1 00:00:10,610 --> 00:00:15,200 Hey there, and welcome back to another episode of Sam's Sidebar, where I tackle your 2 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:20,840 essential legal questions about starting and growing a legally protected online business 3 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,060 in ten minutes or less. So, 4 00:00:23,060 --> 00:00:26,540 this week, you'll hear all about what coaches can legally do. 5 00:00:26,540 --> 00:00:30,530 In other words, what they can legally talk about, work on with their clients, offer as 6 00:00:30,530 --> 00:00:34,700 services, talk about in terms of content, all that good stuff. So, 7 00:00:34,700 --> 00:00:38,630 this week's question comes from our listener, Leslie, who asks, "Hi, Sam. 8 00:00:38,630 --> 00:00:43,450 I have a question relating to suggesting health and nutrition advice as a health coach. 9 00:00:43,450 --> 00:00:48,230 I understand you can only provide specific meal plans if you're an RD, but how do you 10 00:00:48,230 --> 00:00:51,650 communicate -" sorry "- how do you educate or recommend? 11 00:00:51,650 --> 00:00:56,110 What's the language you would use if you do want to talk about nutrition or meals? 12 00:00:56,110 --> 00:01:01,250 Can I give them recipes as a suggestion or can I tell them what I would do or what I would 13 00:01:01,250 --> 00:01:03,630 normally eat is X, Y, or Z?" Okay. 14 00:01:03,630 --> 00:01:05,570 That is a great question, Leslie. And 15 00:01:05,570 --> 00:01:10,430 before we hop in, I want to talk about the fact that this episode is for you even if 16 00:01:10,430 --> 00:01:12,710 you're not in the health and wellness field. 17 00:01:13,430 --> 00:01:17,240 First and foremost, I want to clear up the nasty rumor that I do not only work with 18 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:18,860 health and wellness people. 19 00:01:18,860 --> 00:01:22,280 I have health and wellness coaches, of course, of all varieties. 20 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:27,650 But I also work with everybody from career coaches, and life coaches, and money coaches, 21 00:01:27,650 --> 00:01:32,210 business coaches, all kinds of things, as well as professionals like RDs, and 22 00:01:32,210 --> 00:01:35,090 nutritionist, doctors, nurses, all kinds of people. 23 00:01:35,630 --> 00:01:40,790 And we work with course creators and bloggers, food blogger, all kinds of things. 24 00:01:40,790 --> 00:01:42,920 So, I just wanted to throw that out there. But, 25 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:49,870 also, because scope of practice is for you if you do anything in the coaching industry. 26 00:01:49,870 --> 00:01:56,000 If you talk about life, health, money, dating, business, accounting, legal, anything, you 27 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:57,110 have to know about scope. 28 00:01:57,110 --> 00:01:59,750 So, okay, with that, let's dive in. Let's 29 00:01:59,750 --> 00:02:04,310 talk about what scope of practice is and why it matters for your business. 30 00:02:04,310 --> 00:02:10,070 Scope of practice is just the kind of fancy legal term for what you can legally do, say, 31 00:02:10,070 --> 00:02:13,490 and teach in your business based on two different things. 32 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:19,690 One, your state's laws or all the different state's laws and regulations. 33 00:02:19,690 --> 00:02:27,410 And two, what type or level of education, license, qualification, or certification you 34 00:02:27,410 --> 00:02:31,670 have for what you're talking about in your business. So, 35 00:02:31,670 --> 00:02:36,740 if you're a coach or you want to be, you can only do what a coach can do. 36 00:02:36,740 --> 00:02:41,450 So, even if you have people sign legal agreements saying that they know, for example, 37 00:02:41,450 --> 00:02:45,260 that you're not their doctor, their lawyer, their therapists, their accountant, their 38 00:02:45,260 --> 00:02:50,330 nutritionists, you still can't do things that only those professionals can do. So, 39 00:02:50,330 --> 00:02:54,020 I think sometimes people get confused because they're like, "Well, I told them I'm a 40 00:02:54,020 --> 00:02:57,290 health coach, and then I had them sign a contract that says I'm not their doctor. 41 00:02:57,290 --> 00:02:59,500 So then, I went and read their labs. 42 00:02:59,500 --> 00:03:01,610 Isn't that fine?" It's like, No, no, no. 43 00:03:01,820 --> 00:03:06,290 We have to do as we say and say as we do and all that good stuff. So, 44 00:03:06,290 --> 00:03:08,850 what then can coaches do? 45 00:03:08,870 --> 00:03:14,600 So, if you know me at all, you know that I always focus more on what we can do and how 46 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:19,630 can we actually grow our businesses within the legal confines of doing so safely. 47 00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:26,300 So, the simplest answer about what a coach can do is that a coach can legally educate, 48 00:03:26,300 --> 00:03:32,120 empower, encourage - in other words, be a coach - and share resources. I 49 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:36,530 like to think of a coach as somebody who holds a flashlight in front of their client and 50 00:03:36,530 --> 00:03:42,080 maybe even holds their hand and guides them to illuminate their path in front of them to 51 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:43,520 navigate it together. 