www.integrativenutrition.com/blog/author/integrative-nutrition) | Jun 8, 2024 3:19:13 PM

While I was in [the Health Coach Training Program](https://www.integrativenutrition.com/the-health-coach-training-program?utm_channel=UnpaidOwned&utm_source=Promo&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=AyurIntegratedSale&utm_adgroup=20240319&utm_term=SandG&utm_content=ReminderB&mkt_tok=NDM2LVFEVi0xNDAAAAGRleDlSOLQDW5rC3aMwBWo3_aCIKbiTRtDD3bPA_0fOL__XjZDHvG8-JLvwZjfB7KGhFzVoZp_TWFY7Xy34gY), I remember the idea of signing up my first client being a bit daunting. **Okay, who am I kidding – it was totally overwhelming to me.**

Other than an initial interview for my teaching job many years earlier, I hadn’t needed to “sell” myself or anything else, for that matter.  I had no clue about how to market myself and sign up that first client.

This is why I was so grateful that a valuable part of IIN's curriculum is business and marketing. The tools and strategies I learned were what helped me actually get myself out into the real world and help people as a Health Coach.

**But knowing and doing are two different things.** Getting started as a Health Coach meant I needed to take action and *use* the tools and strategies I learned in the program. It didn’t always feel easy, but because of the way [the material](https://www.integrativenutrition.com/curriculum) was presented in the context of the whole program, it all felt doable (well, most days anyway.) 

When I started back in 2005, it made most sense to me to reach out to health-oriented business people who did not offer nutrition services but would be interested in offering this added value to their clients. I explained what I was doing and how I could help their clients reach their health goals more easily and quickly and how that would mean happier clients. My very first clients came through my yoga instructor. I rented a small space from her and offered to take her through my 6-month program at no charge. **Very quickly she saw the value in what I was offering and started telling her clients they needed to set-up an initial consultation with me. **

Those initial consults took time and not everyone ended up signing up, but enough people did that I was motivated to keep right on going. With each consultation and with each paid session, I gained more confidence. I learned more about listening and about coaching. 

People got results: *Weight loss. Better energy. Fewer digestive issues. Better sleep. More joy. *

**Those initial clients are how I started building the business I have today**, though it looks very different from those early months of coaching. I couldn’t have envisioned then what I have built today.  I'm Skyping with clients from around the U.S. and even overseas. I run virtual programs for hundreds of clients.  I speak in schools and for community groups. I work alongside medical doctors, chiropractors and nutritionists. I collaborate with other health coaches online. 

It all started in a small room of a local yoga studio, sitting across from my yoga teacher and supporting those first clients that she helped me get. **For me, getting started is about building relationships, being authentic, and having the courage to take those little steps that lead to something big. **Before you know it, you have a Health Coaching business that you couldn’t have imagined even if you tried. 

*Angelle Batten, IIN Class of 2005 (Live Program) and 2012 (Distance Learning Program), is the Co-Founder of [The Nourish to Flourish Society](https://www.nourishtoflourishsociety.com/about). She enjoys hanging out with her husband, three kids, and big black dog Oliver. [You can connect with Angelle on X](https://twitter.com/angellebatten) (formerly Twitter.)*

[View full post](https://www.integrativenutrition.com/blog/2013/10/building-your-business-one-client-at-a-time)

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