Student Spotlight: Mercedes de Rink

Mercedes de Rink has spent nearly 15 years at the intersection of science, technology, and medicine as a biomedical scientist. But after a decade in the pharmaceutical industry led to burnout, she found herself at a crossroads, searching for a way to align her professional life with her personal values. Her healing journey took her to Motion Lab, a multidisciplinary sports medical center in Switzerland, first as a client seeking weight loss and later as a place to find the joy of movement while preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. It was there, amidst physiotherapists and sports physicians, that Mercedes realized the missing link in care: patients didn’t need more information; they needed support with behavior change and integration.

“I feel like this journey, this time at FMCA has really helped me realize that alignment isn’t just about becoming someone new, but it’s about integrating who you already are in a way that finally makes sense. FMCA didn’t just teach me how to coach, but it gave me the confidence to step into a life that feels coherent, grounded, and mine.”

Mercedes de Rink, FMCA March 2025 Class

That realization led her to the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (FMCA). While most students wait until the end of their program to begin their practical coaching requirements, Mercedes saw an opportunity to innovate. In Module 7, she approached the director of Motion Lab with a data-driven pitch to pilot a health coaching program. Drawing on FMCA’s research resources and her own background in science, she demonstrated that coaching wasn’t just “talk.” Rather, it was an evidence-based intervention that could improve sleep, stress, and nutrition in as little as three months.

The pilot was a resounding success. Mercedes coached nine clients with a 100% completion rate, proving that health coaching belongs at the heart of multidisciplinary teams. Today, as she prepares for graduation, Mercedes is transitioning into a permanent, hybrid role at the clinic as a Project Manager and Health Coach. For Mercedes, FMCA provided more than just a certification; it provided the “scuba gear” needed to dive into the open ocean of her new career, turning a personal journey of healing into a professional mission to empower others.

Watch the Interview

Watch the full FMCA Spotlight interview with Mercedes de Rink to learn more about her inspiring journey:

Transcript

Mahnaz: Welcome, everyone. I’m Mahnaz, FMCA’s International Relations Coordinator, and I have a current student, Mercedes de Rink, with me. She’s a biomedical scientist, and she has nearly 15 years of experience at the intersection of science, technology, and medicine. So Mercedes, now you’re on this journey to become a functional medicine certified health coach. You’re soon to graduate. And you actually did something quite exceptional as a student, which would be, I think, really interesting to highlight. So, part of the graduation requirements at FMCA is that we ask you to coach two outside clients in module 10, yet you started coaching in module 7. So tell us a little bit about how you managed to create this opportunity for yourself.

Mercedes: Well, thank you so much, Mahnaz. Thank you for having me. Well, this opportunity actually really grew very organically. I had the opportunity to do an internship at a sports medical center here in Switzerland called Motion Lab, which is quite unique in their approach to health. They have a really multidisciplinary approach that is quite unique. And I actually first knew them as a client. I initially went there wanting to lose weight, like three years ago. And then later, during a burnout period where I really needed a place for healing and really find the joy of movement. And then, eventually ended up preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. So it was kind of my happy place where I found really this joy and this place for healing. And yeah, I really love this multidisciplinary model to health.

So they have a sports physician, physiotherapist, exercise physiologist, and they’re all working together. And I could really feel the power of collaborative care. And I developed a really good relationship with their head of sports physiology. And after some really deep conversations about health, we used to talk about health and understanding of health, I really started realizing that what was missing in many cases wasn’t really more information, but rather the support with integration of all the information we have as patients or as clients, and supporting behavior change and meaning. And after one of those conversations with him, I went home, and I really started looking for what can I do to help people like that. And that is actually how I found FMCA. And I was just really, really interested in how this conversation led to me joining FMCA.

So while I was in module six, I asked him, the head of sports physiology, whether it could be interesting for them to pilot a health coaching program to explore how health coaching could actually integrate into their existing health promotion programs. And so he was very enthusiastic about it, but the real step was to pitch that idea to the director of the center. So yeah, it was a really exciting process on how that came about.

