My Story
In 2013, my body forced me to stop.
I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Chronic inflammation, unpredictable joints, real physical pain. Some days were harder than others. And I was told that without medication I would likely lose my mobility within five years.
I remember sitting with that and thinking, okay but what about everything I still want to do? I had big dreams. A life I was still building. And suddenly I was being told my body might not come with me for it.
You know that feeling when something shifts and you cannot put it back the way it was? That was me. I had always been the strong one. The dependable one. The one who just figured it out. And now I was sitting in a doctor's office wondering if that woman was going away.
The pain was hard. But honestly? The fear was harder.
I was not ready to accept what I was being told. I could not accept it. So I started digging. I found functional medicine and for the first time something actually made sense to me. My body was not broken. It was not betraying me. It was trying to tell me something. And when I finally stopped fighting it and started listening, everything began to change.
My pain eased. My energy came back. My body started to feel like mine again. And I thought, okay. I am not done. Not even close.
Then perimenopause arrived. And I want to be honest with you, I felt a different kind of fear come back.
This time it was not pain. It was something quieter and in some ways more unsettling. The fatigue that made no sense no matter how much I slept. Sleep that left me more tired than before I closed my eyes. Brain fog that clouded everything. Words disappearing mid-sentence in conversations that mattered. I would reread the same email three times and still lose my place. Focus that used to be one of my greatest strengths just started fracturing.
Have you ever felt that? Like you are doing everything right and your body is just not responding the way it used to?
Like the rules changed and nobody told you?
And underneath all of it, that same quiet voice. What if I cannot hold this together?
What if everything I am still trying to build starts slipping away from me?
But I knew something by then that I did not know the first time. This was not decline. It was a transition.
My body was asking to be supported differently, not because I was getting smaller, but because I was moving into something new.
So I stopped fighting it. I got quiet. I listened. And everything shifted again.
I am in post-menopause now and I want you to hear this. I feel more like myself than I ever have. Steadier. Clearer. Surer of who I am and what I am here to do. Not because life got easier.
Because I finally stopped treating my body like something to push through and started treating it like the most important relationship I have.
My Passion and Mission
My Passion and Mission
I am here because I lived this. Not because I read about it.
I know what it feels like to have big dreams and start quietly wondering if your body is going to be the thing that stops you. I know that specific fear of losing your clarity, your sharpness, your sense of yourself, and not being able to name exactly when it started slipping. I know what it is to keep showing up strong on the outside while something on the inside is just whispering, please slow down. Please listen.
And I know how scary it is to actually do that.
That is who I am here for. The woman who is still building, still dreaming, still carrying real responsibility, and whose body is starting to ask for something different than what got her here.
If any part of this sounds familiar, you are not falling apart. You are not losing your edge. You are just being asked to do this differently. And there is so much more waiting for you on the other side of that.
I am not here to tell you to push harder. Lord knows I tried that. I am here to walk beside you while you figure out what your body has actually been trying to say. And what becomes possible when you finally let yourself listen.
Credentials & Training
My work is grounded in both lived experience and professional training, bringing structure and credibility to the guidance I offer women who lead.
National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, trained to support sustainable behavior change, whole-person health, and exploration of root causes that influence long-term vitality and capacity.
Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, with a deep understanding of how physical systems, stress load, and daily habits influence energy, clarity, and resilience over time.
Graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where I studied whole person wellness through a functional, integrative lens.
Certified in Emotional Eating Psychology, supporting women in understanding the emotional and identity driven patterns that often shape their relationship with food, energy, and self-trust.
Completed the Hormone Health Course through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, expanding her expertise in supporting women through hormonal transitions.
I am also a HER Nation VIP Member, part of a professional community dedicated to elevating women in business and leadership.
These credentials support the work I do, but they are not the work itself.
What matters most is how this knowledge is applied, with discernment, respect, and care, to support the body and mind that carry a woman’s vision.
Dawn
The aspects of your coaching that resonate most with me are your bountiful optimism and cheeriness, your patience, and your consistent acknowledgment of positive steps.
Martha
I love Debbie because her motives are truly out of love, wanting to help people. She is a valuable resource of information to direct your steps and help you find the tools you need.
Sandi
Debbie met me where I was and gently offered many ideas that I was able to choose from and try out. Little by little, I have made many healthy changes, but I never felt judged or rushed.
