Building a Health Coaching Non-Profit, With Shawn Blymiller

[Music] welcome to health coach talk and today I have a special guest his name is sha blim Miller I knew Shawn when he was a student at the functional medicine coaching Academy in fact uh we connected during the clubhouse Heyday and we LED some rooms together and I was so inspired by him at that time and I continue to be inspired and that's why I wanted him to come on the podcast and talk to you about his mission he has a special Mission uh which is called Pure Living family and he's going to ta

lk about how he created a foundation so welcome Sean he's also going to tell us about how he is recruiting functional medicine certified health coaches to join him in his mission to help families so I'm so excited to talk to you welcome Sean well thank you uh Dr Shin bomb so much this is a pleasure and honor to speak with you um functional medicine coaching Academy changed my life and I can't wait to you know share the message with as many people as far as wide as possible well we are here to he

lp you with that mission let's let's begin by talking about what you were doing before you found the functional medicine coaching Academy and trained as a health coach yeah absolutely uh so my background is in sales and Tech sales specifically and my son was diagnosed with autism in 2018 and then a year later was diagnosed with pandas uh which is basically in sephtis inflammation of the brain and we were desperate for answers uh we went the conventional route trying to find answers for our littl

e boy and his name is Theo and conventional medicine really failed us um they didn't really give us many um alternative healing modalities or methods they basically just said plan on your son living with you forever and he's non-verbal and in diapers and that he might never develop um and there was just absolutely no hope and us as parents we didn't accept that and so my wife was really the one that initially drove everything uh she dove into the clinical research dove into Pub Med and and Googl

e Scholar along with other moms that had similar diagnosis she connected with moms across the country and really across the globe and they started um just brainstorming coming up with ideas of how how to help these kids and uh that really led us down this new holistic Integrative Medicine path um we found stem cells we found feal microbiota transplant we found everything from ion foot bath and so many many different um options and this new world this new reality opened up to us and for a while t

he first year was just her and I'd come home and she would bombard me with all the research and to be frank it was hard it was difficult for me to understand a lot of it because a lot of the clinical research is in GL Latin and Greek and you have to really pull out the the thesaurus and understand what the language is really even uh stating and um after about a year of that I finally decided it was time for me to jump into the research um I read spark um which is about a book of a of a boy that

was diagnosed with autism and his mom dove into the research and started a a school for kids on the Spectrum and um really learned how to teach them and how to interact with them and it kind of opened me up and um I finally told my wife I was open to some different ideas first initial thing she told me to do was let's change this diet and I thought she was crazy at first I was like that's not going to do anything that sounds like hippie logic um but within a week we saw massive results and I kin

d of sheepishly Shrugged my shoulders and looked at my wife and said okay I guess we're doing this um and then ultimately that led us down the path of functional medicine we found a functional medicine practitioner at a Henderson Nevada that really helped our boy immensely and um I dove into the re search and I had this uh this guide I guess um recommends the functional medicine coaching Academy to me and it was in a sense it was very spiritual uh where I felt guided and it was the right path an

d that was in 2020 um which everyone knows 2020 was a crazy year for everyone um but I completed it the functional medicine coaching certification in 2020 and you know I reached a new peak of Health year where I implemented everything as you go through the program you learn a lot about functional medicine you're implementing it into your own life and I got in the best shape in my life in years and years and I learned more about food and wellness and so it just it lit me up and it helped my famil

y immensely um so I knew that I wanted to help special needs families when I came out of that uh and so I started a a company called the functional medicine or sorry the Pure Living family which the goal was eventually to just serve those parents out there that are struggling you're under so much stress and these parents need all the assistance that they can possibly get um but as I approached that as I started to serve that community so many of these parents are financially strained they're spe

nding all their money and resources on their kids and they don't have a lot of money to spend um on coaches or On Wellness for them elves and so I just had this idea that you know I needed to convert this to a nonprofit and make it a public service and um then go out and and find ways and means to to pay for functional medicine coaching for these parents and so that's what I did I turned Pure Living family into a 501c three nonprofit um we really got established last year 2023 um and we raised $

30,000 with the goal of spreading the message of functional medicine to special on these families around across the globe and we're really excited for that mission wow I I am so moved and and I know our audience as well listening to your story and how determined you are to help these families in need and what is possible so offering hope as opposed to that early prognosis there's no hope and and you didn't accept that um so can you describe where you are now in that Journey so you started the fo

undation what was next yeah so after raising the $30,000 it was really I'm really grateful for the donors that stepped forward and and saw the vision but as I dove into the research um nonprofits a lot of times they get established and a lot of times they fade because their donors might go away they might not have a successful year in the stock market so a lot of the donations start to fade and so I have this idea of like look I want to be a self- sustaining I want to have a self-sustaining mode

l and I wrote I read a book um by Blake MOSI called start something that matters he's the one that founded Tom shoes and in the book it it says Implement giving from the very beginning of your of your business um and as I dove into that work and I actually had the opportunity to meet him in Denver uh last year at a conference that I attended which was you know the Stars aligned in the universe just brought us together so I was able to snack snap a picture with him and just thank him for the teac

