Sally Simmons: From Postpartum Struggle to Purpose-Driven Wellness Coaching

After more than a decade leading digital marketing and communications for national healthcare and lifestyle brands, I found myself in a very different season: on maternity leave with my second child, navigating postpartum depression. What I needed wasn’t a rigid plan or quick fix—it was support that met me where I was. That experience led me to The Health Coach Training Program^™—a turning point both personally and professionally. It supported my healing and gave me the tools and confidence to build a new path rooted in sustainable, whole-person wellness.

Today, as the founder of Wave Maker Wellness, I combine my background in storytelling, strategy, and systems thinking with my work as a certified Health Coach. I support women—especially moms in the thick of real-life—in making small, steady shifts that lead to lasting change. Because true wellness isn’t about perfection—it’s about habits that actually work for you.

Q&A: What Led You Here

BEFORE FOUNDING WAVE MAKER WELLNESS, YOU SPENT OVER A DECADE LEADING DIGITAL MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS FOR NATIONAL HEALTHCARE AND LIFESTYLE BRANDS. WHAT DREW YOU TOWARD WELLNESS COACHING AT THIS STAGE OF YOUR CAREER?
A: I still work with large brands on their marketing today, but the chapter that changed everything happened on maternity leave with my second. I was struggling with deep postpartum depression, and my instinct to dig in and push through was only making things worse. My mom, who had gone through The Health Coach Training Program herself, encouraged me to enroll. She believed it was exactly what I needed to heal my body and mind. I wanted to recover without medication, and within 48 hours of that conversation, I enrolled 

WAS THERE A PERSONAL OR PROFESSIONAL MOMENT THAT MADE YOU REALIZE MOMS NEEDED A DIFFERENT KIND OF SUPPORT?
A: Honestly, the moment was my own. When I was in the thick of postpartum depression, I kept waiting for someone to hand me a plan that actually fit my life, not a generic program, not a prescription, but real support that met me where I was as a mom. The wellness world tends to speak to women before kids or after the chaos settles. There's very little designed for the messy middle of motherhood.

What confirmed it for me was when other moms started noticing changes and asking questions. These weren't women lacking motivation, they were overwhelmed and under-supported. Nobody had ever helped them look at the whole picture. That pattern kept repeating, and it became impossible to ignore. That gap is exactly what Wave Maker Wellness was built to address.

Q&A: From Strategy to Self-Care

HOW DID YOUR BACKGROUND IN STORYTELLING, STRATEGY, AND SYSTEMS THINKING SHAPE THE WAY YOU APPROACH HEALTH COACHING TODAY?
A: After more than a decade in marketing, I learned that real change happens when support actually meets someone where they are. I spent years doing that for large brands, now I get to do it for moms in a much more personal way.

That same instinct to look at the whole picture carries into every coaching relationship. What's working, what feels heavy, where the energy is quietly draining. Together we look at the full life and find where small, steady shifts can create the biggest ripple.

And I've found that storytelling matters deeply in this work. So many of the women I work with just need help connecting their habits to who they actually are and what they value. When someone starts to see their own story differently, that's often where everything begins to shift.

IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU SEE HABITS AND WELLNESS RHYTHMS AS SYSTEMS THAT CAN SUPPORT—OR OVERWHELM—REAL LIFE?
A: I see them incredibly connected, especially in motherhood! Habits become overwhelming when they are not your own. The wellness world is full of systems that look great on paper but weren't built for the reality of motherhood which has dramatic shifts week to week.

What I've found is that the most sustainable habits are the ones built around rhythm rather than rigidity. They have room to flex when life gets hard without falling apart entirely. That's the difference between a system that supports you and one that quietly adds to your mental load.

Before I dig in with any client, we look at what they enjoy and what works for them and we build from there. We focus on small, steady shifts that build with time.

Q&A: The Work Today—Supporting Moms In Real Life

TELL US ABOUT WAVE MAKER WELLNESS AND THE MOMS YOU LOVE WORKING WITH.
A: Wave Maker Wellness is holistic health coaching for moms who are ready to stop running on empty. We look at the whole life, not just food or fitness, and find the small, steady shifts that create real, lasting change.

