My Story
Hi, I’m Brittany! Thank you for taking the time to learn more about who I am and why I do what I do. I’m so happy you’re here and I hope I get the opportunity to connect with you.
I’m sharing my story because it helps to explain how I became a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, my “why”, and the type of practitioner I am as a result.
Growing up, I knew I wanted two things… to be a mom and to help people. I remember playing with baby dolls and being obsessed with watching TLC’s show “A Baby Story” (a likely foreshadow to my future specialization in prenatal health). Looking back, starting as a child, I really looked up to my mom and wanted to follow in her footsteps in a lot of ways. She worked as a registered nurse when I was young and went back to school to become a Nurse Practitioner. She modeled the importance of education, empathy, and dedication and naturally, as a result, I grew up envisioning myself working in the medical field too.
In high school, I was in a Health Science program and started gaining experience in healthcare. I became a Medical Assistant and a CNA in high school, and right after graduation I started working at a primary care practice.
I studied pre-med at the University of Central Florida and worked a variety of jobs in the medical field throughout my time as an undergrad. I got to experience the ins and outs of healthcare and quickly learned that I was not a fan of traditional western medicine. I didn’t like the way healthcare was so insurance and money driven, rather than patient driven and I didn’t like the “bandaid approach” and symptom management that a lot of physicians practiced instead of getting to the root cause.
The stress of college and working two jobs sent me on my own health journey, desperate to restore my gut health. In researching the gut health and the gut-brain connection, I came across a few functional medicine doctors and fell in love with the holistic, whole body approach to healing. I had every intention of pursuing functional medicine as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. I finished my Bachelor’s degree, took all the pre-requisites for medical school, and started studying for the MCAT.
Right after I graduated college, my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer. The abrupt cancer diagnosis lead to a full re-evaluation of my values and plans for the future. I realized that I had been so consumed by school and work that I hadn’t been spending any time with family and I didn’t want to go through 4 more years of college, plus residency before starting my life. As I jumped into the role of caretaker, I knew that my family and work-life balance needed to be a priority for me and I made the decision to no longer pursue medical school.
I quit both my medical jobs to take my dad to treatments and together we dove into research. We researched diets, supplements, treatment options, and nontraditional cancer protocols. We made drastic dietary changes and spent lots of time in the kitchen together. While I’d love to say that we cured his cancer with nutrition… we did not.
His battle taught me so many indispensable things, both in the kitchen and in life. Losing my dad gave me a new perspective on what I wanted to achieve during my time on Earth and ultimately became my motive to find a career that allowed me to balance a fulfilling job and family life.
I became a teacher at the local public school, initially seeking a position that would allow me to share my knowledge while also providing enough time to start a family of my own. I had no idea how much I was going to love educating, coaching, and mentoring until I stepped foot in the classroom. At the end of my second year of teaching, I welcomed my son into the world and switched to teaching online to stay home with him. Over the last 3 years, I’ve taught health science, biology, sports medicine, AP biology, healthcare explorations, life science, and physical science. Having a strong foundation in science and learning how to effectively educate has proven to be beneficial in the world of health coaching.
Even though I was working as a teacher and a full time mom, part of me still felt like I was destined for more. I found myself spending my free time listening to podcasts and reading books about nutrition and healthy living. My best friend told me about a girl that she followed on Instagram who is an NTP and after looking into the Nutritional Therapy Association, I immediately knew that being an NTP was my calling. I fully immersed myself in the program and now I am doing what I love! I am a full-time Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, part-time teacher, and a present wife/mom.
In hindsight, it is easy to see how everything leading up to where I am right now was used to shape and prepare me for my role as an NTP. My medical background showed me the gaps in healthcare that I wanted to address. My own health journey led me to finding out how I wanted to serve people. My dad’s cancer battle gave me a complete perspective change on diets, the use of food as medicine, and the importance of quality of life. My foundation in science helped me to understand nutrition at a cellular level and my teaching experience taught me how to take that information, break it down, and communicate it effectively. Everything has come full circle and I am so grateful for where I am at today.
If you are reading this post, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence. I think our paths were meant to cross and I hope that we can connect and figure out why!
Brittany Upshaw, NTP
