223: Finding Purpose And Fulfillment Through Coaching with Kristin Tanner [“I Did It” Series]

Introduction 

You're listening to Biceps After Babies Radio episode number 223.

Hello and welcome to Biceps After Babies Radio. A podcast for ladies who know that fitness is about so much more than pounds lost or PRs. It's about feeling confident in your skin and empowered in your life. I'm your host, Amber Brueseke, a registered nurse, personal trainer, wife, and mom of four. Each week, my guests and I will excite and motivate you to take action in your own personal fitness as we talk about nutrition, exercise mindset, personal development, and executing life with conscious intention. If your goal is to look, feel, and be strong and experience transformation from the inside out, you, my friend are in the right place. Thank you for tuning in, now let’s jump into today’s episode.

 

Amber B  0:47  

Hey, hey, hey, welcome back to another Friday episode of Biceps After Babies Radio, I'm your host, Amber Brueseke. And every Friday, I bring you a story of a woman who has found success. And let her share some of the words of wisdom, and her experience so that as you're listening, you can start to glean some of those for your own journey. 

 

Amber B  1:08  

And today, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristin Tanner, and Kristin was one of our Coaching Academy clients who came through, did MACROS 101 and Coaching Academy simultaneously, and has graduated as a Transformational Coach. And now she's coaching her own clients. And during this episode, you're going to hear the story of her stepping into that role of coaching. And one of the things that I really want to highlight that Kristin talks about is the imposter syndrome of wondering if she could even be a coach. And I think for a lot of you guys who are listening, some of you have had that little twinge of desire or the like what if in your head of, Yeah, part of me would really like to be a coach or be curious about becoming a coach. But then, immediately as soon as you start to think about that, it's all the reasons why you can't do it. All the reasons why it would never work, all the reasons why you would never be good at it, all the reasons why you could never get clients, or whatever it comes up. And we tend to talk ourselves out of our dreams. And so I want you to listen, if that's you, and you've been someone who's talked yourself out of your dreams, Kristin has some really good advice about how she was able to get past that about what it took for her to say, hey, I'm interested in this. I'm curious about it. And, you know, I want to get into this and be able to set that impostor syndrome aside, set that idea that it has to be perfect aside, and be able to move forward in serving and helping clients. So without further ado, let's jump into the episode with Kristin Tanner. 

 

Amber B  2:42  

I am so excited to welcome Kristin to the podcast today. Kristin, how are you doing?

 

Kristin  2:47  

Hi, I'm great. How are you doing?

 

Amber B  2:50  

I'm doing great. And I'm excited because you're one of my Coaching Academy students. And I feel like I get to know my Coaching Academy students really well. And it's always fun to see you at the beginning of Coaching Academy and on the other side. So we're going to talk a little bit about that transformation for you, and what it's been like. But before we dive into that, will you just give us a little bit of backstory, a little bit about you and who you are. And, you know, what were some of the things that you were struggling with, or moments that you made that decision to come into Coaching Academy.

 

Kristin  3:24  

Okay, so I'm a mom, wife and a mom, I have two children. And I was actually a former elementary school teacher, and did that for several years, while my first child was kind of growing up. And I was just really, in the struggle place of just missing out on a lot and wanted to be home with them. So started staying home. But I was one of those moms that also just struggled with finding that purpose and fulfillment and just really wanting something for myself. And I've always loved fitness and nutrition. Always been into all of that. And so, really, I feel like it happened organically. And I was preparing in my mind through this time of my youngest growing up like, Okay, once you start school, you know, I want to find something that I can start doing for me. And she started school this year. And so really through the summer, I just felt like it was very natural. In the past. I've always helped friends just with like nutrition tips or you know, fun, like fitness advice. And so, I was one of those people, we've joked about this, that I was the certification junkie, I felt like I needed, you know, all of these titles or really now, things that you've helped me look back and see uncovering beliefs and things. I really think it was a place to keep me at a standpoint where  I wasn't ready, I didn't have the confidence and so it was kind of security to stay behind those certifications.

 

Amber B  5:00  

Like I'm working on the certification, when I'm done I'll be able to coach people. And then it was like, Oh my God, I need this certification. So you don't have to do any of the scary things like go on.

 

Kristin  5:09  

Right, I mean, 100% it was a way to say, I'm not ready yet, you know, I need this anymore. And through starting the certifications I started seeing, I mean, there's a lot of valuable information, but it is a lot from a scientific approach because I'm still almost finished with a nutrition one. There's, you know, there's great information. But anyway, not long into that I had always followed you on Instagram actually heard about E3, the influencer Lillie eats and tells, I think she did your program. And so when I saw the advertisement for Coaching Academy, and then actually went through a thank you offer, like a course before where you can find out more about it. And I heard one of your previous Coaching Academy students share her experience. And for me, that was just it, I knew that that was going to be the missing element for me, as far as giving me the confidence. And just all of the tools to help me to step into that role. So that's kind of where I started with you with Coaching Academy.

