Episode 115 | Jan 30, 2025

The Future of Health Coaching Jobs, With Leslie Wier-Fincher

What does the future hold for health coaches in today’s evolving wellness landscape? This week on Health Coach Talk, Dr. Sandi explores this vital question with Leslie Wier-Fincher, a seasoned coach, mentor, and founder of the Health Coaching Jobs Newsletter. Together, they delve into the ever-expanding job market for health coaches, the challenges new coaches face, and the promising opportunities in this growing field.

“I think one of the greatest things a coach can do for themselves is build confidence in their ability as a coach. That means actually coaching. It doesn’t matter who or where or how, as long as you are coaching.”

Leslie Wier-Fincher

Leslie’s journey into supporting health coaches stems from her own career challenges and a deep love for the profession. With over 16 years of experience in coaching and human development, she has mentored hundreds of coaches and taught in NBHWC-approved programs. Leslie’s firsthand knowledge of the job market and her commitment to empowering coaches led her to create the Health Coaching Jobs Newsletter, where she curates remote job opportunities, shares industry insights, and provides resources for career development.

In her conversation with Dr. Sandi, Leslie breaks down the diverse roles available for health coaches, from full-time employment in digital health to entrepreneurial ventures in private practice. She highlights the increasing demand for specialization in areas like functional medicine, diabetes management, and mental health. As Leslie shares, the health coaching industry is evolving rapidly, and entrepreneurial skills are becoming essential for navigating a career that often blends multiple roles. Whether it’s contracting with medical practices, leading group coaching sessions, or offering text-based support, health coaches have more options than ever before.

For health coaches, this episode underscores the importance of mindset, relationship-building, and career capital. Leslie emphasizes that competency and experience often outweigh credentials alone. She encourages coaches to seek opportunities to hone their skills, even if it means starting with volunteer roles or creative community outreach. Dr. Sandi echoes this advice, reminding coaches that the ability to market themselves and build meaningful connections is a key driver of career success. Coaches can use these insights to grow their confidence, expand their networks, and advocate for their value in a competitive job market.

Watch The Episode

Listen Now

Transcript

Dr. Sandi: Welcome to another episode of “Health Coach Talk.” Today we’re talking all about jobs for health coaches because that’s a question we’re frequently asked about. Will there be a job? If I decide to become a health coach, what will I do with my training? Well, the answer is that there are many roles for health coaches and they’re varied. Some people are entrepreneurs. They want to build their own businesses. Others want to work for corporations that are interested in furthering the health of their employees. Still, others want to work in medical clinics, and that field is growing. More and more doctors are specializing in functional and integrative medicine. They know that they need a health coach. There are also increasingly roles for health coaches. Companies like Quest Diagnostics now has a branch that is offering health coaching. So, the future is bright.

And I also want to say that on behalf of FMCA, we are committed to supporting our graduates. We have a very active and growing job board. We encourage companies, doctors to submit job descriptions, and we are committed to supporting our graduates and helping them feel confident, feel secure in seeking a job. And that is a big part of what we do through our alumni program. So, yes, the future is very bright for health coaching. I’m going to be speaking a lot more about that during this coming year.

So, without further ado, though, I want to tell you about our special guest who talks about the job market, and her name is Leslie Wier-Fincher. Let me tell you about her. She has over 16 years of experience in human development as an advisor, an educator, and a coach. She has an ICF PCC. That is the International Coaching Federation. She’s a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach, and she has two master’s degrees in education and coaching psychology.

She currently works as a health and wellness coach in digital health and has also taught, mentored, and managed hundreds of coaches. She is deeply committed to the transformative potential of coaching to improve societal health, emphasizing the vital role human coaches play in this transformation. Recognizing the challenges that coaches face in this rapidly evolving health coaching industry, she launched the Health Coaching Jobs Newsletter to provide valuable resources and career development support. Building on this initiative, her business WellVenture aims to deliver innovative career solutions for health coaches.

So, without further ado, here is my conversation with Leslie. Welcome, Leslie.

