About Katie

The Short Story

I'm a nutritionist, a holistic health coach, an herbalist, and an adventurer. With a background in scientific research, I approach life with curiosity and an open mind. 

The Long Story

After graduating with a B.S. in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology from Ohio State University, I worked in conservation biology for a few years before taking my first long hike on the Appalachian Trail. Something inside just clicked and I knew life would never be the same again.

I moved across the country and began apprenticing at an artisan, wood-fired bakery in the mountains of western North Carolina. It was there that I learned my way around the kitchen, discovered my love of good food, and learned how my food connected to my local community and landscape. 

Feeling the call to spend some time outside of the mainstream lifestyle (again), I took off to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail. While the journey was one of my most life-affirming experiences to date, I returned home feeling less than healthy.

I was not the perfect picture of health that you'd expect to see after walking a couple thousand miles. I couldn't sleep, I was fatigued all the time, and my hormones were out of whack. I felt miserable and it was affecting every aspect of my life.

According to doctors and lab results, I was fine. But I knew I was not fine. I'd always been health conscious, but now I dug into the medical research to find possible causes for my symptoms. I didn't want to cover up symptoms, I wanted to find the root of the problem and find long-term healing. I ordered my own labs online and began to experiment with different protocols.

Pacific Crest Trail hiking

I completed a botanical medicine certificate, and took courses in functional nutrition and culinary genomics. I spent all my free time researching and learning. I began to find answers that actually improved my health. The field of human health is constantly evolving and I continue to take courses, research, and read to deepen my understanding of biology, health, and optimal wellness. 

There are many components to living our fullest potential, but I found that it's been changes in diet, exercise, sleep habits, and stress management that moved the needle the most in terms of how I felt. Like any meaningful change, improving your health takes time. I'm in it for the long haul and it's small, sustainable changes that create lasting wellness.

Like many others with a passion for wellness, it was my own health struggles that forced me to learn, experiment, and discover how to truly feel amazing. It's part of my healing journey to use that knowledge and experience to help others.  

I know what it's like to struggle, to feel unimaginable fatigue, to feel like something is off, but to get no answers from the conventional medical system.  I understand how frustrating it is to deal with chronic illness and to be unable to be outside doing what I love to do with the energy I once had.

Fortunately, our bodies have an incredible capacity to heal themselves. Provided with the right nutrition, movement, and rest, I've returned to feeling myself again and to living the outdoor endurance lifestyle I love. 

Since recovering my health, I've been able to go on many amazing adventures, including long distance hikes on the Continental Divide Trail, the Colorado Trail, the Wind River High Route, and the Oregon Desert Trail with much more in the planning stages 🙂

I have the energy to pursue a life full of adventure, loving relationships, meaningful work, and continued training in functional nutrition and holistic health. I also continue to seek out ways to get involved in the long distance hiking community, including serving as the Vice President of the American Long Distance Hiking Association-West from 2018-2020 and volunteering in various capacities. 

It's now my honor to work alongside others to help them build strength and resiliency. Whether you're about to embark on your first adventure or you've  got thousands of miles on your feet and you're preparing for what's next, you deserve the optimal wellness necessary to achieve your goals. 

I'm also certified as an Integrative Change Worker through the Ethical Coaching Collective, as part of a program accredited by the International Association of Counselors and Therapists.

Ethical Standards

  1. We do not coach without consent.
  2. We do not sell coaching without consent.
  3. In marketing and selling, we will treat people the way we would treat our clients: with respect, transparency, thoughtfulness, and genuine care for their well-being.
  4. The best that anyone can be in our presence is our thoughts about them. We base all our work with clients in unconditional positive regard. If we cannot feel unconditional positive regard for someone (and that’s okay because we’re human), we refer them out to someone who can.
  5. We understand that neither human development nor coaching happen in a social and political vacuum. We will be outspoken about our values and make business decisions that reflect them. We will never put profit above values. 
  6. We believe in every human’s capacity for healing, change and growth, and the reality of miraculous quantum change, AND we do not bypass slow, steady, repeated work and cultivation of the grounded presence it takes to stay with things that take time.
  7. We stay fiercely awake and present to pain and suffering inherent in life and the world, but we do not let it overwhelm us and stop us from believing in the magic and fun of coaching work.
  8. We are open to all possibilities but are dogmatic about nothing.
  9. We don’t do gurus. We don’t do cult-y thinking. You are the best authority on you, the client is the best authority on themselves, and we do not endorse outsourcing decision-making or responsibility for how we experience the world and create our reality to anyone else.
  10. We would rather be curious than be right.
  11. We do not aim to be perfect practitioners or perfect humans; we aim to learn, do a little better than yesterday, and have fun.