AIP Certified Coach Spotlight: Jan Steele

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Ever since our first cohort of coaches graduated from our AIP Certified Coach Practitioner Training Program, we’ve been watching with pride and excitement as they bring the AIP to the traditional healthcare landscape. Our AIP Certified Coach Spotlight features give you a look at what it means to be an AIP coach, and what you can expect when working with one as part of your healthcare team.

Jan Steele had a 15-year career in education before starting her journey in health coaching. She is one of only a small number of AIP-focused health coaches in France and is bringing awareness to this lifestyle to the French-speaking world through her website and AIP Certified coaching practice. 

How did you become involved in the healthcare field in the beginning?

I came late to the healthcare field, having first spent over 15 years in the schools as a K-12 music teacher. It was only later, owing to my own health crisis, that I became amazed at the power that nutritional choices can have on one’s quality of life… and the realization that this was a skill that I had, in fact, already mastered from the start as a lifelong celiac.

What prompted you to use your skill set and training to specifically focus on serving the autoimmune disease population?

Having lived with celiac disease all my life, I was very familiar with the concept of an elimination diet. And, living in France, where bread is practically a religion, it quickly became clear that my approach to life without gluten was a refreshing alternative to the more common stance of victimhood and frustration.

You recently became an AIP Certified Coach. Were there aspects of the program that you feel were particularly beneficial?

I always really appreciated the extent to which the protocol is rooted in understanding a body’s needs… and how human bodies sometimes interact with certain foods and behaviors. Knowing that certain foods and/or behaviors have a potential to be problematic allows a person to experiment with their diet and lifestyle, and determine for themselves what works and what doesn’t.

What kinds of plans do you currently have for your practice? Anything exciting coming up?

The AIP is just beginning to gain recognition in the French-speaking world, so there is a LOT of opportunity to help people here. For the foreseeable future, the main focus of my AIP-based work is in supporting my fellow AIP Coaches via our collective website (bienetreautoimmune.fr). More individually, I am also really excited to be able to offer in-person retreats for people who want help adopting the AIP. I am a HUGE proponent of collaboration, and so working with other AIP Coaches to provide a transformational experience — via fully compliant meals, a variety of wellness treatments, and a full program of wellness activities like yoga, meditation, forest bathing, etc — for people who want help adopting the AIP, feels like really meaningful work.

Can you share an autoimmune client success story?

I was really touched by one family who came through the B&B with their young 4-yr-old son who had had digestive issues since birth. He was an energetic little guy, who was quite ornery on arrival. (Life with ever-present digestive pain can do that to you.) Well, within 3 days of an AIP diet, we were all thrilled to witness his evolution into a pleasant, inquisitive little boy (who couldn’t get enough of my meatballs!).

Where can our readers find you or learn about working with you?

My professional website is perhaps the best overview of the work that I am doing personally: https://lagoose.fr

French-speakers will also benefit from joining our community via this new website, that the collective of AIP Coaches working in French has compiled: https://bienetreautoimmune.fr

About Grace Heerman

Grace Heerman is a writer and website designer based in New York City. Through her business Said with Grace, she helps coaches clarify their message and create authentic websites that actually bring in business. Here at Autoimmune Wellness, Grace writes book reviews, manages blog content, and organizes Facebook publishing. She is an avid traveler and loves spending winters in Asia. You can connect with Grace and learn more about her writing and design work on her website, Said with Grace.

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