International Alumni Spotlight: Lindsey Byrne

FMCA alumni around the world continue to inspire with the meaningful ways they integrate health coaching into their lives and careers. Lindsey, based in the UK, is a testament to the power of personal experience, perseverance, and the profound impact of coaching. After years in leadership development, executive coaching, and team coaching, she found her path shifting in an unexpected direction—toward functional medicine and health coaching.

Like many, Lindsey’s career took a turn during the pandemic, when her work in corporate training and development faced significant disruptions. But it was a deeply personal experience that truly set her on the course to becoming a health coach. Watching her mother struggle with worsening memory issues, Lindsey sought solutions and discovered the Bredesen Protocol—a groundbreaking approach to cognitive decline. Through her dedication, she helped her mother make significant improvements, sparking an undeniable realization: if lifestyle and functional medicine could make such a difference for her mother, it could transform the lives of countless others. That’s when she knew—health coaching was the way forward.

“I had no doubts. Seeing my mom improve, it was so clear to me that this was the path I needed to take. The FMCA program gave me the knowledge, tools, and support to make that a reality.”

Lindsey Byrne, FMCA graduate

Now, Lindsey specializes in coaching individuals who are concerned about cognitive health. Her clients range from mid-50s adults aiming to prevent memory loss to those in their 60s and 70s seeking to reverse early signs of decline. She often coaches couples together, ensuring they have the support they need to make sustainable changes. While her practice primarily focuses on one-on-one coaching, she is now expanding into group coaching to reach even more people.

As a health coach in the UK, Lindsey has witnessed a shift in how people perceive proactive healthcare. Initially, health coaching was relatively unknown in the UK, with many relying solely on the National Health Service (NHS) for support. However, she now sees a growing number of individuals actively seeking guidance to improve their well-being, recognizing that lifestyle changes can play a crucial role in their health journey. With an increasing demand for health coaching, Lindsey believes the UK market is ripe with opportunities for more coaches to step in and make a difference.

Lindsey credits FMCA for providing her with not just the knowledge of functional medicine and coaching techniques, but also the business tools to succeed. The program’s business track, which helps students define their ideal clients and build effective marketing strategies, proved invaluable. FMCA’s commitment to ongoing education through its Alumni Program has also been instrumental in her success. She regularly participates in Ask the Expert calls, ensuring she stays informed on the latest research and coaching strategies, and actively engages in the Coaching Advancement Initiative—an opportunity for FMCA health coaches to guide functional medicine trainees through the elimination diet.

To those considering a career in health coaching, Lindsey has one clear message: Do it.

Watch the Interview

Watch the full FMCA Alumni interview with Lindsey to learn more about her inspiring journey:

Transcript

Mahnaz: Welcome, Lindsey, I’m so pleased to be able to see you again.

Lindsey: Oh, thank you, Mahnaz. I’m so pleased to be here. Thank you for having me on.

Mahnaz: Well, first and foremost, before we get into the questions I wanted to ask you, I think congratulations are in order because you have a number one bestselling book, so start with that please.

Lindsey: Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. This is my book. It’s called “What did I come in here for again?: How I improved my brain health and memory with the Bredesen Protocol.” And this is the culmination, at least to date… I’m sure there are many more big things to come for me, but this is the culmination to date of my entire health journey so far.

Mahnaz: That’s so wonderful to hear. So, why don’t we just go back to the beginning? And can you tell me what you were doing before you became a student at FMCA?

Lindsey: Yes. Well, I had my own business already, I was doing training and development work like leadership development and also some coaching, some executive coaching and some team coaching as well. But the pandemic hit and, kind of, caused some problems with that.

Mahnaz: So then what brought you to functional medicine and ultimately health coaching itself?

Lindsey: So, of course the pandemic hit and had a big impact on my business. My income dropped overnight and I really had nothing to do at the start of the pandemic, but at the same time, I had recognized before the pandemic that my mom’s memory was getting worse. And really in the pandemic, it really started to get worse and be very noticeable. And that was when I discovered that there are things that you can do about all manner of chronic conditions, but that was actually when I found the Bredesen Protocol and helped my mom to apply the Bredesen Protocol. And it just seemed very obvious to me that this was the way forward, that I needed to become a health coach and help more people do the same.

Mahnaz: All right, so there’s that connection between what happened with your mother. It’s a connection to your values as well, isn’t it? So, how are you using your health coaching certification and making an impact on the health and wellness of your clients in this community that you are now helping?

