We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brenda Wollenberg a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brenda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

My defining moment came in three “fork in the road” steps.

1) As a busy mid-20s year old social worker, involved primarily with adolescents falling between the cracks of the Ministries of Education, Attorney General, Mental Health and Family and Children’s Services, I was a very unwell social worker. I had thyroid problems, insomnia, anxiety, an ulcer, and was fueling primarily on sugar and bad government office-quality coffee.

I was approached by a friend, who suggested I meet with her boyfriend, a very smart (member of Mensa) supplement formulator and master herbalist. That type of approach to health challenges was way outside my range of comfort but I was pretty desperate. The choice was to move to real food and wellness or stay status quo and illness. I choose real.

2) The second fork in the road involved running into an “everyone should be on the same real food” dietary plan dilemma, with me leading my family down the vegetarian pathway. After putting my husband’s and one of our five kids’ wellness at risk I chose “real food per metabolic type” and started more personalization in my writing (as author of many articles and a couple of books) and in my wellness practice. Metabolic typing became standard practice, with one of my nutritional practice intake forms being a body typing survey, and another level of wellness over illness was reached.

3) Five years ago, I started training in the field of epigenetics and began focusing on analyzing and interpreting genetic profiles to design personalized holistic wellness programs … per a client’s raw DNA data. Now, personalization of dietary approach, supplements, exercise and stress management were “upped” again, this time enabling clients to positively impact gene expression.

These three moments defined not only my professional career but my overall wellness (and the wellness potential of my clients).

Eating a little (or a lot) of humble pie (ahhhh, so I didn’t know everything at 25 or 38 or …) has enabled me to be open to new information, to stay a lifelong learner, and to support both myself and my clients in ways unheard of only 20 years ago.

These three forks in the road changed my understanding of personalized wellness-care and the trajectory of my work.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As mentioned, I focus on creating personalized holistic wellness programs–per a client’s DNA. I have been featured on TV and podcasts, have had articles and newspaper columns published in a wide range of print media, and enjoy teaching in a variety of educational and corporate settings.

I am author of Overweight Kids in a Toothpick World—a practical manual for families dealing with childhood obesity—and Eat. Sleep. Move. For Your Genetic Body Type: How to physically and emotionally care for a unique you.

I love to co-create, with my clients, a personalized per body type and genetics, whole body (physical, emotional and spiritual) path to wellness.

We know that epigenetics (environment) plays an important role in our unique genetic expression and are beginning to grasp some of the complex interactions between various genes and exactly how environmental factors such as adverse childhood experiences, trauma and stress will affect a gene’s expression.

My decades of experience as a social worker, co-leader of a faith community, and nutritionist allow me to uniquely and compassionately help clients not only “get” the science of their genetics but also assist them in “seeing” patterns of behavior that may have contributed to unhelpful gene expression.

Then, I have the privilege of helping clients “shift” that behaviour—be it food plan, exercise, stress management or supplements—to one that is more supportive of overall health.

Bottom line?

Wellness—especially when it is one-size-fits-all dictated—can be confusing and ineffective. The unique way I approach mind/body/spirit wellness integration, rather than as separate parts, and do so down to the level of a client’s relevant genes, means I can help make that wellness simple, personal and doable.

So, my clients truly get to be their best and most true self!

But as someone who practices what she believes (both as a proud mama of 5 adult children and nana to a growing gaggle of “grands”), I am not just about helping others be the best version of themselves- I am about helping them understand precisely how to get there.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

With my clients and course participants I advocate my “infamous” OCC formula. Not only do I think that:

Observation
Curiosity
Compassion

work well for them on their health journey … that formula has been instrumental in helping me succeed in the wellness field as well.

A neutral type of observation works as well for, “My newsletters seems to have recently been getting a higher number of unsubscribes,” as does a “hmmm, I seem to be binge eating chips right now”.

Being curious about the observation means asking deeper questions. Where might that be coming from? What have I changed? What is going on around me?

And then finally, always attending to self with compassion. We generally do things that make the most sense to us. It is only with Observation and Curiosity that we can determine if a behaviour is no longer serving us, and can then make a Compassionate and kind move onward.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Like many, I experienced the classic Covid-19 need to pivot.

I did a massive switch from in person 1-1 and small group work to virtual meetings and really ramping up with online courses/classes.

While Covid was very brutal for a lot of people (I understand that as I lost a younger brother to the virus), and that needs to be kept in mind, it did provide some opportunities to re-think the way you did things … in both your life and business … and decide what you should keep and what needed to be changed moving forward. The kind of evaluation that comes from hard times, while you don’t wish that on anyone, can often be most helpful in changing for the better and in moving forward in new ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.inbalancelm.com
• Instagram: @inbalancelm
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/InBalanceLMWellness/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenda-wollenberg-0a872537/
• Other: Free self-check wellness survey: www.inbalancelm.com/self-check

Image Credits
Laine Mostert (for the photo of me)