Working in International Development was a Job, But Starting a Business in Health Coaching is an Extension of My Life

How a painful career setback led to the ultimate alignment of life, values, and holistic health advocacy.

Jul 13, 2026

Hi, I’m Angela Forest. In the summer of 2023, I went through a difficult and painful work experience that shattered my ideas of what work should be and forced me to think hard about how I wanted to spend the rest of my life.

At that time, I was working in international development as a contractor for a federal agency, and for several years I had been doing work that was neither understood nor particularly valued by those in leadership.

There had been many times throughout my career where I considered starting my own business, but had lacked the confidence to believe it was truly possible. What happened to me in the summer of 2023 made me realize that I was done with trying to force myself into a box so that I could get and keep a job.

Entrepreneurship offered the freedom, peace of mind, and control (over content, creativity, and decision-making) that I had been longing for since college.

That fall, I took a leap of faith and enrolled in a program designed to help people start an online business. I was still working as a federal contractor, and there were many days where I dragged myself back to work after having stayed up past 2 am finishing coursework.

Looking back now, those long nights seem like nothing compared to the investment of time and energy I currently put into running my business.

The Catalyst

My plan was to keep my day job until I saved up a good amount of money to provide a financial cushion as I transitioned into having a full-time business. I had to pivot from that after getting laid off in February 2025 due to the massive upheaval following the 2024 election.

Facing a bleak job market and deep uncertainty about the future of the industry I’d been a part of for almost a decade, I decided that focusing on starting a business was my best option. No one was coming to save me, but I knew that by relying on my skills, knowledge, and tenacity that I could create my own path forward.

I launched Robust Health Advocacy (RHA) a week after getting laid off and haven’t looked back since.

From Advocating for Myself to Empowering Others to Obtain Quality Care

I chose to become a health coach because for almost 20 years I suffered from multiple, chronic health conditions that none of the many doctors I saw could help me address. After years of failing to find answers through traditional means, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Using my extensive research skills and growing knowledge of medical practices, I investigated and adopted health treatments and protocols outside of standardized medicine. I learned about functional and integrative healthcare, and ended up hand picking health practitioners that I collaborated with to restore my health.

After having this experience, my thoughts turned towards the millions of people in the United States dealing with chronic health conditions that our healthcare system was failing to address.

Not everyone has the research and advocacy skills, or the dogged persistence that I had to finally become healthy. Today, using my skills to help people find solutions to their complex medical issues is the heart of my business.

For the past year, I have significantly expanded my clinical knowledge by taking courses in gut health, hormonal balancing, stress management, and trauma. Leaning into these specialties has helped me craft a niche for my business.

I’ve incorporated insights from my studies into two of my own courses.

The first course teaches people how to effectively advocate for themselves in engaging with healthcare practitioners (personal health advocacy). The second combines three different body-based (somatic) exercises to help people obtain immediate relief as they navigate lives that have become increasingly challenging for many.

This fall I’ll be launching a full 12-week holistic health curriculum. By highlighting the connections between multiple areas of our lives (body, mind and spirit) and building integrations across them, this program will help people lead more satisfying, healthy, and fulfilling lives.

I first developed this curriculum three years ago, back when I wasn’t even sure I had what it took to be an entrepreneur. I’m excited to share this program with people who need it.

Finding Support and Guidance Through Community

My experience running a business has been full of highs and lows. Opportunities and challenges exist around every corner. At times I have been excited, terrified, totally demoralized, and deeply fulfilled. There’s never a dull moment, and there is always more work to do.

Leveraging the long list of skills I developed during my career has been a key part of getting things off the ground. Applying my experience from a few of them, including communications, facilitation, information management, and strategic planning has allowed me to mobilize quickly to meet client needs.

Although being a solopreneur is sometimes lonely, I haven’t been without guidance or support in my entrepreneurial journey.

I recognized early on that having connections to other entrepreneurs was critical to my success. A constant learner, I joined a number of different business networks at the local, regional, state, and international level, including one through the University of Maryland for alumni.

I also joined the first cohort of the Founders Rising program, sponsored by the Maryland Women’s Business Center, which is made up of current and former federal government employees and contractors pivoting towards entrepreneurship.

The peers and mentors I connected with in these groups helped me learn the ropes, provided constructive feedback on my projects, gave me a shoulder to cry on (metaphorically) during difficult days, and celebrated my successes.

How Working with Coaches Unlocked my Potential

I can’t stress how important it is to have a business coach, particularly someone who will give you constructive criticism and feedback to make important decisions quickly so you don’t lose clients and/or money.

My best coaches tell me things like:

Don’t overthink what you are doing, just take action.
Talk to people as much as possible to cultivate relationships.
When actions you take to grow your business make you feel uncomfortable, run toward that, not away from it.

The best business coaching advice I regularly receive is to deal with unresolved issues in my life because if I don’t, it will block my energy and creativity as an entrepreneur as it spills out into all areas of life. As a result, I am always working on myself (i.e., journaling, doing breathwork, and meditation). Of course being a health coach helps me in this regard.

As I coach people and support their transformation into healthier versions of themselves, I have begun to see that starting a business wasn’t so much a choice as it was the fulfillment of something bigger — creating a life that is aligned with my values and expresses who I truly am.

To be a business owner, I had to become a very different person - more bold, decisive, and authentic. But in going through this process, I have not only grown in my professional skills, I have become more attuned to what makes me happy.

Connect with Robust Health Advocacy During My Free 7-Day Health Reset Webinar Series

You have a body. You have a mind. You have emotions and feelings. You have relationships. You engage with your external environment. Your life is dynamic and constantly changing.

All of these elements make up your health journey. And when one or more of these elements is not working well, you don’t work well.

We are not pieces of a puzzle, and we are not broken. Rather, we are part of an integrated whole in a body-mind-spirit that always seeks to heal. The more you can learn and understand how to observe and recognize all the parts that make up your whole, the more empowered you are to identify things you can do to positively change your life moving forward.

To that end, I’m excited for you to join Robust Health Advocacy’s free 7-Day Health Rest webinar series which starts tomorrow (Tuesday, July 14) and runs until Monday July 20. Each 45-minute session will focus on one of seven core health elements, which we refer to as the Pillars of Health:

Diet & Gut Health
Exercise
Sleep
Stress Management/Trauma Release
Relationships
Personal Health Advocacy
Life Purpose

I’m looking forward to speaking with you during these sessions and showing you how making small changes can reap big benefits in your overall health. Registration is now open.

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