Lindsey: Yes. So, I have a number of clients. It’s taken a little while to build up. I’ve been a graduate of FMCA for two and a half years, but I’ve got a really good client base now and they are all people either sort of my age, mid-50s, who perhaps have parents who lived with dementia and they want to prevent. I’ve got a number of people sort of in their mid-60s as well who are starting to notice some changes to their memory and they’re looking to reverse that and to help themselves. And I do have some people up to their mid-70s as well who either have a dementia diagnosis, or they know and may not have been to the doctor. And at the moment, I’m mainly helping people one-to-one in coaching. And very often I coach a couple, so they’ve got some support as well. But I’m looking to do some group coaching very soon. I’m looking to launch that.

Mahnaz: Well, those are so many different things, so many avenues that you’re looking into in order to help this particular community, and they’re really lucky to have you there obviously doing that with them. So, in terms of the health coaching landscape in the UK itself, what’s that like for you?

Lindsey: Oh, it’s definitely getting better. I mean, it’s only been two and a half years, but initially it’s really hard to find a health coach in the UK. I think the market is wide open still. I think it’s becoming a little bit more acceptable now. I think when I first found it, because of the NHS and that everyone believes healthcare is free at point of use, I think it’s been difficult in the past to persuade people that there’s more they can do for themselves medically through lifestyle but also that health coaching is a thing. But what I’m definitely finding is now I’m finding people searching me out. They’ve discovered the Bredesen Protocol or they’ve just decided they want to help themselves. They’re not relying so much on the NHS now. They actually want to help themselves through lifestyle. So, I actually am getting clients seeking me out, which is such a massive change and such a lovely thing.

Mahnaz: And it just goes to show how people are becoming more proactive. It means that the information is getting out there and that people are thinking, “I want to be empowered for my health, and I need to find someone who can be that support for me on the journey.” And obviously they’re finding you and reaching out to you. So, obviously to get to this place, you had an experience as a student. So, can we go back to a little bit about your experience at FMCA as a student and perhaps share some of the things that you enjoyed most about the program itself?

Lindsey: Well, if I go right back, I looked at quite a few different health coaching programs and I chose the FMCA one. I looked in a lot of detail, and you might remember, Mahnaz, you might not, that I had quite a long conversation with you. I had a lot of questions and I just felt so much more comfortable with the FMCA approach. And during the entire year of training, I just loved all of it. I mean, the content is really good. There’s a good mix of the medical stuff as well as just coaching, which I was really keen to learn.

But the live sessions were absolutely phenomenal. Having a couple of hours every week to practice everything that you’d learned all week and to get feedback right there and then from your peers but also to be coached, I don’t think I’d really thought through the benefit I was going to get from health coaching from my peers. But then also being in the observer spot and feeding back to others, there’s something really beautiful about being in that observer spot. You really notice things because you’ve got nothing else to do but to really watch all the nuances of it. And you can learn an awful lot from your colleagues as well.

So, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. It was a really valuable learning process. And even though… People used to say to me, “But you’re already a coach. Are you getting anything from this?” And I absolutely did. Health coaching is so different from executive coaching and team coaching. Yeah, I really thoroughly enjoyed it and got a lot from it.

Mahnaz: Well, thanks for showing that. And I know that so many students say the same thing. It’s like, “I never expected to get to the next level in my own health.” It was like actually being coached for a whole year. It was like the cherry on top, something I hadn’t quite expected. So, how would you say FMCA prepared you to be a successful health coach then?

Lindsey: I mean, the content and the training is really valuable. There is also a business track. So, partway through your training, they release some business modules. So, they really help you to think about… And I’m not just talking about setting up a company and tax and that kind of very practical stuff but also the marketing. That was the key thing for me, really thinking about who is my ideal client and really embellishing that and really understanding what their pain points are and where they’re coming from and building a marketing campaign specifically for them. That was really helpful. And I think that’s the biggest thing I took from the business track. And that was the thing I was probably most worried about.

Mahnaz: I’m really glad to hear that. And I know many of our students say similar things. If you go back to the beginning when you’re trying to make that decision, you mentioned that a few moments ago, what were your fears or maybe barriers about enrolling or starting this health coaching career? And how did you manage to overcome that?