hings he's given me but um as I read that book I just felt like you know what I need to find way to create a a successful overflowing business that will feed the nonprofit long term and as I did more and more research the health and wellness space is growing so rapidly currently it's valued at 7.6 billion and only growing even more and so then I one of my best friends he's my business partner now he's a physician he's a family practice trained physician and he's actually going through the ifm mo

dels modules as we uh speak currently we've been speaking about this since my son was diagnosed with autism and um we uh got together and you said you know what let's start a business where we can hire Wellness coaches and and we help them get um clients we help them plug into existing uh clinics but then also help them to just get their names out there and get established and get them clients and then 10% of those proceeds will go to the nonprofit and that's where we are currently um we have 15

coaches that are around the United States and they are all very much passionate about this mission this purpose that we have U they want to be involved and the more and more people we speak to they want to be in involved in this Mission and so we're really excited to uh help as many people possible both to the general public and to special needs families because you know a lot of times being a special needs father so many people say how can I help and it's hard to answer that question uh becaus

e my son's a lot a lot of times I don't really trust other people to care for him it takes a lot of energy but this is something that I totally believe people can benefit from both for themselves and for special needs families is if you book with our coaches you personally will gain because you'll work with the coach you'll help reach your goals that you set for yourself by working with the coach but part of the money that you are are spending to work with us is going to this nonprofit where we'

ll be giving uh health and wellness grants and running Retreats and educational Summits for these parents to help them really reach their Peak potential and really re refuel them what a beautiful model and it also ties in with the way to build a successful business because when I talk to health coaches who are recent graduates and they often get overwhelmed with how to start a business and I your story is one of just going ahead because you have a mission and businesses where the founders are dr

iven by a mission succeed uh as opposed to how can I make the most money for example uh people see through that but when it's Mission driven and the model that you've described is definitely that it starts with wanting to serve it starts with that mission to help to serve others and the fact that you are donating some of the proceeds back to a foundation that's the Tom's model and that's why that was so successful and it's been replicated numerous times and those leaders really stand out so kudo

s to you so thank you very much how do you tie in the corporate aspect yeah this has been a fun project uh for us that we've been working on where I've personally gone in and I do about a 10minute minut uh presentation on health and wellness and we'll start with everything back to positive psychology Martin Seligman and what does Wellness even mean because language really gives us a visual gives us a framework of reality and so if we can change the conversation to how do I be healthy to how can

I thrive right one of his favorite quotes that I love is people don't want to just survive they want to thrive and so how do we get people thriving and really reaching their Peak potential and so that's the start that's the framework where we introduce the positive psychology and wellness language but then we Implement things like uh soundbath meditations where a lot of companies and corporations have what's called Employee Appreciation programs where they're trying to give back to their employe

es and make them feel important and valued where this is a perfect opportunity where you can pay us to come in for 30 minutes um the employees can step away from their working stations and they can come learn about health Wellness but then they can also do a a sound bath meditation for 15 minutes and just lay there and be in this peaceful Bliss to process everything that they're dealing with in their life whether that's work stresses or home life um this last week we did a heart math uh educatio

nal um presentation along with the heart math uh meditation this next week or this next month we'll be doing chiong um with a corporation so um we have a lot of coaches that are certified in personal training and yoga and so these are all services that we use in the corporate setting um and so our coaches have an opportunity to present to large groups of people but then that also gives the coaches an opportunity to show themselves because one of the challenges um I've been in the therapy model f

or years I went to therapy for years and years one of my biggest challenges was finding the right fit right finding the right personality that you you Vibe really well with them um and that's one of the things I really strive for with Pure Living is we want one stop location where you go and find coaches a list of coaches and you look at their bios and you look at their pictures and you you read their stories to really find the coach that best fits what you're trying to to accomplish and as we g

et into the corporate um centers and locations they get an opportunity to understand your personality and see how you work and interact with others and that gives them an opportunity to their matches um and so I think the model is is destined to so much success um and I think we can help so many people thrive uh absolutely and it's so needed because employees are hurting the level of mental stress the anxiety depression it's just off the charts it's growing and employers don't know what to do an

d the traditional model have not worked and we are faced with a drastic shortage of mental health professionals was speaking with someone today who said uh and she also works with families of young children and she said there's just this there's long waiting list it's often Out Of Reach financially for many families they don't know where to turn so what is what can you share about any feedback from the corporations or from employees who have taken advantage of these coaching Services yeah as as

a Salesman I put my um my thinking brain on of what are the what are the executives wanting from their employees they're wanting more production and a lot of times they're putting more work on them and and demanding and expecting but then you look back at the unions you look back in the early 1900s and a lot of times employees were demanding and demanding more and more and people were even dying in factories because they were demanding so much and it was the people that actually demanded a bette

r relationship with their employee that created the eight hour work week that created the safety environments uh for them to be protected but still contribute to the bottom line and the the the crazy thing is is as you start to do the meditations as you do the mindfulness you then go back to your desk after this 30 minute break and you're more productive you're more present you're more aware and you're more capable to produce more so it's kind of like in the think or in um The Seven Habits of Hi

