Why I am so passionate about wellness for event professionals
Hi! I’m Josie and I used to be an Event Planner (actually, I still do a fair bit of events management, because well, I love it) and I am now a qualified Naturopath, Nutritionist and Herbalist as well.
I started my career in events planning straight out of uni, and was lucky to rapidly progress from Events Assistant (where I was basically just manually entering in registrations to a database – this was before online registrations was a thing) to becoming an Event Manager responsible for multi-million dollar corporate and association events by the age of 24. It was at this time that I looked around our industry, and saw that so many of us (particularly women) were burnt out, unwell, unhealthy, and to be frank, quite moody and unhappy.
At this point, I realised that I didn’t want to tread this path, so I enrolled into a Naturopathy Degree at a local college as a part-time student. I was always a bit of a flower-child at heart, so the idea of learning about holistic nutrition, flower essences and herbal medicine along with the requisite science subjects such as anatomy, pharmacology and biochemistry really appealed to me.
Because I still loved the events industry (the buzz, the excitement, the amazing venues and locations, travel and the thrill of achieving a successful event!), I continued to work as an events manager during the day and then would attend classes after work and on weekends. Nine years later (yes, that is right – it took me 9 years) I graduated as a Naturopath. Absolutely, it was a juggling act at times (we all know how irregular and long running events can be, right), but I learnt an incredible amount about how natural medicine and sound nutrition can heal the body.
Of course, I am only human, and there were times that I myself suffered burn out, low mood, poor health and anxiety – after all I was working in one of the most stressful occupations in the world – but because of what I was learning at college, I could really understand how to heal myself, and more importantly, avoid it from happening again.
After graduation, I continued to work in events while also running a naturopathic clinic, seeing clients and continuing to build on my naturopathic knowledge. Along the way I became a mum.
My first clinic was in an inner-city suburb, and so I was seeing a lot of corporate-type, busy people who were suffering from low energy, stress and anxiety, and in some cases, their health and lifestyle choices were leading to chronic diseases and conditions such as diabetes, infertility, weight gain, depression, insomnia, hormone imbalance and digestive complaints. And fatigue – always feeling tired and wired. These were people who tend to put their work and family before themselves (sound familiar?).
It was incredibly rewarding to help these clients, help them work out what was going on and gently nudge them along a different path towards better health and energy.
Now, my mission is to share what I know with my home tribe, event planners, how to really take care of themselves. Because I really get event planners, and the unique stresses that this kind of work puts you under. I know that it is not always easy to eat as well as you should and that it is difficult to find time for exercise. I understand the toll of irregular and long hours. And the enormous pressure to be a perfectionist in our work.
But, there is always a way, and so I am putting together lots of guides to share with you which include tips and tricks, health hacks, essential health info and more so you can be as sharp, energetic and happy as you can be.
Whether that is through my free guides, plus paid online programs, books, workshops and presentations, retreats or even one-on-one private consultations and coaching, I want to reach as many as possible.
I started my career in events planning straight out of uni, and was lucky to rapidly progress from Events Assistant (where I was basically just manually entering in registrations to a database – this was before online registrations was a thing) to becoming an Event Manager responsible for multi-million dollar corporate and association events by the age of 24. It was at this time that I looked around our industry, and saw that so many of us (particularly women) were burnt out, unwell, unhealthy, and to be frank, quite moody and unhappy.
At this point, I realised that I didn’t want to tread this path, so I enrolled into a Naturopathy Degree at a local college as a part-time student. I was always a bit of a flower-child at heart, so the idea of learning about holistic nutrition, flower essences and herbal medicine along with the requisite science subjects such as anatomy, pharmacology and biochemistry really appealed to me.
Because I still loved the events industry (the buzz, the excitement, the amazing venues and locations, travel and the thrill of achieving a successful event!), I continued to work as an events manager during the day and then would attend classes after work and on weekends. Nine years later (yes, that is right – it took me 9 years) I graduated as a Naturopath. Absolutely, it was a juggling act at times (we all know how irregular and long running events can be, right), but I learnt an incredible amount about how natural medicine and sound nutrition can heal the body.
Of course, I am only human, and there were times that I myself suffered burn out, low mood, poor health and anxiety – after all I was working in one of the most stressful occupations in the world – but because of what I was learning at college, I could really understand how to heal myself, and more importantly, avoid it from happening again.
After graduation, I continued to work in events while also running a naturopathic clinic, seeing clients and continuing to build on my naturopathic knowledge. Along the way I became a mum.
My first clinic was in an inner-city suburb, and so I was seeing a lot of corporate-type, busy people who were suffering from low energy, stress and anxiety, and in some cases, their health and lifestyle choices were leading to chronic diseases and conditions such as diabetes, infertility, weight gain, depression, insomnia, hormone imbalance and digestive complaints. And fatigue – always feeling tired and wired. These were people who tend to put their work and family before themselves (sound familiar?).
It was incredibly rewarding to help these clients, help them work out what was going on and gently nudge them along a different path towards better health and energy.
Now, my mission is to share what I know with my home tribe, event planners, how to really take care of themselves. Because I really get event planners, and the unique stresses that this kind of work puts you under. I know that it is not always easy to eat as well as you should and that it is difficult to find time for exercise. I understand the toll of irregular and long hours. And the enormous pressure to be a perfectionist in our work.
But, there is always a way, and so I am putting together lots of guides to share with you which include tips and tricks, health hacks, essential health info and more so you can be as sharp, energetic and happy as you can be.
Whether that is through my free guides, plus paid online programs, books, workshops and presentations, retreats or even one-on-one private consultations and coaching, I want to reach as many as possible.