Here we take an inside look at a wellness coach, the choices made on the road to success, and the challenges ahead.
Ramona Fasula, owner of Wellness by Ramona.
HIN: What was your first job out of college and how did you get into health coaching?
Ramona Fasula: My first job out of college was working for a mortgage company. I continued my path in the financial industry working in banking and then I worked as an analyst for an investment management firm. I was laid off during the financial crisis and it forced me to think about my life and what I wanted in my career. The day I was laid off, I had a conversation with a friend of mine, who said that I’ve always been into health and fitness and I was great with people. She encouraged me to follow my passion and start my own business. I always wanted to own my own business, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. It took losing my job to figure it out. The next day, I enrolled at the Integrative Institute for Nutrition and got my health coaching certificate 11 months later. It was the best decision I ever made in my life. My father always told me that if you do not have your health, you have nothing, and that is true. Your health affects every aspect of your life. To be able to help other people live longer, healthier lives is rewarding. I could not ask for a better job.
Have you received any health coaching certifications? If so, please list these certifications.
I am a certified holistic health coach. Beginning this month, I will be attending an integrative nutrition cooking program for six months. I will also be working on becoming a certified aromatherapist. Once I finish those programs, I will be pursuing a PhD in naturopathic medicine.
Has there been a defining moment in your career? Perhaps when you knew you were on the right road?
I knew I was on the right track when one of my clients, who has fibromyalgia, told me that she had been through 10 specialists in one year and I was the only person who has been able to help her. She had lost 40 pounds, which is something that she hadn’t been able to do before she started working with me. Symptoms of the fibromyalgia had also started to disappear.
In brief, describe your organization.
My goal is to offer many different healing modalities to my clients. Starting this month, I will be expanding the business. In addition to health coaching, I will be offering healthy cooking classes, Reiki and raindrop therapy, which is an amazing technique invented by Dr. Gary Young, who owns Young Living Oils. I strongly believe in the power of education. The more education that I receive, the more I can offer my clients.
What are two or three important concepts or rules that you follow in health coaching?
Every day, take the time to focus on your “primary foods” and evaluate what you are getting out of them. This includes career, spirituality and the relationships that you keep, among other things. If you are not getting out of them what you’d like to, then you need to make some changes in your life. Unfortunately, primary foods affect the types of foods that you eat. You want to make sure that you are nourishing your body, mind and spirit each day. They are all connected. I also strongly believe in the power of positive thinking. Positivity attracts positive things into your life, while negativity will do the opposite.
What is the single-most successful thing that your company is doing now?
Right now, the focus has definitely been school; however, I have been working on developing relationships with the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Association. Diabetes is an epidemic in this country and it needs to be stopped. The way to do that is through education. I am planning to do many diabetes workshops this year to teach people how to not only manage this disease, but to prevent it. Knowledge is power.
Do you see a trend or path that you have to lock onto for 2012?
I will work with anyone who needs my help, but I would really like to focus on working with diabetics. My father passed away from complications of the disease 10 years ago and I’m convinced that if I knew then what I know now, he would still be alive today. There are 25.8 million Americans suffering from this disease and 8 million who go undiagnosed. That number is expected to triple by 2050. Diabetes is all about diet, and I believe that so many diabetics do not know how to eat for this disease. In memory of my father, I want to help people so that they don’t have to suffer the way that my father did.
What is the most satisfying thing about being a health coach?
To be able to wake up every day, knowing that you made a difference in someone’s life. That’s why I am a health coach — to make a difference.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Staten Island, NY. I lived there for 10 years, moved to New Jersey for a year, and then to Pennsylvania where I still live today. I live right outside of Philadelphia.
What college did you attend?
I attended Millersville University in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for my undergraduate degree, which is in marketing. In December I finished up my MBA at UMASS-Amherst.
Are you married? Do you have children?
No, I’m not married yet. I believe that in order to have a successful marriage, you need to know who you are and what you want out of life. I feel like I’m just figuring that out right now.
What is your favorite hobby and how did it develop in your life?
Dance has always been my passion. I took dance lessons for many years. Thanks to the television show “Dancing with the Stars,” I really started getting into ballroom dance. I had to stop taking lessons for a while because my MBA became too time consuming.
Is there a book you recently read or movie you saw that you would recommend?
I recently read “Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce Meyer. Health is not just about what you eat, it is also about what you think. Thinking positive thoughts has a profound impact on your health, so we definitely need to make sure that we are guarding our mind and thinking positive, healthy thoughts. I would definitely recommend this book.
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