Meet James Balazs | NeuroMuscular Therapist, Functional Nutritionist, Strength Coach, Mindset/Lifestyle Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Balazs and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, what do you attribute your success to?

Helping people reach their potential has always been the reason why I started my company. The Integrative Training Institute is a multidisciplinary practice, comprised of: Functional Nutrition, Neuromuscular Therapy (M.A.T.), Strength Coaching and Mindset/Lifestyle Coaching. By approaching clients holistically and not just with a single area of focus, I can treat the “whole” person, which in turn allows me to get to the root cause of many issues that plague people on a daily basis. People are integrated systems, and a treatment methodology that embraces the relationships and interdependency of these systems generates results—whether that is weight loss, treating inflammatory and gut related disorders, chronic mobility ailments, or preparing for the athletic demands of a professional athlete.

Having said that, the life of an entrepreneur can be a complicated one. Throughout my career I have shaped my business model around helping people via the services I can provide. For a long time, things were going well. But eventually I hit a ceiling in terms of my business’s capacity to grow. This trial prompted an insight—which is that all attempts at healing (which in one form or another is the type of work that I do) are essentially either deconstructing and reconstructing relationships that have frayed and decayed. For example, my Neuromuscular Therapy practice involves strengthening the connections between the nervous system and a weakened muscle group so that the body can regain its natural balance, and thus healing can occur. On the other hand, an aspect of my nutrition practice involves helping clients not only evaluate their own relationships to food, but also to themselves.

This meant that relationships, not results, were at the heart of my business. This single epiphany has enabled my business to reach greater heights of success; by focusing on the array of relationships at the heart of a client’s health, the results take care of themselves. But the deeper epiphany was that in order to truly put this into practice, I needed to be aware of my relationship… with myself.

By embarking on a journey through my own process I was able to restore and reconcile aspects of my own personal relationship with myself, and uncover the deeper truths about who I am. This radically and fundamentally altered how I related with my business and as a result the relationships I was building with clients. It also dramatically impacted the way I was able to diagnose their relationships—with food, with their own bodies, with all facets of their health and performance.

This revelation was the birth of the Integrative Training Institute’s holistic approach to personal wellness. We exist for a very simple reason: to help people diagnose, heal, and strengthen their physical and emotional relationships. When we focus on this, there’s no limit to the results we can generate. We’ve seen clients lose 50 pounds; we’ve seen clients avoid surgical interventions related to Gastrointestinal disorders; we’ve seen athletes who were told their careers were over, or that they would need surgery, exceed their peak level of performance; we’ve seen clients who could barely get out of bed begin running again.

Now as the Integrative Training Institute prepares for its next phase of growth, we’ll always keep relationships at the center of everything we do.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Integrative Training Institute is a company dedicated to the optimization of human health and performance. The vision I’ve had since beginning my career and moving to Santa Monica in 2005 is to create a virtual “one stop shop.” designed to address and correct underlying physiological imbalances while removing any mental/emotional constraints that may limit the expression of an individuals true potential. Through the precise utilization of functional nutrition, neuromuscular therapy, strength coaching, and lifestyle and mindset coaching we are able to execute on this vision. The result is no stone is left unturned in the effort to understand the person first as well as the issues that concern them. A customized program is then tailored to the individual under an umbrella of continuous guidance and support.

What I am most proud of are the relationships I have built as I grew my business as well as experiencing the profound gift of being entrusted to work in so many people’s lives in such an intimate way. I am proud that I have created a company, that at its heart, is designed to serve others. Every day I feel I am actively engaging in meaningful work as well as cultivating meaningful relationships.

What I am most excited about is the increased understanding and awareness of the mechanics of the mind, especially my own and the implications for new levels of impact within my business and practice. I am fascinated by the inner workings of the mind and how peoples lives are shaped by the lens in which they see the world and how they relate to life. Augmenting what I do from a physiological perspective with the capacity to explore and expand peoples ideas of themselves and thus the mental/emotional component of their lives, adds enormous potential to the change and transformation that can occur as a result of working with ITI.

How I got where I am today wasn’t easy by any means. It is certainly a challenging endeavor building a business from the ground up, let alone in one of the most stressful economic markets in the world. However, I always believed strongly in my vision and relied heavily on my work ethic. It was my vision that early on provided the foundation and sense of direction from which I was able to make rapid, precise decisions. It was a simple formula, all decisions were made in the context of “is this in alignment with my greater vision for myself and my company?” Did I always make the smart decision? Heck no. However, each time things didn’t go according to whatever “plan” I had conjured up, I grew from it. This is one of the insights I had relatively early on in my career, that everything ultimately serves as an opportunity or catalyst for growth. It was this insight that enabled me to leverage adversity into revealing any blind spots that I may have had. Blind spots that I was keen on understanding because I knew that progress as a business owner was heavily dependent not on what I knew, but what I didn’t know I didn’t know.

