Meet Shannon Kelly | Health & Wellness Coach

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

Hi Shannon, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve always felt like a square peg in a round hole when it came to “working for the man,” and entrepreneurship came naturally to me.

I’ve been freelancing marketing services and managing events on and off since I was 19. At 23, I opened a storefront in St. Petersburg, FL, selling candles, gifts, and home decor made by local artisans. In 2013, I also began doing standup comedy.

The common thread to my ventures was the desire to connect with and help people––even if I only helped them by making them laugh at my downfalls and misfortunes.

After diving into the world of self-help and improvement, I was drawn to Health and Wellness Coaching and knew the impact it could have on others. It was something I could do virtually and anywhere––allowing me the freedom and autonomy I’d been looking for while staying connected to my communities.

How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I had a Health and Wellness coach during an abusive relationship, and she was by my side during and after the breakup. She helped me get through one of the most challenging times in my life by reminding me of my strengths and capabilities.

I saw that she attended Emory University for Health and Wellness coaching and that they had a program I could also enroll in. The program expanded on the possibilities and career outlook for Health and Wellness coaches.

During our peer coaching sessions, I felt an alignment as a coach that was so rewarding and fulfilling. There was no going back.

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?
I’m a Health & Wellness Coach—but don’t get hung up on the title. I’m not here to tell you to drop down and give me 50. (Unless that’s what you’re into…) I like to think of coaching as therapy—but not. Therapy helps repair your past and build tools to use in the present. Coaching meets you where you are and enables you to navigate your future.

I work with clients to help them visualize success. This could involve anything from lowering blood pressure to learning how to play the guitar.

Each week, we collaborate and make a game plan to accomplish their goals. We identify challenges and obstacles. We make plan Bs if needed.

My empathy and understanding tend to set me apart. I can read between the lines and see what is actually blocking clients from being the best versions of themselves.

What’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
“Don’t rock the boat” comes to mind.

I say tip the whole damn boat over. If no one raised questions or thought outside of the box, nothing would change for the better.

Sadly, “rock the boat” implies imminent danger if someone challenges the status quo. By playing it safe out of fear of bruising an ego or two, you’re doing the world, your profession, and yourself a disservice. Frankly, it borders on negligence.

You should nurture that responsibility if you have the talent, ability, intelligence, or otherwise to influence positive change.

Risk taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career?
For me, risk-taking seems synonymous with living authentically. I naturally speak up in meetings, present new ideas, have hard conversations, and ask for forgiveness instead of permission.

At close range, sometimes the risk wasn’t worth the reward. But, when zooming out, risks are always worth taking. So, I’ve learned it’s a bigger “risk” not to take any risks at all.

The trick is the risk needs to be something YOU believe in. I was led astray when I took risks I didn’t have faith in to appease another person or organization.

If you take a risk to better align with what you believe to be the best course of action, you’ll never have any regrets. You may learn a ton of lessons along the way, but you’ll never have a regret of not trying.

What habits do you feel helped you succeed?
Finding the irony and humor in everything has quite literally kept me alive. My ADHD has taught me to roll with the punches and pivot when things don’t go according to plan. (And, spoiler alert, nothing ever goes perfectly to plan.) Knowing there will be bumps along the way but having the confidence to overcome challenges has led to my audacity and determination to start a new business.

Regarding routine habits, having a wake-up ritual is the most important thing I can do for myself. I tend to my dog, make coffee and a healthy smoothie, meditate and journal, go for a walk, and start my day on a happy note.

What is the most important factor behind your success and the success of your brand?
Money. Just kidding, that would be nice. (Nike, I’m open for endorsements.) In all seriousness, I want to do something I wholeheartedly believe in and help other people along the way.

My success comes from my clients’ success in achieving their goals. I also want to create real, approachable, and down-to-earth content to help and inspire folks who may not have access to Health and Wellness Coaching, therapy, or other self-help resources.

What’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
Know your audience––this applies to everything from standup comedy to marketing and events to coaching. You could have the most incredible message, but it can go unnoticed if you don’t know the people you’re delivering it to.

The kicker is that you have to care to get to know them.

Want to motivate employees to kick butt in the last quarter? Don’t send a lengthy email that is obviously crafted by Chat GPT. It’s disingenuine and shows you’re out of touch with your employees and their wants and needs.

