Our Story
The Story Behind ThriveWise Coaching
A Life of Purposeful Work
People. Practice. Possibility.
ThriveWise Coaching grew from a belief that has shaped my work for decades, you might even call it my life's work: when people become healthier, clearer, and more capable of seeing their goals become realities, the benefits extend far beyond the individual.
I'm Johnna Smith, founder of ThriveWise Coaching. My work has been shaped by more than three decades of personal practice and more than two decades of teaching, coaching, and studying the research that helps people live well. People become stronger partners, parents, friends, professionals and leaders. They make better decisions. They contribute to their community more fully. They have more energy for the people and work that matter to them.
Today, our work brings together evidence-based coaching, behavioral science, nervous system regulation, movement, mindfulness and enduring wisdom traditions to help people create meaningful change and create lives they love.
Life · Health & Wellness · Endurance · Professional & Executive · Teen
The ThriveWise Philosophy
The Way of the Buffalo
Out on the plains, there is a lesson in courage.
When a storm comes crashing across the plains, cattle respond predictably. They sense the direction of the storm and instinctively begin moving away from it.
They scatter, become disoriented and cannot outrun the storm. As they continue moving in the same direction the storm is traveling, they remain caught in it longer, extending their exposure to the wind, rain, injury, stress and sometimes death.
Buffalo do something different.
They gather. They face the oncoming storm. And when it reaches them, they charge directly into it. By moving toward the storm rather than away from it, they pass through the worst of it faster, conserving energy and staying together.
They do not love the storm.
They trust their ability to move through it and get to the other side.
There is another part of the buffalo story that matters deeply to ThriveWise: they move as a herd. Strength does not require us to face every challenge alone. The people beside us help us hold our direction, conserve our energy and continue forward when the path becomes difficult. And the younger buffalo are watching. They learn from the herd how to meet the storm. What begins as an act of courage becomes a pattern. A way of responding. A way of living.
This is what we do. And what we help you do.
We turn toward what matters. We move through it together.
That is the philosophy behind ThriveWise Coaching. We help you see your goal clearly, understand what may be standing between you and where you want to go, and build the practices and support to move forward with greater confidence. Storms aren't always avoidable. But you can become stronger in the way you meet it.
How It Began
From Personal Practice to a Life's Work
Long before ThriveWise had a name, I was asking a question that continues to guide my work today: what helps people truly thrive?
My journey began with yoga, Ayurveda and a deep curiosity about human potential. Over time, that personal practice became a lifelong study and a calling, to support others with practical tools, ancient wisdom and modern science.
What started as one-on-one coaching has grown into a team, a community and a range of programs that help people live with more clarity, health and self-trust.
What Drives Us
People Who Thrive Create Stronger Communities
ThriveWise is built on an idea larger than individual achievement. When people take care of their physical and emotional health, understand themselves and develop greater agency in their lives, and realize they have choice in life, something else happens. Their relationships change. Their families feel it. Their workplaces feel it. Their communities feel it.
A professional who learns to regulate stress brings something different into a difficult conversation. A parent with more energy has more to give at home. A person who becomes healthier and more connected to what they value has incredible capacity to engage in the world around them. That is the ripple effect we care deeply about. Personal growth is deeply personal, but its impact rarely stays personal.
It starts here.
And it keeps expanding.
From One Coach to a Team
ThriveWise Coaching Today
What began as my individual work has grown into an amazing multidisciplinary coaching practice based in Charlotte, North Carolina, serving clients locally and nationwide.
Today, ThriveWise brings together coaches with experience across life coaching, health and wellness, professional and executive development, career coaching, endurance and fitness, nutrition, functional wellness, and teen coaching.
Different clients come to us with different goals. Some want to regain their energy and health. Some are navigating a transition. Some want greater confidence or stronger relationships. Others are building careers, leading organizations, training for races or helping a teenager develop the skills and self-trust to move into adulthood.
The goal is not to make everyone live the same way. The goal is to help each person understand what matters, make informed choices and develop the capacity to follow through. The emphasis is that our work is personal, effective, and grounded in evidence.
Our North Star
Find Your Direction
The eight-point North Star represents the principle behind everything we do at ThriveWise. A North Star does not walk the path for you. It gives you a point of reference. Something steady enough to help you find your direction, particularly when the path becomes difficult to see. That is how we think about coaching. Your life remains yours. Your choices remain yours. Your goals remain yours. Our role is to bring perspective, evidence, thoughtful questions, practical tools, and accountability to the journey. You choose the direction, the goal and we support you to accomplish them.
ThriveWise Coaching
Life · Health & Wellness · Endurance · Professional & Executive · Teen
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