From Finance to Wellness: Navigating the Wellness Industry with Kelly Madjan

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  0:04  
Hello, and welcome to Your Health Moment podcast. I'm your host Max Sturdivant better known as Dr. Fitness. On this podcast, I want to give you the tools to start, continue and never give up on your journey towards health. Now, whether you struggle with your weight, eating the right food, hydration, exercise, or even time management, you're in the right place, and I'm here for you. Now, let's dive right into this episode.

Well, welcome back to Your Health Moment. As you know, I'm your host, Dr. Fitness. And I'm super excited today, because we have an amazing guest. A lot of people hear me complain on a regular basis that we lose incredibly good wellness and fitness professionals to the financial industry. For some reason, the financial industry really puts effort into recruiting people that are fitness professionals, personal trainers, and year after year, and I'm talking from the last 10 years, I've seen the outflow of really talented trainers and fitness coaches, to the financial industry. And today, I am finally get to meet someone, this Kelly Majdan, who is moving from the financial industry into wellness Now seriously, it's unheard of I have not heard it before. So I'm excited to start diving in and asking some really exciting questions to Kelly. And I know you're just as interested in hearing from Kelly as I am. So we're gonna jump right in. Kelly, could you introduce yourself really quickly?

Kelly Majdan  1:54  
Absolutely. Thank you, Max. Well, that's kind of interesting. So I've never heard that before, honestly. But I can see it. Because in the financial industry, you always need people who are able to sell and communicate and work in this relationship industry. And most people in the health industry would do that. So I can. That's interesting, though, I'd never heard that before. So a little bit about me, yes, I like to call myself a recovering financial advisor, because I have moved from the financial services industry, and for almost 25 years, and really just followed a passion of mine, which has been health all the time. I've worked with corporate 401k plans, mostly for last 1015 years and did a lot of financial coaching and financial education. And sitting down with folks, the biggest thing that I always saw, which was like an, you know, a stumbling block to really to really being able to live the retirement years they would like to live. It's not just their wealth, but it's also their health. And being the fact that health was always kind of like a little like, it was like my side passion that I always always dabbled in, I tried to figure out a way like, okay, has there gotta be a way to like, marry these together, I think I figured it out. Or at least we're gonna give this a shot, right. And so I moved into I went back to school in 2020 to get my certified functional health coaching certification. So I'm also now a national board certified health and Wellness Coach, I have this thing with having as my dad says, acronym, alphabet soup behind my name. So you know, all these little acronyms and certifications. But I really wanted to know, and make sure I understood what the health world was about. Because it's, you know, in order to be able to help people, I just wanted to make sure I had a good firm understanding because that wasn't the world I grew up in, except for the fact that that's always been a side passion of mine. So anyway, so this also was presented to because the fact my husband had we found out in 2014, he had a pineal gland cystic mask sitting in the middle of his brain, and had had brain surgery and his really, we were in our mid 40s at the time. And so our process of getting ourselves back in shape, because while he was recovering for three to four months, my back went out on me, I couldn't even like lift my legs up to tie my shoes. So we were like sitting there in our mid 40s with the young kids going, okay, is this it? Like no, this can't be. So it's also a combination of just our own journey to get ourselves healthy again, and get out you know, not let that clock stop us from, you know, doing the things that we like to do because we like to be active. And we you know, looking at it from that perspective, having young kids I, there's a way I want to be there when they have young kids like and if we don't do something about it now. It's like your finance if you don't do something about it now and continue working, then it's going to be harder and harder the older you get. So Gotcha. My passion is to go back and help people especially around their their mid lifers when they think they're off it Chest age, you know, like, No, it's not, you know, it can be if you let it be. But that's if you let it be so Exactly. That's, that's where that's where we are now. That's where we're back. That's kind of why I left the financial services industry. I haven't really fully left it, but to really focus in on how do I help people as a wellness advisor instead of a financial advisor?

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  5:23  
Gotcha. I mean, that's really a powerful story, because most people, I don't think when they're thinking their financial plan, they're really think of their wellness plan at the same time. You know, some most people I know, that's just not the case. And I've never even heard a financial planner, even tiptoe around that, you know, so I speak to my financial planner, I've never heard her talk about health or wellness, or, you know, at this age, how do you think you'll be feeling? Or are you doing thing on things on the wellness side to, to make it so that you'd really be in a position to enjoy the income and the money that you have created? Or that wealth that you've created? That don't just seem like, really basic, common sense kind of questions. And I just, well, maybe from where I sit as a wellness person, right? Yeah. That just makes sense. You know, everyone should be asking that as like, hey, like, you're brushing your teeth this morning. Really, a plan is really important. So that's, that's where you got with it. So you wanted to bring the skill set of financial planning to people doing their wellness planning, at the same time, like in conjunction with each other? Was that the thought?

