Hidden Gems: Meet Kristina Hoyer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Hoyer.

Hi Kristina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have had a lot of conversations lately about what it means to distill a human experience into a story. One that is not only articulate and thorough but one that is inspiring; filled with the emotion and grit that it takes to survive and thrive as a human. It seems to me that the best place for me to start would be the first time I had my power taken from me. I was really young and the only thing my adolescent mind could construct to understand the situation was that I was here to be of service to others, and my worth belonged in the hands of those around me.

So I embarked on a journey of twenty years where I did everything I could to prove to myself and those around me that I was valuable. The goal by the end of the day was for my feet to always hurt. That if I had done enough for that to happen, I had succeeded for the day. Sounds pretty… ridiculous right?

Sadly, for most of us, the stone-cold truth is that we are constantly plugged into the validation of the world around us and because of that, our internal world will just speak louder and louder until we actually listen. That’s where my coaching business started.

When my body finally screamed loud enough and my life and career as I knew it came to a screeching halt. Maybe more of what felt like a total disaster. At the time, I was a US Navy Rescue Swimmer. Proudly, one of the few females to have earned that title and done that job. Not only was that a job for me, it was my identity. It became who I was. About five years into my service, I developed a chronic pelvic pain condition that was unexplainable by military medical professionals. I was discharged. The story my internal world wrote about that: they threw you away because you weren’t worth anything. After almost two decades of trying to prove my worth by doing everything I could in the world around me, I still wasn’t enough (in my own mind.. stay with me here).

I found myself at rock bottom. One specific night, after hours of sobbing in brutal physical pain and emotional anguish at the loss of both my identity and sense of purpose, I asked myself, “do you want to die here, like this, wasting away your life or do you want to get up and become the woman you were always meant to be?” I am still pretty sure that was God, not me.

I got up. I worked and I studied. I got certified and got an education. I am still becoming the woman I was always meant to be, but I actually see her in the mirror sometimes now. I get to finish a day without my feet being sore, knowing my value doesn’t sit in how much I do or what I do. My value rests innately in the beat of my heart and the breath in my lungs.

Over time, my coaching practice has evolved greatly. From humble beginnings as a nutrition coach to becoming insanely obsessed with physiology and performance psychology to diving deep into energetics and subconscious languaging… everything that I thought was happening to me, was actually happening for me. I used to jokingly call myself a “Rock Bottom Specialist”. What I have learned over the years is that every rock bottom is unique, but each one requires the surrendering of one final straw. When we find ourselves there, at the bottom of it all, where the tank is completely empty and we watch the last straw fall… we can begin to step into a completely new world. A beautiful new beginning. My coaching business is often that. I have the honor of sitting in those spaces, afforded deep trust by some of the most breathtaking people, and together we remember that you’ve always had it in you.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Before I decided to work for myself, I had several people tell me that owning a business was a big challenge. I listened, but I am not so sure I heard them. Owning a business in and of itself is an incredible challenge, especially when it’s just you, solo, running the whole show. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, often times I still don’t. I think for the most part, none of us really know what we are doing, we’re just doing our absolute best to keep moving forward toward a life that feels worth living.

So, to be honest, the entire thing has been a huge challenge for me. Being a coach has been so insanely rewarding but I would be lying to you if I said that I haven’t gotten off of calls and wanted to quit. I have had several moments where I had reached a near full resolution to burn the whole thing to the ground. I even had the emails drafted to my clients to let them know I was done, I was quitting. But something inside of me, deep in the center of my being never let me stop. I kept thinking that there has to be something here because of just how much this entire process has felt like “a God thing”, if you know what I mean. It has all been this huge call to growth, radical self-honesty and ownership, and courage. I can’t hide behind much of anything when I am trying to grow a business, it’s counterintuitive but dang if there aren’t parts of me that would have done anything to quit and go hide in the mountains.

We persevere. We choose to persevere because somewhere inside of us there is a deep calling. A relentless push to pursue our destiny, to create it.

I have had to let go of my attachment to specific outcomes. I have had to honor my own wisdom. I have had to let go of the idea that I have to run my business like anyone else does and instead, I get to honor my own need for rest and pace. I have had to surrender several identities I have attempted to cling on to. I have had to respect each individual’s process, the gift being within that. I have had to have courageous, honest, vulnerable conversations about things like compensation, no longer working together, a bad client fit, poor work being delivered and several moments in which I have dropped the ball myself.

Now I tell anyone who asks for my advice when it comes to owning your own business of any sort but especially coaching: you’re getting into the fast lane of self-development. There will no longer be any places to hide and you’ll never really truly stop moving. If you’re ready to look at yourself in honesty and responsibility and know this is all you, jump in, knowing that you get to build the community who supports you along the way. At some point, you may feel like quitting, quit if you must, but endure if you can.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Kristina Hoyer Collective is the business under which Re(Human) coaching practice operates. I am a Human Performance Coach who specializes in mindset, movement and nutrition for high-performing entrepreneurs, CEOs, and athletes who are ready to increase their performance across the board. What sets me apart from other coaches in the industry is that my central focus is reconnecting you to yourself. We work together to identify the systems and strategies through which you are currently operating, which are working, and which aren’t. and empower you through powerful questioning and honest insight, to decide how we want to move forward. This is about getting us back on to our own team. I have found that high performers often wage a war against themselves when they have reached a plateau, glass wall or rock bottom. When we can pause, breathe, get perspective and pivot on that, what I have found is that when we are more embodied, we are more powerful in all arenas of our life. I am the proudest of brand wise is that my coaching practice has grown purely through word-of-mouth referrals.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I would absolutely love to connect with you, collaborate with you and co-support growth! I am most present on Instagram @kristinahoyercollective and would love to hear from you there. I am small business obsessed and just love supporting others who are putting something into the world and creating art in whichever form that exists for you. You can also find my website at kristinahoyercollective.com and can contact me through there. Any collaborations with businesses who are interested in supporting growth, empowerment and embodiment, I would love to connect with.

Contact Info:

• Website: kristinahoyercollective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinahoyercollective/ 

Image Credits
Jeana Marino