Mahnaz: All right. So tell me a little bit about that process. I mean, obviously, you nurtured this relationship that you were able to create in the beginning, and you saw possibilities in a place where they couldn’t see that. So what did you do in this particular presentation?

Mercedes: So I knew from the beginning that I really needed to be super clear and very structured and very data-driven because they’re super scientific in their approach and very data-driven. So I prepared a presentation to pitch the idea. And I started by explaining what health coaching is, what it isn’t, clarified boundaries, the scope of practice, and how health coaching can actually complement medical or therapeutic care, and presented the benefits of coaching for clients, and also the value of having a health coach within a multidisciplinary team. And so, as I said, they’re super data-driven. So I knew that I really needed something solid to present. And I went through the scientific resources and the studies that are available through FMCA. And I included them in the presentation. I highlighted one study showing the positive impact that even three months of coaching can have in lifestyle factors like sleep, stress management, nutrition. And that was really important to show because I was showing that it was something based on…it was something evidence-based and grounded in research. So it was really, really powerful. And something important was also to explain a little bit the program. So I really thought about how I could really explain what FMCA is, being a U.S. based program. I really wanted to be super intentional about the positioning in an international context. And I included the fact that it is approved by UKIHCA and other international bodies. And I included the future health coach badge in the presentation and the UKIHCA logo, and explain what that actually represents in terms of standards and professionalism. And that really mattered in a Swiss organization where credibility and vigor is actually quite key. So yeah, it was really…

Mahnaz: Yeah. Well, in terms of when we provide these resources at FMCA, we do get this feedback saying these resources are invaluable. We’ve learned so much through having those studies about the efficacy of health coaching, we’ve presented those hundred studies. But it’s really good to hear when you’ve got an example of how someone’s been actually able to use it within a presentation to create that pitch with that information. And the fact that things, even simple things like the badge that shows that you’re about to become a health coach, that you are a functional medicine health coach candidate, I think that makes such a big difference because you’ve got these tools and resources that you were able to get through us. So yeah, that’s absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing how useful they were to you. Right. So when you did the pitch, and they said, yes, how did you feel?

Mercedes: So at the beginning it was, of course, super exciting, and it was just pure excitement. And it was incredible to see how something that started as a casual conversation after a physical therapy session turned into a real, concrete project. But very quickly after that, fear started setting in, and I remember thinking, “Am I actually ready for this? I’m just in module seven. So do I really have everything I need?” And in theory, I had almost everything I needed, but theory and practice are very different. Yeah. And I really felt a little bit like when I was getting my scuba diving license. So you first have the theoretical part, and then you practice in a secure environment in the pool, and then you jump in the open ocean, and then you’re just there. So it is really scary, but it’s so exciting just to jump in the open ocean and see all the opportunities and all the, yeah, everything that is out there. So that was super exciting, but really scary at the beginning.

Mahnaz: I think that’s such a thoughtful analogy that you’ve made there with the scuba diving, because you can actually see that there’s, I suppose, some relevance to that in terms of what happens in FMCA when you do that live training session practice and you go into the breakout rooms. So all of those things, I think, are part of it. So I suppose at the time you were also learning about character strengths. So how did your character strengths and what you’d learned about them shape the way you approached this particular opportunity? Because one of the things that you did is you looked out for opportunity, you looked out for possibility, and that’s a testament to who you are as an individual, and that it came from that conversation and your willingness to have it. So, yeah. So how did those strengths and what you learned about them shape how you actually approached this opportunity?