Kelly Majdan  6:49  
No, it's not in conjunction, because I will be stepping away completely from the financial side, because there is, you know, it's like, you need experts in different areas, like, you're not going to go to your general practitioner to have your back popped, right, you're going to have a chiropractor to do that, right. So it's really what what I'm doing instead is taking all these years that I've been trained in financial planning, and strategizing, and bringing that to the wellness side, because one of the biggest things I found was, when I was interviewing a lot of other wellness coaches and health coaches, there always was in for good or bad, and there's not judgment, it's just like, oh, how can we do this differently, it's more, there was always a product they were selling, there was always kind of like, okay, I'm going to move you into this. So I can get you into this exercise program, or this supplement, or this vitamin, or this shake, or this, you know, I want you to come to our wellness studio. So you can do this, all this stuff, which is fantastic. But it's the same kind of conundrum that we had in the financial service service industry. Long time ago, when we went from stockbroker selling House products, to registered investment advisors going out and being like, you know, what, I don't want to be tied to the house product, I want to be able to really just fully, holistically help people from a whole financial planning perspective. So it doesn't matter what you use, it's just more really working on kind of more of a mental of the behavior and the really understanding what it is that person is going to use. So they will get healthy. So I'm taking us by kind of holiday fiduciary wellness advisors, we call that a fiduciary advisor and that space is that instead, let's take you through a whole planning matrix, and really get you to understand a little bit more about what it is you want to do. Because people don't want to be told to change, right? You leave their doctor's office and you've got to do you know, work on your, your, your stress, or your your eating or exercise or whatever, to get all those numbers correct. And you're like, Yeah, okay, great, fine. But if you actually walk through and really connect with why you want to change, kind of like that change theory type thing, then you were more likely to stick with it. So my goal is to help people really figure that out. So that what they decide they want to take on. They take on and they take on with a full autonomy of the fact that okay, this is really what I want to do, and I'm not being sold a product. Hopefully that makes sense.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  9:23  
No, that totally makes sense. And it's really refreshing to actually hear someone say it, because I agree with you, the industry has moved to this product, kind of a wellness delivery system, where you may come for a personal trainer for the training, but in that process, they're incentivized to upsell you the supplements that they're doing, or they're promoting or a whole litany of other products that may not be really great for you. Thank you See? But they're incentivized to sell that to you. Yeah, sure.

Kelly Majdan  10:07  
It's a basic sales model, which again, I don't fault. It's just what it is. But it's I just kind of thought I'm like if there's got to be a better in a different way, and then again, of course to, I was trying to hear how do I differentiate myself. And that's not only a need, but it's also something I can fulfill.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  10:26  
Okay, so I'm excited because you're doing I've, I've moved into the area that you're in for a long time now, too. So I've been in practice for 25 years. And I realized, too, that I wanted to make sure when supplement companies are coming to me, Hey, can you promote this to your people, my thing is, I will provide an opportunity for you to share it. Because I think it's fair, they get to understand all the products that are out there. But they don't look to me as a product salesman. They look to me as their wellness support and coach, where my fiduciary responsibility is to them specifically in their needs. It's not another opportunity for me to find another revenue stream. That's outside of the scope of what this person deserves from me. And, and I think that's what I've saw it so much that I made a really conscious interest decision in the very beginning, that I won't promote specific products, but I do allow clients, I will share information on a broad range of things that may right work for.

Kelly Majdan  11:45  
And that's the whole point is that we move more into educators, and coaches in that respect. And connectors in that, like I said, because it's, there's so much that people can choose to use. But it's the I mean, I think you're especially because being adopted for as long as you have been, the main thing is you just want them to use it. Like, honestly, most of the products and I'm so sorry, product people, but a lot of them are so similar, that they have like a little bit of a little bit of a thing here, a little bit of them in that little thing might help that person, which is totally cool. So let's just figure out what is that cool thing that's going to help them so that it hooks them in? And they continue working down that path towards their wellness and health and putting more life into their living, so to speak?

