From Gut Health to Entrepreneurship: How Alesha Courtney Built a Business Around Helping Women Thrive
Building a successful business rarely follows a straight path. For nutrition coach and personal trainer Alesha Courtney, the journey involved overcoming personal health struggles, navigating entrepreneurship, surviving the challenges of COVID-19, and ultimately creating a business centered around helping women improve their health from the inside out.
On this episode of Grit Won’t Quit, Alesha shares her story of resilience, personal growth, and the lessons she’s learned while building a career aligned with her passion for helping others.
A Personal Health Journey That Sparked a Career
Long before becoming a nutrition coach, Alesha struggled with chronic digestive issues, fatigue, and other health challenges that doctors often dismissed as stress or IBS.
Like many people dealing with unresolved health concerns, she spent years searching for answers. Everything changed when she began working with a nutritionist during an internship after college. Through an elimination diet, she discovered severe sensitivities to gluten and dairy and learned how much food was impacting her overall health.
The results were life-changing.
After experiencing dramatic improvements in her own well-being, Alesha became fascinated by nutrition, gut health, and the powerful connection between food and how we feel. That experience ultimately led her to pursue a master’s degree in nutrition and dedicate her career to helping others find similar breakthroughs.
Finding the Right Path Through Education
Alesha’s path wasn’t always clear.
While attending Monmouth University, she initially pursued a degree in education before realizing it wasn’t the right fit. After switching to health studies, she discovered a field that aligned with her interests in fitness, wellness, and helping people improve their lives.
That willingness to pivot became a recurring theme throughout her career.
Rather than forcing herself down a path that didn’t feel right, she remained open to new opportunities and experiences that ultimately helped shape her future business.
Combining Nutrition and Fitness
After completing her education, Alesha launched a nutrition practice. As her client base grew, she noticed that many people also wanted guidance with exercise and fitness.
Already passionate about working out and athletics, she earned her personal training certification and combined both services into one business model.
The result was an all-women fitness studio that offered:
- Personal training
- Group fitness classes
- Nutrition coaching
- Educational seminars and workshops
For several years, the business thrived as she helped women improve both their fitness and nutrition habits.
Navigating the Challenges of COVID-19
Like many small business owners, Alesha faced significant challenges when the pandemic disrupted everyday life.
The fitness industry was hit particularly hard, forcing many gym owners and fitness professionals to make difficult decisions. Eventually, Alesha made the tough choice to close her studio.
At the same time, she was navigating personal hardships, including the loss of her father and major life transitions.
Despite the setbacks, she continued searching for new opportunities and remained committed to finding a career path that aligned with her values.
Learning That a Traditional 9-to-5 Wasn’t the Answer
Following the closure of her studio, Alesha explored more traditional employment opportunities.
She worked in fitness management roles and experienced firsthand what it was like to return to a conventional work environment.
It quickly became clear that entrepreneurship remained her true calling.
As she explains, many entrepreneurs would rather work long hours building something of their own than spend 40 hours a week working for someone else. That mindset continued to drive her forward as she searched for her next chapter.
An Unexpected Pivot Into Dog Walking
In one of the more surprising turns of her entrepreneurial journey, Alesha launched a dog walking and pet sitting business.
As a devoted dog owner herself, the business allowed her to spend more time with her own pets while generating income and maintaining flexibility.
The venture was successful, but after a while she realized it was simply paying the bills rather than building the long-term career she envisioned.
That realization prompted another important decision.
Rather than settling for something that was comfortable, she chose to make a change and focus on building a business with greater purpose and impact.
Building an Online Coaching Business
Today, Alesha has returned to her roots by creating an online fitness and nutrition coaching business designed specifically for women in their 30s and 40s.
Many of her clients struggle with challenges such as:
- Bloating
- Fatigue
- Brain fog
- Weight loss resistance
- Digestive issues
- Inconsistent health habits
Her coaching combines nutrition education, fitness programming, accountability, and habit-building strategies to help women create sustainable lifestyle changes.
Rather than promoting quick fixes or extreme diets, Alesha focuses on realistic solutions that fit into her clients’ lives.
Why Small Wins Matter
One of the biggest themes throughout the conversation was the importance of habits.
Alesha believes many health programs fail because they rely too heavily on motivation instead of helping people build sustainable routines.
Motivation comes and goes.
Habits last.
Instead of asking clients to completely overhaul their lives overnight, she focuses on creating small, achievable wins that build confidence and momentum.
For example, someone who has never exercised consistently might start with just two 10-minute workouts per week. Once that becomes a habit, additional progress can be layered on over time.
This gradual approach helps create long-term success instead of short-lived results.
Creating Sustainable Health Changes
In today’s world of weight loss medications, fad diets, and social media health trends, Alesha emphasizes the importance of developing healthy behaviors that last.
Even when people use tools like GLP-1 medications, she believes nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle habits remain critical for long-term success.
Her philosophy centers on helping clients:
- Develop realistic routines
- Improve their relationship with food
- Build confidence through consistency
- Learn how to support their bodies through different life stages
- Create habits they can maintain for years
Rather than chasing rapid transformations, she focuses on sustainable progress.
The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Keep Adapting
One of the most powerful lessons from Alesha’s story is that entrepreneurship often requires constant adaptation.
Over the years, she has:
- Built a nutrition practice
- Opened a fitness studio
- Navigated a global pandemic
- Worked traditional jobs
- Started a dog walking business
- Launched an online coaching company
Each experience provided valuable lessons and helped shape the business she runs today.
Her journey serves as a reminder that success isn’t always about getting it right the first time. Sometimes it’s about staying resilient, learning from setbacks, and continuing to move forward.
Looking Ahead
As she continues to grow her online coaching business, Alesha has her sights set on expanding her impact through public speaking, education, and mentorship.
Her mission remains simple: help women improve their health, cut through the noise of conflicting information, and create practical habits that support lasting change.
Whether discussing nutrition, fitness, entrepreneurship, or personal growth, Alesha’s story demonstrates the power of persistence and the importance of staying true to your purpose.
Final Thoughts
This episode of Grit Won’t Quit is a powerful conversation about resilience, reinvention, and finding purpose through service.
From overcoming her own health challenges to helping women build healthier lives, Alesha Courtney’s journey proves that success often comes from embracing change, trusting the process, and refusing to quit when things get difficult.
For those looking to improve their health or build lasting habits, her advice is refreshingly simple: start small, stay consistent, and focus on progress over perfection.
To learn more about Alesha and her coaching services, visit AleshaCourtney.com.
This podcast episode was filmed at Wingman Planning in Belmar.