 

Amber B  6:14  

That's awesome. One question that came up for you as you were speaking was, what is the difference between- Because, you know, one of the things that you didn't mention, that I know about you is that you had had some experience with macros before, right? So you have had experience, being a client, and having your own personal journey,  What was the difference between what was required for your own personal journey, and then the coaching of others through their journey, because I think something people don't understand is they think, Oh, if you're able to get the result yourself, then you can help people and those are different things and different skills. And just because you got to result in yourself doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be a good coach. So can you just talk a little bit about your experience as a client? And then also how does that differs from your experience as a coach?

 

Kristin  7:00  

Yeah, so I had some foundational knowledge about macros prior to joining your course. And I was given, it was kind of just like a quick challenge, as a summer challenge through another influencer I followed. So I received numbers, I wanted to do a cut and actually did it this summer, last summer. And I didn't have a large fat loss goal. I just wanted to we were going on some trips, I wanted to laze you know, just a little light, and really just look great to be honest, on the trips. And so, I, through starting your course, started learning more about the different phases and, you know, digging deeper into, for women, so much of a struggle with less is more. And that's where I was at, I started seeing results from macros, and I started seeing results from the cut. But I didn't know that I should not continue to cut and continue that phase for too long. And that's exactly what I did, I actually lost my cycle through that process. I remember doing a body scan, my body fat was extremely low. And I started having people really comment that I looked great, but I was actually miserable. I was not healthy, I was starving, and my mood was awful, my sleep was awful. And so through your course MACROS 101 and the transformational power chain that simultaneously did start learning about reverse and learning how, you know, we thrive at maintenance and that's what our body needs and that's the fuel that our body needs. And I learned about the importance of fats, hormones, and all these things. And so I reversed myself through MACROS 101. And it's amazing. I mean, I actually got over 2000 calories a day, and I never thought before, you know, I could eat that much. And it's great. I mean, I've been able to build muscle and teach other women now about the importance of that and the fuel for our body. 

 

Kristin  8:59 

But yeah, so that was an amazing process for me to go from that shift as a client to then know-how, and then also through the Transformational Coaching. For me again, it was the impostor syndrome, you know, who am I, to now help other women and, you know, I'll never forget, one of the activities you had to do was to change our avatars, to you know, Coach, and then our name, and that was one of the most powerful days for me to be like, well, you know, I am a coach and helping us to learn how to step into that identity and how would a coach think, and how would a coach react to this, and just something that was also very powerful was how you talked about doing it messy, and so if whatever it is that you're interested in, but if it's coaching, for example, for me, it was just if you're coming like you've told us from a place of service, and you're wanting to help someone you're not gotta mess that up, you're not going to fail. Because when you're coming from that place, it's so powerful because you're wanting to help you're wanting to empower others.

 

Amber B  10:10  

Yeah, and I love that you shared that fear because it's a really common one of who am I to be doing this, who am I to be coaching, and you know, from that place, you can't really help. From that place of like, being a certification junkie, you're not really helping anybody, you're always getting ready to help somebody by never actually doing the helping. And so it does take that decision of like, Yes, it feels uncomfortable, and helping somebody is more important than my discomfort, and hopping in and being willing to get it wrong, so that you can in the future, get it right. We talk a lot in Coaching Academy about how coaching is a skill, and skills are learnable and it'll take practice. And you got to practice and you got to get better at it. 

 

Kristin  10:59  

I was just gonna say, even like, I love, I remember being so intimidated, knowing that we had the case study client, you know, that was something that we had to do a part of our course. Because I was not like, you know, we were all at different places in our journey, and some were already coaching and I was not. And so I call you pushing us from the nest. And that was the best thing for me because I had an amazing experience with my case study client. And I was just really so proud of her results. I started sharing that on Instagram, and I started receiving messages. And so really from that, that launched me into starting my business before I was “ready” because I had had everything laid out in my mind. Okay, I'm gonna complete this certification, I'm gonna complete this. And again, I was holding myself back and so you really helped launch me into that identity and roll. 

 

Amber B  11:53  

Yeah, and look for anybody who's listening. I don't hate certifications, I think getting more education is always really beneficial. And what I think is great is that you know, Kristin, you even said, she's working on certification right now, like she's in the middle of working on certification. But the difference is, is that she's no longer letting that stop her from helping people. In the meantime, it's like, yes, I want to become a better coach, I'm going to take more classes, I'm gonna get better at this. But in the meantime, I'm using the knowledge and things that I have now to be able to serve people right now and not pushing that off, pushing that off, pushing that off until later than later.

 

Kristin  12:26  

Yeah, absolutely.

 

Amber B  12:27  

It's so good. What is your favorite part about being a coach? What's been surprising, maybe about being a coach, and what is your favorite part?