One of the areas I believe I excelled at was understanding and recognizing the challenges people were facing as they currently existed as well as forecasting where new ones could arise and figuring out how to address them. This helped me develop the concept of “if it ain’t broke, break it.” “If it aint broke, break it,” meant acknowledge that the business is doing well but also relaize that in order for it to survive it needed to evolve. There is a certain level of comfort that comes with earning a particular income that I was actually always uncomfortable with. I was also never motivated primarily by money, I wanted to help people.

I knew there were holes in my company, now I needed to identify where the holes were and how I could plug them. I wanted to stay ahead of the game and as a result position myself to withstand any unforeseen circumstances, like a pandemic! I also desired to have options in the future and to be able to develop and move on any new and exciting ideas that would come up as result of increasing my expertise.

As a consequence of this thinking, I made a supreme effort to stay relevant in the marketplace by relentlessly adding value while simultaneously reinventing myself and my practice. How I did this was I allotted a percentage of my income for reinvestment into my education. It took the better part of a decade and well over a hundred and fifty grand worth of money and time spent in order to obtain the necessary qualifications to understand and better assist people in overcoming the health and performance challenges they were encountering. This led to the acquisition of various certifications in neuromuscular therapy (M.A.T.) and integrative and functional nutrition (I.F.N.C.P.). A little added motivation was that I found myself enduring a lot of the same challenges, physiologically and mentally/emotionally that my clients did. I desired to heal myself as much as my clients.

I have learned many things along the way, none more important than understanding the role that your thinking and beliefs have on your expression of who you are and thus your experience in life. I have learned how vulnerable we are to identifying with our minds and the stories we like to tell ourselves about our situations and circumstances. I have learned personally how susceptible I am to operating on behalf of these faulty belief systems created by our minds. Belief systems that suggests that on the other side of achieving, on the other side of accomplishment, on the other side of financial gain lies my joy, peace and freedom. I have come to realize that this can be a common affliction among entrepreneurs and is something that I have worked to overcome most recently through practicing awareness. Learning how to disassociate from the mind has taught me how to cultivate a place of inner peace and presence that I believe is our normal, natural state and the only true place to create from. It has radically transformed “how” I do what I do. I give a lot of credit to this work in regards to how I was able to navigate the pandemic as well as I did.

I can say this for certain, the challenges in growing a business can lead to major spiritual evolution. For me I have reclaimed a child like joy and fascination about my work.. There is a freshness to life that comes with transcending a narrative that suggest that you aren’t enough, insecure, or inadequate. I have learned to embrace the surprises built within this process and to become aware when I am trying to control everything, There’s an enormous difference between having aspirations while working hard to create opportunities and trying to manipulate and control external circumstances in order to achieve a particular outcome, I have even come up with a saying to remind me of this truth, “you cannot seek externally what can only be cultivated internally.”

What I want the world to know about my brand and story is that it has not been the certifications I have obtained, nor the amount of money I have made or the level of freedom I enjoy from running my own business but the ever-evolving process of aligning of my inner purpose – my state of consciousness and inner peace, with my outer purpose – my work, that has made all the difference.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My wife and I love the city and if we were to arrange a week long trip we would start in Manhattan Beach. We love the area because of the breathtaking scenery, the sense of community and all the fun activities that are coordinated down there. We would also take them through Venice just because of the history and unique vibes of the area. Everyone has heard of Venice so to take them through that area would be kind of fun. Santa Monica is where we currently live so a little tour of the area would be easy and enjoyable. A bike ride from Santa Monica through Marina Del Rey might be in order as well, lots and lots of sights on that route and who knows, maybe we end up back down in Manhattan Beach. We would also take them on a cruise on the PCH, probably all the way up to ZUMA, We really love ZUMA beach. Our recommendation would be to stick mostly to the coast as this is where most of our fun hang out places are as well as places to eat and we feel is a true reflection of a California vacation.

One of our favorite spots and the spot where my wife and I first met is the Venice Whaler. Killer views, vibes and great cocktails. Before the pandemic we would also cruise to the bungalow in the afternoons on the wknds, great outdoor spot to hang with friends. The rooftop on Shangri La is a great spot to grab a drink with friends and enjoy some great views. Some of our favorite places to eat and where we would definitely take them are Forma on Montana, Blue Plate Oysterette for great oysters and an incredible lobster roll. Noma on Wilshire for sushi, Mastros on PCH for amazing views and lobster mash potatoes! Milo and Olive on Wilshire for Pizza, Jon O Groats on Pico for the best blueberry banana buckwheat pancakes I’ve ever had, Pacos Tacos for real authentic Mexican and Blu Jam on Wilshire for crunchy french toast. Farmers markets on Sunday am are great gathering spots and we loved first Fridays on Abbot Kinney. Lastly we would have to take them on one of several hikes we really enjoy. Our favorite is paseo miramar off of sunset blvd. It is a serious hike with incredible views of the city.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Where do I begin…….