Mercedes: Well, I feel like, well, my top strength is curiosity, and that definitely helped me ask better questions of clients, of myself, of the system. Prudence is also one of my signature strengths, and I feel it really helped me respect boundaries, respect my scope of practice and really knowing where I was able to operate. My honesty, I feel it really allowed me to be transparent about what I could offer and what I couldn’t read with complete honesty. And yeah, I feel like my creativity also really helped me adopt the tools and the approaches that I was learning during the program to a real-life setting that didn’t always look like the textbooks, actually. So yeah, I feel like it was really interesting also to having worked on my own character strengths and apply them into this experience. I feel like, yeah, it really helped me stay grounded while navigating something new that felt generally intimidating. So, yeah.

Mahnaz: I mean, the way you describe it, it’s so clear that you were very grounded in your strengths and you knew what you were able to offer. I suppose that gives you a strength, an internal strength, to be able to deal with these types of challenges. So what were the things that actually helped you to prepare for this internship once you had it?

Mercedes: Well, from a personal perspective, I feel like the FMCA curriculum is incredibly rich. So I feel like by module seven, we had already covered so many tools and coaching frameworks, coaching structure, character strengths, value, the wellness wheel, behavior change framework. So it was really incredibly rich and having access to so much material, templates, documents, and having a clear coaching structure already really made me feel like I had a solid container already. So that was really…that felt that I wasn’t really improvising, but I had something solid in my hands.

And the community aspect, I feel, was just as important. And being part of the UKIHCA cohort with this international community really allowed me to bring real cases to the cohort and have these weekly discussions and hear from fellow coaches’ feedback, and hear different perspective on how to approach different barriers. It was also really interesting for me that I was coaching in French, which was also part of the scary part of this project. And being in this international community that knows that coaching in a language that is not your native language can be a little bit intimidating, also felt really, really good to have people around me who understood how that was.

And I think a really important moment that we had during these weekly calls was one moment when you pointed out that I seem to be taking my client’s success as my personal responsibility, which I feel is probably really common for new coaches. And then you invited me to office hours, and that one-on-one conversation was incredibly transformative. And I’m so grateful for having access and for you offering me that support. And it really helped me see my perfectionism patterns and how that was showing up and how my identity was shifting a little bit and how was I becoming a little bit more aligned with my values, with my purpose. And so my old ways of operating didn’t have to run the show anymore. So it was just really that one-on-one conversation was incredibly transformative. So thank you so much for that, Mahnaz.

Mahnaz: Thank you. This is something that FMCA provides as a whole anyway, we provide so much support to our students, but I just want to go back to something that you said about coming into those discussions and sharing. You shared vulnerably, you shared with so much courage to say, “This is what’s happening to me. This is my process as I’m coaching. This is what I’m coming across.” And that actually gave a sense of courage to other students to do the same. And when they saw, “Oh, she’s coaching, and she made this opportunity happen,” you were opening possibilities up for other students. And it was so wonderful to see that domino effect that you had on other students. And they started coming in saying, “Mercedes, I also did this, and I’ve got this opportunity. Now I have this student.” I think that was probably the magic that happened within the community, where not only were they all cheering you on for what you achieved, they were also genuinely happy for you. Every week, everybody was waiting in anticipation. What’s she going to come up with next? And so, you were authentically going through the journey, how it felt. And so it was almost like that vicarious experience. The other students were also able to learn through you. So really, I can’t thank you enough for everything that you brought forward to those meetings and discussions as well.

Mercedes: Thank you.

Mahnaz: So, yeah. So I think we’re getting to the part where we think, okay, so you did the internship. Can you tell us what was the result? What happened once you completed it? Because that was really inspiring to hear when you shared it with us as well.

