Pichardo Coaching

To answer this question, I have to admit to some vulnerable stuff and go back to when I was a kid. Since I was young I’ve always had a 1yr, 5yr & 10yr plan (yes, even at the age of 12yrs old I already knew where I wanted to be in 10yrs). It was never a priority to find the ideal man, have children and buy a house. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted all of that, but it was never my main focus. I’ve always been passionate about finding my life’s purpose and working my ideal job. From an outsiders perspective, it always looked like I had my sh*t together, but in reality I was always super stressed with the pressure I put on myself and going down an unhealthy path and from the young age of 16yr I found myself struggling with anxiety & depression because of this. I wanted to make sure that everything I did, everything I was working towards, was done intentionally and leading me in the direction of finding my purpose and the perfect job.

In my early 20s I moved from Boston to Los Angeles on my own and within a year accomplished my short-term goal of working for a boutique public relations firm in the entertainment industry. Initially, I was super excited and proud of myself. I finally made it! But it didn’t take long for me to realize that this was not my calling. Not only did I realize that PR was not for me, I hated the entertainment industry and I worked in a toxic environment. I left LA about 1.5yrs later feeling like a complete failure and so lost. I didn’t know what was next for me. For the first time in my life I didn’t have a plan. My anxiety came back stronger than ever, along with my depression and I’d gained about 50lbs from all the stress. This is when my yo-yo dieting started. I would lose 20lbs and gain 10lbs back, lose 15lbs and gain 20lbs back, this went on for several years. One winter I started getting consistent sharp stomach and chest pains, at one point it felt like I was having a heart attack. A few doctor visits later and the “oh so fun” endoscopy, I learned that I had a stomach ulcer, which was caused by stress. It was hard to accept that I did this to myself. I now have a hole in my stomach lining because I couldn’t control my stress.

That same year I kept hearing how my stress was playing a major role in other areas of my life. At one point I was on a super strict diet, working with a trainer, doing what you’re “supposed” to do to lose weight and I couldn’t even lose a pound! I couldn’t understand why, until he asked me if I was stressed. Of course the answer was “more than you could imagine” and he told me that was why I couldn’t lose the weight. Around that same time my hair started to fall out, a lot more than usual, my hairdresser said it most likely had to do with stress.

This was a pivoting moment in my life. I realized that I needed to make some big changes. I couldn’t continue to ignore my stress. I needed to tackle it head on. So I started my journey of self-discovery to understand what it really meant to live a happy and healthy lifestyle. I started to say “yes” to myself more. I fed my soul with activities that genuinely brought me joy. I opened myself up to new ideologies and experiences. This is when I discovered coaching and my passion for it. If I didn’t open myself up to a new way of approaching life (with curiosity rather than judgement) I don’t think I would’ve noticed the signs pointing me to my new path. I immediately went back to school to become a certified Life & Health coach and in less than a year I finally felt like I was living and breathing my life’s purpose.

Today I’m still working through a few scars from the past and towards my health goals, but honestly, who isn’t? That’s what life is about, a constant journey of self-discovery, but I’m the happiest and the healthiest I’ve ever been.

Last year I started taking clients and helping them through the process of self-discovery. Some are finally learning how to understand their bodies and what it means to truly provide it with nourishment, others are learning how to finally get structure back in their day without needing to control every aspect of it and most importantly most are finding a new sense of self. For the first time they are truly understanding who they are and what they want from life.

I’m dedicated to helping individuals find their way in all parts of their lives. Everyone wants to feel healthy and live a happy life. But what “happy” means to me, may be completely different for you and I want to help you find that.

Most life & health coaches give you a checklist of what to do and what not to do. For individuals that struggle with toxic habits and mindsets this won’t work. To change a habit, it’s not about checklists, it’s about our inability to cope with the stresses of day-to-day life.

So first and foremost my coaching is about transforming beliefs and mindsets so that my clients can be present with themselves and their lives in a whole new way. I follow that work with step-by- step guidelines around healthy ways to approach life.

I currently only provide services remotely. If you are local to north NJ, then I'm happy to discuss an in-person service.

Since I primarily work remotely, my services are COVID friendly.