First I would like to thank my wife, Juliette. She has been with me on this journey every step of the way and her unwavering support, encouragement, and love have helped me reach levels in my industry that without her don’t seem possible. I love you like a crazy person!

My Mother and Father who imbedded in me a strong work ethic, sound character, and an opportunity and freedom to independently choose my path. My gratitude towards you both is beyond measure.

My sisters Emily and Caitlin for believing in me and showing me how me how much they love me with their deep care and concern for how I’m doing. Thank you Caitlin for making yourself available to me when I needed your help with various aspects of my business including, my resume to the 49ers, social media, and helping me write for my website.

Stan Sowa, my friend, and my investor. Thank you for being my friend and like a brother to me these last 13 years. And thank you for believing in me and my product enough to back me in my efforts to expand my company and business. Thank you to the whole Sowa family, Michelle, Stephanie, and Michael for being my west coast family.

Ray Foreman for being a mentor, friend, and confidant. Having your friendship these past 16 years and watching how you run your operation has inspired me from the day I met you. It’s always felt like family with you and I.

Jason Kozma of High Performance Personal Training for giving me an opportunity early on in my career to showcase some abilities I had as trainer that significantly aided me in my efforts to grow my business.

My friends and family back in VA, NC, and CT. The people who truly know me and have supported me and had my back regardless of whether we see each other all the time. You all know who you are. Our roots are deep, nothing will ever change that.

My friends in California for making it feel like home right away and providing the necessary support system that every human being needs.

My clients for their support and belief in me as I worked tirelessly to provide them with the experience I felt they all deserved. I wouldn’t have what I have without them. Whatever i was able to build is immensely tied to them and their willingness to stick with me.

Greg Roskopf and the entire MAT community. This modality has revolutionized the way I look at the human body and has provided me with a unique skillset that serves as a foundational component to my company. I am also deeply appreciative for all the relationships I have as a result of being an MAT practitioner.

Tom Purvis and RTS. The early part of my career as a trainer was filled with going to bed and struggling with “how do I start with people.” Because of RTS and Tom’s way of challenging you to think and then backing it up with science, I now have a starting place with everyone I work with.

Dr. Sheila Dean, Dr. Kathie Swift, and the entire IFNA community. Huge thank you to Dr. Dean and Dr. Swift for giving me an opportunity to study and get certified in Integrative and Functional Nutrition.

Dr. Cobb and ZHealth. Thank you for getting the ball rolling when it came to understanding neurophysiology. Your course curriculum is world class.

Blair Ferguson and everyone at VTA. Thank you for being a friend, a mentor, and taking care of my body. I have more joy and excitement about my work and life because you’ve helped me get out of pain.

JD Arnott. Thank you for being a real grounding force in my life. The ability for us to shift from talking shop to talking nonsense is something I value beyond words. Our shared sense of humor is something special and so is our friendship.

Brandon Lees. My brother from another mother. Not much we haven’t been through together. We both share a similar drive and thirst for knowledge, to embark on that journey with you has been a blast. Lots of laughs for us as we look back on it all. Thank you for all your support along the way.

Jessica Goldberg. My Cali sister. It’s really hard to put in writing how much your supporting me through these last 13 years has meant. It’s not easy building a business, you made it 10x easier with your words of encouragement and just overall belief and trust in me. My MAT ambassador, I am so grateful to have you in my life.

Joey Emont. My first glimpse into building what I’ve been able to build, especially these last 8 years started when I saw you combining MAT, strength coaching and functional nutrition into one practice. I was instantly hooked and so inspired. Being exposed to you gave me the confidence that I could do it too. Thank you for encouraging me and helping me in all the ways that you did.

Jen Friedman and Trevor Sacco. Thank you for your capacity to trust me with the care of the two most important people in your lives, your two sons, Jordan and Jesse as well as your own. Your willingness and faith in me set a whole course of events in motion that allowed me to pursue aspects of my business I didn’t know were there. I am grateful to have your whole family in my life and honored to call you both friends.

Kendall Davis. As you’ve said to me before, that fact that our journeys have aligned together is something I am truly blessed to have. The trust and belief you showed me from the jump were confidence builders for me. I am deeply thankful for all your continuous support. How dedicated and committed you are to your own craft inspires me greatly. We’re iron sharpening iron.

Some very influential books Include: Principles By Ray Dalio, The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell, A New Earth by Eckartt Tolle, The Power Of Now by Eckartt Tolle, Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza, Man’s Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl, Awareness by Anthony De Mello, The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo, Just Listen by Mark Goulston, Motivational Interviewing in Nutrition and Fitness by Dawn Clifford and Laura Curtis, The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, ICoach by Dr. Thomas Zweifel, The Oxygen Advantage by Patrick Mckeown and Leading with Character by Jim Loehr.

Website: itiperformance.com

Instagram: @integrativetraininginstitute