The moms I love working with are stretched thin but driven. They don't need to have it together or know exactly where to start, they just need to be ready to show up. You don't come to me polished. We all have something we're working on.

I work with moms at every stage of their health journey. What they have in common is that quiet knowing that something needs to change and the willingness to take the first step. That's all it takes to get started.

YOU FOCUS ON HELPING MOMS FEEL CALM, NOURISHED, AND CONFIDENT. WHY ARE THOSE THREE PILLARS SO ESSENTIAL?
A: I truly believe moms hold a special place in the family, when they're at their best, it ripples into everything. And what I see missing most in the moms I work with are these three things. They're burnt out, not fueling their bodies, and struggling to feel like themselves.

Calm is the foundation. When someone is running on stress and adrenaline, nothing else sticks; not the habits, not the routines, not the intentions. We have to start there.

Nourished goes deeper than food. It's about learning to give your body what it actually needs. When that shifts, energy shifts, patience shifts, the way you show up shifts.

And confidence is the outcome I care about most; not the performative kind, the quiet kind. Where you trust yourself again and stop second-guessing every decision. Personally, confidence was what I struggled with most after becoming a mom, and it was something I never would have expected.

When you get all three right, everything changes.

WHAT DOES “SIMPLE, SUSTAINABLE RHYTHMS” LOOK LIKE IN PRACTICE FOR A BUSY MOM?
A: For a busy mom, a sustainable rhythm might be as simple as drinking a full glass of water before your coffee in the morning. A short walk. A real lunch. Ten minutes of quiet before the house wakes up. Nothing revolutionary, but when done consistently, they start to compound.

We're not building a perfect routine. We're building a reliable one; something that holds on the hard days, not just the good ones. We start small, stay consistent, and let the momentum build. That's how small shifts create big waves.

Q&A: Education & Alignment

WHAT LED YOU TO PURSUE HEALTH COACH TRAINING THROUGH THE INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATIVE NUTRITION?
A: My mom! She had been through the program herself, and I grew up absorbing a lot of what she was learning without fully realizing it. When I was struggling on maternity leave, she was the one who pointed me back toward it.

I still did my due diligence. I compared programs and spoke with graduates. The whole-life approach aligned with how I already saw health, and the experience other grads described matched exactly what I was looking for. It felt like the right fit from the start.

HOW DID YOUR IIN EDUCATION HELP YOU BRIDGE YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH YOUR PASSION FOR SUPPORTING WOMEN’S HEALTH?
A: IIN gave me the structure to formalize what I had already been building toward. My marketing background taught me how to understand people and IIN gave me the clinical foundation and holistic framework to apply that at a much deeper level.

What surprised me most was how much the program shaped me personally, not just professionally. I was going through it while recovering from postpartum depression, so the learning and the healing were happening simultaneously. That experience gave me a level of empathy and insight I couldn't have gotten from a textbook.

WAS THERE A LESSON OR CONCEPT FROM IIN THAT PARTICULARLY RESONATED WITH YOU?
A: Ahhh so many! Some are simple and practical: drinking water before caffeine in the morning, eating the rainbow, prioritizing a consistent sleep routine. Small habits that sound obvious until you actually start doing them, and then you can't believe how much they shift your energy.

But then there are the ones that made me stop and think. Like the Feng Shui concept of keeping your toilet lid closed so you're not symbolically flushing money away. I know it sounds a little out there, but I close my toilet lid every single day now and I love it. It's a small, mindful act that connects your environment to your mindset and that's exactly the kind of whole-life thinking IIN is built on.

And then there's the oyster fact I learned in my first module. I had no idea how nutritionally dense oysters are until IIN. It completely changed how I think about food as fuel.

That's the beauty of the program, you walk away with lessons that range from deeply practical to completely unexpected, and somehow all of them find a way into your daily life.

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME TO WHEN YOU WERE JUST STARTING OUT IN YOUR CAREER, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR PAST SELF?
A: Ask more questions and continue to take notes on everything. Also consider documenting your life more and the people around you; it all shifts quickly.