Leslie: Thank you so much. I’m happy to be here.

Dr. Sandi: Well, before we begin, I would love to hear you tell your story as to why you chose to focus on what you are currently doing, which is the employment or the outlook for health coaches, both those running their own business as well as working for others.

Leslie: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think it probably arose from my own frustrations, honestly, in the job search and looking for work and just hearing all of the pain points from coaches. I have always really loved supporting coaches. I’ve taught for an NBHWC-approved program. I’ve been a coach mentor, a coach manager. It’s just I love working with coaches. And the combination of that and my own challenges and experiences in the job search process is what led me trying to find some sort of a solution or at least a starting point of a solution for all of the pain points that coaches are currently experiencing and growing their career.

Dr. Sandi: So, can you describe exactly what it is that you are doing currently?

Leslie: Yeah, yeah. So, I run a newsletter. It’s called the Health Coaching Jobs Newsletter. And basically, I curate all of the latest remote health coaching jobs that I see. I wish I could do non-remote, but that is a task in and of itself. So, I curate and send out bi-weekly the latest remote health coaching jobs and also industry trends, answering questions related to their career growth and development process, news, and just bringing together the patterns that I see in the industry in relation to career development beyond this idea of having to start your own business, kind of, bringing into the spotlight the concept. There is another route. It’s a challenging route, just like building your own business is a challenging route, but there is another one. And there’s not a whole lot of talk around that right now. So, that’s what I’m doing.

Dr. Sandi: I love your mission. And we have close to 5,000 graduates and growing. And I know that many of them are launching or are running their own businesses, some very successfully, many very successfully, and others are wanting to work for medical practices. Many work for corporations. So, can you start by just sharing what are the range of options out there from somebody who wants to be completely entrepreneurial to somebody who says, no, I want to be employed?

Leslie: If you think about a number line, for instance, those are the two extremes, and there’s a whole lot in between, right? You’ve got someone who’s fully employed by someone working at a digital health company, for instance, versus someone who is fully within private practice, right? And then in the middle of that, you have a whole lot of people trying to find their way of what’s in between—people who are freelancing, who are in provider networks and have multiple contracts with different companies who provide coaching to the EAP programs. Or, you may have someone who’s working part-time in their own private practice and may be contracted within a doctor’s office as well.

What I’m seeing happening now is a lot of people just combining a lot of different ways to work in health coaching, which is why I really think that just entrepreneurial skills, in general, should be something any health coach has, whether or not you’re solely working in a company versus anything else. So, I’d say those are the two, kind of, endpoints, and there’s a whole lot happening in between.

Dr. Sandi: And it does not have to be either/or, which I find some people think that you have to be in one or the other category. But it reminds me, back in the day when I was a health psychologist, and I had many private clients but then I also was on staff at local hospitals. And I did inpatient consultations and I worked for some doctors as a consultant. So, a whole variety of things. And we’re seeing lots of those kinds of opportunities.

The other day… I want to share this because I was so excited. This came to my husband. He’s on their email list. This was from Quest Diagnostics, the lab testing company that they have sites all around. Every location in the country has some version of Quest where you can go get your blood drawn. And they had, as the subject line of this email, “Are you interested in working with a health coach?”

Leslie: Oh, that’s fantastic!

Dr. Sandi: And then you open the email, and it went on to say, “Yes, we have health coaches.”

Another example is one of the big hospital systems here in the Chicago area, I know somebody who is going through their cardiac rehab, and they got an announcement saying that it’ll help your progress if you work with a health coach. And I was like, “Wow, yes,” because this is an establishment, a big medical system. And all I had been hearing years and years ago, when health coaching was first coming into being, let’s say 10 years ago is that, well, no, we don’t have the budget. We don’t know what to do with health coaches. This is now going mainstream. So, can you share what some of the top trends that you are seeing in the coaching industry?