Lindsey: I really don’t feel like I had any doubts about doing it. I mean, it was such a massive thing, seeing my mom improve, her memory and everything improve. That was such a massive thing. It was just so obvious to me this was the only way forward. I mean, I think it was very serendipitous that I had no work in the pandemic, so it freed up a lot of time. So, I don’t think I had any doubts about getting on with it. It was mainly around choosing the right training provider. I definitely think I did the right thing there with FMCA. I must have made myself very annoying to a lot of different training providers because I really asked a lot of questions and went back again and again and again to make sure it was right for me. There is a cost involved, obviously, and you’ve got to be sure that you are getting value for money. I genuinely think the FMCA program is really good value for money.

Mahnaz: You really did get over your fears of doing it because you were there already. I think it’s from what you’ve said with not having work at that time, it’s as if everything just aligned for it to happen.

Lindsey: Yeah, it was clear the universe was telling me this is the way to go.

Mahnaz: It was meant to be, so perfect. We always say here at FMCA that you are a graduate for life. What does that ongoing alumni connection and support look like for you? Because I know you’re very much a part of that.

Lindsey: So, the two main things that I would take out of the alumni program, first of all, they’re constantly updating the content. As part of the initial training, you get these Ask the Expert calls and you get access to all manner of experts from the functional medicine practitioner world. So, you learn a lot about the medical side, which is invaluable for supporting your clients so that they understand what the practitioner has been telling them and you can re-go over things. And that continues. And I love my Ask the Expert calls. I look forward to those and watching all of that content getting updated.

And then the other thing is that I always get involved in the Coaching Advancement Initiative, which is an opportunity for health coaches to coach trainee functional medicine practitioners through the elimination diet. And it’s a great way of refreshing your skills and reminding yourself exactly how you should be coaching. I think that’s a really big one for me because the Apollo coaching, the Bredesen coaching is a bit more directive, as you can imagine. With people potentially with Alzheimer’s, we need to be a little bit more directive. So, it really grounds you back in the right way to do it and reminds you. And you make some fantastic contacts with future practitioners. And you can discover all about what their specialism is. They find out all about you. Obviously, this is after the coaching program. You’ll coach them through the elimination diet first, but you just make such fantastic contacts for future use.

Mahnaz: Well, it’s really great to hear what a wonderful experience you’ve had with the Coaching Advancement Initiative, which is very particular to FMCA, obviously. So, what would you say to another student who’s in the UK who’s considering embarking on this journey of becoming a functional medicine certified health coach? What would you say to them?

Lindsey: I would definitely say do it. It’s such a wonderful learning experience. Once you’re qualified, the work you do with clients is so rewarding. I mean, I used to work in training, as I said, and that’s rewarding in some way. I’ve always wanted to help people. But when you are helping people to improve their symptoms, to change their lifestyle, and they feel immediate, really personal benefits, and you’re helping them with any mental blocks, any emotional blocks they’ve got as well, you form some really strong connections with your client. It is the most rewarding work you can do.

And I think the UK is wide open right now. We are starting to see more and more health coaches, and we need many more of you, so please do do it. And the support afterwards is fantastic. Obviously, we’ve got the alumni program, but Mahnaz is actually the international coordinator, and she’s always there for help as well and guidance. And she holds a quarterly call where all the international students…well, graduates, sorry, get in touch and you make more contacts that way and get more support that way as well. So, there’s a lot of ongoing support.

Mahnaz: Oh, thanks for that, Lindsey. It’s always a pleasure to provide that support. We love doing that at FMCA. We’re all about connection here. And, yeah, so thank you for sharing all of that. And I suppose when I look at this journey that you’ve been on, it’s been so connected to the health of your mother, first and foremost. and I think that’s been the most important thread. When you think about that, you went on this whole journey, and at the end of it, you ended up writing a book that is going to make a difference to so many other people in the world. So, it started with the one person that was most important to you, and it seemed very closed, and it seemed like, “This is my life, my story, my family.” Yet, look at you taking that step, doing FMCA, and now it’s phenomenal. You’ve written this book, and you have no idea the amount of lives that your book will touch and all the information that you share and then the coaching that you’re going to continue to do because of all of that. So, congratulations again, Lindsey. Thank you so much.

Lindsey: Thank you. You’re so right. Even without a book, all of the people considering doing this training, it’s not just about the people you coach because there is a ripple effect as well. They’re family members, they’re friends. We’re not just coaching individuals. There’s a ripple effect. I really think we can affect the health of the whole UK if there are enough of us.

Mahnaz: That’s what it’s about, isn’t it? Making that difference and creating that transformation in individual lives, in societies, and having that ripple effect throughout the whole world. Well, thank you so much, Lindsey. It’s been such a pleasure to connect with you again.

Lindsey: Thank you, Mahnaz. I’ve really enjoyed our conversation.