Hi, there! I’m Sam Vander Wielen, a corporate attorney-turned-entrepreneur. I’m so glad you’re here! I empower you to grow + launch your business with DIY legal templates & BizStorming™ Sessions that leave you feeling confident and capable to create content from the heart.
So, you #girlboss you, I bet I know why you’re here.
- You want to start your own business, blog, or coaching practice, but don’t know where to start. EIN #? Disclaimers? What?!
- You have a business, but now you want to make sure you protect it & your hard work.
- You need a done-for-you solution for client contracts, privacy policies, disclaimers, & more.
- You’re afraid to do or say the wrong thing, but you don’t know how to protect yourself without spending $$$$ on fancy lawyers.
- You want to work with someone who understands + gets what you do.
- You’re always looking for ways to grow, and that level of perseverance has led you right here, right now.
When you take steps to protect yourself + your biz, you’ll feel confident and avoid crucial misunderstandings with your clients.
You can finally offer that course.
You’ll feel safe working with people 1-on-1.
You’ll feel empowered to create content you’re passionate about.
You just need someone who understands you, what you do, and the online business world.
And your average lawyer probably doesn’t get it.
I’m not your average lawyer…
My Story
In 2012, I graduated from law school and set out to conquer the world. Well, not exactly. I tried! I practiced corporate and business law at large law firms for about 5 years before I left to follow my dream of being an entrepreneur & working in the wellness space. In 2016, I decided to take a leap, leave the law for good, and start my own health coaching business. While still working full-time as an attorney, I became a Certified Health Coach through the Dr. Sears Wellness Institute and launched my health coaching practice, Hygge Wellness. Through Hygge, I work with women 1-on-1 to learn how to prioritize self-care, find their passions, and eat more whole foods along the way.
As an attorney, it was my job to help businesses and their owners figure out how to not just survive, but thrive. Not only did I handle complex commercial litigation matters involving business disputes, but I helped business owners figure out how to prevent something like that from ever happening to them again. In other words, I helped business owners make sure they were well protected and operating “in bounds”.
After I started my own health coaching business and grew it in such a short period of time, entrepreneurs & coaches reached out to ask for some help. They wanted to know how to start their own health coaching practice and how they could protect themselves. They asked where they could find easy, affordable legal resources like website policies, client contracts, and disclaimers.
Every time I worked with a woman to help her start or grow her business, I lit up from the inside out. I realized I had another passion brewing underneath the surface all along: helping others live in line with their purpose & passions so they, too, could help others.
If I could help anyone else experience the freedom & joy I’ve experienced from not just leaving my career, but STARTING my passion, then I would be one happy woman. And my student loans would be well worth it 😜
So voila, this space was born! My mission is to help women entrepreneurs confidently run their businesses because they feel protected by a little legal planning. You can create the best content, courses, and services when you aren’t worried about whether someone might sue you or steal your stuff. I want to be more affordable and approachable than an attorney and, most of all, I want to connect & be friends <3
How We Can Work Together
My site can be broken down into 3 helpful categories…
1 // DIY Legal Templates
If you have a website, or are a coach/blogger/entrepreneur, I offer you DIY customizable legal templates like privacy policies, disclaimers, terms & conditions, client contract/agreement, & more! These are for you to download and fill-in-the-blank on your own, since I’m not your attorney. But don’t worry, I include a super helpful video How-To Tutorial of how to prepare your template in no time! Plus, I’m known for some super awesome customer service. I’m here to help answer questions & get things up and running.
Not sure what you need or whether you’re at the right stage for legal stuff yet? Schedule your free 20-minute Legal Checkup session with me or check out the list below! You’ll leave knowing what you need, why, and how it can help you. You can schedule your free session here.
2 // BizStorming™ Sessions (business coaching + planning)
Need help learning how to set up your business, get new clients, advertise your services, and connect with the right people? You’ll love my BizStorming™ sessions. We chat for 90-minutes over the phone, 1-on-1 to business plan, strategize, and knock down walls together.
