Learn how to become a corporate wellness coach and transform your career this year.  

Workplaces actually believe in treating folks nicely now. (Well, some do.)

This’s created serious demand for corporate wellness coaches who can help busy professionals balance work and… you know, sanity. If you’re already a successful coach, taking your practice corporate might be the perfect step up for your business. Corporate wellness coaching is slightly different from plain ol’ wellness coaching, but the guiding philosophy remains the same: help people find balance. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the pay can be amazing. 

At Trainerize, our whole focus is helping coaches and wellness pros support their clients, and we’ve pulled together a complete guide to corporate wellness coaching for you. Here, we’ll dive into the nitty-gritty details about corporate wellness coaching, what a day in the life looks like, and how they’re different from other wellness coaches. We’ll also break down the steps most folks take to break into this lucrative, meaningful field and build valuable coaching programs. So come on, let’s go!

What is a corporate health and wellness coach?

Corporate health and wellness coaches are there to help employees find purpose at work, balance projects with real life and… cut down on existential crises. As a wellness coach, you’ve probably already guided people through improving their personal lives, and supporting employees’ health isn’t a massive leap from that. You’ll scale up to help teams create a better work environment—and improve the company’s corporate health, while you’re at it.  

Wellness training programs sound like they overlap with HR, but they’re in different lanes. HR professionals tackle employee-related issues like onboarding, conflict, and promotions, while corporate wellness coaches help make the work experience shine. The value you bring can be a total game-changer for organizations, who’ll save money on employee retention, health insurance claims, and lost productivity. And when you’ve got industry-leading tools like Trainerize backing your services up, you’ll be able to build coaching programs you can scale to multiple organizations at once. (Love love love that.) 

What does a corporate wellness coach do?

Good question. When you’re a corporate wellness coach, your day-to-day work will be a blend of curriculum development, 1:1 coaching, and program design. Depending on the clients you work with, you might be leading department-wide lunch-and-learns, or coaching folks at small startups on work-life balance. Generally, the main people you’ll be working with will be HR leaders, company execs, and then regular employees.

No two days are alike, ‘cause no two clients are alike. And speaking of clients—as a corporate wellness coach, you’ll usually work with a range of different clients, all at the same time. You’ll lead wellness workshops, work with employees to create personalized wellness plans, and track everyone’s progress. Some days you’ll be living on video calls, some days you’ll be liaising with company representatives, and some days you’ll be building scalable coaching programs using a tool like Trainerize.  

How to become a corporate wellness coach: 8 steps

You don’t just wake up as a wellness coach—there’s a process to it. Let’s dive into an 8-step roadmap that’ll help you find your way.

Start by earning a health-related degree

Proof points matter. Earning a degree in a health-related field like nutrition, kinesiology, or psychology shows you’re grounded in the literature around wellness. You’ll have foundational knowledge that’ll filter through to all the work you do as a corporate wellness coach—like guiding employees on work-life balance. 

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Earn a coaching certification

Training and certification go hand-in-hand, so you’ll want to earn a coaching certification from a reputable board. This’s strategic, and helps narrow you in towards a focus on wellness coaching. We’d suggest looking into the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC), ‘cause their certification is the industry standard. 

Work as a wellness coach

You’ll need real-life experience as a wellness coach before you take the corporate world on. One-on-one client work will help you understand folks’ health challenges, build your confidence, and sharpen your coaching coaching chops. These skills are vital when leading company-wide programs, so hone them through work and hone them early.

Laser-focus on corporate wellness (and pick up more certifications)

With some real-world experience under your belt, you’ll want to start proving you’re ready to create wellness systems at the corporate level. You’ll want to up your credibility with another certification or two. Look into becoming a Certified Corporate Wellness Specialist (CCWS), in particular—that credential pairs great with a degree and a coaching title. 

Learn how to move through the corporate world

Corporations have cultures. Some of that is tonal—you don’t say “where’s that project, lazybones,” you say “hey, I just wanted to circle back on my last email.” Learn which stakeholders make decisions about corporate wellness programs (generally, HR), and find out what matters to them. This step is broad, but vital. Once you’re in the corporate world, communication and stakeholder management is everything. 

Strengthen your professional network

The old cliche is true: it’s not what you know, but who you know. You’ll need a solid network to attract clients, so work on yours. Attend wellness conferences, join conversations about corporate wellness on LinkedIn, and make friends with HR folks wherever you can. Every successful coach knows that a conversation today can pay off years from now. 

Develop a portfolio of wellness programs

Using an app like Trainerize, you’ll want to create a portfolio of wellness programs that can be tailored to fit different corporate clients. Keep your program portfolio broad but targeted to a space you know well—as in, focus on corporate wellness in a specific industry, not everywhere. “I’m a corporate wellness coach for co-working spaces” is a way hookier proposition than “uh, hi I do corporate wellness if you need anyone.” You get me?    

Share engaging social media content

When you’re new to corporate wellness, you can show you’re ready to lead by sharing insightful content on social media. Break down a current misconception about wellness at work, or call out key ways to build healthier work cultures. Done right, it’ll make key stakeholders take notice and reach out. 

When in doubt, hit the DMs 

If you’ve got a polished portfolio, a backlog of thought leadership on social, and the credentials to prove you’re an expert, try reaching out to HR leaders on LinkedIn. You’ll want to target smaller organizations to start, then move up to larger ones once you’ve got a long-term track record of success. The sky’s the limit, my friend. 

So, what’s next? 

Now that you know the ins and outs of corporate wellness, you’re ready to start building custom wellness programs with Trainerize. You’ll manage all your client information in one place, and be better able to deliver corporate coaching services like online wellness programs and virtual 1:1 sessions. With only a fraction of the effort, you’ll be able to help employees lead healthy lifestyles and build a successful coaching business.