ghly affected people by do by Steve cvy the seventh habit is sharpen the saw and so many times in corporate settings we just demand demand more more more work and they don't provide enough tools to sharpen the saw and mindfulness and music listening therapy is one thing that I I do daily uh we have a partners ship with Advanced Brain Technologies in vital neuro that um helps with neuro feedback type of treatments and these are the type of things that we will be singing from the rooftops to help

as many people as possible to help them produce more I love that and it's so great to hear you say biof feedback neuro feedback I did a controlled study in the early 90s that was when it was just coming into being and most people hadn't heard of neuro feedback and it's still still not commonplace for people to know what it is but at the time we're working with kids with attention deficit issues and so we did a controlled study of those kids who were uh pre- and post and uh on so the kids who had

the neuro feedback versus those who just played games on the computer challenging the math games for example uh did so much better on tests of attention than before they had that intervention so it it and it's grown and now it's something you can do at home with an app those days we had a whole series of computers and an office and uh very very involved for the parents had to take their kids to their clinics but uh now it's so easy to implement and yeah that is a great way not only you can help

people for greater Focus you can help people to achieve a quieter State um so that they will then be more energized lots of applications and I I just love since I've met you Sean how you are just always full of ideas you know how to go forward you're so inspiring what do you see in the future for you for for Pure Living for what you've started um I I think my mission my My ultimate goal is I think the the ultimate answer for these kids is from their parents as their parents get centered I'm sor

ry um and my wife and I my wife and I have learned this through practice as we meditate as we practice yoga as we care for ourselves and it almost seems like an oxymoron as we care for ourselves we're better prepared to care for our son of special needs and that's the the mission that I hope to spread far and wide for all those special needs parents out there that many times they they feel isolated they feel alone they feel like nobody understands them and I'm here to tell them that we do we've

been there it's one of the most difficult times in my entire life and even when your own family doesn't understand and they have no way of helping you there's people out there that go through similar experiences that are ready to help and serve you and be present there for you and my goal is to be there for the nonprofit and to serve special needs families for the rest of my life and find all the tools that I possibly can I I speak out I Lobby for the best tools available in science right now an

d that's everything from about neuro feedback to um to psychedelics there's so much excitement with that um and I just want to help in any shape form I can for them but I think also Martin cman set a goal that he wants you know 50 over 50% of the population thriving by the year 2051 and I want to be a part of that for both P living family and Pure Living our country the United States in particular is struggling in health and we need more companies stepping forward providing Solutions and not jus

t complaining about it not calling out what we're falling short but creating new systems and processes and practices to help people reach their Peak potential and that's that's my mission for the rest of my life Wow it it's so amazing so inspiring moving and I know everybody listening will be moved very deeply moved and want to join your mission and what do you see as a future for health coaching yeah I think this part is super exciting because uh as everyone knows there's a practitioner shortag

e right now both for psychotherapists for therapists for Physicians um so many people complain that they go into a physician and they spend 10 15 minutes and then a physician pushes the pharmaceutical at them and then that's that's it that's the care and that's not the right model and with coaching uh a lot of times there'll be extenders for coaches or for Physicians and providers I personally work with a psychotherapist Dr Robert Glover's world-renowned author um I work in his group in integrat

ion Nation helping men to fully integrate their whole lives um so many men don't deal with pain they avoid it with addictions with drugs with alcohol with pornography with so many things and um I want to help those men to address those underlying conditions and coaches help with those underlying conditions because coaches are uh specialists in Behavior change and we help people change their behaviors long term and we're a help we're ex we're exhilarator for um extender for psychotherapists for F

amily Practice Physicians there's so many applications of functional medicine or Wellness coaches and the future is just so bright in this space well I couldn't agree more and Sean I have admired you uh since I got to know you and you were a student and uh you have grown your mission you are determined and I think that people will really um this will resonate with people who are listening so where can they find you yes so our two different websites is purel family.com that is the nonprofit 501c3

feel free to go there um check out the content that we're creating uh our social media team will be releasing a lot more stories it's not just my story well our board of directors are all special needs parents and more of them will be sharing their story uh and then our our Pure Living is um p- living uhco um no am at the endco and there you can go and learn of the 15 different coaches we have there read their bios and understand what sort of pain and challenges that they went through to learn

what which coach best matches what you're trying to accomplish in your life there's people that have suffered some of our coaches have suffered from early signs of MS some of them had um lost have gone through huge weight loss challenges some of them have had all sorts of pain and challenges and because they've gone through that path they now have returned with the Boon The Secret of how to overcome it and they're there to support you along the path and so many people choose coaching because the

y have had a Health crisis eles or their loved one have a Health crisis and now they want to serve and give back just as you did well good luck on this Mission and I just was so inspired by speaking to you so we will stay in touch I can't wait to have you back for a followup to see uh how far you've grown um because this is something that will will grow because it definitely serves a great need out there so thank you so much for being with us today thank you so much for having me Dr shine bom yo

u are amazing and you're my inspiration a thank [Music] you