Business Success Through Evidence-Based Health Coaching and Education

By Ruth Kent – HCANZA Business Achievement Award 2026 Winner, Health Educator, and Workshop Facilitator from Sunrise Wellness

In 2013, I launched my business with a whole lot of passion but very little business acumen, or even a clear idea of what exactly I wanted to do. All I knew was that I wanted to create something that showcased my skills in public health, education, mindfulness and, later on, coaching, and that I wanted to have flexibility and autonomy in my work.

My business journey was not linear, nor immediately successful. There was a lot of trial and error, plenty of learning on the job, and a few pivots as I adjusted my offering and responded to the changing wellbeing landscape.

Underneath it all, however, has been the strong conviction that working within robust, evidence-based health coaching and bringing preventative education and strategies to my services will help people to move from illness to wellness, and I’m proud to say that my success has come after a lot of hard work and an unrelenting passion for what I do.

Evidence-based practice sits at the heart of a sustainable, ethical coaching practice and supports long-term behaviour change. Working in a context that is grounded in research ensures that coaching is not just a nice thing to do. Rather, it’s effective, credible, and responsive to the real-world and up-to-date knowledge.

Being recognised with the 2025 HCANZA Business Achievement Award for my work as a health coach, educator, and facilitator was a huge honour. This article shares how my practice has evolved over 13 years in business, contributing to various wellbeing projects, alongside the internal challenges, including self-belief and imposter syndrome, that shaped the journey.

Building an Evidence-Based Practice

My work has developed at the intersection of public health, health coaching, and health education, with a strong emphasis on translating evidence into practice, including mindfulness-based therapies, psychological principles, and mindbody practices.

Rather than specialising in a single modality, I’ve focused on applying wellbeing and health coaching principles across varied, and often complex contexts.

Working With Organisations

For the last 12 years, I’ve worked as a health and performance trainer and speaker, sharing my IP through training solutions, coaching, and resource development to organisations across Australia.

I work directly with organisations in hospitality, transport, higher education, property development, and financial services, to name a few.

I’ve also developed a close partnership with several large health and training providers, delivering my evidence-based IP in training for their corporate partners.

My programs focus on topics such as:

• Sleep and fatigue management
• Stress physiology and nervous system regulation
• Sustainable performance and recovery
• Burnout prevention
• Mindfulness
• Compassion, and more

In these settings, I emphasise scientific integrity balanced with accessibility and the development of health literacy and self-awareness.

My aim is to empower participants to recognise where they are on their change journey, and map out the steps towards lasting change. All my training is designed using coaching methodology to assist people through their change journey. I find these programs are most effective when they:

• Respect individual differences
• Avoid one-size-fits-all solutions
• Translate research into practical tools people can actually use
• Give the participants a sense of ‘where to from here’ so they can take ownership of their future

Alongside the workshop facilitation I’ve done interesting projects like resource development for University courses, 1-1 work-life consults, recordings for office buildings, and presented at media launches for a wellness brand.

Pain Education and Management (PEM)

I work within a multidisciplinary team providing education and management support to people with chronic pain.

Persistent pain is a complex condition that’s difficult to treat. It affects far more than the body, such as sleep, mood, identity, confidence, and it can severely impact a person’s sense of purpose and ability to contribute to the world. The long-term burden of pain on society is significant, with reduced economic contribution, and strain on hospital wait-lists in the public health system.

I was driven to join the PEM program because it’s designed to be patient-centred and collaborative, promoting the development of self-efficacy and literacy in health and lifestyle medicine. The program is also highly accessible, with availability for people in rural and remote areas where access to specialists is often a challenge, and it supports WorkCover Queensland’s Return to Work initiatives.

My role has been to support people to:

• Understand contemporary pain science
• Improve sleep health practices
• Understand and manage the pain-threat system through the autonomic nervous system
• Develop practical, self-directed strategies for improving sleep hygiene through a healthy lifestyle

The actual work I do includes providing the sleep education component of the program through presentation and online content, presenting sleep education to groups and in a recorded video, providing 1-1 sleep health consults with PEM clients, and providing health coaching for long-term support towards the end of the program.

