Before becoming a Health and Mental Fitness, and Eating Recovery Coach, I was cooking all over New Zealand, Australia and the United States for the rich and famous, retreats, and events as a personal and private chef. I was known for creating delicious real food especially for people with food allergies, intolerances, or specific dietary requirements. I also taught cooking, created recipes for brands and restaurants/pubs, along with food styling for web/social media and screen on the side.

It sounds rosy but it was a lot of hard work and there were times I wanted to give up. I was also navigating trauma, grief, anxiety, and addiction which exacerbated my ADHD and led to some physical health issues. I was looking after my clients, and others, but I wasn’t always looking after myself. I used the excuse of “healing”, or “I deserved it” to eat emotionally, binge eat, and drink. And other times, because I couldn’t get mad at others, I’d punish myself with food and terrible self-talk so I had someone to be angry with.

Dealing with challenges of disordered eating and addiction wasn’t new, but they had laid dormant for a while. Always a self-healer interested in the mind/body connection, and the healing powers of nature, I decided to try and to stop using excuses and do the work.

I started with mindfulness and breathing techniques, movement, and writing. Then I started using vitamin D, magnesium, Omega 3, and essential oils as recommended by the psychologist who was supporting me through the trauma and grief of losing my dad in a swimming accident.

While using supplements and essential oils, (oils extracted from herbs, spices, skin of citrus, and other plants), I couldn’t believe how effective they were. I thought, well, if essential oils and supplements can help boost mood and improve anxiety, surely the food it comes from can have the same effect!

I had a huge shift towards using food for mental fitness and food as medicine which led to creating an artisan food range to help boost mood and brain function – essential(E) real food from me to you.

It felt amazing to use food to support myself, and support others. And, the best part, it reconnected me to my passion for teaching and leading, spirituality, and, as cliché as this sounds, guiding people through their own healing to live their best lives –nourishing body, mind and puku (belly).

Although the connection to food and mental health was a revelation, health and wellbeing isn’t new to me. Long before I became a chef, I started my career in peer support/counselling, leadership, fitness and recreation, coaching, and corporate team building events management and facilitation.

Through my own health and well-being journey, I decided it was time to combine ALL my passions and come full circle.

That’s how I found the perfect opportunity to gain expertise in current health science through PREKURE’s Health Coaching programme – with a focus on nutrition and its connection to not only physical health but mental health along with coaching and behaviour change.

After completing my PREKURE Health Coaching certification, I was able to become accredited through Health Coaching Australia New Zealand… but I wasn’t ready to stop there!

With an interest in, and my own personal experience with eating disorders, disordered eating and binge eating, I signed up to Redefined Coaching’s one-to-one Eating Disorder Recovery Coach training. Then I decided I wanted to delve deeper into advanced mental health and nutrition.

The Master Holistic Coach path through PREKURE was calling – the trifecta: Health Coach, Mental Health Coach, Metabolic Nutrition Coach with over 100hrs of coaching. I’ve completed my Mental Health Coaching training, over 100 coaching hours, and working on my Metabolic Heath Coaching Certificate. And, recently I’ve committed to another certification through Eating Freely™ to become an Emotional and Binge Eating Specialist.

Knowing what it’s like to go through trauma and challenging life events, I don’t want you to struggle alone. I want to support you on your journey to better health by nourishing body, mind, and puku(belly). Soul is there embedded in all three and my soul is dedicated to your health and well-being – as well as my own.

So, here I am. Wanting to support you. Wanting to help you fall in love with taking care of yourself and your body. I hope to hear from you soon. You might not see it yet, but you’re totally worth it.