I’m weird. I wasn’t like other kids. I can’t really explain why but since around 10 years old, I’ve been really interested in personal transformation. It started with the physical. I had gone from a pretty average sized kid to a “husky” size and I wasn’t down with that.

I rode my bike everywhere that summer, watched what I ate and the extra lbs came off. I felt good about myself. People noticed. As a sensitive kid who liked approval I was proud of myself.

I stayed pretty athletic right through high school and most of college until I did a semester abroad in London in my junior year. After months of heavy English food, very little physical activity and a LOT of Guinness, I had really bulked up again. Again, I wasn’t down with that.

I returned to the States and had another summer of transformation, this time with the focus really on the nutritional side of things. With the help of a book called Fit For Life, I switched to primarily a plant based diet and really paid attention to how I combined certain types of foods. I also biked and surfed a lot. Again the weight came off and I felt great. 

I had never thought so much about nutrition but I was so amazed how some simple changes in diet could have such a profound effect. I felt like I had discovered the key to health and I wanted to share it with the world. I became somewhat obsessed with learning more. 

In 2012, I enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and graduated from their awesome program with a certificate in health coaching. Over the years as I helped people with their own health transformations, I was being dragged down by my own addictions. After the heartbreaking loss of my daughter, Mia Bella in 2014, from the disease she was born with, my life and my health crumbled.

In 2016, I quit drinking and another health transformation began. This time it was mental and spiritual. With guidance and help from mentors I began to see how my own mind was the one thing standing in the way of my living a full and complete life. It’s only through learning how to work with the thoughts and fluctuations of the mind that I would ever have hope of true happiness.

The truth is, this is a work in progress. All of it. There’s no final box to check labeled, “I’m done.” This is a journey for the willing and the courageous, and it’s a journey into the heart of who you truly are. It’s good to have some company along the way. Let’s take the trip together.