Interview Margaret Moore Wellcoaches

Although people make New Years resolutions for a healthier lifestyle, many are having success when working closely with a coach to guide and motivate their efforts. Margaret Moore, CEO of Wellcoaches knows first hand about the experience of working with an online coach.

Q. What is the profile of your clients that get a Well Coach?
A. Most clients are over 35 and struggling with weight and a stressful life which makes it challenging to master wellness.

Q. What are typical goals that clients set with their Well Coach?
A. Clients typically develop a vision for what their best wellness looks like, and then set a variety of three month goals around exercise, eating habits, self-care, and life issues, and weekly goals to take one step at a time.

Q. What have you learned are the success factors in motivating healthy behaviors to help clients reach their goals?
A. We have seen the following success factors:

Mastering wellness is a new life skill – wellness coaches model this skill and through the coaching process help people acquire this new skill
The coaching conversation is a workout for your brain – the coach asks the client to think and feel in a highly engaged way to get the work done needed to support lasting change
Coaches are energizing and positive and provide accountability in the early and challenging stage of the change process
The coaching process addresses the big picture (why do I really, really care about being well) and then translates the inspiring vision into very specific actions – making the vision feel doable
Coaching is focused on building confidence – I believe that I can do it
Most clients don’t want to spend a lot of time online – they want their coaches to write up their wellness plans and weekly goals updates

Q. What is your vision for Wellcoaches?
A. I hope to live to see the day when the norm is not the pursuit of quick fixes but where people take charge of their health and invest in it daily for the long term. Just like people meet with a financial planner at least once a year, we would meet with a well coach once a year to develop a wellness plan. We would update the plan once a quarter, share it with families to get support and discuss it with our physicians.

Sherri Dorfman has helped Wellcoaches by providing input for their online tool development and feedback on the customer experience for their coaching service.