52 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:48,560 And that the coach is there to support the person as things might pop up along the path. 53 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:53,780 But the coach isn't telling the client where to walk or what path to take. So, 54 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,880 coaches can't diagnose, treat, cure, or offer to prevent things when it comes to health 55 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,050 and wellness, when it comes to other stuff other than health and wellness, like legal, 56 00:04:03,050 --> 00:04:05,240 accounting, business stuff, therapy. 57 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,440 We have to be really, really careful that we're not doing things that those hovering 58 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,770 professions above us can do and only they can do. 59 00:04:13,340 --> 00:04:17,870 When it comes to health and wellness of people, too, we can't create custom plans or tell 60 00:04:17,870 --> 00:04:19,450 people what to do. 61 00:04:19,450 --> 00:04:24,170 And that goes way beyond health even because we can't offer to cure somebody's financial 62 00:04:24,170 --> 00:04:29,330 situation with an investment plan if you're not a certified financial planner. 63 00:04:29,330 --> 00:04:34,350 Or we can't offer to cure their debt following our system or our way of budgeting. 64 00:04:34,350 --> 00:04:37,340 So, this goes beyond health and wellness. It 65 00:04:37,340 --> 00:04:40,550 does mean for those of you in health and wellness that you can't create a meal plan 66 00:04:40,550 --> 00:04:45,200 specifically since that's what Leslie asked about, because that's telling people what to 67 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:50,780 eat. We can't tell people where to invest their money because that would be advice. 68 00:04:50,780 --> 00:04:54,170 We can't sell them a supplement because that's telling them that they need it. 69 00:04:54,170 --> 00:04:59,060 You would be basically diagnosing that they need it and then offering some sort of cure 70 00:04:59,060 --> 00:05:03,530 or healing treatment through offering up a supplement. So, 71 00:05:03,530 --> 00:05:06,320 I'll put my health coaching hat back on for a sec. 72 00:05:06,350 --> 00:05:09,740 In case you didn't know, I had my own health coaching business when I left the law for 73 00:05:09,740 --> 00:05:15,410 about a year. And I'll tell you how I did it or how I would do it now. So, 74 00:05:15,410 --> 00:05:19,310 let's say somebody came to me and they had been diagnosed by their physician or a medical 75 00:05:19,310 --> 00:05:24,110 professional with diabetes, and they've been told now to follow a low carb plan. 76 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:29,150 But the doctor kind of forgot to mention what a carb was and our client doesn't know 77 00:05:29,150 --> 00:05:34,520 either. So, as their coach, I could help them to better understand what foods fall under 78 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,610 carb, what foods are protein, what's fat. 79 00:05:37,610 --> 00:05:45,020 And I can help them to make choices that are in alignment with the diagnosis and the kind 80 00:05:45,020 --> 00:05:51,290 of the care plan - the low carb plan in this example - that are following that doctor's 81 00:05:51,290 --> 00:05:57,140 recommendation. Now, by the way, as an aside, I'm not saying I support or don't support this low carb or 82 00:05:57,140 --> 00:06:01,730 any of this stuff. I was just trying to come up with an example. But 83 00:06:01,730 --> 00:06:08,180 I would also help them to maybe come up with a grocery list, teach them some shopping 84 00:06:08,210 --> 00:06:14,300 trips. I would teach them probably meal prep tips about how they could better prepare 85 00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:18,020 their food during the week so that they could be prepared, because, you know, maybe a lot 86 00:06:18,020 --> 00:06:20,080 of low carb options take more time. 87 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,110 Or I would teach them about cauliflower rice as an awesome swap for regular rice, 88 00:06:24,110 --> 00:06:25,790 something like that. The 89 00:06:25,790 --> 00:06:31,040 truth is that people are so confused and overwhelmed about their businesses, their 90 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:36,530 health, their careers, their love lives, everything that they need your help. 91 00:06:36,860 --> 00:06:41,240 They need you. And so, sure, you might not be able to give them, like, a meal plan or 92 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:42,600 financial advice. 93 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:47,630 But your ideal client, that's probably not what they need, to be honest. 94 00:06:48,110 --> 00:06:51,770 They really need you to help them to self-actualize. 