Today we’d like to introduce you to Maaike Saenz.
Maaike, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My name is Maaike (pronounced My K) translation is Mary in Dutch. Born in Mexico from a Dutch mother and a Mexican father. Great mix, by the way! My mom very energetic and looking for ways to succeed in life. She taught me to be determined, patient, consistent and to persevere. That where we focus our energy on that would grow.
Grew up in Mexico; throughout my life, I have had multiple opportunities to work with people and I always felt drawn to make them feel better. A big test for me was working at a young age with handicapped people under the care of Mother Theresa’s Organization in Mexico City as a volunteer practice form my Psychology Degree. I am inspired by her knowledge, care and devotion to the well being of others in the world.
Graduated, married and have three amazing children who are now in their 20’s. Some of the things my children learned were to always finish what they start, to commit to whatever they decided to do until fulfillment, to provide them with different things to try from in life so they could figure out which were their strengths and decide what they wanted to do and then honor them in their own path. They tried different sports, instruments and languages. They brought their own uniqueness to life. Became gymnast and swimmers, which are two sports that require a true passion, determination, precision, focus. I can proudly say this set their foundation for the good places they are at right now. I am really proud of them.
Now as for myself, once my initial job was basically complete, at least the foundation of that, because as a parent, we are always a parent, right! So, then I began asking myself, now WHAT? What is next for me? What do I want? What is my next mission? I felt I had a hole that I needed to fill, and my mind and brain were kind of scattered. My focus and energy and motivation needed some direction.
The first thing I did was to change my diet. I had never gone through a specific diet before. I went KETO for eight months and felt and saw so many changes in my brain functions, my focus, concentration, energy, body figure. I was mesmerized and as people saw this, they started asking what I was doing. I had also run 11 marathons in the past ten years and some people were inspired by my dedication. So, these two combined people wanted to learn more of, so I gathered with friends and started showing them how. This led me to be curious about Health Coaching, which I felt very drawn to. I found a certification that combined both Health and Life coaching. This was perfect with my Psychology to work on mindset and with my nutrition learning, which I am passionate about, was the perfect combo.
So, this let me to become a Health and Life Coach. Going through this process has guided me to my own transformation and I am still learning as I go and lead others to their own transformation through habit change around food, mind and body.
So now, I can proudly say that I am a Certified Health and Life Coach, an expert in Habit Transformation. I work with individuals who are so exhausted from their daily demands I help them boost their energy through small actionable steps so they can feel great and do more of what they love. My clients come to me feeling like they are not enough, judging themselves, feeling unhappy where they are in life, feeling tired of feeling sick and tired and in a short period of time, the feel so much more motivated, energized and creative that their productivity and their relationships improve and they come to live life everyday form a place of Joy! I like to say: Change your habits, Energize your life!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. My middle child had some health issues since he was born. He was immature and had to go to therapy since he was a year and a half. I had to deal with three young children at the same time, have them entertaining, feed them, take them to school. You know all the things a Mom does, plus the extra focus on this middle child and all the work I had to do with him at home.
Our challenges become our biggest gifts, as he was my biggest teacher in life. He taught me to persevere and even though he had it tough, he always overcame his growing challenges and was always meeting higher standards. He worked twice as hard as everyone else to achieve the same results, or so we thought at that time. All this tough work for him and me is now paying back 20 years later. He is so committed. There are no obstacles for him that he can’t overcome. Now back to me, well with this same child, during his high school years, he decided he no longer wanted to be a swimmer, his dad was determined he should, but he stood up for himself. This was a huge challenge as a family. I trusted my gut, my intuition to do the right thing. I gave him the support he needed and trusted that he was making the right choice for himself. I believed in him and this is now paying back as he believes in himself.
All the life lessons that I am carrying in my toolbox and can help me believe in my clients more than they can believe in themselves. This builds trust and rapport, which are my biggest values in life.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I, Maaike Saenz certified Health, Life and Wellness Coachwork as an individual, created Maaike’s Wellness. I work with individuals who are so exhausted that don’t they don’t feel like themselves anymore, I help them boost their energy through small actionable steps about their habits so they can feel great again and do more of what they love doing.
I specialize in Energizing people’s life’s through habit changes around their relationship with food, thought processing and movement. I am most proud of that my clients trust me as an individual and trust my work with them from the very beginning, I feel really connected to my clients and I bring in all my life and skills experience to help my clients exceed their goal expectations and create more for their lives that they even expected.
What sets me apart is my own uniqueness of my international education background, which helps me expand my vision of the human being and their different experiences, my education on psychology to understand the human behavior, my passion for how food impacts the function of the body, my 11 years of marathon running to help others to pace their life, not to go on sprints all the time and being a mother which brings a lot of love, compassion and care for everyone I come across with. My brain is always looking to connect others with their best solutions so they can feel great and be the best version of themselves.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For me, success is learning to enjoy each stage of life’s journey. It is not the destination but all the process on how we do life. When we are able to change our perspective of how we do things vs. what we do and focus on everything happening for us vs. to us, we grow, we learn, we enjoy and we go on with life. I like to say that our challenges, aches and pains become our greatest gifts as they are showing us the way to self-love and pay more attention, to be present and live in the NOW!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.maaikeswellness.com
- Phone: 713-598-2943
- Email: maaike.wellness@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maaike.wellness/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maaikeswellnesscoaching/
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