Instead of taking trips to Disney, our family went to Paris, France during school breaks and for that, I am so thankful. By the time I had attended college I had already spent time doing interchanges and spending time in Germany, Sweden, and Brazil. I still can taste that first caipirinha and hear the music – it takes me back now. Yum!

After college, I moved back from Indiana and the Midwest and went to work for various marketing agencies, first in experiential marketing for accounts like Michelob ULTRA, GORE, and United Healthcare; from there I received the opportunity to diversify a little bit and I broadened my experience in database marketing. Database marketing was truly magical.

While I was working in experiential marketing, I discovered Ayurveda and I like to tell everyone who will listen that I looked healthy on the outside but at the time I was taking a lot of different medications and nasal sprays, but I knew that my body was trying to tell me that it was not in alignment. The wake-up call came when I went to the allergist for an allergy test and was dealing with another sinus infection and they told me that I was very close to needing allergy shots at 28. I remember thinking to myself that going to the allergist at least a couple of times a week just was not an option for me. There HAD to be another way. The body has the power to heal you and is constantly communicating with you, you just have to be willing to listen.

That’s when I was lucky enough to have Ayurveda (literally meaning “the science of life” an ancient medicine system from India thousands of years ago), enter my life and I was able to start changing the way and what I was eating to start healing my body, mind, and soul. This occurred about five years ago, and I truly believe a guardian angel was looking out for me. From there I transitioned into a more holistic lifestyle choosing to focus on incorporating quality products and ingredients that help feed both the body and the soul. I believe in treating the whole person and body not just a part or system but really getting to the root cause of what is causing the disease and distress.

I incorporated yoga back into my life and even took some yoga immersion classes, went on a yoga retreat in Tulum, Mexico where I first encountered Reiki (meaning Universal Life Energy originating from Japan and is a powerful way to move the energy and promote healing in the body).

After moving from one marketing agency to another I knew that there was something missing in my life and soul. I was on a quest to find my soul – as I realized that my human body was physically in one place but that my soul and spirit, was somewhere else.

I was regretting not living and studying abroad. I had always wanted to learn Spanish and after 10 years of being out of school, I had nothing to show for this bucket list dream and was ALL talk. After joking with my mom that I was going to move to Spain, she asked, “Why not?!” I thought “OK, I am going to do this!” So, I quit my job, packed my bags, and moved to Spain to learn Spanish and immerse myself in the Spanish culture and travel…and so the adventure began! What started out as something I was only going to do for 3-6 months, turned into living abroad for over 15 months starting and ending my time in Extremadura, Spain (in the Sierra de Gata) and weaving my way from Sevilla to Salamanca (and almost everywhere in between).