95 00:06:51,770 --> 00:06:57,080 They need to be empowered with the information that they need to succeed so that they 96 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:03,410 don't need you by their side for the rest of their lives because they're going to need to 97 00:07:03,410 --> 00:07:08,480 make these kinds of choices when they're out and about or in the real life. So, 98 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,800 in terms of what you would need to have in place to legally cover yourself, even if 99 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,790 you're staying within your scope of practice, well, you would have to have a properly 100 00:07:16,790 --> 00:07:21,560 formed business, probably an LLC, if that's the best choice for you. 101 00:07:22,340 --> 00:07:26,450 A solid legal contract with all of your customers and clients, that, yes, of course, it 102 00:07:26,450 --> 00:07:29,570 would have language in there saying that you're not their doctor or you're not their 103 00:07:29,570 --> 00:07:31,820 lawyer or whatever, that would be very important. And 104 00:07:31,820 --> 00:07:34,920 then, now that you've listened to this, you know that you also have to do that. 105 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:40,130 We would also get you business insurance that would cover your financial expenses in your 106 00:07:40,130 --> 00:07:42,110 business if you were ever to be sued. 107 00:07:42,260 --> 00:07:47,210 And you would learn your scope to make sure you're staying within your scope of practice 108 00:07:47,210 --> 00:07:50,360 on your website, in your social posts and emails. If 109 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:55,730 you want to dive even deeper into this topic of scope of practice, really figure out what 110 00:07:55,730 --> 00:07:59,600 your scope of practice is and how to stay within it, I recommend going back and listening 111 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:05,750 to Episode 2 and Episode 69 of my podcast, On Your Terms, because I dove really deep. 112 00:08:05,750 --> 00:08:07,760 So, you're going to want to start with 2, that was the first part. 113 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,640 And the second part was Episode 69. I 114 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,910 also teach you all of this inside of the Ultimate Bundle. 115 00:08:13,910 --> 00:08:18,110 I've got entire trainings dedicated to scope of practice inside the Bundle, and I give 116 00:08:18,110 --> 00:08:22,340 you all of those contracts and policies that you need to cover you, too. I've 117 00:08:22,340 --> 00:08:24,320 also got big news for you as we wrap up today. 118 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:28,760 My first live legal training of the year happens in less than two weeks. 119 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:33,530 If you liked today's episode, you'll want to go save your seat to How To Legally Protect 120 00:08:33,530 --> 00:08:38,540 Your Online Business, my all new live legal training that will cover the five simple 121 00:08:38,540 --> 00:08:43,130 steps that you need to take to legally protect yourself, your business's money, and your 122 00:08:43,130 --> 00:08:45,200 future before it's too late. 123 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,380 You can register now in the link below for free. 124 00:08:48,380 --> 00:08:50,010 I can't wait to see you there. 125 00:08:50,010 --> 00:08:52,190 I'll even be taking questions live at the end. 126 00:08:52,190 --> 00:08:56,150 If you can't make any of the live times, be sure to sign up anyway because you'll get the 127 00:08:56,150 --> 00:08:58,940 replay, and that's the only way to get the replay. Thank 128 00:08:58,940 --> 00:09:01,580 you so much for joining me on this episode of Sam's Sidebar. 129 00:09:01,610 --> 00:09:05,960 Check out the show notes below for related blog posts, resources, and episodes of On Your 130 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,080 Terms. I post every single Monday and Thursday. 131 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:12,710 Thank you so much. If you have a question that you want me to answer any future Sam's 132 00:09:12,710 --> 00:09:16,430 Sidebar episode, submit it using the link in the show notes. 133 00:09:16,430 --> 00:09:21,590 Thanks so much. I'll see you next week. Thanks 134 00:09:21,590 --> 00:09:24,050 so much for listening to the On Your Terms Podcast. 135 00:09:24,050 --> 00:09:27,980 Make sure to follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to 136 00:09:27,980 --> 00:09:32,930 podcasts. You can also check out all of our podcast episodes, show notes, links, and more 137 00:09:32,930 --> 00:09:35,720 at samvanderwielen.com/podcast. 138 00:09:35,750 --> 00:09:39,320 You can learn more about legally protecting your business and take my free legal 139 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,770 workshop, Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow Your Online Business at 140 00:09:42,770 --> 00:09:47,730 samvanderwielen.com. And to stay connected and follow along, follow me on Instagram, 141 00:09:47,730 --> 00:09:49,910 @samvanderwielen, and send me a DM to say 142 00:09:49,910 --> 00:10:00,450 hi. Just 143 00:10:00,450 --> 00:10:05,370 remember that although I am a attorney, I am not your attorney and I am not offering you 144 00:10:05,370 --> 00:10:06,960 legal advice in today's episode. 145 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:11,670 This episode and all of my episodes are informational and educational only. 146 00:10:11,670 --> 00:10:16,020 It is not a substitute for seeking out your own advice from your own lawyer. 147 00:10:16,020 --> 00:10:18,840 And please keep in mind that I can't offer you legal advice. 148 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:20,920 I don't ever offer any legal services. 149 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:23,850 But I think I offer some pretty good information.