With comedy, jokes won’t land the same way in a room filled with retirees in a rural area as they will in a room filled with young people in the city. You have to craft your set to what will resonate–otherwise, you’re speaking a language they won’t understand.

Finally, I can’t coach someone if I don’t take the time to learn their end goal and vision of their future.

Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?
When working in corporate jobs, I sacrificed so much time and energy for organizations that viewed me as a cog in their machine. I carried that stress into my relationships with others and with myself, which affected my self-esteem and mental health. I would get chronic migraine headaches, and I used most of my PTO as sick days instead of on something more fulfilling.

While my department was severely understaffed and underequipped, a former boss told me he never saw me staying late (which I did) to get things done. I answered calls and emails at night and on the weekends. The burnout was real, and I could never unplug.

I stopped doing standup comedy. I was too tired to go out with friends. And, I let the delusions of an employer write my narrative.

Side note: It’s all kind of silly, really. Research has repeatedly shown that no one is productive for an entire 8-hour day––let alone staying longer for optics or haphazardly working on projects while suffering from exhaustion. In a world of virtual possibilities, employers still want to have their thumbs on employees being physically in the office. Embracing remote or hybrid roles would reduce stress and free up employees from commute times.

So, one has to ask, does your job actually care about you or its other employees?
The more you allow yourself to have a life outside of work, the more rested and renewed your energy will be in the workplace and your home life. In the workplace, work-life balance leads to more innovation, thoughtful communication, and a solid culture. At home, you don’t feel like you’ve neglected your family, your pets, and, most importantly, yourself.

In Health and Wellness Coaching, we measure the satisfaction in eight pillars of wellness:

Spiritual
Intellectual
Social
Environmental
Financial
Physical
Emotional
Occupational

Some of these things pour over into others, like you may take classes at work to keep up with your intellectual wellness, and you work to benefit your finances. However, as a standalone category, your professional wellness is one-eighth of what you need to strike a balance as a healthy human being.

Now, my philosophy is I work to live, not live to work. As a society, we derive so much of our purpose and identity from our professions, and we lose ourselves to the rat race. It’s not worth it.

What are you inspired by?
I’m mostly inspired by everyday life and the people around me. I like to find gaps in processes and communication. If I can’t fix it, I can at least write a joke about it.

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career?
While Health and Wellness coaching isn’t objectively artistic or creative, I can blend my writing, comedy, and marketing background into my business.

I believe any entrepreneur is creative in carving out a space in their industry meant just for them. I’ve always been in good company with artists who are taking the road less traveled.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m still fairly new to the Atlanta area, but when friends visit, we like to check out concerts and shows at the EARL, Tabernacle, Fox Theatre, Chastain Park Amphitheater, and Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center.

I’ll take them by Victory Sandwich Bar for some drinks and bites. We’ll check out the Clermont Hotel and rooftop bar. (You can’t skip the infamous Clermont Lounge while you’re there.) We’ve gotten tattoos in Little Five Points, stopped at Elmyr for burritos, and beebopped around the shops.

We always love to walk around downtown Decatur for brunch and window shopping. Edgewood offers comedy at Dynamic El Dorado and drinks at Church Bar.

Then, if they’re looking for some nature, we’ll walk around the woods somewhere, but climbing Stone Mountain is for the birds…

And if there is an event, Oakland Cemetery is a neat bit of Atlanta’s history.

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?
I wouldn’t have gone down this path if it weren’t for my OG Health & Wellness Coach, mentor, and inspiration, Michelle Kabashinski. I want to recognize my HWC Joan Young and a classmate turned HWC Rose Mustard; my classmates and instructors from Emory who encouraged me and helped me grow as a coach; the You Are a Badass book series and workshop by Jen Sincero; the countless friends and family who have shown up to endless events, comedy shows, and friendship council meetings to support me; my Grandma Merle and Aunt Sue for setting the delusion in my head that I’ll be rich and famous; and lastly, my mom, Georgia Davis, the ultimate badass, who has encouraged me to take risks and dream big even when the going gets tough.

Also, maybe a shoutout to all my terrible bosses who drove me to want to work for myself. (Half kidding…)

Website: https://www.internalfactor.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonleighkelly/

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

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@internalfactor

Image Credits
Chris Fasick Ash Dudney Jay Coleman