Leslie: Yeah, particularly in relation to employment and things like that, there are a few things that I’m seeing. One is greater specialization. So, I think when I first started working as a health and wellness coach seven-ish years ago, that barely existed in the limelight. Now it’s everywhere. But back then, it was like, “Health and wellness? What does that actually mean?” Now I’m seeing functional medicine as a specialization. And this is working for companies, and doctors, and all kinds of employers. Functional medicine is a big one. Diabetes is a big one and pre-diabetes. Mental health coaching is one that I’m seeing a lot of, and it’s just growing and growing. And then, of course, weight management and support for GLP-1s is also a huge one right now.

But generally speaking, greater specialization, and looking for coaches who have experience with those populations to some degree with those specializations. Every functional medicine role I see requires a coach have experience with functional medicine coaching, not just health and wellness coaching, functional medicine coaching. So, that’s just a really good example.

Dr. Sandi: Well, that’s music to my ears because that’s what we teach. We teach those functional medicine principles as a collaboration with the Institute for Functional Medicine, and it is a way of really helping people understand root causes of their conditions.

Leslie: Yeah, and it’s interesting because whenever I see a functional medicine role, this is one of the only specializations that I typically see employers requesting specific schools. FMCA is almost always in there. IIN sometimes, Duke sometimes, but FMCA is the one that I see the most often. So, that really speaks to your reputation for sure.

Dr. Sandi: Well, thank you. So, let’s talk about the challenges first. What do you see holding people back from growing in their career?

Leslie: Yeah, that’s a great question.

Dr. Sandi: Given all these opportunities that you’re seeing.

Leslie: Yeah, so there are things that are within their control and things that are without their control that I think all come together to create this, kind of, what feels like a mess to a lot of people. I think, on one hand, you have an industry that is flooded with coaches and not enough jobs. And that’s on the employment side of things, as opposed to the business-building side of things. But there are so many coaches coming into the industry, and there’s just not enough actual jobs for them. So, that is a challenge.

And what that means then is that several years ago, there was this kind of situation in digital health where there were a lot of layoffs that flooded the market with a lot of more experienced health coaches. So, all of a sudden, you’ve got all these employers who have this huge pool of coaches they can choose from, so they’re going to go for the people who have the most experience. And there are a lot of them out there because of those layoffs initially and things like that.

So, you’ve got a lot of new coaches coming in that are competing for jobs with people who are a lot more experienced or who are in demand, essentially. So, that’s part of it. I think another part of it is just getting that experience. How do you get experience for a job when there’s no jobs to get experience from? And I think a lot of coaches immediately go to this thought of, “Oh, I just need to get more education and I just need to show how passionate I am.” Those are great things, but ultimately, that’s not what employers are looking for. They’re looking for experience, and competency trumps education and passion.

I think what holds a lot of people back is that they’re afraid of just going out into the community and finding opportunities for experience. Sometimes it might mean, unfortunately, unpaid. It might mean working at a church, in a community. It might mean having to pitch yourself and put yourself out there. And those are the entrepreneurial skills that coaches really need to get experience in a really difficult landscape right now, that they have not been taught.

Dr. Sandi: Yes, I agree that that is often… It’s often tied to mindset what you just mentioned, because it’s a belief that, “I can’t do it,” or “I don’t know enough.” And I see that all the time where people will go through with our program and then say, “Well, I need to go to another program. I need to learn…” And they will keep going from one program to another and never really get out there in the marketplace.

And the marketplace, as you said, can be holding a workshop in your church. It can be gathering people in your kitchen and starting a group. It can be volunteering. But there are also ways that you can talk to doctors, for example, or talk to people in companies who are hungry for this and they just don’t know it yet, or they just don’t know how to go about it.

So, it is finding the opportunity to provide that education that you have as a coach. That passion that you have, that will come through when you are interacting with these people who are in a capacity to hire you, whether hiring you as their personal coach or hiring you for their patients or their employees. It’s just taking a risk, and then with practice, you’ll get better and better at it.

So, talk about career capital. What would that be? What’s essential in order to grow a sustainable career?