Mercedes: Yeah. So at the end of the program, I presented the outcomes, which I measured through a questionnaire. So I did a questionnaire at the beginning and at the end to measure the impact actually on modifiable lifestyle factors like sleep, stress management, nutrition, and overall well-being. I worked with a total of nine clients. They were between 34 to 68. So it was a broad range of clients. I had seven women and two men. And I had about four to eight sessions per client. So it was really, really interesting to see the journey of each of them. And what was really exciting was that all of them, the nine clients, completed the program, the three months. And that honestly stunned me. It was just so…I was so grateful and so happy to see that level of engagement in such a pilot project and something completely new in this organization. And yeah, it was just really, really interesting to hear also the feedback from the head of sports physiology. So when I presented the data, and he was saying that it was really good to see, to have data that is actually confirming that health coaching truly has and truly belongs to these types of programs, and that maybe it’s the sports program that need to be a branch of health coaching and not the other way around. So it just felt really encouraging. And at the beginning, I was like, “Really?” But yeah, just seeing these results and these reactions felt really encouraging. And yeah, after finishing the internship, they offered me a job, a hybrid role, basically as a project manager implementing health promotion programs and as a health coach. And I’m really, really grateful for that opportunity. I’m starting that next month and graduating next month, starting the job next month. So it feels like a time of transition. So yeah, it was exciting.

Mahnaz: You know, I can’t…yeah, I have to go back to what you’ve actually…there’s a couple of things you’ve said that are just… The fact that you had nine clients and there was 100% attendance for them, it shows how you were being as a coach. And the fact that the head physiologist, I mean, that is, it’s golden for him to say, really, it’s almost as if he got what that meant to have a health coach on the team. That it’s literally, I mean, that’s phenomenal that he said it should be health coaching with everything else. I mean, that really is a testament to how you were coaching, the fact that you really absorbed everything in terms of what you’ve been taught at FMCA, the whole principles of functional medicine coaching, the coach approach itself, you would never have gotten to that result without having all of this. So that, you know, thank you so much for sharing that. That is really, really inspiring to hear.

And I remember when we heard about your results…and also, you know, I mean, that takes a lot of effort on your part. You really persevered with all of it. And so much thought went into it. You created the presentation in the beginning, you created a presentation at the end, you were able to show with evidence this works. And so you really are doing something that has forwarded what coaching really is. So, yeah, I think that’s something to be so proud of for yourself as well.

Mercedes: Thank you.

Mahnaz: So I’m actually going to sort of…we’re coming to the end of our call today and our interview, but I want to go back to the beginning because I recall we had a discovery call when you were first thinking of joining FMCA. And I remember at that time, you said you’d suffered a burnout after a 10-year career in pharma. And I remember you saying, I want to find something that really aligns with my values. And I suppose values, there’s something that arises from the essence of who we are. They’re those quiet truths that are just waiting to be remembered. And you stepped into that. You had the courage to step into, “These are my values. This is what I want.” It almost brings back to me the metaphor of you talking about Mount Kilimanjaro and what that journey is like. So you’ve done FMCA, you came in, you’re about to graduate soon. It’s almost as if you’ve climbed to the top of that summit. Would you describe whether or not you actually found something that aligned with your values?

Mercedes: Yes, absolutely. I think looking back, I can see how profoundly transformative this journey, this year has been. I feel now really aligned with my values, especially with my value of health. So my understanding of health shifted from being disease-free to something much richer and just having the ability to live with energy, with purpose, and with agency. And being able to support and empower other people on that path feels incredibly meaningful. And I feel like this journey, this time at FMCA has really helped me realize that alignment isn’t just about becoming someone new, but it’s about integrating who you already are in a way that finally makes sense. And yeah, I feel like FMCA didn’t just teach me how to coach, but it gave me the confidence to step into a life that feels coherent, grounded, and mine. It’s my own personal path. So it’s been incredibly transformative, and I feel incredibly grateful for all the opportunities I had.

Mahnaz: And we’re really grateful that you stepped in and that you are doing everything that you’re doing. And I wish you all the very best in the future and everything that you plan to do with your coaching on the side, as well as what you’re doing as a result of this internship. And I’m sure that the future has so much brightness for you. Thank you again, Mercedes.

Mercedes: Thank you so much, Mahnaz. And thank you for having me and for all your incredible support throughout this journey. It wouldn’t have been the same without you and the UKIHCA cohort. Yeah, it has been incredible. Thank you so much for that.

Mahnaz: Thank you, Mercedes.