If you run a business, it’s been hammered into you that finding your niche is a non-negotiable part of your plan. And this is sound advice for many reasons: it helps you hone and understand your audience, while conserving your energy and so you can put your maximum amount of effort into targeted projects.

Another important aspect of leaning into your niche is determining how to speak your audience’s language. What are they most interested in? What’s most important to them? What works for them, and perhaps more importantly, what doesn’t?

This is something personal trainer, nutrition coach, menopause fitness specialist, and life and wellness coach Elizabeth Andreano has down to a science. Elizabeth is the owner of Byond Fitness and the BeFitAfter50 Facebook community – and what’s genius about her approach is the moniker she’s given herself: The Bucket List Coach.

Elizabeth helps women over 50 live longer and healthier so they can check every item off of their bucket list. And while this is undeniably a marketable title and mission, her decision to pursue the branding was actually against the advisement of a business coach she had sought out. “My approach to working with clients was so different and I was a bit intimidated,” she says of the business’s early days. “I felt at the beginning that I needed to sound and be like other trainers and coaches. I was told by a business coach that I needed to focus on weight loss for women because that’s what ‘sells.’ Literally her words were: ‘Weight loss sells…healthy doesn’t.’

But Elizabeth knew this wasn’t the mission that she was meant to provide to her clients. Instead, she was more interested in bringing excitement, capability, and independence back into her clients’ lives. “Rather than talking to new clients about push-ups or broccoli, I ask them about their ‘why,’” she says. “Let’s get beyond wanting to ‘lose 10 lbs’ and figure out why they want to get back into shape, or what their next 10 years looks like. Once we made lists of all the things my clients wanted to do, it started to look like a bucket list.”

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Elizabeth recalls one client in particular who came to her at a pre-diabetic stage with high blood pressure. Upon their consultation, they didn’t talk push-ups. “We talked about exciting stuff like her passion for gardening, traveling with her friend, volunteering at the local library. She realized that all of those things required her to get in shape and be healthier,” says Elizabeth. Now, after about a year, her client is no longer diabetic, she’s lost 40 lbs, and has the vigor to landscape her garden. She also traveled to Argentina for a horseback riding expedition. Did she do the push-ups in her program? Yes, and hated every second of it. “But her goals were much more important to her – all the things on her bucket list she thought she’d never be able to accomplish,” says Elizabeth.

Following her instincts to brand her business in a way that spoke to her mission proved to be more fulfilling to Elizabeth. And for her, it could be no other way. “I didn’t feel aligned focusing on weight loss only. I discovered that when I’m not genuine, I fail. It was part of my own journey to accept that my uniqueness and beliefs were not shortcomings, but great parts of who I am, both as a woman and as a coach,” she says.

Elizabeth took a grassroots approach to marketing her business that took off. Beginning with one-on-one coaching, she amplified her reach through a feature in a local magazine, and was well-referred by clients who spread the word. After facilitating one client’s particularly eye-catching transformation, Elizabeth knew she wanted to grow her business to help even more women – so she decided to expand her presence online.

At the time, she didn’t even have her own Facebook account – so there was a bit of a learning curve. “I signed up for a business coaching program that helped me with the basics and running Facebook ads, and I to build a community of 2,300 women inside my BeFitAfter50 Facebook group.”

The feedback and insights Elizabeth receives from her community continues to reinforce that she was right to follow her instincts and eschew the advice of her business coach. “While all my clients have different backgrounds and stories, the one common theme seems to be how they feel about themselves – how hard it is to adhere to the things they’re ‘supposed’ to do to be in shape, feel better, and age healthfully,” she says.

“But how we approach health as women in our fifties literally determines how we live the rest of our lives, from enjoying retirement, to being a great grandma, to being able to enjoy time with friends and family, and going on trips you’ve always wanted. These are supposed to be the best years of our lives – and the years to hit our bucket list.”