Beyond Weight Loss: How Jenn Markwardt Built Flourish Nutrition Coaching

What’s up, Gym World?

Jenn Markwardt kept meeting women who wanted to lose weight. But the more she listened, the clearer it became: weight loss wasn’t the whole story.

They wanted to feel strong, age well, and stop feeling guilty about food. They also needed a plan that fit around careers, kids, and aging parents.

Jenn built Flourish Nutrition Coaching around that woman.

Mateo and Kilo CEO Kaleda Connell sat down with Jenn to discuss coaching women beyond the scale—and how listening to their needs shaped her online business.

Watch the full Gym World episode 👇

The Woman Behind the Business

Jenn and her husband had spent 14 years building their gym in Sandpoint, Idaho. The staff, sales processes, and marketing were in place, giving her room to build something of her own.

Nutrition coaching had become her sweet spot. But working inside the gym limited her to the women who happened to become members.

She wanted to reach a particular client: a woman struggling not just with her weight, but with her relationship with food and her body.

Jenn recognized the messages behind that struggle.

Eat less.

Make yourself smaller.

Measure your worth by how you look.

She’d seen women finish programs lighter but feeling worse about food and their bodies, and she wanted to offer a different experience.

How Flourish Nutrition Coaching Supports the Whole Woman

Flourish Nutrition Coaching serves women ages 35 to 55 who are juggling full lives.

Jenn starts by understanding those lives, not just collecting measurements and calculating macros.

She asks about work schedules, dieting history, and the obstacles that made previous plans difficult. Then she builds around those realities.

Her six-month program combines:

• Customized nutrition coaching

• Strength programming with different tracks

• Nutrition and women’s health education

• Mindset and behavior-change support

• Weekly group coaching and individual check-ins

For Jenn, these aren’t separate pieces. They’re part of helping someone make changes they can maintain.

The women she loves coaching are already driven and committed. They don’t necessarily need another reminder to work harder; however, they need a plan that makes sense for their lives.

Beyond Weight Loss Doesn’t Mean Ignoring It

When Jenn asks deeper questions, clients often talk about more than their appearance.

Some describe watching their mothers feel worse, do less, and accept those changes as an inevitable part of aging. They’re afraid of following the same path.

They want to feel better day to day, stay strong, and feel confident in their skin.

That doesn’t mean aesthetic goals disappear.

Jenn says women often apologize for wanting to look good, but she doesn’t think they need to. Her coaching makes room for that goal without treating it as the only thing that matters.

Finding a Business Model That Could Deliver

Flourish Nutrition Coaching didn’t start with a polished curriculum.

Jenn’s first version was a Google Doc and a few videos. The program developed over three to four years of listening, refilming, and restructuring.

Her early delivery model needed work, too.

She hired a company to run ads before she had the systems to support incoming clients. Soon, she was coaching roughly 15 to 20 people with weekly individual meetings.

After about a year, she burned out.

Jenn switched to six- to eight-week group challenges and ran them about six times. That helped her refine the lessons and foundations clients needed.

Eventually, she realized she didn’t need to eliminate individual coaching. She needed a more sustainable way to deliver it.

Personal Support Without Endless Appointments

Today, Flourish combines weekly group calls with individual voice and text check-ins through an app.

The group component isn’t just about efficiency. It helps women recognize that they aren’t the only ones struggling.

At the time of the interview, Jenn reported adding about eight to 10 clients a month. The six-month program cost $3,500 to $5,000, depending on whether it included testing.

The business had two coaches and planned to add a part-time coach for every 30 to 40 clients.

Listening Became Her Marketing Strategy

Jenn says her sales conversations showed how well she understood clients. For a long time, her marketing didn’t.

That changed when she started putting their actual words into her content.

Instead of simply saying “you’re overwhelmed,” she describes the experience: 150 tabs open in your head, conflicting advice in your feed, and no clear next step.

Now, her favorite response is: “Are you reading my mind?”

That specificity carries through her ads, DM conversations, video sales letter, and sales calls. Each speaks to the same woman.

The Lesson for Gym Owners

Jenn’s advice isn’t to keep adding services.

It’s to understand whom you serve, simplify where possible, and refine what’s already working.

Know where clients come from, fix one bottleneck at a time, and examine your messaging before adding another module.

Flourish Nutrition Coaching grew out of listening to women, and letting what Jenn heard shape both the coaching and the business.

For the full conversation, watch Gym World or listen, and follow Jenn and her team at @theflourishgirls.

cheers,

j