Meet Kelly Peterman of Balance My Journey in North Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Peterman.

Kelly, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always been interested in health, fitness, and nutrition, but have also struggled with disordered eating for a good majority of my life. I have easily taken “health” to unhealthy extremes throughout the years. I found myself in an abusive marriage in my early 20s and when I finally left my life was completely upside down. As I started going to counseling for the divorce I realized I wanted to heal it all. I figured if I was going to tackle this much, then I may as well tackle the eating issues too. So I did! I did ALL the work! I did a whole lot of counseling as well as support groups, programs, and bible studies. I read the books, journaled everything, and talked it out with my trusted friends and family. I had an amazing job at the time that was supportive and gave me the stability I needed through my healing, but it was still a standard corporate job complete with the cubicle and the stress.

Down the road, as I continued moving forward in my life I met an incredible man that I am now married to. At that time though, while we dated, my stress levels and lack of zest for my job were hard to ignore.

We started brainstorming how I could use my journey plus my desire to help others and turn it into a job. Then I found this thing called health coaching on the internet. Who knew?! This career was a beautiful mix of helping others, nutrition, and approaching health holistically. It combined all of the things I was so passionate about. So I took the BIG jump that most of us want to take at some point and I quit my corporate job and enrolled in school. I worked part-time in other health-related jobs and once I graduated I started running my own business, Balance My Journey. Slowly but surely I have built it up and two months ago I went full time with it and couldn’t be happier!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s been smooth without any issues. HA! Kidding! Of course, I’ve had struggles! I don’t think anything worthwhile comes without challenges! For many people, including myself, I think it can be a challenge to run your own business. You have to wear so many different hats and figure out answers to questions that you didn’t even know existed. When I went to school to become a health coach I was just excited to coach people and help them reach their goals. Then the reality hits that you have to run a business and figure out how to set up an LLC, pay taxes, run social media accounts, and market yourself so that you actually have clients to coach! It keeps me on my toes for sure! I am often out of my comfort zone, learning new things, and working harder than I ever have.

Aside from the business aspect, I deal with fear and mindset struggles. Early on, it was terrifying for me to quit my stable corporate job and jump into the unknown. Now, fear may show up when I am public speaking or going on video for social media. It shifts and changes, but never fully goes away. Under the fear is the mindset challenge. We are all usually our own worst enemy and just like our mindset can wreck our health it can also hinder progress in any area of life. I struggle with believing I can run a successful business and that I can truly help change someone’s life. Luckily, I can look through client testimonials to see that these fears are not valid and I have the most supportive husband, family, and friends that are always in my corner and speaking truth to me.

Please tell us about your business.
I specialize in helping women heal their relationship with food, their bodies, and themselves. There is so much more to health than the food we put on our plate and we must look beyond calories in and calories out. Today’s culture teaches us to chase the next diet, book, or program, but all that does is put us on a never-ending cycle of restricting and binging. Diets don’t work plain and simple. At Balance My Journey I help women jump off this merry-go-round and find a personal path to health that works for them and their lives. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to health so we need to stop looking to the latest expert for health advice. Most of us know what to do we just need the help to execute it. We need accountability, support, and guidance. This is where a coach comes in. I support women in setting goals that line up with their values and priorities. We tackle cravings and emotional eating as well as mindset and body image. As a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach I can help you get unstuck and find your way to lasting change.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I am so thrilled to be running my business as my full-time job now so that’s a big change! I am just starting to expand from one-on-one coaching to offering group programs which I am very excited about and can’t wait to see where it goes! I plan on doing more group programs, workshops, and marketing in the future so I can spread my message to more people.

Contact Info:

• Website: balancemyjourney.com
• Email: kelly@balancemyjourney.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kp_balance/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BalanceMyJourney/

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