My Story
When I was 27 years old, I moved from Seattle, Washington to South Korea. I would end up living there for 11 years! While Korea is like a second home to me now, it was a big adjustment to live there at first. The culture, the food, lifestyle, and environment were all very different from what I knew in Seattle. Perhaps I should have known that all of these changes could impact my health and wellbeing. But any expat will tell you that it’s easy to take for granted the impact of your environment, until you transplant to a new one.
After a few months of living in Korea, I noticed some uncomfortable symptoms that progressively worsened. I started experiencing bloating and GI disturbances, I gained 20lbs, I felt tired and hungry all the time, and started having terrible PMS. I would experience days of heavy fatigue and widespread body pain. It interfered with my sleep, and I suffered from insomnia for more than a year. My mental health suffered too. I developed anxiety and depression along with everything else. By age 31, I found myself in a miserable condition that had just snuck up on me.
I consulted doctors to try and find out why I was experiencing all of these symptoms. I was told that my labs were normal and “healthy”, and I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a label given for fatigue and body pain with no discernible cause. When I asked one doctor what I could do to feel better, he said “nothing, you are just getting older”. I will never forget the indignation I felt in that moment. I could not accept that answer. I knew at once that it would be up to me to find a way to heal.
Determined to heal, I embarked on a journey of investigation and self-discovery. I hired a health coach to help me address problems with my diet. I hired a life coach to help me understand what was holding me back spiritually. I kept a detailed journal of foods, supplements, and symptoms. I read books, listened to podcasts, and watched documentaries about health and functional medicine. I learned about the menstrual cycle, gut health, metabolism, mental health, family systems, spirituality —everything that could give me clues on how to heal.
Miraculously, I did heal! Though healing is still an ongoing journey, my efforts brought me more relief from my symptoms than any doctor I had seen so far. I lost weight, gained energy, slept through the night, and regained my joie de vivre. My PMS went away and my mental health stabilized. I couldn’t believe how powerful a few changes to my diet and lifestyle had been. People needed to know about this!
I began to notice posts in online expat forums from people asking about this or that health problem that they developed since moving abroad. It dawned on me that the knowledge I had gained from my experience could help a lot of people dealing with similar issues. I loved the idea of saving people the pain and scariness of having to figure it out on their own. So I decided to enroll in a certification program with The Nutritional Therapy Association. In 2018, I became a Certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, and started my virtual nutrition consulting business, supporting expats living in South Korea.
Since then I have helped dozens of people transform their lives with nutrition and lifestyle. I’ve hosted workshops, webinars, and retreats. I’ve run group coaching programs, online communities, and courses. My passion is empowering each client to heal in the unique way their soul most craves.
In my years of consulting, I have learned that the mind and the body are one. When you nourish the body through food and lifestyle, you nourish the mind and spirit too. Choosing to make nourishing changes to your lifestyle makes ripple effects that touch your career, your family, your self-worth –all of the most important features of your life. I live for the moments when clients first see this happening in their lives. It’s like a light flickers on in their eyes. They are glowing with joy and gratitude for their body and their life. I felt that too when I first recovered my health. This is why I like to say, “nourish to awaken”.
I am no longer living in South Korea, but my virtual services will always be available to the expat community there, for whom I have a lot of love! I am currently located in the Seattle area offering online consulting to clients all over the world. In addition to running my consulting business, I am pursing a Masters of Science in Integrative and Functional Nutrition at Saybrook University. I will graduate in Spring of 2025! I am also enrolled in Psychiatry Redefined, which is a fellowship that offers training in a functional medicine approach to mental health. Through this fellowship I will be certified as Psychiatry Redefined Certified Functional Medicine Provider, in 2025.
