Darrell Price

My name is Darrell Price and I am a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, certified workshop facilitator, and certified life coach with extensive experience in geriatrics. I live in Palm Desert, CA and I graduated from The Functional Medicine Coaching Academy in September 2019.I’ve always known two things: the human body is amazing, and I love helping people. As a college baseball player, I was truly inspired by my fellow athletes’ ability to perform, to set and achieve ambitious physical goals. Various internships allowed me to further explore goal-setting and achievement as a way to help others. So when a mentor advised me to become an executive life coach, I felt a spark. I started reading, started focusing on my own growth so that I could make a difference in other people’s lives. After earning my Bachelor of Science in Human Services, I spent over 15 years in the social service field managing grants for homeless veterans, working with people with disabilities, doing employment training programs with ex-offenders, and working with group homes. It felt so good to help others create positive change.Years later, I went through a major health journey—I lost about 70 pounds with the help of my Functional Medicine physician (shoutout to Dr. Megan Stone, D.O.!). It’s not an overstatement to say that she changed my world. My diet and food choices look completely different now. I’m an ultramarathon runner and just recently finished a 100-miler! And it’s all thanks to Functional Medicine. Like many FMCA students, my journey is what inspired me to pursue coaching (in fact, my doctor is the person who referred me to The Functional Medicine Coaching Academy).I knew I wanted to join a health coaching program that focused on using positive strengths to motivate clients. When I was researching, I found that The Functional Medicine Coaching Academy connected to my vision of positive psychology; FMCA incorporates character strengths incorporated throughout the entire course. This is the key to behavior change, and now I use what I’ve learned with my own clients to get results.I'm also continuing my studies with FMCA. I’m a member of the FMCA Alumni Program, andI think the biggest thing I want to emphasize is that it is so important to invest in a program with platforms that can help you continue to grow...because this industry is growing fast.Since graduating, I started my own health coaching business, in addition to my Life Coaching business—something I’ve felt much more equipped to do thanks to the support I’ve received from the FMCA Alumni Program. Right now, when I have a client that comes to me for a specific issue, I can look back over my curriculum, listen to a webinar on that specific topic to refresh my memory, and then I meet the client with everything I need to be their coach. That's the advantage of being a part of Alumni Program, you have access to everything you need! You can tell that everyone who works for FMCA puts in a lot of effort into the student experience. I love to see the growth, and I know they’re constantly getting better and creating even more opportunities for students and grads.Currently, I coach both in- and out-of-state clients; I coach from home using Zoom video conferencing for out-of-state clients, and I visit my clients’ homes for sessions if they’re in-state. I also host weekly workshops at our local hospital. At the hospital, I started a seniors group where I coach about 50 seniors on happiness and health every week. Additionally, I am an Alzheimer's Caregiver Facilitator at my local nursing home, and every week I do a Happy Hour Program where we dress up in fun outfits and sing music. I’ve also hosted health workshops geared toward customer service companies, but now that I'm a health coach. I have even recently taught a community health workshop in India!I’ve found that hosting seminars about food, moving forward, positivity, and other topics are great ways to find clients. I use social media to market my business, but honestly, it’s about having a few really, really solid clients that refer people to you. I always go the extra mile to personally build a connection with clients so that they can’t help but send their network to me for coaching. I even send personalized notes to my clients at home—just one simple gesture can mean retaining a customer and finding a new one. That’s what works for me.One final thought: the single best thing about The Functional Medicine Coaching Academy was the people I met in my cohort group. I loved our cohort, and I loved that we are all there for the same reason: we want to be coaches. Every Live Training Session with my cohort reminded me of why I’m there, that I have a story, too. I loved being a part of a group of people who share my health mindset and all want each other to succeed. We really want to help people, we really want to treat the whole person, and when you treat the whole person, everyone wins.