Integrative Nutrition Health Coach… How did I get here?

Everyone seems to be a coach these days right?

And yes they are, which is a great thing because at IIN there mission is to play a crucial role in improving health and happiness and, through that process, create a ripple effect that transforms the world. You might be wondering hmmm how and where would us coaches fit in?

An Integrative Nutrition Health Coach focuses on nutrition, physical activity, relationships, career, and spirituality. These elements can impact markers of health such as stress, weight, and energy levels. Acting as a guide on the side, to help support you through a situation in your life. Health coaches are not here to tell you what to do, they are there to help you navigate your way through life and get you where you need to be on your terms, like a life cheerleader basically.

My journey began back when I was 20 I went through bad depression and anxiety, a really dark low time in my life where I thought I genuinely would never be happy again. I remember the doctors wanting to prescribe me anti depressants and anxiety tablets, and I remember sitting there thinking I don’t care what it takes but I’m not taking those! It took about 2 years to really come through that time in my life. So I decided to study nutrition and lifestyle coaching which was an online course in Dublin at the time. I was working full time in call centre in cork city and used to study at the weekends and then once a month I would travel to Dublin for this course.

The course was amazing it really helped me get my life back on track, I took up yoga, meditation, I starting researching foods to help with anxiety naturally, and going to CBT counselling which helped a lot, but there was something missing.

During my time in the course and working at the call centre, on a Friday night I was rushing home from Cobh after dropping a friend from work, to get ready for Dublin in the morning, when I was coming around a bendy road, and the car slid on black ice and spun around and crashed into the wall on the other side of the road. I had a split moment in my mind thinking this is it, its over. I was in shock for about 20 seconds and my gut instinct was to get out of the car fast so that someone would see me and not crash into me. It was a miracle there wasn’t a car coming around the bend at that time or crashed into me. I went home that evening pretty shook up about what had just happened.

I went to Dublin the next morning and didn’t go to college I literally walked around completely spaced out and in shock, and I had to ask myself some questions. That night I got a phone call from a guy I had worked with before who was setting up a new business and wanted me to be part of the team in Cork City and so I said yes, seeing as I couldn’t drive to my call centre job anymore.

Even though I was studying in Dublin at the time I thought to myself what am I doing with my life, do I really want to settle down now and open up a practice in coaching, who am I to coach someone… I’m only 22? I wanted to go out in the world and have my own life experiences. So I thought to myself how can I travel and make money? I decided to join the yachting industry as I heard you could do that. I began working in a donut and coffee shop for a few months, then I actually met a women in the business who worked on yachts. It was a sign! I did my courses and left home November in 2017 and started off in a ski chalet in the Alps, then when the summer came I then took the train down to the south of France to walk the docks to get a job on a yacht. Thankfully I found my first job on a 60m motor yacht in Cannes for the Cannes Film Festival. After this season I decided to switch over to sailing yachts which took more of my fancy! I then joined a beautiful classic schooner called Adela and sailed around the Mediterranean, and sailed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean where I found my self on the worlds largest Ketch, AQUIJO. We sailed around Croatia and the Mediterranean, and it was an amazing experience, we had BBQs with the guests and went to beautiful waterfalls on day trips.

Come the winter of 2021 I found myself on a Large 110m superyacht in Greece for the winter, which is where I found IIN.I realised that all throughout my life I would end up in conversations with people about there lives and end up giving them advice unknowingly so, especially on nights out! So it only felt natural and right to really start studying this course. I love that it integrates relationships, career, spirituality, physical activity. Its not just about eating healthy which is what I was more focused on back when I was 22, its about the person as a whole, and being that support system and cheerleader while they navigate through life. Studying this, also brought a lot of things in my life that were out of balance.

Which then brought me to my next adventure, which was Ayahuasca in Costa Rica, which opened up a whole new level of depth and magic in my life, something I was searching for. During my Ayahuasca ceremony, I had the download to go to Bali, to learn more and to heal in a like minded community. So went to Bali for my yoga training, and stayed for 6 months of my life, which actually brought me up to the end of the course of IIN. Where I came back to Ireland for Christmas where I graduated from IIN in March 2022.

So what started off as a nutrition and lifestyle coaching course when I was 22 has circled back to Integrative Health Coaching Course at 28 with a big chunk of life experience in-between. Anyone can be a health coach right, but what makes each person and coach unique is their own personal journey and life experiences they have been through so that we can helps guide others on the same. And that is all I am here to do is be your guide on the side for your wild ride. I have a huge interest in spirituality, and helping people navigate through tough times, I also recently started studying and learning about the ancient spiritual wisdom teachings of the Kabbalah. Which helps a person go deeper into understanding the soul and the ego. I am still learning and growing on my own journey and I will always be a student of life, but I have definitely gained a lot of life experience in the last 22years of my life, and I hope my experiences and nuggets of wisdom can help you on your own journey too.

If you would like to get in touch so we can start getting some clarity for you, please reach out I would love to connect with you and help you on your own life’s journey.

Here some pics from over the years from the yachts 🙂