Meet Calie Calabrese | Gut & Hormone Health Coach

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

Hi Calie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve always been a creative and had a pull to start my own business from early in my career. In the beginning, before I really knew myself, I chose how to respond to that pull based on the input of others and trends. Not always a bad thing, but for me, those business ultimately weren’t in alignment with who I was or how I wanted to live and they failed, fizzled out or never got off the ground.

The successful health coaching business I run today is the result of following my heart. It didn’t evolve for me from a thought out business plan. It evolved from using my life, the challenges I was given, and the path I took to overcome those challenges as a guide. My intent was to share my story to help others see the potential for their own healing. I wanted to make an impact and that’s where I focused. Celebrating the little wins. Every person I helped or inspired before I even started signing my own clients. When I stay focused on the helping, the deeper why behind the business, the other pieces tend to fall into place a lot more easily.

I also decided at the start of this business that failure wasn’t an option because the goal was helping. I decided to keep showing up as long as I was having an impact and that you can’t fail if you don’t quit. That has pulled me through a lot of challenging periods where business was slow or going in the wrong direction. It helped me critique myself, how I was showing up and how much I was helping and get back to the right actions.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
There have been so many iterations of my health coaching practice. I did group coaching, private coaching, ran a studio, hosted conferences and events, wrote ebooks, cookbooks and courses, hosted webinars and taught in home workshops. While there were times where I saw all of those experiences as failed attempts, looking back I realize that every one of them was a stepping stone that helped not only lead me to where I am today, but to prepare me for the coach I would need to be to have the impact I believed I could have.

This business has absolutely taken a lot of hard work. It’s required sacrifices and it’s come with some difficult lessons. But over the years, I’ve learned to let how I feel be my guide. I learned to stop trying to cast the widest net, that I can’t help everyone, and that part of success means enjoying what I do. So that’s where I focus. The more laser focused I getting on doing the pieces of the business that bring me the most joy, the more my business grows.

My business is built on sharing my personal story to reclaim my own health. That has evolved into sharing the realities of that continued journey vulnerably and in real time. Some days that can be tough. To put it all out there. And there were/are times where it’s hard to find the balance of what is helpful and what can/should stay personal. But I once read that our challenges become someone else’s survival guide and that’s the guiding principle behind how I grow my business and why. It brings purpose to my struggles.

I’m most proud of always remaining a student. When we stop learning we stagnate and stop growing. I make it a point to read a personal development book every month and to take a continuing education course or obtain a new or advanced certification every year. Wellbeing is a science that is constantly changing so it’s an important part of my job to keep learning.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m plant-based and we are so lucky to have some of the most amazing plant-based restaurants in LA. I always make sure to hit a variety of plant-based restaurants to show my friends just how good this food really is.

We’d start with an evening dinner on the patio at Gracias Madre and we’d definitely order margaritas and the crab cakes.

On the weekend, we’d visit Crossroads Kitchen for brunch where we’d share the chicken and waffles and the dish of her choice followed by an iced coffee at The Conservatory in West Hollywood before heading over to Remedy Place.

We would definitely schedule wellness IVs and cryotherapy at Remedy Place for some rest and rejuvenation and sip restorative (non-alcoholic) drinks at their bar. And we’d wrap it up with a sound bath meditation.

For a weeknight, I love ordering the Black Magic Pizza from Pura Vita, which in my opinion is not only the best vegan, gluten-free pizza, it’s just the best pizza, and grabbing a bottle of wine to watch movies or hang out in my backyard around the fire pit.

My friends have been big fans of the Rooftop Cinema Club DTLA and I love that have vegan popcorn. When we have to work, atmosphere is everything, so grabbing our laptops and heading to Stonehaus Westlake, gives us good options for food, wine, drinks and great energy without the huge crowds you get at indoor coffee shops.

Other restaurants that would be on our list:
Follow Your Heart
Joi Cafe
Plant Food & Wine

And no visit to LA is complete without a day at the beach. My boys love Zuma beach because it’s less time in the car for us and smaller crowds.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
At the start of my business, I was coming out of a traumatic experience, had moved across the country with my two boys, was living with my sister (shout out to her for taking us in) and had just given up my barre studio and the community I had built with it. I had a lot of personal healing to do and I knew I had to really dig in if I wanted the next chapter in my life to look different than one I was leaving behind.

I started working through the book May Cause Miracles by Gabby Bernstein and you can say that title was accurate for me. It facilitated a massive mindset shift, helped me release and forgive old stories that were keeping me stuck and led me down a path of personal development that I believe made my success in my current business possible.

I had been a health coach for 5 years at that point, but had never really achieved much success. Not for lack of knowledge or skill but for lack of belief. May Cause Miracles changed that for me.

Website: https://www.coachcalie.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachcalie/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoachCalie/