As a young adult, I was a Vet Tech and worked as the director of a nonprofit animal rescue. Because almost every dog and cat that came to us was not in optimal health, we always had a huge vet bill. For that reason, I set aside the Merck handbook and started looking for holistic and natural things we could do for the animals without having to pay for vet visits, medications, and surgeries. We began using herbs, whole foods, pet massage, animal stress management, better kenneling practices that allowed a lot of sunshine and fresh air, and indoor lights that followed the natural rhythm of the day. After seeing first-hand how much natural support helped the animals, I wondered if some of these same practices could be applied to myself and the health issues I had at the time. And they did! I was hooked.
I completed my undergraduate degree with a focus on holistic health. From there, I earned a Yoga Teacher 200-hour certification and Reiki Master Teacher certification, mastered Emotional Freedom Technique (Tapping), and practiced these modalities part-time during my early motherhood years. However, I felt drawn to help more people in a bigger way, so I pursued an MBA in digital and social media marketing and began assisting businesses in the wellness sector, designing websites, managing marketing campaigns, making logos and graphics, and helping people learn how to use social media for marketing purposes.
After a few years of this, my former husband, who was a licensed professional clinical counselor, decided to open a holistic mental health practice. So, I switched gears to fully marketing and promoting that practice, and our books were full by the end of the first year. We took on another counselor and other staff and tried to hire a naturopathic doctor to provide the “physical health” side of helping clients, but due to living in a small town in a rural area, we didn’t have any luck.
I asked the counseling board if I was qualified to provide some health coaching services, and they encouraged me to pursue certification in something “natural health-related.” So, I chose first to obtain a Master Herbalist diploma from the Centre of Excellence and graduated with “Distinction.” This allowed me to start seeing counseling clients who needed physical health support. We saw major improvements in our outcomes, and clients didn’t need to stay in counseling as long, which was very encouraging. We continued to hope that a naturopath would come along, but no one “bit.”
After stumbling across Trinity’s website and speaking with my Enrollment Specialist, Sally, I realized I could “be the Naturopath that we wanted and needed.” I tested into the CHHP program at Trinity, finished the certification, sat for the ANWPB exam, and earned the title Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor (BCND).