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  12:35  
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'm just moving into that fiduciary wellness. Is there a concept that I mean, you're really doing and you're moving into this space? Um, what's been one of the important factors, I mean, getting people to take this ride with you, because now I think clients almost have an expectation that, okay, you get them in, and now that sales pitch for something else is definitely going to happen. How do you? How do you alleviate that? When you're working with them? Do you just go right up front and say, Hey, wait, this is how we're gonna do it, you know, pretty much right from the very beginning.

Kelly Majdan  13:24  
Yeah, this is our relationship. And that thing, too, that I'm working on, I'll be launching my eight week program. And I'll be educating people about it now. And the My biggest thing is like, please don't buy the day you see this, or the day you watch it, I want you to sleep on it, I want you to think about it, because it's creating that time in that space from the sales pitch, to actually pulling the trigger and buying something. Because how many times that people heard that sales pitch. And of course, the sales pitch is supposed to be really good, y'all, it's supposed to get you in there and be like, This is so awesome, I gotta do this, right? If there's a, that's what the whole point of the sales pitch is that they catch you on that emotion. And then you go back, you go via you leave, you go, you go through your day, then you go to sleep into the night, you're up like oh crap, I really don't have the money for that, or I don't have the time for it, or I don't have all this other kind of stuff. And you really just found that you just purchased on emotion, which again, that's just kind of how it's that's how sales and marketing is. It's just you kind of how it is I'm trying to what I want to teach people is create that barrier and the filter and just take a stop, take the information and be like, figure out how will this fit my life? Will this fit my life right now? Is this something I really want to do? Is this a product that's really going to help me so when I work through people, I work with them to create this filter? So you really ask yourself a few more questions before you pull the trigger. Because I am coming at it from a budgetary standpoint as well to the whole point is that the market, I read the globe, I think it's a global wellness Institute, they predict that the health and wellness market is going to grow to a $7 trillion industry by the year 2025. That's like right around the corner. And it's at about $4.55 trillion right now. And the obesity industry, just selling obesity drugs is going to grow to over 300 billion by the year 2030. So think about that for a minute. If you put your financial cap on what's going on, where are they going to get that money from all of us as consumers. So and it's going to be and they're going to be pulling on your heartstrings, and they're going to be marketing the heck out of it, to get you to use these things. So part of my goal with folks is to be like, Okay, put your brakes on, because it's going to be really easy to get sucked into these marketing, and sales techniques. Because again, that's what they're there for. Instead, let's just stop, take the filter and figure out what it's really going to fit in your life and what it is you're really needing to do right now. And work through that. So you make a better decision with your money. And especially as we're in this kind of recessionary environment as well. So, my financial capital never go away.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  16:25  
It's kind of neat. Um, so as you've worked with people, and, and you're helping them to discover really what they really want. Have you found that they really innately know what they really, really want and need? And if they innately do, then why are they

Kelly Majdan  16:43  
with that really, like, Oh, my God, we could probably spend like hours on that one. But in general, a lot of it, there's a lot of barriers, there's a lot of obstacles that people have in their life. And it could be, you know, could be money, it could be time, it could be just fear, I can't know go into it, I've tried it, they can be demoralized with all of these things that they've tried before. Like the you know, it's we've got the diet rollercoaster, people go on the same debt roller coaster like it's going back and forth. So there's, there could be a whole number of things going on. And that's part of what I worked through with the wellness program, or the wellness plan is to just really kind of help you figure out what are your barriers? What are your obstacles? Because of course, that's kind of a big thing in my life, but I wrote a book about it. So you know, that's, it's really helping me work through some of those that that mental gymnastics, so to speak, that hold you back and really identify what it is. And what a lot of people find out sometimes, too, is it? Well, yeah, I know, I need to work on my knees. I need to work on my diet. But I'm more interested in working on moving my body first. So let's figure out what do they really want to work on first? And I'm like, alright, well, let's grab that, then let's work on that first, or maybe managing my stress first. Because there's when you think about change theory, one of the biggest things, if you get people to least change one thing, they're more than likely, I think it's like two or three times more likely to change a another. So it's just trying to help them capture, what are they ready to move on, and then work through a plan. And I have a 90 day plan at the end of the program that helps them work for what they've identified. They want to work on.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  18:27  
Interesting in when it comes to the financial objection, that that most wellness people hear from clients and patients. That object I mean, someone Oh, they're okay, if you're their insurance company is paying 1000s. But they're not willing to pay hundreds. You know, but they'll pay, you know, if they're in a situation and they just happen to have hundreds of dollars of a copay for a manageable disease that they could have avoided in the first place. Well, they'll err okay with that