Leslie: Yeah, especially in health coaching. So, career capital, the amalgam of skills and experience that you have that sort of make up your career. And I think what is really essential for coaching in particular is something that we just spoke to. Obviously, you have to have really good coaching skills, not just the education, not just the passion. You have to show that you have those skills. The reason I say that is because when you go through an interview, you’re going to go through mock scenarios. You’re going to have to do mock coaching. Especially on the employer side, maybe not so much working with doctors as contractors but especially on the employer side, they are screening for your actual coaching skills. So, that’s one thing.

The second thing that we’ve already mentioned is entrepreneurial skills, right? Even if you are working for an employer, a lot of the time… And this is coming from my experience in digital health. A lot of the time, in larger companies, they don’t always know what coaching is or what it does. You have to be able to advocate for yourself in all ways I think in this industry right now. I would say also experience with different coaching modalities is helpful. So, if you’re applying to a digital health coaching role that is text-based coaching, they want to see that you have experience with text-based coaching. It’s the same skills, it is applied differently than face-to-face coaching. And I’ve taught both. I’ve taught coaches who are used to face-to-face learning how to do text-based, and coaches who are used to text-based learning how to do face-to-face. It’s a shift. It requires really intentional skill-building, right? And then face-to-face, phone.

I would also say experience with certain populations. So, if you’re applying to a job in which the population is people with chronic health long-term conditions, the employer wants to see that you have some sort of experience with that population. Not necessarily coaching but that you understand the population, right?

And then I would say finally one of the most important things: relationship-building. One of the greatest ways… And this is just in general employment, not just in health coaching. It’s hard to get a job right now in a lot of industries. It’s incredibly competitive. And being able to get your name out there is one of the greatest things that you can do for your career.

Dr. Sandi: I think that is so important. So, we have an alumni program, and that’s one of the things we stress. And when I’m having students and graduates in my office hours, we always talk about that. There’s a saying that I love, “Your network is your net worth.” So, it is focusing on who do you know. And you start in your community. If you have kids, the parents of those kids. Who’s in your school? Who’s in that group? Who’s in your church or your synagogue? Who do you meet at the supermarket?

Yesterday, I went to a book signing at my local bookstore recently, and the person who was… He was a board-certified oncologist. And the more he talked, the more I thought, “Oh, I really want to get to know this person.” So, I was bold. I went up and gave him my card. We had a conversation, then we connected on LinkedIn, and I said, “I’d love to have you on the podcast.” He said, “Oh, great. I’ll have you on mine.”

So, it is taking that risk. So, rather than just… I could have just walked out. It was a crowded book signing. I could have just walked out, but I said, “No. We have a lot in common, I want to get to know this person.” So, I’m looking for any opportunity to grow that network, and it starts with those personal relationships.

And there was a famous marketer who had… In the old days, it was a Rolodex, but he kept these notes like he knew each contact. He would have their kids’ names, their partners, like if they played golf, if they liked tennis. And then it was an opener, “Oh, how was that golf game going?” “Oh, I heard your son went to this college. How’s he doing?” And all of those details and, “Oh, I have a child at the same college.” You look for those common threads, and then they know you.

Many years ago, when I was a psychologist, I was seeing a lot of people for migraine headaches and started seeing a lot of kids. And I was taking… I always loved ballet. I was taking a ballet class. A woman who I was in awe of for her ballet dancing skills with me at the barre turned out she was a pediatric neurologist at one of the major hospitals. We started to talk, and from then on, she must have sent me hundreds of kids with migraine headaches to help with biofeedback. Who knew that talking to someone in my ballet class, having that connection?

So, be open to those relationships and finding that common ground is a real tried-and-true in marketing. There’s Robert Cialdini, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University, wrote a great book called “Influence,” and he talks about that, that the more you have a sense…like, that person says, “I’m like you,” or you want to work with them, to buy from them. And it’s that common ground, “Oh, we went to the same school.” I really am passionate about teaching coaches that philosophy.

