Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Arnold.
Ashley, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Today, I work in health education and coaching a professional focus that truly inspires and motivates me. In doing so, I help people break down barriers and discover practical solutions to living healthfully each day.
Carving out a focus within this overarching area has been a delicate intersection between professional and personal experiences. I have held a nearly lifelong interest in human health, but it remained on the back burner of my professional focus for the early part of my career. Eventually, I was able to make the transition.
In addition to degrees in business and public health, I have trained across integrative health approaches including health coaching and assessment frameworks from functional medicine. A personal journey with autoimmune conditions led me towards integrative healthcare as a patient and it was there that I discovered additional opportunity to develop as a professional as well.
The slight shift in direction allowed me to center my interdisciplinary skill set. It has also allowed me to incorporate areas relevant to health but sometimes overlooked, such as environmental exposures.
Has it been a smooth road?
The path to arrive here was certainly meandering. The road has definitely had bumps and unexpected turns. I have had to find ways to balance building a professional path with a personal one in health services and healthcare. Transitioning to entrepreneur was definitely an unexpected shift.
The reality is despite good intentions within healthcare, there are gaps. People may receive guidance, but not necessarily enablement to “sift through the weeds”, otherwise navigating health systems, and make appropriate behavior change most relevant for their lives.
I realized working at a higher systems level, that I was disconnected from the reason I transitioned to a health-related field in the first place; the connection to people. Also, the gaps have created a relevant niche deserving of attention.
Health education and coaching is scientific, but most importantly empowering for health consumers. It can support them to better advocate for themselves and navigate through healthcare settings in a more efficient manner. Most importantly, it can help them achieve measurable goals in their personal lives which can ultimately lead to happier, healthier states.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Ashley L Arnold Lifestyle Health Coaching story. Tell us more about the business.
My business is built on systemized applications to capture comprehensive information for each person that comes through the process. It follows up with motivation and empathy in the care and individualized consideration for participants. The scope across service offerings extends beyond what most broad, population health focused applications provide. It gets personal and truly tailors to the path that individuals take in their journey to live healthfully. My tagline is “Conscientious, Healthful Living” representative of the consistent decision making involved with living most healthful.
I have been able to leverage an interdisciplinary background in business and health sciences, but it has taken creativity and grit to launch a business. Also, it has taken figuring out how to approach areas that weren’t taught when I was in business school, such as social media in marketing approaches. Being in the 1- to a 3-year phase of my business plan, I continue to monitor, measure and adapt in order to best serve my niche in a meaningful way. Building out more applications for group modules, particularly those that leverage the digital landscape, has been a primary focus this year.
It may sound cliché, but I am most proud of the contributions I make to how people feel. Often people are overwhelmed with what is out there. Helping people cut through the noise is a rewarding aspect of what I do.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We have taken the first chips out of the “health consumerism” iceberg and the concept of personalized medicine will continue to be defined over the next 5-10 years. I am particularly excited about a current Cleveland Clinic study on the Functional Medicine model, which includes health coaching.
Also, consumer movements centered around whole health and wellness are empowering. An example is an interest to avoid excess exposure to potentially harmful synthetic additives and fillers in food, personal products and home care which has increased substantially over the last 3-5 years. I look forward to seeing more shifts within big consumer product industries such as food, clothing, and daily household products.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ashleylarnold.com
- Email: LiveHealthful@ashleylarnold.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveconscientiouslivehealthful/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AshleyHealth101
- Other: https://livehealthful.getartichoke.com
Image Credit:
Emily Melvin Photography
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