Name of business: Coach Darla Nelson

Type of business: Transformational mindset coach

Location: www.coachdarlanelson.com

Hours: By appointment only

Contact information: 209-613-0104; coachdarlanelson@gmail.com

Specialty: Helping to change habits

History of business:

Turlock resident Darla Nelson had a successful career as a financial planner, but shortly after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis about seven years ago she realized she needed to make a change.

“When the doctor handed me that prescription, I said I’m not doing that, I’m going down a different path. I needed to change my life, so I never looked back,” Nelson said.

Health and wellness became Nelson’s mantra, and she felt compelled to help others achieve their own Zen. Today, she no longer helps people with their money, but with their lifestyle as a certified Health and Life Coach, assisting men and women with their mindset towards their health, life, relationships and anything else that may be holding them back from fulfillment.

“People really come to me for all different reasons,” Nelson said. “Someone might come to me because they want to lose a certain amount of weight, and then in no time at all they realize there’s something deeper going on.”

For many, it’s not about a “diet,” Nelson said. It’s about learning who a client is, and who they want to be. Whether it be by meeting local clients at the coffee shop to talk or video chatting with a client who lives in San Diego, Nelson holds what she calls “discovery sessions” once a week with those who seek her help, peeling back the layers of each individual until any negativity is erased,

“I always tell people that they have all the answers within them, but they don’t necessarily know what questions need to be asked,” Nelson said. “I’m just the person asking the questions, and when I do they’re often enlightened and they’ll look at it from a different perspective.”

Most clients meet with Nelson for the duration of a 12-week program, with many signing up for additional meetings once their time is up. A way she helps her clients is through mental exercises, like one where a client wrote everything he wished he would have said to someone in a letter, then shredded it without ever delivering it. Once the mental setbacks are addressed, Nelson will move on to helping her clients determine ways to lead a healthy lifestyle, such as learning about foods that can give energy, among other means.

“It’s all individually-based; we’re just addressing whatever is going on,” she said. “It’s just working on that constant mindset shift of, ‘I can do this. I’m worth it.’”