Meet Suzanne Stevens, 2017 Leadership in Health Coaching Award Winner!

Congratulations to our March 2017 (Accelerated) Leadership in Health Coaching recipient - Suzanne Stevens!

Suzanne is a homemaker, mother and wife (married to her husband for 28 years!) who wasn't aware of the field of health coaching. She was always eager to learn about nutrition and how to heal the body and often attended local healthy cooking classes and volunteered for her church, cooking and advocating healthy choices for others. After talks with her best friend, Suzanne was inspired to get an education in health. She was drawn to Integrative Nutrition because the wellness advocates she was already listening to were Integrative Nutrition's visiting teachers and because the holistic nutrition she learned alligned with her own way of eating and thinking. Learn more about this exciting graduate below!

What were you doing prior to enrolling at Integrative Nutrition?
I was a homemaker and mother to my three kids left at home. My four college kids live near by so I was helping them as they needed me. Learning about nutrition and healing, attending local health food classes, volunteering at my church and cooking and cooking and cooking. GAPS (Guts and Psychology Syndrome) can take a lot of time.

What led you to explore the Health Coach Training Program?
I wasn't aware of the health coaching field. After talking to my best friend about her health I had a strong impression to get a nutrition degree. I remembered hearing about IIN through FoodMatters and included IIN in my search for schools. I learned that many schools did not teach the holistic nutrition, food as medicine or traditional cooking that I came to embody. Through my research I noticed that IIN taught health coaching however I was not aware of the significance of it. I felt drawn to IIN because I was already familar with a lot of the visiting teachers in the program. The holistic nutrition taught at IIN was in line with my own way of eating and thinking.

How did your life change after enrolling? (This may be a small change or a large change, in any way)
I enrolled hoping to become more credible to others. Yet as I discovered after graduation that it did not matter. It also came through the healing a stressed relationship, blocked emotions and learning line upon line through the whole program. I knew primary food needed healing in order to be fully healed and the program helped me to fully understand how to do it.

Which topics and modules were most beneficial for you? Please list any teachers or ideas that had a major impact on you.
Everything was so amazing from Orientation to Module 40 and so timely introduced. I gained confidence when I finished each module. The mind/body, brain, sleep & meditation modules cemented my feelings on whole body healing. I also gained a greater understanding of how health coaching can make the most change in someone's life. I also love how Joshua was so bold in saying how important spirituality is for each of us. Vani Hari was great, Jane Ashley's approach to heart centered health history was amazing, Jamie and Sue meditation was so very helpful as was the others that were taught to us, I loved Paul Epstein and all of them really, Deepak Copra, Dr. Hyman, Daniel Vitalis, David Wolfe & I loved all those from the education department etc.

What are you doing now? If you have a product or are a practicing Health Coach, briefly describe your focus area/clientele.
I am a mother full time and a health coach part time. I have four clients and their focus is on sugar elimination or reduction and gut healing. I feel gut healing is key to everyones improved health however it does begin with refined sugar elimination. Food becomes so much more tasty when refined sugar is eliminated.

What makes you and your practice or product unique?
My own experience to heal my own gut, change from the standard American diet to a healthier one, how to switch, how to change recipes, where to go online for recipes and information and as a GAPS coach. Sharing the idea that one does not have to never have their favorite dessert again. I have had a lot of experience with many different holistic doctors in helping my son heal. I have been exposed to a lot of modalities in my search for healing and knowledge.

How do you help your clients be successful? Can you provide a specific example of someone who had great success or one of your favorite Coach-Client relationships?
I use Joshua's approach and his 6-month program to help my clients be successful one step at a time. I love following the clients goals, crowding out, introducing meditation and the explanation of primary food. 

My client is working on cutting refined sugar from her diet completely. After the 2nd session she sent me a text saying that she was in the grocery store getting a chocolate bar for her brother who leaving for a service mission, she had no desire for it herself and was ok with it. She felt it was a huge accomplishment and that she could not have done it without me. I am humbled by her thankfulness. However, she was the one that did not buy the chocolate bar. It is so cool to see success and now she knows she can reach her goals.

What do you love about your work?
I love seeing people make changes to better health. Just when you think that you are not sure your helping someone make the change and they are paying you to do so they tell you the great victories they are having in reaching their goals. I wanted to help people be healthier and this is the way to do it.

Is there a need for Health Coaches where you live?
Yes, there is.

Check out Suzanne on Facebook, Instagram and her website - http://www.suzycooking.com/