Hi, I’m Carolyn.
I’m a graduate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and currently working towards my board certification. I feel that sharing my story is an important part of my journey to becoming a holistic health coach. I graduated from UCSB with a BA in Business Economics with an emphasis in accounting. Looking back, it was a steppingstone to where I am today, but definitely not my passion. I was lucky enough to find love on an organic farm. I met my husband who introduced me to a whole new way of living that I immediately felt a connection with. I slowly transitioned out of my financially secure sales job into life on the farm which felt uncertain, but I trusted I needed to take a leap of faith in order to follow my dreams. After moving onto the farm, I started Something Good Organics, a Community Supported Agriculture program, to make fresh produce easily accessible to our community. As a recovering work-a-holic, creating healthy meals was a struggle with limited time and exhaustion.
As newlyweds, we lived in Goleta until 2015 when we moved to Buellton. Until that move, I was unable to become pregnant. There were red flags that I didn’t listen to which became louder with my first son’s birth. I was having trouble managing being a new mom and running a business and the stress was bubbling up. I ended up losing my milk around 8 months and it was essentially written off by health professionals. “The baby is eating solids now. Everything is fine.” Fast forward to my second pregnancy. It felt like a complex puzzle no one could solve. I felt like I had a chronic disease complete with fatigue, constipation, dizziness and more. I was diagnosed with a thyroid problem and promptly prescribed celery juice and thyroid medication which was expected to continue for the duration of my lifetime. A few weeks later when I finally missed a period, a pregnancy test told me I was about 9 weeks pregnant. I felt relieved the mystery was solved, but I still had extreme fatigue and other complications during pregnancy. After I gave birth to my second son at 35 weeks, I was just happy to be home with him after spending 8 days in the NICU. 3 months later, I arrived at a very dark time in my life. My milk dried up almost overnight. No one had an answer, and everyone was quick to dismiss it and switch him to formula. At the time, I couldn’t find much research about why this happened to me. No one seemed to have the answer despite many people trying to help.
Over the next 6 months my health worsened. I had extreme fatigue during the day, was wired at night, experienced excessive weight gains no matter what I did, and felt miserable with two kids who were depending on me. I finally turned to a Naturopathic Doctor and was diagnosed with Hashimotos, an autoimmune disorder where your immune system attacks your thyroid. I was prescribed a regimen of supplements which I took routinely, but they didn’t seem to be helping. It was only when I made sleep my number one priority, released toxic relationships in my life, began a meditation practice and traded out excessive cardio for weight training and yoga that my body was able to heal. That’s when I had my aha moment. Nutrition and exercise are a cornerstone for health, but there’s a real need to balance the foundation of emotional wellness. As I continue my own journey of wellness, I invite you to join me as I build content to support overall wellness. I’m so excited to connect with you and help support your journey as well. Feel free to reach out to me at carolyn@groundedguidancecoaching.com with any questions or thoughts.