Leslie: Yeah, and I think a really important part of that too is I think some people cringe at the thought of networking, right? Like, “Oh, I’m going to put myself out there.” But I don’t like to frame it as networking, I like to frame it as relationship building. And it’s about not what can the person give you or what can this person do for me, it’s what can I give to this person. And eventually, that will come back to you tenfold, right? That’s what I always encourage people to go into it with the mindset of. It’s just like be your authentic self, create the relationships that you would normally create but put yourself out there with the intention of giving rather than expecting. And it’ll happen.

Dr. Sandi: One of my mentors who is on our business track faculty, Joe Polish, he has “Life Gives to the Giver,” and “What’s in It for Them” is another one of his books and if you approach it that way, because many coaches really think sales is a dirty word because they come to this profession to serve others. And then faced with marketing themselves and selling, that can be something that is off-putting. Can you comment on that?

Leslie: Yeah. Gosh, I’m reading a book right now by Daniel Pink, and forgive me, I can’t actually remember the name of the book, but he talks about this very thing. And I was thinking this is a great book for coaches to read because it helps reframe this idea of needing to sell, right? He reframes it as needing to move someone. And as coaches, that is exactly what we do in our job every single day. We build relationships and we help create movement, right?

So, if you employ those coaching skills in a similar way, like the rapport building and how you help move people in your coaching, it’s no different, right? And something that stood out to me, the way he framed this was we are, every single moment of our lives, trying to convince someone of something. You’re a parent, you’re trying to sell your kids on vegetables. It has helped me so much to remove the stereotype of a salesman and consider that my job is to help move people.

Dr. Sandi: I love that. We will put the name of that book in the show notes. And who is the author again? Daniel Pink, okay. So, let’s talk about the industry in general. How can the industry move forward to support the needs of coaches?

Leslie: So, I think there’s the education side of things and then there’s the employment side of things. Education-wise, I think there’s a really deep need for greater alumni support. And I think FMCA is a really great example of this. I am always seeing the question from people who are interested in coaching, “Which program should I go with?” And I tell them, go with the program that has the best alumni support, because when you’re done, you’re going to be left wondering, “What’s next?” And most of them are not going to give you any sense of direction or support. So, the education programs that are building on alumni support and who are seeking to develop greater alumni support, those are the ones that I think are going to be the most successful.

And then another thing in relation to education too is right now, the education, the coaching education industry is flooded with all kinds of education, CEUs, coaching programs. And as a teacher, objectively saying this, they’re not all the best quality, unfortunately. So, we really, as an industry, need to focus less on quantity and more on quality. And I can see why we have gone in this direction, right? People are unable to find clients, they’re unable to find work as health coaches. They go into creating CEUs as another form of income and things like that. I totally get it. And I don’t know that it’s actually helping us because it just lends to that perception, “Oh, I get that one more CEU, and I’ll be worth it. I’ll get more education and someone will want me.” So, I really think we need to focus on quality and a sort of robust support as opposed to quantity.

And then industry overall, I would say one of the biggest pain points is… I don’t know if you’ve looked at a job listing recently and seen the salary but it’s bad. When I see a job listing that requires a master’s degree and board certification that only pays $22 an hour, that’s a problem. Just greater advocacy, greater dialogue around this in general really needs to happen. That’s something I’m trying to start doing and figure out what it looks like, having conversations in circles and on LinkedIn, but I feel like we really need to bring this into the open and just be very… I don’t want to say forceful about it but more explicit is I think what we need to be doing because the salaries are not good.

Dr. Sandi: So, I think that what you said earlier regarding a jumping off point to begin with taking that salary but supplementing it with having private clients, for example, having other ways that you can grow but realize that this is not going to be where I end up. Also, I talk to a lot of people who say, “Well, they look at what they…” Like for example, in a medical office and alternative medicine, well, they are struggling. If you hire a coach, it could be a low starting point, but then they are bringing in clients, they are tied to the mission of the practice, so everybody’s thriving, and then that salary can be increased or you can become an independent contractor. So, you may be working on Monday for one practice, on Wednesday for another, leading medical visits, for example.

