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Hi! I'm Erin and I am a Certified Holistic Health and Nutrition Coach. I received my certification through Nutraphoria School of Holistic Nutrition. I have a B.A. and M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!), and a PhD (a.b.d.) in Public Safety Administration from Capella University. 

When I am not reading up on nutrition trends or studies, I am chasing around my amazing little boy who is so vibrant and full of energy! I also enjoy hiking, biking, gardening, running...well pretty much anything I can do outside. Hiking is my favorite though..as I have hiked the Inca Trail, Grand Canyon rim to rim and numerous other National Parks. I can't wait to share things like that with Lucas! 

Before I became a Holistic Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach I spent 15 years working for the FBI (putting those  degrees to work!), traveling all over the place and enjoying life to the fullest! I was an Intelligence Analyst and a Certified Instructor. My first year in the Bureau I got very sick and was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Chron's Disease runs in my family, however I was told by the doctors that I was "the lucky one" to be diagnosed with UC because it was not as complicated as Chron's could be. Lucky...I sure didn't feel lucky. I did not know or really understand at that time how complicated of a disease UC is, and how you live all aspects of your life had an affect on it. 

I won't go into detail and bore all y'all but Ill Cliff Notes it and say that many many years later I finally realized how important food and lifestyle choices are in your health. I got my UC under control and would experience longer periods of remission the more I learned. In 2015 I was blessed with an amazing baby boy, something I had always feared would never happen for me due to UC. 

So how did I go from the FBI to becoming a Holistic Nutrition Coach? It is funny the way your path turns sometimes! When I had my son I did not want to be traveling all the time, or be gone on weekends or holidays anymore. I just wanted to be with my family. I decided to become a stay at home mom! Leaving the FBI was hard, but I am a firm believer that a person can HAVE IT ALL! Just...not all at the same time! For 15 years I had my dream job and some days couldn't believe I was doing what I was doing. So leaving, I knew looking back I would never say "well I didn't ever get to do what I really wanted". I did for a long time. Now, when I am older, I'll get to look back and say I had it all: dream job AND I got to be at home to raise my family! The one personality trait about me that I hope shines through is that I love to help people. Working for the FBI we helped people, some just didn't know it, and that's ok! When I instructed, I helped FBI employees learn and thrive and be better employees, I loved that. 

I had a close family member get diagnosed last Christmas with Type 2 Diabetes. It kind of rocked their world because they had always been super healthy and pretty much done what they wanted to! Their numbers were scary and it scared me! Before I knew it the researcher in me kicked in and I had pretty much reached the end of the internet learning everything I could about Type 2 Diabetes. Before returning home that Christmas I made sure that family member was eating differently, counting their net carbs and made them a cheat sheet of net carb counts so they could easily help themselves! The next blood work that came in their A1C was drastically lower and their blood sugar was MUCH better. It made me realize I enjoyed helping them and seeing a difference, BUT I needed some form of structured learning about food and health instead of googling for 4 hours every night! That is when I found Nutraphoria. 

Now, you are probably wondering why I chose that school. Here's my answer: I didn't want to go back to college and take family time away. So I decided on a certification. There are so many places out there to get a certification, how did I choose? It was simple: curriculum.  Every certification program I looked at in the US (not saying all, just the ones I came across) gave you 4-6 months of nutrition classes, then the last 6 months was SOLELY focused on business and making money and "how to get clients". I thought to myself "if I was someone looking for a coach I want them to have more time on studying the actual thing they are trying to sell than time spent learning how to sell it.". Nutraphoria gave me 12 full months of nutrition focused instruction. They give you the opportunity to take a business course, but ONLY AFTER you have completed the program itself. To me that rang "this is about knowledge of nutrition" and not knowledge of selling. Lastly, most American certifications seemed to focus on one or several specific forms of "dieting" and what they thought was the best for everyone. I wanted to learn about ALL forms of eating, both popular and not, on trend or not, and I found that in most Canadian accredited schools. Nutraphoria checked all of my boxes, and it really was an eye opening experience! I am currently continuing on in my education and specializing in Childhood nutrition! 

I never started my certification to start a business, I really only wanted to learn for my family. Then I started seeing opportunities to help friends, and so on, and I realized this was my new path to helping people and also teaching people! 2 of my favorite things! So here I am, at your disposal...I would love to help you and your family in any fashion you may need! Of course I end this with the required "I am not a doctor or medical professional. I do not diagnose, treat or cure diseases. My goal is to educate clients on ways to live their healthiest life!

In good health, 

Erin