Today we’d like to introduce you to Carley Hauck.
Hi Carley, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My interest in health and human potential began when I was 19, when I started a meditation practice that continues to be an important part of my life today. I became fascinated by the relationship between the mind, body, heart, and spirit—and by the question of what allows people not simply to function, but to truly thrive. To further that curiosity, I spent 2-3 weeks on silent retreat for 14 years at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and that informed so much of the work I had the priviledge to bring in research, programs, and coaching.
That curiosity led me to earn a master’s degree in Medical/Clinical Health Psychology and into the field of integrative medicine. I was a lead clinical researcher on two clinical trials focused on longevity and healthspan at UCSF’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, which deepened my interest in the science of healthy aging.
I later was invited to teach on wellness education at Stanford University, and lead programs and designed 8 different courses over several years at Stanford Center for Integrative Medicine. Much of my career has spent bringing these ideas into organizations. I’ve designed and scaled wellbeing, leadership, and workforce programs for organizations including Pixar, Clif Bar, Capital One, and Bank of the West, as well as working with leaders and teams through coaching and leadership development.
After publishing my book, Shine: Ignite Your Inner Game to Lead Consciously at Work & in the World. I went through a significant period of burnout and some profound health challenges of my own. I’ll share more about that chapter later, but it ultimately changed the way I understood health and resilience and brought me back to a question I had been exploring since I was 19: how do we create lives that support our whole selves?
That question eventually led me to specialize more deeply in longevity and women’s health. Today, I work primarily with women from their mid-30s through their 70s, particularly those navigating perimenopause, menopause, and the many physical, emotional, and psychological changes that can accompany midlife.
My work brings together my background in health psychology, integrative medicine, longevity science, behavior change, nutrition, nervous-system regulation, and coaching. I’m interested in looking beneath the surface of symptoms and helping women understand the interconnected systems that influence how they feel, age, and experience their lives.
For me, longevity isn’t simply about living longer. It’s about creating the conditions to live with greater vitality, resilience, meaning, and connection for as many years as possible. Its about loving ourselves into wholeness.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, and one of the most challenging chapters ultimately became the catalyst for the work I do today in longevity and with women.
After my book launch, I began to realize that something was seriously off with my health. At first, I assumed it was burnout, a pandemic book launch and a huge move from CA to NC in the middle of it, but what I was experiencing was much more complex—a cacophony of symptoms that affected my energy, sleep, brain function, mood, metabolism, gut health, hormones, and overall sense of wellbeing. After two years of a neglectful medical system, consulting with approximately 10 different practitioners from MDs, NPs, NDs, etc and my entire body breaking down, literally, I had to advocate in a different way. I have deep health experience and education, but I was humbled by the transition of menopause.
I scoured books, podcasts, pub med articles to understand these crazy symptoms and eventually went back to school so that I could be validated in what I was learning and healing. I immersed myself in longevity and women’s health and learned how to interpret laboratory testing, which markers to evaluate, what additional labs can be useful, and how to track symptoms and patterns over time. I essentially became my own health detective and guru.
That process changed everything. Rather than looking at each symptom in isolation, I began understanding my health as an interconnected system—hormones, thyroid, metabolism, gut health, inflammation, nutrition, sleep, stress, and the nervous system all influencing one another and the roots of when everything started to unravel.
Over the course of about two years, my health was my full time job. Today, my health markers are in optimal ranges, and, perhaps most importantly, I feel like I got my body, my bones, and my brain back.
That experience fundamentally changed the way I work with women. I know what it feels like to have a constellation of symptoms and be told that everything is “normal,” while knowing that you don’t feel like yourself. My goal now is to help women connect the dots, become informed participants in their own health, and have a much more personalized roadmap for navigating midlife and the menopause transition.
What began as one of the most difficult periods of my life ultimately became one of my greatest teachers—and led me to the work I feel most passionate about today.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My work is centered on women’s health, with a particular focus on integrative longevity coaching for women in their 30s through 70s. I work with women who want to better understand their health, optimize how they feel and function, and create a sustainable foundation for vitality as they age.
Many of the women I work with are experiencing a constellation of changes—brain fog, fatigue, disrupted sleep, anxiety or low mood, changes in weight or metabolism, thyroid concerns, gut imbalance, joint pain, or hormonal changes associated with perimenopause and menopause. Rather than looking at these symptoms individually, I help women connect the dots across the systems that influence health and longevity.
My approach brings together longevity science, integrative medicine, clinical health psychology, nutrition and lifestyle, nervous-system regulation, behavior change, and personalized interpretation of symptoms and laboratory data. I’m particularly interested in helping women understand what their bodies are communicating and become informed, active participants in their own health.
Integrative longevity coaching is a passion of mine, and I continue to expand this work alongside my broader professional work in learning, patient experience, and healthspan. I’m interested in the larger question of how we can create healthier individuals, healthier organizations, and ultimately a healthier approach to aging.
What sets my work apart is the combination of science and the human side of health. I don’t believe sustainable health is simply about optimizing a set of biomarkers. It is also about our nervous system, habits, relationships, work, purpose, and the way we want to live. My goal is to help women understand the whole picture and create changes that are both personalized and sustainable.
Alongside individual coaching, I offer educational programs for the broader community, including my 10-week program, Optimizing Your Gut Microbiome, and my local series, Embracing Life’s Invitations, with Yoga Soup in Santa Barbara and at Esalen in 2027, which explores how we can meet aging, illness, death, and uncertainty with greater skill, confidence, community, and grace.
https://yogasoup.union.site/events/yoga-soup-healing-from-the-inside-out
https://yogasoup.union.site/performances/dsc9farq
Ultimately, I want my work to contribute to a broader shift in how we think about women’s health and longevity: not simply managing symptoms as we age, but giving women the knowledge, tools, and support to remain vital, resilient, engaged, and purposeful throughout the next chapters of their lives.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
In my 30s, I acted like I was superwoman—and I definitely lived like one. I worked all the time, nights/weekends, and I was moving much faster than my natural rhythm and often confusing productivity with vitality. I spent two to three weeks in silence a year in my 30s and early 40s, but ultimately I needed more rest, joy, and recovery than I was giving myself.
Today, I prioritize wellbeing above almost everything. I listen to my body because I have learned that she rules. If you dont have your health, you have nothing. You can’t fully enjoy your life or your body, show up for the people you love, have energy for the things that matter to you, or even enjoy the wealth and success you’ve worked hard to create.
In my later 40’s, I finally found a partner who prioritizes well being with me. We go for bike rides, cuddle and slow down every weekend, eat and prepare truly gut microbiome enhancing meals, we laugh, love, and appreciate the time we have knowing its not certain.
My class Embracing Lifes Invitations came from my own desire to live and love in the midst of aging, illness, death, and uncertainty. None of us knows how long we have and I want to die without regrets.
Pricing:
- Basic 3 Month Coaching Package- $2100
- Advanced Testing 3 Month Coaching Package Varies
- https://carleyhauck.com/coaching/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.carleyhauck.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carley-hauck/
- Other: https://carleyhauck.com/coaching/
