Kate Lyman Keeps Nutrition Coaching Human in an AI World

The referrals started arriving while Kate Lyman was still working on her PhD in behavioral science. Past coaching clients were sending new clients her way, and the influx gave her the push to leave school and run her business full time. Eleven years after she started, her clients are still telling their friends and family.

Kate Lyman is the founder of Kate Lyman Nutrition, an online nutrition coaching business she started in 2015 to work with clients one-on-one using her expertise in behavioral health and exercise science. Today she leads a team of coaches, each with a different specialty, and she is a member of The Entreprenista League. As AI moves deeper into wellness, she is keeping her coaching human.

“One of my greatest achievements is having a business that has existed for 11 whole years while only offering one thing: great, highly individualized nutrition coaching,” Kate says.

Her path from fitness trainer at 17 to the head of a coaching team came down to behavioral science.

Breaking the all-or-nothing cycle

Kate started working in the fitness industry as a trainer at 17. She already knew fitness and nutrition well, and studying behavioral science in graduate school showed her the piece traditional nutrition coaching was missing.

Most people know what to do when it comes to their nutrition goals. The hard part is doing it consistently through the ups and downs of life. Kate built her coaching around health behavior change to close that gap, so clients can end yo-yo dieting, break the all-or-nothing cycle, and make progress they can maintain long term.

Education is a big part of the work. Clients come away feeling like experts on their own nutrition, ready to keep going without dieting or working with a coach forever. “As cliché as it sounds, it’s a ‘teach a (wo)man to fish’ situation!” she says.

Coaches for busy parents, athletes, and new moms

Kate started the business on her own. Today her coaches work with people with ADHD, busy parents, women in the menopause transition, people taking GLP-1 medications, pregnant and postpartum women, and athletes with performance goals.

“I’m a firm believer that I’m nothing without my team!” she says. According to the Kate Lyman Nutrition website, the team has helped more than 1,200 clients in over 30 countries.

Human coaching in an AI world

Kate’s business has always lived online, so it has had to grow as the internet has. Over the last 2 years, AI-driven search has pushed her to find new ways to market the business and cut through a saturated nutrition and wellness space. “It has taught me to be flexible and always think ahead,” she says.

Inside the coaching itself, Kate keeps AI out. “We do not believe it can replace or enhance the human connection we have with our clients,” she says.

Her coaches are evidence-led and rooted in science, and they stay clear of misinformation and fearmongering. “The wellness space has more than enough of that present already,” Kate says.

Over the next few years, she wants the business known for “highly individualized, highly supportive, highly communicative and connected coaching in an increasingly disconnected world full of AI and shortcuts.”

From perpetual dieting to eating with confidence

Kate recently heard from a client heading out of town for the weekend: “I realized there’s not much to tell,” the client wrote. “I know exactly what I need to do to stay aligned with my goals because it’s everything we’ve already put in practice.”

That client came to Kate after trying to lose weight for most of her life, with minimal self-confidence and a bad body image. Together they spent intentional time building sustainable, supportive habits that hold up while traveling, celebrating holidays, or getting through a stressful work day.

Today she eats confidently, feels comfortable in her body, and gives far less of her mental space to thoughts of food. “Great body composition changes happened too, but that’s the least exciting thing!” Kate says.

Talk about it, or be about it

Kate’s life motto is “talk about it, or be about it.” To her, it means acting on an idea when she has it, without waiting for the right timing or for the idea to be perfect and polished.

She credits the motto for much of her business success. It pushed her to put out content and ideas before they felt perfect, and she still brought in clients.

Her advice for aspiring Entreprenistas is to find a mentor who inspires you. “Having mentors along the way of my business journey has always led to the biggest leaps in growth, both in my business and in my leadership and business skills,” she says.

You can meet the coaching team at katelymannutrition.com and connect with Kate on LinkedIn.

Kate’s story is a reminder that the biggest leaps in growth often come with a mentor in your corner. The Entreprenista League surrounds you with women founders who have walked the road ahead of you and are glad to share what they know. Learn more about The Entreprenista League right here.