We are on the brink of a precipice for what I believe will be enormous growth because of the changes that we have seen with the… We want to look at what has happened now in our health and wellness industry. I just heard a statistic that… So, I am privileged to know Casey and Calley Means, who have just been blowing up in terms of being on Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan, and they are with RFK, literally going to be transforming healthcare as we know it. And I’ve been in this business for over 50 years and have never seen such enthusiasm for getting healthy again.

And I’ve had talks with Calley in particular about health coaching, and he sees that as the route to how are you going to help people on a community level. And it is health coaches. They are the ones who are going to make this happen, which leads then to… I’d love to hear your thoughts about because one of the things that could very well be sped up is the changes in CMS, which runs Medicare or Medicaid, to get those transitional CPT codes for health coaches to be the reimbursable codes, which we have been fighting for. But what I am hearing is that this is now going to be expedited to happen.

Leslie: Yeah. I think there are two sides to this coin that I’m seeing in the discourse around the CPT codes and all of that and getting reimbursed, right? It definitely lends legitimacy to our industry. It makes it easier for health coaches to get reimbursed in different ways, which kind of meets a pain point, like a really significant pain point.

And then on the other side of things, what’s happening with low reimbursement for therapists right now, for instance, a lot of people are concerned that the reimbursement that coaches do get is not going to be enough essentially. So, that may force coaches then out of the insurance sphere the way that therapists, to some degree, are being forced out of the insurance sphere so that they can make enough money.

So, I’m seeing two sides to this coin being discussed. And that is, how is it going to help? How could it potentially hurt in the way that it has hurt in other areas too, right? And it’s really challenging because it will increase access, and that’s a great thing. And also, what does that mean for the reimbursement of coaches and therapists when health insurance companies are not giving what is really needed in order to actually have a thriving business or career? So, that’s the two sides of the coin discourse that I’m seeing there.

Dr. Sandi: Well, the other promising development is that as this becomes part of the national dialogue and people are waking up and saying they really want to get healthy, we are seeing this explosion of incidents of chronic disease. They are hearing this on most popular podcasts. Well, how do they do it? The primary care office is not going to be the place, but it is finding a health coach. So, it could be a real boon for health coaches working privately, the benefit of doing groups, which makes it affordable for people but also their compensation for the coach. But also talking to people… There are people who are wanting to work in the medical community, and there are practices they do not know that chronic care management can be…that session can be run by your health coach as long as they meet the criteria for the diagnosis as with two or more chronic conditions and the doctor is technically supervising and in the practice. So, I think this is a wonderful development. So, I like to think that the future is really bright for health coaching.

Leslie: I think it is. And honestly, there are a few things that are really exciting. As it grows, I see people who are coming into coaching with really vast experience in other areas that are combining that with coaching in really, like, unique and creative ways that I think is incredible. That expands our reach. And also, we’ve got people who have been in coaching for some time now who are entering leadership positions, who are building their own businesses, and those businesses are getting bigger and really creating greater legitimacy for health coaching in general.

So, I agree totally that, like, just the visibility, I think, legitimizes it. Now compared to seven years ago, it’s night and day, like a completely different planet to some degree in terms of how much more accepted coaching is. Before, it was like a snake oil salesman. So, it is very exciting, I think, just to see the breadth of what is happening and the creativity that is happening with how people are bringing coaching into communities and industries. And that’s another thing that I didn’t get to mention earlier is I really see this breadth of coaching intersecting in different places—community health, and education, and not just healthcare. I find that incredibly exciting.

Dr. Sandi: Absolutely. So, broadening across industries and increasing opportunity, but I think also just name recognition. And I was at an event and I actually was listening to Calley Means, and he made that statement like, “Why shouldn’t a mother on Medicaid be able to get a health coach?” and calling it out from the stage. So, that never would have been brought up five years ago, for example, but it is on the radar.

