Consider These 3 Emerging Niches in Wellness Coaching

As the wellness coaching industry booms, distinguishing your services becomes crucial

The wellness coaching industry has seen substantial growth in recent years, driven in  part by increasing awareness and a trend toward personalized care. In 2024, the projected revenue in the health and wellness coaching market is expected to reach $3.83 billion.

Measure that against projections that the global wellness economy is expected to hit $8.5 trillion by 2027 , and the opportunity is clear.

As the market becomes more saturated, however, the ability to stand out has become challenging. The good news: it’s also easier than ever to specialize.

Let’s explore three wellness coaching niches that could lead to streamlined success.

Corporate Wellness Coaching

Wellness coaches guide clients through the complexities of physical, emotional and mental health, offering customized support. Finding a niche differentiates coaches and allows them to meet unique needs with precision. By focusing on granular areas of wellness, coaches can deliver more impactful results.

Identifying and committing to a niche is more than just a business strategy; it’s a way to form deeper connections and make a significant difference in people’s lives.

If you love creating programs designed to improve the health and productivity of employees within an organization, corporate wellness coaching is a perfect path.

Unlike traditional wellness initiatives that often focus on generic health promotion, corporate wellness coaching is precise and dynamic, involving direct interaction between coaches and employees.

This type of coaching is aimed at addressing both physical and mental health needs, creating a healthier workplace environment that can lead to enhanced employee engagement and increased overall corporate performance (read: bottom line health).

Think about the “desk jockey” stress syndrome indicative of corporate culture, where people have long commutes, sit hunched at desks all day long and routinely sample the cookies and doughnuts brought in by co-workers. Rinse and repeat. These are just the base ingredients for a potential health crisis recipe.

Here are some examples of standard services offered by corporate wellness coaches:

Workshops: These are typically group sessions that address common health and wellness topics, such as stress management, nutrition and physical activity. Workshops are designed to engage employees in learning new health behaviors in a supportive group setting.

Personalized coaching: One-on-one coaching sessions provide employees with individualized attention to meet their specific health goals, which could include smoking cessation, weight management or managing chronic diseases.

Wellness challenges: People love a good competition. Challenges, or collaborative, team-based activities, incentivize employees. These challenges often involve tracking steps, weight loss, or mindfulness practices, and can add an element of accountability and community, which human resources will appreciate.

Kinsey Mahaffey , MPH, a Houston-based fitness educator, NASM personal trainer and health coach, says that corporate wellness coaching is becoming increasingly popular as companies work to better the health of their employees.

“Working as a corporate wellness specialist allows the wellness coach to help employees improve their mental, physical, social and emotional health so that they can thrive both inside and outside of the workplace,” Mahaffey says.

Eco-Wellness Coaching

Eco-wellness coaching combines environmental sustainability with personal health and wellness. This approach encourages people to live in a way that is both healthful to themselves and sustainable for the planet.

Eco-wellness coaches work with clients to develop lifestyle strategies that promote ecological health, such as minimizing waste, using eco-friendly products, and adopting sustainable/ regenerative eating habits.

What’s the link to health?

The core philosophy is that personal health and environmental health are interconnected. By adopting more sustainable lifestyle practices, people not only improve their own health but also contribute to the health of the environment.

This holistic approach, in turn, addresses different aspects of a person’s life, including diet, exercise, stress management and even consumer choices, emphasizing that a healthy environment supports a healthy individual.

Here are some examples of standard services offered by eco-wellness coaches:

Sustainable diets: Coaches provide guidance on how to adopt a diet that reduces environmental impact, such as incorporating more plant-based meals, choosing locally sourced foods and reducing food waste.

Reducing personal and household waste: Advice on minimizing waste through practices like recycling, composting and choosing products with minimal or recyclable packaging.

Eco-friendly living practices: Suggestions on using non-toxic cleaning products, reducing energy and water usage, and choosing sustainable transportation options.

Eco-wellness coaching tends to attract a diverse range of clients, particularly those who are already environmentally conscious and looking to deepen their commitment to sustainable living. These clients often include affluent young professionals in their 20s and 30s, people who prioritize organic, natural products, and parents who want to instill sustainable values in their children.

Karen Richards , an eco life coach from Port Townsend, Washington, says that this niche is simply “regular life coaching, through an eco lens.”

“The ecological worldview is the context that the coaching is done in,” Richards says. “This worldview is that everything is interconnected, and that to achieve personal and planetary health, we need to change the way we view and relate to the world, and fundamentally change how we live.”

Richards says the coaching topics themselves can be anything in life that people want to work on.

“The lens will be there, but the topics could be anything from ‘how do I respond to climate change?’ to the more mundane topics of career, stress, relationships, exercising, health, spirituality, etc.,” she says.

Mental Wellness Coaching

According to the National Institute of Mental Health ,  It is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (57.8 million in 2021). While the stigma surrounding mental health has improved, particularly post-pandemic as awareness has increased, the need for support in this arena has grown.

Enter mental wellness coaching, designed to improve an individual’s emotional and mental health through goal-setting, positive behavior changes and developing personal coping strategies.

Unlike therapy, which often focuses on resolving past issues, mental wellness coaching is more forward-looking. It empowers clients to take charge of their current and future mental health through practical techniques and lifestyle adjustments.

Importantly, mental wellness coaches do not diagnose or treat mental illnesses; instead, they work with clients to create and maintain healthy habits and a positive mindset.

Here are some core areas of focus offered by mental wellness coaches:

Stress management: Coaches teach clients how to identify stress triggers and implement stress-reduction techniques such as mindfulness, meditation and time management skills.

Developing emotional intelligence: Coaches help clients understand and manage their emotions and those of others, improving their ability to handle interpersonal relationships.

Enhancing life satisfaction: By setting and achieving personal goals, clients improve their self-esteem and find greater satisfaction in their daily lives. Coaches may use tools like life balance assessments and personal values explorations to guide this process.

While there is crossover with any other kind of life coaching, the mental wellness coach tends to specialize in mental and emotional well-being, which transfers to overall health and wellness and also helps clients reach their physical goals more easily.

Mental wellness coaching can be a significant addition to a personal trainer’s skillset for several reasons, including enhanced client engagement and motivation, being able to offer a more holistic approach and helping people overcome mental barriers to exercise, such as anxiety or low self-esteem.

Matthew Boone , LCSW, a social worker and therapist from Little Rock, Arkansas, says that mental health coaches are “trusted partners who can help you achieve goals, but they focus on emotional health and wellness.” He says this niche is new and quickly growing and, therefore, is surrounded by misconceptions.

One of these “myths” is that a mental wellness coach can’t help with common issues.

“While mental health coaches aren’t therapists, they can still draw on principles and practices from evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), Boone says.

Wellness for the Win

By focusing on a specific niche, wellness coaches can differentiate themselves, meet the precise needs of their target clients, and make a meaningful impact. As awareness of the importance of holistic health continues to rise, the demand for specialized wellness coaching services is poised for significant growth in the coming years.

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