Kelly Majdan  18:59  
it's moving from that, okay, sick care model, which we talked about right to a preventative care model. And just were people were finicky little things out there. You know, I mean, we got we're, we got lots of thick, thick heads and a, you know, very stubborn and making any change in our own little environment. So it's just trying to help work, people figure out what they really are looking forward to change because when they figure out what they're really wanting to what they value that in that is, then the value to spend that money. Makes sense. But first, I've got to connect with that.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  19:36  
So what would you someone in that they really should investigate? Having a strategic wellness partnership with, with a coach that can help them what would be a sign that they can look for in their lives to, you know, let them know, you know, be that little bell or that little thing, too. Have them explore a little bit deeper into what they're doing with their wellness plan?

Kelly Majdan  20:04  
That's a, that's a great question. Really, the folks that I tend to see that come to me are the ones who I've joked to say they're on the struggle bus, they can't quite figure out like the nothing's work in it's really, you know, just, they want to feel better, they want to get their health, but there's just everything they seem to try just doesn't really work for them. And again, you know, that could be for a number of reasons. But if you're kind of what I say, on the struggle bus, then this is a great place, you know, let's start here. And let's kind of figure that one out, folks that are really looking for a longevity mindset, when we're really trying to work through and so you know, again, we're, I'm focused on helping people live longer, and put more life in their living and live and feel better be able to do the things with their kids and their family, and that the stuff that they want to do, and use the money that they have accumulated in a great way, instead of having to throw it down the healthcare pike. So you know, those that really want to say, you know, I want something better for my longevity. And I know, there's a lot of areas I can go into, and that can almost be overwhelmed. So I was also talking about people who just feel overwhelmed with all the stuff they want to do, and they just have no idea where to start so they don't start. And then probably the other jokerizer people who are just tired of being sold to people that just like, okay, really seriously, you know, I just let me be in control of my finances, instead of my emotions be in control of my finances, when it comes to purchasing their wellness, there was a great point for Analia.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  21:37  
That is an excellent point, you know, thank you, Kelly, for coming and sharing this information with us. I look forward to having you come back. Because there's a lot of stuff, I believe we scratched the surface on that people would really appreciate hearing a little more about in depth. So how can people reach you? How can people find out more about what you're doing and potentially work with you?

Kelly Majdan  22:03  
Thank you for asking. So of course, we all have websites, right? So you can get find me at Kelly matched in.com. And that's ma J Dan Kelly with a y. So Kelly matched and.com. And you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, at power through wellness, it's my company's name is power through wellness, I want you to take your power back. And then on LinkedIn, I also you can follow power through wellness on LinkedIn plus my personal page, Kelly Bastian, I don't do a lot on my personal page on Instagram and Facebook, but I will leave a bit more on LinkedIn.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  22:39  
Nice. Hey, thanks again, Kelly. Have a great day. And thank you for listening, we really appreciate you, you know, exploring other things that you can do to improve your wellness. And that's what we do here. We want to provide information from very How can I say this from new thoughts about wellness that we want to bring in and old thoughts that that we just want to reshare because sometimes we forget the stuff that we already know. So it's great to be reminded. And so thank you, Kelly, we will be at your website. And if you missed anything that Kelly said, you can go to the show notes and you'll be able to find Kelly's website there and contact information. Kelly, you've written several books, One Book, One book. Okay, we know they're more the work

Kelly Majdan  23:33  
there are more in the works. I we get several but right now it's just one.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  23:38  
Okay, so you have one book and there's gonna be more in would you like to offer listeners anything?

Kelly Majdan  23:49  
Sure. So just the book I wrote is Lessons From The Obstacle Course, Five Strategies To Conquer The Muddy Fields of Life kind of Chronicles our journey and obstacle courses. In fact, I just did one this weekend, I keep putting my arm down, like, Oh, I got a bruise there. But and so you can get on my website, I have a couple of freebies, that one is to just help you start with this. The wellness, my call Your Wellness Foundation, your strategy foundation on that. And then also questions that go along with the book. So if you happen to buy the book, you can, there's a quick little guide that you can do that to walk through the questions that are in the book because it's to get your mind thinking too. And then of course the will if you happen to want to join one of our eight week programs, just let me know where you heard me from on next show Dr. Fitness, and you can get 20% off the next course.

Max Sturdivant/Dr. Fitness  24:40  
Thanks. Hey, thanks again. Have a great day. And thanks for listening to Your Health Moment.

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