Using evidence-informed sleep education, grounded in biology, circadian rhythm and behavioural science, my role is to support individuals to improve sleep health in realistic and compassionate ways for long-term behaviour change.

The Mindset Work Behind the Business

While my professional milestones are publicly visible, the real work happened behind the scenes.

Over the years, I’ve experienced ’imposter syndrome’ and self doubt, particularly when sharing on social media.

Despite having post-graduate qualifications and decades of experience, self-doubt used to creep into my decisions, my pricing, and how much I put myself out there for quite a long time.

A few years ago, I realised what I was doing to myself. The greatest barrier to my success was myself! I was standing in my own way by not believing in my potential.

Developing confidence wasn’t about eliminating doubt. What I realised was that I needed to exist alongside that self-doubt. I had to accept its presence and move forward despite it. This involved:

• Valuing my training and the experience I brought to the table
• Identifying the evidence of positive outcomes, reviews, and testimonials I’ve received
• Staying connected to supervision, learning, and peer support for constant development
• Spending time in reflection and self awareness, questioning the limiting beliefs that were holding me back.

Equally important was learning to regulate my own nervous system, set boundaries, and practise what I teach. Sustainable coaching businesses require internal regulation as much as external strategy.

My Advice For Other Coaches

To be successful, I needed to recognise the limitations of self-belief that were holding me back. I urge other coaches to examine their own self-belief and ask whether it might be hindering their progress. Alongside this, there are other practical strategies that have significantly added to my success:

1. Being willing to experiment, fail (and sometimes succeed) publicly with marketing, campaigns, events, and promotions. Putting yourself out there can be terrifying, but the more you do it, the easier it gets. You have to put your ego aside and give it a go. Each time you put yourself out there, you can gather the data to see what works and what doesn’t. There are far fewer people watching us than we think there are – someone out there needs to hear your message!
2. Collaboration and connection are the only way forward. Today’s business demands collaboration and connection over competition and running a solitary race. Reach out to others, start conversations, find ways to support other people without having an ulterior motive. These are some of the things I’ve been doing consistently for years because I believe each of us have something unique and valuable to offer. I’m already racing in a category of one – so should you.
3. Getting very clear about my Why. Most people get into health coaching with a strong sense of purpose. I’ve found that remembering this purpose and using it as my guiding star has helped me to overcome the nerves or uncertainty about selling my services. When you’re driven by something larger than yourself, you can usually find the drive to keep going despite setbacks and self-doubt.

What This Recognition Represents

The HCANZA Business Achievement Award has given me an immense sense of validation as I strive to champion grounded, evidence-based health coaching and education across Australia.

Going forward, I have two creative projects in the works that I’ll be sharing later this year, and I aim to do more keynote speaking as well as continue training and coaching, so I can keep sharing the message of grounded, evidence-based wellbeing for health and longevity.

Evidence-based health coaching is not about having all the answers. It’s about staying curious, informed, and responsive to the people we serve.

If there is one lesson from my journey, it’s this:

Meaningful practice is built over time, through consistency, humility, and a willingness to keep learning, adapting, and, most importantly, backing yourself.

Connect With Me

If you’d like to learn more about my journey, have a conversation, discuss collaboration, or simply stay connected, I invite you to reach out to me via my website, and connect with me on LinkedIn.

To learn more about approved training programs, visit HCANZA’s directory

To find a coach https://hcanza.org/find-a-coach/

About the Author

Ruth Kent

Ruth is a HCANZA award-winning health coach, health educator, and workshop facilitator with a post-graduate diploma in public health, a degree majoring in psychology, a masters in biomedical meditation therapy, advanced yoga teacher training, and a professional wellness coach certification. She partners with organisations and multidisciplinary teams to deliver evidence-based wellbeing education and coaching across healthcare and workplace settings. Learn more at www.sunrisewell.com.au.

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