Are you certified?

Yes, I am a Duke Certified and Trained Health and Wellness Coach. I completed the Foundation and Certification course through Duke University’s Integrative Health and Wellness Program in December 2021.

Why did you go into Coaching?

I upended my comfortable career because I have been passionate about exercise and nutrition for many years and decided to take this passion to a career where I can help people achieve their health goals.

The older I get, the more importance I place on having a balanced life. I now see the connections between the different facets of my life such as nutrition, movement, and communication, and when one area suffers, that imbalance overflows into other areas of my life. Life can start to unravel so slowly one may not even notice. Maybe you race one of your children in the park and you are out of breath and can barely make it to the end point. Or maybe you go to the doctor for a check-up only to find out you are pre-diabetic and have high blood pressure.

Personally, my ah-ha moment came when my cholesterol was over 200 and my blood pressure was high, all while maintaining an active and vegetarian lifestyle - how could that be? My paternal grandmother had high cholesterol and guess who inherited it? After talking to a doctor about my options, I decided I did not want to use medicines to correct my issues and that first I would try modifying my lifestyle.

Months after realizing I wasn’t achieving my goal of lower cholesterol and blood pressure, I turned to websites, cookbooks, books, blogs and podcasts to figure out why I couldn’t lower my numbers. What I found is I was partly in denial about what I ate and that through small behavioral changes, better health is achievable. I now eat a plant-based diet, move a lot and both my cholesterol and blood pressure have dropped. It took much longer than I had anticipated (about 18 months and counting) but my numbers are finally in a healthy range and I have committed to keeping them there, through lifestyle, not medicine.

Putting myself in the driver seat has helped me realize why change is so hard, especially when you don’t think anything is really wrong with you! So with this new knowledge, coaching enables me to empower you - and I want to see you transform the vision of your healthy self, into a reality. Behavior changes are hard, there are stumbling blocks, frustrations, wins and obvious accomplishments as well. We will focus on the triumphs, learn from the barriers and keep moving forward.

What did you do before Health Coaching?

I spent many years working in marketing and project management - I have spent a good portion of my career building relationships with clients and colleagues, understanding how people respond to suggestions and input on their products.

I started with basic HTML coding at a startup, moved into content management which led me into marketing. Most recently, I worked as a project manager, executing website builds and site developments at a technology firm. Project Management taught me how to stay on track and Health Coaching has taught me to be an active listener. Listening and acknowledging client’s challenges, creates a space they need to figure out what changes they want to make, ensuring they will be more successful reaching their goals. Unsurprisingly, most people want to implement changes their way, using their own ideas and suggestions. Science has proved over and over, executing your own ideas, leads to greater success.