About Me
I am health counselor specializing in youth wellness consulting,
wellness curriculum development, and staff training for children's
organizations. Using a unique and integrated approach, my program is
designed to help young people make beneficial food choices and extend
experiential learning to make beneficial life choices. At the core of
everything I do is the desire for young people to access their own deep
wellspring of inner wisdom and to proactively create their lives.
When I'm not consulting with progressive, forward-thinking children's organizations, conducting staff training, or
facilitating workshops, I am tending my many plants, visiting trees in the woods, teaching yoga, riding my
motorcycle, or traveling with my sweetheart...
often on our motorcycles :)
I hold a bachelors’ degree in food science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I am a graduate of
the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and I am certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.
Why I became a health counselor
Once upon a time, there was a teenager with a passion for helping people, a reverence and deep
appreciation for food, a love of science, and mediocre grades. As I reflect back, my schooling and career
have been like a behind-the-scenes guided tour through nearly every sector of this country’s food system: food
processing production floor, food and nutrition policy meetings, and strategic planning meetings for analyze /
influence consumer perception of food and nutrition information.
I worked for two of the largest food companies in the country as a quality control supervisor. Though the
years, this collection of experiences has brought unique insight for helping people choose the best for their health
and wellness. I witnessed, firsthand, the ingredients, processes, and methods employed in the food industry to
make foods as cheaply as possible, while protecting market share. I relocated to Washington, DC where I
secured a position with an independent advisory board to the United States government that produced reports on
food and nutrition issues. I had two constant questions in my mind:
•
While the experts deliberate, how many children, young people, adults developed preventable
diseases?
•
Why is everyone so focused on guiding people on how to select “the best” processed foods?
Seeking answers and an opportunity to interact more directly with the public and young people, I joined a
food and nutrition information entity, aiming to "balance the science" on food and nutrition information.
Their work included creating documents to help people understand scientifically dense issues such as trans fats,
toxins in the food supply, and the real deal on carbs. The organization also kept a finger on the pulse of hot food
and nutrition topics as presented by the media and perceived by public. I was privy to meetings where
representatives from the biggest processed food companies and fast food restaurants spent hours
justifying their products and absolving themselves of responsibility in the face of a growing obesity
epidemic; this was a bit much for me to take.
I attended school to become a Health Counselor which gave me a method and an opportunity to directly
affect change in the lives of passionate people wanting something better for their health and wellness. I
knew health counseling was truly what I was made to do when I realized that I was completely overwhelmed and
overjoyed simultaneously. I found myself working in a place that was diametrically opposed to everything I
believed about food and wellness, while building a health counseling practice that embraced natural ways of
living. Something had to give.
In August of 2005, I committed to transforming my reality so I could bring the work I was born to do to
the center of my life. I took the big entrepreneurial leap and have never looked back. In the beginning I
counseled adults, helping them to create the lives that they preferred to see: I call it manifestation counseling.
See testimonials below.
I began my youth wellness consulting work with children's organizations in 2006, and I have now turned
my full focus toward assisting children. My wellness curriculum helps young people to learn about more about
natural whole foods and how to make beneficial food choices. I believe that learning this helps them to develop a
transferable discernment, which will assist them to make choices about the beneficial relationships, situations,
practices, and activities. The effect is increased awareness and access to inner wisdom. With these tools, they
set a higher standard for their lives, the feel empowered, and are able to make life-affirming food choices and life
choices.
Visit the Services Page for more information on how the Whole Life Skills (c) program works!