Q&A: Perspective & Wisdom

WHAT’S ONE COMMON MISCONCEPTION ABOUT WELLNESS FOR MOMS THAT YOU’D LOVE TO REFRAME?
A: That they need to wait until the chaos settles before they can start working on themselves. Life with kids is unpredictable by nature. If you're waiting for a quiet season to prioritize your health, you'll be waiting for a long time. The truth is, you don't need perfect conditions to make progress, you just need a starting point that actually fits your life right now.

And closely tied to that is the belief that needing support means something is wrong with you. It doesn't. The moms I work with aren't broken, they're just running low. There's a big difference. And once they see that, everything shifts.

WHAT DO YOU WISH MORE WOMEN KNEW ABOUT CREATING LASTING HABITS IN THE MIDST OF A FULL LIFE?
A: That it has to be hard to work. We've been conditioned to believe that real progress requires sacrifice and intensity. But the habits that actually last are usually the quiet ones, the ones that fit so naturally into your life that you barely notice them until you see how much has changed. Start smaller than you think you need to. Build from there. And stop measuring your progress against someone else's highlight reel. Your habits only need to work for your life.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A MOM WHO FEELS OVERWHELMED AND UNSURE WHERE TO START?
A: Start with one thing. Just one. You don't need to fix everything at once, you need something small that feels doable. A glass of water before coffee. Ten minutes outside. An earlier bedtime. Pick one and do it consistently before you add anything else.

Q&A: Daily Rhythms & Balance

HOW DO YOU PERSONALLY STAY GROUNDED AND ENERGIZED WHILE BALANCING WORK, FAMILY, AND SELF-CARE?
A: Honestly, imperfectly. But with a few anchors that I protect pretty fiercely. Mornings are everything for me. I keep them slow and intentional. I start my mornings with water first, a high protein breakfast, prayer, and music that sets a good tone for the day. No work emails until after school drop-off. That boundary has been a game changer. It means the first part of my day belongs to me and my family, not my inbox.

When I am feeling stress, I lift weights with music or a podcast, and I get outside for walks whenever I can. It's less about the workout and more about what it does for my head. That time is mine. And prayer is woven throughout my day. in the morning, before meals, before bed. It keeps me connected to something bigger than my to-do list and reminds me what I should be grateful for.

I don't have it perfectly balanced, nobody does. The rhythms my family and I have created are what I come back to when things get messy. They're small, they're consistent, and they work for my life.

WHAT’S ONE SIMPLE HABIT THAT CONSISTENTLY SUPPORTS YOUR WELLBEING?
A: Movement and being near water. I'm based in California on the coast, and there is something about the ocean that genuinely resets me. The sound, the air, the perspective it gives you. It's not a coincidence that Wave Maker Wellness was built around the metaphor of waves; that imagery is deeply personal to me. Water has always been where I come back to myself.

WHEN LIFE FEELS ESPECIALLY FULL, WHAT HELPS YOU RESET?
A: The small, beautiful simple things. Playing with my kids; really playing. It brings me back faster than almost anything. Laughing with friends. One on one time with my husband. Genuine connection just releases the pressure in a way nothing else does.

When I need to move something through, I work out hard with throwback music. When I need to slow down, it's time in nature, a walk alone, or prayer. And sleep. I don't negotiate on it anymore. It makes everything better.

Q&A: Fun Favorites

BEST DECISION YOU EVER MADE?
A: Just one? That feels impossible. Learning to follow my gut: Marrying my husband. Becoming a mom. Enrolling in IIN within 48 hours of a phone call when I was at my lowest. And betting on myself enough to build Wave Maker Wellness.

None of those decisions felt small in the moment. Some of them were scary. But every single one of them led me exactly to where I am, and I wouldn't change a thing.

A BOOK OR PODCAST YOU’D RECOMMEND TO OUR COMMUNITY?
A: A couple books I'd recommend are Seven Desires of Every Heart by Mark and Debra Laaser, and Safe People by Henry Cloud and John Townsend.

IF YOU COULD BE ANY FRUIT OR VEGGIE, WHICH WOULD YOU BE, AND WHY?
A: I’d be a cucumber; it’s one of the most versatile things in the produce aisle: salads, skincare, a snack straight out of the fridge.

WHAT ARTIST OR BAND DO YOU LISTEN TO WHEN YOU NEED TO STAY MOTIVATED?
A: I love to listen to Hillsong Worship, Jack Johnson and Bob Marley.