 

Kristin  12:36  

My favorite part is definitely just helping women, I feel like women are my niche. I remember you told us, you know, we talked about that, you know, finding your niche, and I just love the relationships that are built through the process and just becoming, I mean, it's really kind of a, it's a personal relationship. And you find out, and you've helped me do that but once you get past the surface level, I'm really loving, I was very intimidated about the Transformational Coaching, but it's just I can like you said, it uses practice, and, you know, getting in a routine of it. But I'm learning how to uncover beliefs and things and you really get to a deep level of connection. And it's deeper than more about, you know, less about the vanity, and it's more about, you know, how can we change this and make this a lifestyle change and what has been holding you back. So that's been amazing for me, because, as I said, I was resistant to get into that, but I'm finding that it's happening naturally. And helping women to shift that mindset of well, this is how I'm just going to go to always be I've always been this way. And no, you know, no, we can shift that belief and uncover that. So that's been amazing and fun to experience through coaching and I just I love helping women, I love seeing the wow moments where they're starting to see even and that it's not about perfection with the macros but just being consistent and learning to get close with it and you're going to see results. And just for me, there's been several rakes and experiences where I've had clients say, you know, the things that I used to want I don't even want those things anymore because I'm now  I'm eating better I'm eating nutrient-dense food and you know Yeah, I still have you know, treats and all those things and I fit it in but a lot of the stuff that I would crave or go to a ballgame and what I no longer want those things so I love that it really is about a lifestyle shift and it's not a quick fix diet. 

 

Amber B  14:46  

Yeah, yeah, that's so good. How has being a coach impacted your journey? Meaning your own fitness goals or has it?

 

Kristin  14:59  

Yeah, I'm like I said in the past, I feel like I did focus on cutting and a lot of maybe, I guess you could say vanity. But this has helped me to just say through coaching, just the importance of fuel on yourself. And a lot of stuff that I say, I can catch myself like, what well, am I doing this? Am I practicing what I'm preaching? And for me, I'm being honest, it can come from will include that trait. But a lot of times I can be very regimented with my feed, and I need to ask myself, Okay, well, am I doing this? Because I don't ever want to come from a place where I'm going to tell you to do this. But what am I actually doing in my own life? 

 

Amber B  15:47  

Yeah, yeah, that's huge. That's so big. What are some of your biggest tips for somebody who maybe is like you and has like, always been interested in health and fitness, maybe their friends, like always ask them for things? They're kind of like dipping their toe in the water, but haven't made that leap into saying, I want to become a coach, what are some of your biggest tips for them?

 

Kristin  16:10  

Definitely, just to jump in. I mean, dive in and do it messy. I definitely would recommend your course. But just to not let fear hold them back. And the feeling of that you have to have all these things lined up, you know, XYZ, but to really just to go at it from a place of service, as we talked about. And if that's your goal, and from a mindset of wanting to help somebody and help them in their journey, you're not going to fail, you're not going to mess them up. And just to go for it, to not be afraid. 

 

Amber B  16:45  

I love it. Kristen, if someone's wanting to connect with you, or they're wanting to work with you how do they get ahold of you?

 

Kristin  16:52  

My Instagram is kristin_tanner1. And that's where I do most of my interaction and coaching at this point.

 

Amber B  16:59  

Awesome. We'll link that up in the show notes. And then you guys can shoot her a DM or go and follow her. And I'm just so excited to see where you go from here, Kristin, because I see, it's like I said, it's so fun with Coaching Academy clients because they get to have a little bit more intimate relationship with you guys because it's such a smaller group. And it's just always exciting to see where, where you're gonna go and what you're going to do. So definitely check out Kristin's Instagram, if you're interested, reach out to her. And thanks for being on the podcast today. 

 

Kristin  17:29  

Thank you for having me. 

 

Amber B  17:31  

Wasn't that a great episode with Kristin? I really loved what she shared both about her experience in MACROS 101 and learning that, hey, cutting shouldn't last forever, I think that's one of the most important things that I wish more women would understand is that really cutting should be a very small portion of your life and most of your life should be spent at a maintenance level. So that was a huge big aha that she had that I hope you took away. And then also this idea of how to get over some of those self-imposed limits that we place of, Oh, I could never do that, oh, I'm not good enough for that, oh, I can never be a coach and how to start to get past them and realize that if there is a part of you, I see this all the time, but if there's a part of you that wants something that inherently means it is possible for you. I don't think that God gives us desires and wants, without them being possible for us. Now, that doesn't mean you necessarily have to do everything or that you want to do anything. But if there's a desire, if there's a part of you that has a desire, it automatically means that it is possible for you. And now it's just the decision of whether you want to go for it or not. And I'm always excited when women decide to go for it, they decide to say hey, I want this thing and I going to take action and I'm going to it's going to be messy and I'm gonna mess up and I'm going to not be perfect at it but I'm going to move forward because that is a desire it is a goal and I think that I personally think that desires are given to us by God. That is part of helping to guide us to fulfill our purpose. And so honoring and listening to those desires and doing them even when they feel scary is such a beautiful thing to be able to watch women step into and that's a lot of what we do inside the Coaching Academy. 

 

Amber B  19:12  

So if you're interested in Coaching Academy we open doors twice a year so the next time we'll be in the winter, but you can get on the waitlist now at bicepsafterbabies.com/cert, C-E-R-T, and we will let you know the next time we open doors to Coaching Academy. That wraps up this episode of Biceps After Babies radio. I'm Amber, now go out and be strong because remember my friend you can do anything.

Outro

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