MY FAMILY: I am a wife to a scientist/hockey player/musician/computer nerd and basically master of all trades. I am a mama of two boys, Oliver (4) and Declan (2), and they keep us active, busy, and laughing constantly.

MY JOURNEY: I remember being in my 20’s after getting a bachelor’s degree in psych and not having a clue what to do with my life, but knowing that I wanted to help others find happiness in some capacity. It wasn’t until after I had spent years working in restaurants and traveling the world that it finally came to me. I had decided to take a nutrition and fitness class at the local junior college for fun and I remember sitting in that class having the realization that I could make a career out of this stuff. It was full speed ahead from that moment on and I have never looked back. 

I had to start from scratch and basically get the equivalent of another bachelor’s degree in nutrition. I worked my butt off to get into the dietetic internship of my dreams, while also training for the LA Marathon and managing a non-profit. My internship  was a combined program where I got my nutrition training at the VA in West LA along with getting my MHP (Masters in Public Health) from UCLA, both within 2 years. That time in my life was intense, but it showed me what I was capable of and helped to make me the person that I am today. 

MY PROFESSION: Once I got that MPH, RD behind my name, I landed my dream job as an outpatient dietitian at a hospital in LA, and am still there today. There I teach nutrition and health classes that include weight management, diabetes, infant and family nutrition, pre-bariatric surgery preparation, heart health, etc. I also counsel patients one-on-one for medical nutrition therapy and recently stepped down from working in our eating disorder clinic. It is a fun and rewarding job, but over the years I have come to realize that there is a lot more to health that just the food we eat. I have also had life experiences that have veered me away from the conventional beliefs around nutrition and what the government tells us to eat, and have taken a more integrative functional approach to nutrition and lifestyle.

MY PASSION: Over the past 10 years I have been paying more and more attention to the importance of using safer products to clean my home, to use on my skin, to use as medicines, etc. I have been slowly switching these things out for safer options, and it has been a frustrating and challenging journey. It has taken me years to find safe replacements that performed like their toxic counterparts, but I feel like I am now at a place where I am happy with the safe products I use, and I am so excited to use this platform to share my findings with you!

Some of my favorite safer products come from a company that I work with called Beautycounter. They are on a mission to make more health protective laws governing the beauty industry so that safer products are no longer a choice, but are the only option for consumers. They also provide beautiful skincare, makeup, sunscreen, kid and baby products, and mens products that perform like the toxic versions we were all accustomed to before we knew how harmful they were. And the best part is that my skin has never looked or felt so good!

A few more facts about me in rapid fire format:

• I am a personal development junkie

• I am super into the whole zero waste movement

• I have diastasis recti and IBS (so basically I look pregnant all the time) and am currently working on curing it

• I love, yoga, crystals, energy work, the law of attraction, and all the woowoo!

• I have become a huge hockey fan thanks to my 4 year old. Go Kings Go!

I hope the things we share with you help you and your family find health, empowerment, peace, and happiness. I am so glad you are here!

MY FAMILY - I am married to my high school sweetheart of 20+ years (married for 14 of those). We have three wonderful boys ages 9, 6 and 4...yep, all boy grandchildren for our parents since Dana and I have no other siblings! It gets a little loud when we are all together. ;)

MY PROFESSION - Throughout college I worked as a department manager at Nordstrom where I learned everything there is to know about customer service. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara in 2005, I went to work in Human Resources at Nordstrom, Discus Dental (a dental products company) and then on to Oaktree Capital Management (a money management firm).

While I loved my career in Human Resources for over 10 years,  when I had my third child, I decided to become an at-home-mom. While this is DEFINITELY a full-time job in itself, I found myself pulled towards my new passion of sharing health, wellness and the power of essential oils with others.

MY PASSION FOR WELLNESS - While I have always been health conscious, I would say that my real passion for it came out when I had my first child in 2010. As most parents do, I wanted the best for my kids which lead me to gradually start to detox my home to make sure they were in a safe environment that their little bodies could handle.

In 2014, I was introduced to doTERRA essential oils and started using them to help my boys with allergies and ear infections. After seeing them in action, I was SOLD! Since then I have used essential oils through my pregnancy with my third son and on all of my family members to care for their health on a daily basis as well as when they get sick.

In 2015, I started focusing on my own health and got in even deeper from a whole health and wellness aspect.

MY HEALTH JOURNEY - In 2010, I was diagnosed with hashimoto's  thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disease where my body is attacking my own thyroid. At that time, the doctor I was seeing simply told me that at some point my thyroid would have issues and that I would have to be on medication the rest of my life. Hmmm...that didn’t sound good but at the time I was very trusting of doctors and went on my merry way.  Sure enough, not even a year later, my thyroid levels started to change and I went on medication.

In 2015, I started seeing a functional medicine doctor who after looking over my labs suggested I immediately go off of gluten and dairy to cut down my inflammation. This change started me on a path of finding the UNDERLYING CAUSE  of my autoimmune disease to help manage my symptoms and prevent additional future autoimmune diseases (they often come in multiples). Throughout this process, I found out I had a parasite in my gut, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), a leaky gut and  a slew of food intolerances.

I cannot tell you how much better I feel since I have been healing my body with food, essential oils, supplements and relieving stressors. I have WAY more energy, less digestive issues and gas, less anxiety, less inflammation and just feel stronger in my body. The important thing to note is that I HAD NO CLUE that what I was feeling before wasn’t normal and that I could feel better!!  This is why it is my mission to help others feel their best while being empowered and healthy!