I have always been interested in helping people feel better about themselves. My path to become a health and wellness coach has been a long and winding one, but the road was always connected to wanting to inspire others and help them embrace who they are. Professionally, I became a medical anthropologist to study eating disorders and obesity cross-culturally, systems of medicine (biomedicine and ethnomedicine), medicalization as it relates to obesity and weight loss, and structural violence based on weight related stigma. Personally, I developed an eating disorder at the age of seven and by the time I reached college, I was dying. Thankfully, I had access to resources that sent me to a residential treatment centers for eating disorders. It’s been a long time, but I learned deeply affected me. Aside from focusing on my own treatment, what I noticed was that I was the only medically obese patient every time (this likely had to do with insurance back then). What I also noticed was the ways I felt about my body (and the cultural messages I received about it) were the same as those patients who were severely underweight. It was heartbreaking to hear everyone (including myself) repeat back messages we heard from diet culture. Eating disorders are complex, and it is not my intention to minimize anything about them, but this realization fueled much of my future academic focus.
I started asking the question, what could all of us accomplish if we weren’t so fixated on our bodies? I met so many absolutely brilliant women in treatment, they were/are capable of so much more than ED (eating disorder). So, how did I end up as a health and wellness coach? I’ve done the cultural research I wanted to do, and I remain committed to always learning more, but I decided I wanted to help people directly rather than in a more abstract, academic way. I want to learn about my client’s visions of health and wellness, and what brings them joy and a sense of purpose, so that I can help them create a life that they love.
As a coach, I never start from a place of judgement. In fact, it is my role to create a judgement-free, safe space for you to explore what is most important to you. This includes helping you get started and celebrating as you collect successes along the way. Some people refer to health coaches as accountability partners. I do not. If I were to “hold you accountable” and you did not accomplish a goal for some reason, being an accountability partner seems like there is some judgement or negativity attached to it. No thanks. If we set a goal and you do not achieve it, the goal was faulty, not you! We remain curious and talk through why it didn’t happen. My coaching space (in person or virtually) is where we explore why something may not have worked and then we recalibrate the goal or focus on something else that may have become a bigger priority. Wellness is multidimensional and we always focus on what you want to prioritize.
If you are interested in Health & Wellness coaching at EmeraldU, please reach out. I would love to work with you. You can connect with me here.
Education:
- Emory University Health and Wellness Coach Training Program (2024)
- Brandies University, MA in Anthropology & Women’s & Gender Studies (2011)
- University of Florida, BA in Anthropology (2007)
- Santa Fe College, AA in Anthropology (2005)
- Berklee College of Music, Vocal Performance & Songwriting
EmeraldU 