And I think it is a really great time to enter the field of coaching. And when you have that sense of opportunities in the future, and then how can you as a coach have the skill set, which doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to take one more continuing ed course, but you do need to have that sense that you are worthy, you are worth it, and you can advocate for yourself and believe. Many coaches have imposter syndrome and are thinking they just don’t know enough. And I think that’s where that needing more and more support comes from but just getting out there and taking some risks.

Leslie: I totally agree. The imposter syndrome is strong. And I think one of the greatest things a coach can do for themselves is build confidence in their ability as a coach. That means actually coaching. It doesn’t matter who or where or how, as long as you are coaching.

Dr. Sandi: Yes. So, you gain experience, it helps you become a better coach. And here at FMCA, we support our graduates and help make that a reality. So, thoughts about board certification? I get this question all the time. Do I need to be board-certified? What are your thoughts for the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching?

Leslie: That’s a great question. Do you need it? No. Is it going to help you? Yes. And one of the things… It’s interesting because I see a lot of discourse in Facebook groups and things like that about, “Do you need it? Do you not need it? Yes, no, etc.” The reality is I have so much data on job descriptions, and I was surprised at how many have no mention of board certification. There are still a lot of jobs out there that just say certified health coach. What does that mean? We all know it could mean anything right now. So, there are a lot of jobs out there that do not require or do not even mention board certification. There are more, and increasingly so, that do. So, if you want to be competitive, then yes.

I think another thing coming to mind for me here, another question that I see often is if I’m going into private practice, do I need board certification? And again, no, you don’t need board certification. A lot of people still are not super familiar with it. However, the trend that I’m seeing is it’s eventually going to get to a point where a lot more people know about it, right? Because what’s happening in the employment side of things is companies aren’t necessarily marketing to consumers. They’re marketing to employers. A lot of coaching is done with coaching…like in EAP programs and things like that when you’re working in digital health or something like that. And these employers, they want coaches who are board-certified. And that, kind of, carries over into the employee who then also learns about board certification, right? So, you’ve got a whole lot of employers out there right now who actually provide coaching to their employees through an intermediary. Those coaches more often than not are board-certified. And you’re over here in private practice having to compete with this, trying to get clients to pay individually when their employer is already paying for it. That’s the challenge. So, ultimately, do you need it right now? No. Is it going to make your life easier? Yeah. And there’s also the question of legitimacy. The board is bringing to the industry something that’s really essential, having really solid standards of practice and ethics the way that coaching should.

Dr. Sandi: It shows you have gone the extra mile to meet the minimum standard, that you have graduated from an approved school, so you’ve been appropriately trained. And I think just for the general public, if somebody needs an oncologist, they’re going to go… They have a choice with two physicians. They’re going to go with the one who’s board-certified or something, or someone will say, ‘I’m triple board-certified.” “Well, that’s even better.” So, it means a lot in the medical community.

Leslie: It does, especially because there’s so much connection now between the research and board certification, right? I cannot see a role in the medical community not requiring board certification, especially if you want reimbursement one day.

Dr. Sandi: Exactly. So, who is going to get reimbursed? You will need to submit your certificate that you are board-certified.

Leslie: Yeah.

Dr. Sandi: Yeah. Well, this has been a fascinating conversation. Leslie, where can people find you?

Leslie: Oh, you can find me on LinkedIn. Leslie, gosh, I don’t know if it’s updated to Wier-Fincher since I changed my name. Wier, W-I-E-R. The Health Coaching Jobs Newsletter, it’s out there somewhere. I think you’ve got the link. I don’t have a website yet for the business. It’s coming. I work multiple jobs and I’m in school, so it’ll come one day. But yeah, I’d say LinkedIn is probably the best place right now.

Dr. Sandi: Okay. We will put that in the show notes. Well, it’s been a pleasure talking with you.

Leslie: Thanks so much, Sandi.

Dr. Sandi: I love the work you’re doing in this field to grow our profession.

Leslie: Thank you. Thank you so much.

Dr. Sandi: Thank you.