3 // Self-Care for Entrepreneurs
It won’t matter that you have 38k Instagram followers or 10,000 page views per month if you’re not performing at your best. The health coach & business mentor in me wants to make sure you’re taking care of yourself, too, regardless of whether this is your side hustle or you’re in full-blown entrepreneur mode.
What Do You Need to Protect Your Business?
The space is crowded these days for coaches, bloggers, and online creatives. You have to do something to stand out, but you want to make sure you’re doing it right, too.
Maybe you’re not sure whether you’re at the right stage for legal steps quite yet. Here are some of the things to ask yourself if you’re unsure…
- Do you have a website where you collect email subscribers or have a contact form? You need a privacy policy.
- Do you post recipes, workout ideas, or write about health? You need a disclaimer.
- Are you a health, wellness or fitness coach with a website? You need a disclaimer, too.
- Are you selling products (digital or regular) on your site? Do you sell ebooks, guides, printables, recipe books, etc.? You need terms & conditions.
- Do you work 1-on-1 with clients (like coaching or in-person workshops/coaching)? You need a client agreement.
- Do you offer online courses or programs? You need each student/client to be able to view Terms of Use {coming week of 7/12!} before s/he purchases your course.
What My Clients Are Saying…
Katelyn Parsons
"If you’re in the beginning stages of starting your own business, you’ve probably spent more time googling, crying, deliberating etc. than you had ever anticipated. I feel you- IT’S HARD WORK. Partnering with Sam has not only made me feel more confident in approaching the first steps of getting my health coaching practice up and running, she’s turned my anxiety into a passion for what I’m creating. For me personally, investing my time with a professional who is sharing business advice is a sacred process. I want immediate value, information broken down in a way that’s totally comprehensible and someone who is authentic… someone I can see myself talking shop with over a glass of wine. Sam goes above and beyond in each of these areas. She is a wealth of knowledge and her legal background adds a dimension to her business coaching that made me feel completely secure. If you’re looking for guidance ranging from the best resources to create your newsletter, to how you properly register a business name and bank account, Sam is the person to work with. She genuinely wants to see your business grow and will arm you with all of the tools & support for ultimate success. I could not recommend her more highly." - Katelyn P.
Simi Botic
Athena Concannon
Cameron Simcik
I can't recommend Sam enough. She truly wants you to succeed in your business, and I felt that the moment I reached out. Having someone on my side who fully understands both worlds - law and health coaching - is so invaluable." Cameron Simcik, cameronsimcik.com
Alexina Gosh
The B+YND Team
Julie Kenney
Krista Goncalves
“When I first started building my nutrition consulting practice 5 years ago, I honestly didn’t know the first thing about setting up my business online, let alone what steps I needed to take to ensure what I was offering had all of the legal boxes checked. To be extra honest…that was the part that I put off the longest because it just seemed too overwhelming to deal with, and quite frankly - over my head!
Then I saw Sam post about her services (and her DIY legal templates) in a Facebook group I was in. I immediately went to her website and booked a consultation call with her. Eyes opened, questions answered, concerns extinguished, templates purchased, BOOM!
Implementing the legal templates for my wellness business coaching & copywriting website gave me the piece of mind I had been needing since the inception of my new business model at the start of 2017. As I sat there after everything was finally in place on my site, I actually chuckled to myself — why had I left it so long?! The DIY legal templates were just so convenient, and while there’s no question it’s an upfront business expense - it was worth every penny!
Lesson learned and now I’m definitely a fan 🙂
Thank you Sam for dedicating so much time and energy into your own business such that so many other wellness entrepreneurs can benefit from your experience as an attorney and legal expert. But the fact that you’re also in the Health & Wellness space yourself - well, that was just the dairy-free icing on the gluten-free cake! Haha!" - Krista Goncalves, Registered Nutritionist, Wellness Business Clarity Coach & Copywriter at Making Lemonade with Krista Goncalves
