Meet Leanna Sowards of Team Wholehearted

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leanna Sowards. 

Hi Leanna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Virtual wellness coaching started about 4.5 years ago now…I was struggling in my health journey so much…pursuing it in the most unhealthy way, (ironic right?! lol)…and after restricting, bingeing, & even occasionally purging., I decided there had to be more to it than just the physical appearance. I knew that at my smallest I still didn’t FEEL my best. So, it was then I started learning that health was so much more than just your outer appearance. That was when I started trying all the diet fads out there & every workout class & gimmick, I could possibly get my hands on. Something had to work & make me FEEL better overall. 

So, I was on the brink of giving up when I found (my now coach) this gal on Instagram & realized we had a mutual connection through an old friend & we were both into yoga! 

So, after emailing for a month or so she invited me to join her “virtual accountability group”! 

I only said yes because I had been struggling SO MUCH in my own journey. 

So, I did my first nutrition + fitness program, just 21 days total…and the day I finished, I remember hopping on a call with my coach; completely ecstatic with my results. 

I was completely blown away – completely transformed from the inside out because I had FINALLY found food freedom & body peace. What I didn’t expect though, was to be SO proud of myself, finally, I felt in love with my body & all it could do for me! And I didn’t even CARE that I had lost 6lbs along the way. I was WAY more obsessed with how I felt from the inside out! (Which was so good!) 

So, coaching was birthed out of this incredible realization; that health can be FUN & you CAN find true food freedom & a love & peace with your body. It was born out of wanting to pay that forward to other women just like me who had struggled in the same ways I was! It’s easy to want to solve the problem for others that you had for so long – when you know that struggle so intimately. I also saw that coaching as a business – could be an incredible vehicle to helping me reach some wild dreams & goals that I had for my life – but obviously while doing a job that brought me so much joy & fulfillment! I was raised in a small town & my family always struggled financially, so the idea of owning my own business doing something I love, AND making an income doing it was so appealing to me! 

I’ll add that when I initially started, I was also in college & pursuing a degree in music to help me become a singer/songwriter in Nashville (where I now live just outside of with my husband:) So coaching was just a simple “side-gig” for about 4 months until I had a big change of heart, actually dropped out of college, moved to Nashville (where I was doing a semester-long music program at the time), got a job at a health food market, and pursued getting my 200 hr. yoga teaching certification! 

It wasn’t until about 17 months of working coaching alongside the health food market where I became the head barista, and dog sitting as well as house sitting, and teaching yoga about 3x per week – that I was able to replace those incomes with coaching & go fulltime! 

Since then, my husband and I have actually renovated an rv & van to live in & travel around the US while working from Wi-Fi! It’s been the biggest adventure & now coaching has not only transformed HIS health & life – but it’s helped him start a business building vans into tiny houses! So that is why we’re rooted down in Murfreesboro & I’m focusing on building the business more locally which has been so much fun! 🙂 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think entrepreneurship overall – is never an easy road compared to any other job out there. However; I also think because of that, it can be the most fulfilling. Coaching has brought me some HUGE challenges along the way in terms of having to learn how to do ALL the things for my business in the beginning; advertising, social media, scheduling, graphic designing, email marketing, finances, & so much more. But I think because of that – it has forced me to grow more than anything else ever would’ve!! 

I think the hardest part of the business for me is – since it’s a mainly PEOPLE & relationally focused business – I put so much effort into really establishing a connection & relationship with the clients & coaches I mentor, and there are often times where they decide not to move forward working with me for a season or they simply realize that pursuing health coaching for their own path isn’t right for them…so it can definitely be really tough to put so much time & energy into these women who I love SO much & have them need to walk away! You are so invested in people’s lives & always want the best for them, so I’ve had to learn a lot about letting people go as a way to love them even more so. 

Another huge thing I’ve learned about is life coaching & I’m actually currently working with a business mentor that I hired to help me with my business in some areas I knew needed work – but he is now coaching me on coaching others not only in health but in life! As a coach of any kind, I think it’s easy to dive into guiding people in their life overall – so it’s been super helpful to have some guidance & extra tools to really focus on asking great questions & teaching people how to be their own problem solver & always aware of themselves & their own habits/tendencies/thought patterns so ultimately moving forward, they can stay solution-oriented & CONTINUE to be no matter what they face as they go through their journey with health every day moving forward in life! 

We’ve been impressed with Team Wholehearted, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a virtual wellness coach, I help women get healthy+happy in their bodies! I mostly specialize in helping them gain confidence, body peace, & food freedom. Most of the women I work with have gut issues of some kind as well as insecurities with their body & a lack of education on nutrition & how to nourish themselves properly or workout consistently…so that is majority of what I help them with & what most of my clients end up gaining in the process! 

I love teaching women that health doesn’t have to be complicated & that intensity is not as powerful as consistency! We work a lot through the mindset of all of that as well as getting rid of the perfectionistic obsessive behavior that our culture has helped create in so many of us women. I help them shift it to a mindset of progress over perfection ALWAYS – because that is one of the greatest keys to consistency! 

We work on all of this through what I like to call my greatest achievement ~ which is my virtual ongoing “fit-party’s”!! It’s an accountability & support group where we all check in daily with our sweaty selfies & healthy meals & supplements! 

Most gals that I work with – all know me for that mindset shift & those virtual “fit party’s” because it’s where we make health FUN & something look forward to every day vs. an obligation that we HATE doing. (Just like a party;)) 

I also mentor women in building their own coaching business – most of which ends up happening after they see amazing results & go through transformations that are so life-changing…they HAVE to pay it forward to other women just like them! 

That is actually how I became a coach as well so it’s become a HUGE passion of mine to mentor women in building this into a business like I have because of the freedom & flexibility in my schedule, time to be with my family, & create a home that I want to raise my own future kids in – that it’s all given me. I love helping define what that dream life looks like for other women & them helping them work to create that dream into their reality using coaching as their vehicle! 

What matters most to you? Why?
My faith & my family matters most of all to me more than anything else because my faith & knowing that I am a child of God is the foundation of my identity. Without God I would be nothing, I would have nothing. He has absolutely saved my life – in so many ways & at so many times. My personal relationship with him is everything because through that I know I am loved & worthy & enough. Always. no matter what happens. I can find my peace & grounding in that truth. And my family matters most because they are my why for everything that I do. They are everything I work for. And they’re also the reason I’m so passionate about helping change other women’s lives…because of how I’ve seen it transform my own family’s life through me. I want to continue to use this business to change my family’s life & help other women use it to do the same. 

Pricing:

• It’s $160 to start working with me – which includes a year-long membership to my online gym, 2 nutritional courses, a month’s supply of my favorite supplements (foundational in committing to a healthy lifestyle!) as well as my personal coaching for as long as they want to continue working with me, & access to my high-level accountability group for month 1!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://beacons.ai/leannasowards
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leannasowards/
• Facebook: Biz. FB: https://www.facebook.com/leannasowardswellness/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxyzLgIFKGaBfoQ414k4rjw
• Other: Personal FB: https://www.facebook.com/leanna.krueger/

Image Credits
@marcellalaine
@kenzielee.photography
@tayleighphoto