Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Lackey.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I like to say I’m a walking poster child for self-healing. While battling cancer, going through menopause at 25 years old, later facing life in a wheelchair after being diagnosed with reactive arthritis, as well as going through a divorce, I continued to receive answers from medical and psychological professionals that simply didn’t feel right. After a lot of soul searching, I made a decision to be proactive in my health.
When I was diagnosed with reactive arthritis, I made the decision to turn away from western medicine. I was living in excruciating physical pain – unable to walk or even squeeze a shampoo bottle – and my only option with western medicine was to take pain pills, steroids and live on biological drugs to suppress my immune system. I previously had lymphoma and worked hard to strengthen my immune system after chemotherapy. If I had followed my doctor’s recommendation to suppress my immune system via drugs, it could have brought me out of remission for lymphoma – something I most likely would not survive again. So, even though I was in tremendous pain, I knew I could fight through it and opted for more holistic methods and detoxing to treat my arthritis. It took several years to fully get rid of the pain and reduce inflammation so I could have my body back. Today, I am 100% cured and take zero pharmaceuticals.
Through a variety of natural healing methods and modalities, I was able to overcome cancer, arthritis and several other long-term ailments, as well as reset my mental outlook. Within this process, I came to understand my empath qualities, which validated that I had permission to take care of myself in ways that might look different from others around me.
Once I was healthy enough to work post-cancer, I started teaching and became involved in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I also had the opportunity to help numerous family members and friends navigate their own health challenges and apply what I had learned going through cancer and arthritis to assist them in making healthcare decisions. This led me to launch Empath Coaching to work with others through nutritional counseling, motivational speaking and more.
Through Empath Coaching, I became connected with NES Health, a world leader in Biogenetics. I currently serve as Chief Success Officer at NES, where I coach and train approximately 5,000 health practitioners, who in turn, have thousands of clients. My goal has always been to cause a ripple effect in the healthcare industry on a large scale, so this position perfectly aligns and is truly a dream role.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Once I recognized my empathic qualities, I saw that I took on other peoples’ issues and struggled personally – this can be somewhat of a blessing and a curse. While it’s rewarding, it can be physically and mentally draining. When I first launched Empath Coaching, I didn’t listen to my own advice and over time, I found myself creating something I loved, but my time and effort was going toward something I felt was a job versus something I was excited about. Rather than one-on-one coaching, which is what I started off doing, I needed to be working with large groups. This allows me to teach and share my message without taking on the emotions of one person and finding myself overwhelmed and exhausted. Today, I’m focused on group teaching and speaking as well as writing, and find this most fulfilling. The takeaway is: listen to your intuition and own advice!
Additionally, I think we all have natural doubts or hesitations when starting something new or launching a company on our own. There were certainly times I wondered if I could have a thriving coaching business. Luckily, I had the most wonderful sounding board and advisor, my grandmother Omi. Any time I would struggle with believing that I could be successful in what I wanted to do in life, she would tell me “of course you can. You just need to be clear with what that is.” Being clear with what you want, visualizing it happening and implementing actionable steps toward that goal will ensure progress. There will always be challenges or hurdles along the way, but believing that it can be accomplished is step number one.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Empath Coaching is my approach to guiding others to stay on or get back to their right path while building a life they love both mentally and physically. There is no better gift to yourself than the gift of health and empowerment, and I believe everyone is personally capable of this. As a Certified Integrative Health Coach, I work with groups through teaching and speaking as well as writing for media outlets.
I am the Chief Success Officer and a Certified Practitioner at NES Health, a world leader in Biogenetics. NES Health offers a comprehensive bioenergetics scanning system and software to health and wellness practitioners to help them enhance their business. In my role, I coach and train our approximately 5,000 health practitioners on NES Health products, the best way to help their clients, marketing needs and a myriad of other issues.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
It is often said that the things that scare us the most also have the potential to offer the most growth. This paradox can seem emotionally confusing and draining. However, allowing all the feelings to surface without resisting the path makes the journey much more enjoyable and allows the tough stuff to pass more quickly.
There are many decisions in my life that would have seemed risky to others – turning away from western medicine when I was facing serious medical conditions, moving to Northern California from Tampa for a job without knowing a soul, or starting my own coaching business. But I’ve learned that my amazing life today is the product of a lot of tough decisions – listening to my own intuition, following my own inner guidance, asking and receiving gifts and signs given to me by something much bigger and greater than me. I often don’t have an explanation for my next steps or why I am making a certain decision, I just know internally what I need to do and that I have the tools to get through anything, and I am proud that I have learned to trust that.
Contact Info:
- Email: kimberly@empathcoaching.com
- Website: https://www.empathcoaching.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empathcoaching
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empathcoaching
Image Credits
Ocean, walking down road and beach photos should be credited to Sean M. Hower Photography. The others Kim has all rights to.
