I was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and moved to St.Paul, Minnesota at the age of 15. I received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from St. Edward’s University in 1996 and worked at Dell for 5 years in internal audit and financial analyst capacity. After the birth of my second child, I decided to pursue a career change. I have been a Registered Nurse since 2005 and a Board-Certified Lactation Consultant since 2011. Over the years, I have worked in a variety of areas including Postpartum Care, Neonatal Intensive Care and Post Anesthesia Care. I founded Mommy’s Angels Postpartum Care Services, LLC in 2010 and have had the absolute pleasure of working with moms and their newborns helping make what can be one of the most stressful and challenging time in their life, being a mother, be more manageable and enjoyable.
I thought I was leading a healthy lifestyle and for the most part considered myself “healthy.” However, I regularly experienced different symptoms that I thought were “annoying but normal” and assumed they were "things that I just had to live with".
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I had digestive issues like bloating after eating, some times acid reflux, which I managed with TUMS,
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I had debilitating period pain and tender breasts every month and was finally diagnosed with endometriosis, which happens when the tissue that lines the uterus grows outside of the uterine cavity,
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I had headaches all the time,
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I had year round seasonal allergies especially after moving to Austin, TX - the allergy capital,
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I practically lived on ibuprofen, allergy medications, and steroid inhaler just to function,
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I also experienced extreme fatigue after having kids, regardless of how long I slept. I woke up tired and felt like I was walking in a fog, which I attributed to being a working mom,
It’s sad for me to admit that I wasn’t pleasant to be around and had very little patience with my family. When I brought these symptoms up with my doctors, I was told my labs were normal, I was young, healthy and had nothing to worry about. Can you relate?
My journey into holistic health began with the devastating news of my mother's diagnosis of endometrial cancer in 2011. I was scouring the internet to find out ways to help my mom manage her chemo treatment. I learned about using food as medicine, juicing to over flow her body with lots of nutrients, bone broths to build her body and different things to help her gain strength and build her immune system. I am happy to report that my mom completed her treatments and has been cancer free for the past 12 years and has continued to incorporate all that we learned in to her life and is doing really well.
I spent several years devouring everything I could find about holistic health. I was so fascinated by everything that I learned, with my husbands encouragement, I went back to school yet again and joined The School of Applied Functional Medicine in 2019 and began training to become a functional medicine practitioner. After 2 years of immersive study, clinical application, and examination, I competed my studies in 2021 and became certified in 2022. I have since been applying my knowledge to help my family, friends and clients achieve great improvements in their health.
Through my studies, I discovered that gut and hormonal imbalances were at the root of my symptoms. In my efforts to master everything about health and wellness, I was able to reverse all of my "annoying" symptoms without taking medications and am living my best life!
As a functional medicine practitioner I’m expanding my services to supporting moms and women at a different stage of their life. I started Wellnessprout almost 2 years ago and I help high achieving moms reclaim their energy and vitality so they can be their best self and perform at their peak in the office and at home.
When I am not working, I enjoy traveling and spending time with my husband and three children. I look forward to partnering with you on your wellness journey!