I typically do not like to comment directly on questions like How much does a Wellness Coach make, or what their salary is, but I’ve gotten this one frequently enough that there must be some demand out there to have access to this information. Rather than giving a one size fits all answer, I’ll outline here the types of business opportunities available to a wellness coach and provide my best description of what I believe the income potential to be.  Before going into all of the dollars and cents, let me begin with a short pre-amble on what I’ve observed a ‘wellness coach career’ to look like.

The vast majority of wellness coaches that I know work part time as coaches (ie: less than 40 hours per week).  I’d be pretty comfortable saying that this is probably a trend across the United States (and perhaps globally).  That being said, many coaches are busy raising families, have a second source of income, or are mix coaching in with another profession.  That’s not to say that there are not exceptions, but I’ve come across relatively few. I do think that this career path will shift moreso towards full time in the next decade as the demand and popularity for this service is increasing – particularly in corporations where there is easier access to large numbers of clients and a single payer (which makes the logistics of finding clients much easier). 

Income Potentials – Please note:  this is not a scientific survey, these are purely based on my observations in the industry and more than anything is an outline to give you potential ideas as you look to build your career as a wellness coach. 

Wellness Coaching (Working for a corporation) – Wellness coaching jobs are few and far between but they do exist (particularly if you are willing to relocate).  These tend to be filled quickly (note this is written in 2009), and are in relatively high demand by job seekers.  Depending on your experience level, location, and the responsibilities of the job, full time equivalent salaries are in line with the high end for fitness professionals and health educators.  Typically this would be in the range of $40,000-$60,000.  Generally, I’ve found the health promotion industry to be less lucrative than it deserves to be, I believe this is in part because of the numerous supply of people that are passionate about this field.  Clearly this is a rough estimate and someone whose responsibilities include building and designing a corporate wellness program could be significantly higher.  In general, if you’ve got an idea of what fitness/health educators in your area are making within corporations, a wellness coach would likely be on the higher end of this salary range.

Wellness Coaching (Private Business) – A pure wellness coaching business would consist of meeting with clients by the phone weekly, bi-weekly, monthly etc., and would look more like a life coaching business model than a health educator or fitness instructor business.  I just want to be sure that you are clear on what I am describing the potential salary for here.  Life coaches or business coaches have hugely varied prices dependent on the expertise the coach brings to the arena as well as the demand for services in their particular niche.  Prices typically range from $50 to $150 per hour or session (sometimes more).  Often prices are packaged into a group of services – for example, one month of coaching for $500 which includes 4 sessions, email follow ups, and books/literature to support the client in moving forward. 

One challenge that ‘wellness coaching’ has in particular is the perceived benefit.  If a customer see’s this as an opportunity to get physically fit – you may be immediately compared to the cost of hiring a personal trainer and using the gym.  How can you differentiate yourself such that the $40/hour for a trainer + gym is not more appealing?  Is it because you are an RDA that can work to specialize diet, do you have additional resources a trainer wouldn’t have access to?  Are you a stress management guru or offer other services that would make your offering more compelling?  This is one challenge wellness coaches must face if they are demanding higher fees than a personal trainer.  

How do Coaches Combine Services?

As I mentioned, many wellness coaches offer services that wouldn’t be considered coaching:

Speaking:  Like to present?  There is a demand for wellness professionals to speak at conferences.  If you are engaging, well prepared, and have interesting content to present, topics of health and wellness are pertinent to almost every industry.  Typical salaries for keynote presentations for large corporations can run between $2000-$8,000 per event.  Smaller venues may pay several hundred dollars to present to a group.

Workshops:  Can you hold specialized workshops with small groups (marketed to businesses or a private client base), and give them a compelling reason to show up?  Wellness is a hot topic – make sure you’ve got a compelling angle to draw people into.  Workshops net differing amounts of money dependent on the number of attendees, but its easy to make a couple hundred dollars per hour for this in a corporate setting or if you are able to get 10-20 people to attend a private seminar. Its also a potential place to market your coaching business. 

Consulting:  Have you differentiated yourself as an expert in a certain field of wellness.  Consultants typically make $75-$150 per hour.  The good thing about this work is that contracts tend to be larger if you are consulting than if you were to sign with an individual client.

Product Development:  Got an idea for a product?  Write a book, make a video, build a web offering, market and sell this.  Clearly the income potential is unlimited with this sort of work and we’ve all seen the infomercials on television.  Of course, there are no guarantees when you go this route – developing this sort of business takes timing, a good idea, and plenty of passion. 

Multi-Level Marketing:  There are many wellness products out there that some coaches and wellness professionals truly believe in and support.  Personally, I’ve met many people that have gone the route of a ‘juice plus’ type of program and I’ve seen it work as a supplemental income for those that are committed to it.  I personally do not know anyone that has ‘gotten rich’ with such a program as you hear so much hype about - I am sure a few do exist but its not common.  Regardless, such products can be a nice supplemental source of income – particularly if you’ve got an existing client base to market to already.   

Alternative Practices – NLP, Healing Touch, Reiki, Personal Training, Mind-Body Work.  Many coaches also specialize in one or several alternative practices as such.  This can be a great way to add additional income – much of the work can be done in groups or with individuals & it can be a great way to draw clients into your wellness coaching business. 

Personal Growth & Development Webmaster:  OK – that’s my side job and I cringe to think of what I’ve been earning in terms of dollars per hour over the past year and a half doing this (aren’t there labor laws that make that illegal?)!  There’s not too many of us doing this.  Steve Pavlina is the most successful I’ve run across doing this and he talks plenty about his earnings on his blog – quite impressive.  The key is that I love it and in the long term I believe in it.  Your opportunity is to find a path you love, understand what is possible, and to build and embrace the life which you aspire for. 

For sure this list is incomplete and there are many more complementary opportunities available to a wellness coach.  More will arise in the future as well.  As you consider a career in this field, create a vision of what it is you would like your life to look like and begin piecing together the puzzle (and recognize new pieces may introduce themselves to you along the way)

In Summary

Again, Wellness Coaching is a career that is becoming more and more prevalent – yet is not quite mainstream yet today.  I’ve seen opportunities to find jobs as a wellness coach – but in general they are few and far between.  Starting your own business is always a viable option and in any industry in which your product is yourself, you’ll need to become an expert in marketing and selling your product or services.  So what is your product or service?  Wellness coaching may be one of them (or even the only one), my experience has been that many people offer a mix of potential income sources in this industry. 

Be Well

Related Articles:

• How to Write a Vision Statement
• The Six Components of Whole Person Wellness
• Is Wellness Coaching Compatible with Life Coaching?
• The Who, What, When, Where and How’s of Wellness Coaching
• Why to Hire a Wellness Coach
• How to become a Wellness Coach