We recently connected with Juliet Hurley and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Juliet, thanks for joining 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.
Before becoming a Holistic Nutritions, I was self-employed working in the Tax and Accounting industry teaching small business owners how to do their bookkeeping in QuickBooks and performing bookkeeping for some. The moment I was diagnosed with Stage 2A Breast Cancer, my whole perspective on life changed. I became hyper-irritated at the little things that set people off, such as a small business owner wanting to know yesterday about a check that did not clear a bank account. I kept thinking of how mundane and unimportant the profession I had originally chosen is. I kept thinking how rude and abusive some of my current and past clientele was, and I was tired of being yelled at for tax liabilities that were not my fault. In the midst of my personal crisis, I conducted extensive research to find what foods I could use to keep the Cancer from returning or spreading – despite the enormous pressure from Duke Cancer Center to take Chemotherapy, Radiation or Hormone drugs. Duke Cancer Center refused to accept my desire to live a quality of life over a quantity life, even going so far as to create doctor appointments to see Dr. Marcom without my consent, the man who told me I would get stomach cancer, liver cancer, colon cancer, and would eventually get into my bones, at which point he could only prescribe me Morphine for my pain … Unless I took Chemotherapy. That experience traumatized me, and I am still to this day processing the pain the staff at Duke Cancer Center caused me. Well, my version of care won over the “Standard” treatment that doctors tried very hard to force on me. While conducting my research, I stumbled upon various programs to earn a certificate in Holistic Nutrition. Since I wanted to exit the Tax and Accounting world, I thought why not make a business out of my pain, thinking I bet there are other people who would prefer natural remedies over pharmaceutical remedies to have the least amount of side effect damage to their organs, including their mind. In the end, my gut feeling was accurate and I’m happy to share I have been Cancer-Free for over seven years, without the negative side effects of permanent brain damage, lymph issues, damaged heart and lungs, and didn’t have my hair fall out or have permanent eating issues!
Juliet, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
As previously mentioned, I became a Holistic Nutritionist because I was diagnosed with Stage 2A Breast Cancer and wanted to use foods, not Chemotherapy, to treat my new health diagnosis. I needed to exit the Tax and Accounting world to preserve my mental health and well-being, and love empowering people like I did with my accounting-consulting firm I started in Michigan. In Michigan, I created EverChange, LLC on a hunch while working a seasonal Tax position at McGinty and Associates. The owner kept complaining about her clients constantly asking for QuickBooks and Peachtree technical support, the two most popular and affordable accounting-software programs at the time for small business owners. I figured if that many clients needed help at her firm, there had to be a lot more CPA firms who had clients facing the same complaints. Both software programs had little to no support that was effective, and I traveled to each client to provide in-person customized support. I service marked “Forever Changing Your Business in an Ever-Changing Business Environment,” that was my elevator speech at Chamber of Commerce business networking events, and at least one of my clients sang it to me at each visit. Because of my business success as the QuickBooks Guru, ending my QuickBooks ProAdvisor career with the most 5-Star reviews within 100 miles of Durham, NC, I closed EverChange, LLC as an accounting-consulting firm and reopened it as a Holistic Nutrition company because I love the name and love the logo a professional firm in Royal Oak, MI created for me. For this EverChange, LLC in NC, I service marked “Enjoy Your Food, Enjoy Your Life!” So now I use my successful marketing skills in the accounting and tax industry as my Holistic Nutrition marketing template. In Michigan, it took about three years to gain the trust of CPA firms to share clients – Tax preparation on their end and training on my end. I marketed my business as being a bridge, taking away the aggravation from CPA firms that was actually an enjoyable career for me because of my patience and ability to train multiple personality styles. So just like EverChange, LLC as an accounting-consulting firm, I am in the relationship building stage. Similar to accounting, trust is key. People can be very emotionally connected with their bank and credit card activity, not wanting to share the details with anyone else. But not with me. I made clients feel comfortable and not ashamed of their spending habits, which sometimes led to hefty IRS Tax penalties and interest. The first stage of my successful Holistic Nutrition company is education. When someone hears Holistic Nutrition, they don’t know what it is. Holistic Nutrition is a combination of several factors: quality and quantity of sleep, what you eat and drink, ability and skills to manage stress in a healthy way, coping skills to handle stimulating events, and whether or not you move your body on a regular basis. All of those factors make up who you are and how you feel both physically and mentally. Once past the education portion, people can still be hesitant to work with me because they are timid to talk about their health. And similar to getting QuickBooks or Peachtree assistance, people don’t contact me until they have had enough. Accounting-consulting clients were at the point of throwing their computers out the window, and Holistic Nutrition clients wait until it may be too late to help because they’ve caved in and use pharmaceutical drugs for their health issues. They may fear healthcare because of past negative experiences with Doctors, or they think working with me would be too expensive. If only people valued themselves more, they would sign up quickly for a health and wellness tuneup from Holistic Hurley to help them feel better both physically and mentally, finally being able to Enjoy Your Food, Enjoy Your Life!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
On July 4th, 2005 the people who adopted me – the ones who caused me to develop Complex PTSD – had me involuntarily committed to Providence Hospital in Southfield, MI where I was also born on December 3rd, 1973 to Deborah Anne Sanchez. The Hurleys were very angry that I did not provide them with my flight itinerary for my trip to China in 2004 – when I was 30!!! Per usual, they treated me like a 14 year old, constantly taking turns calling and emailing me, demanding I give them all the details of my trip to China. I refused. When I returned, I wrote a story about my amazing trip (https://reddragonleominpin.wordpress.com/2018/03/02/china-2004/), and mailed the Hurleys a copy that I had burned on a CD. That lit the fuse of them pestering me. At that time, I did not have healthy social skills from being isolated during my youth. I also did not have healthy coping skills or healthy stress management skills. All I learned from the Hurleys was how to gaslight, scream at the top of my lungs to communicate with other family members, emotionally abused a person, psychologically abuse a person, and financially abuse a person. While at the crisis center, prior to the Hurleys obtaining a legal document giving them temporary guardianship on my health decisions and my assets, I learned that I was allowed to say the word “No” to the woman that adopted me. After leaving the hospital early, and the Probate court in Oakland County dismissing the petition to have the Hurleys become my permanent guardians due to allegedly being 100% mentally incapacitated, all because I informed Mr. Hurley that I filed a police report with the City of Oak Park, MI Police…my journey to healing my brain damage caused by Depakote and the cocktail of drugs administered to me at Providence Hospital that I did not need began. Fast forward from “Operation My Freedom” that commenced July 4, 2005, today my photographic memory has been restored almost completely. And that was possible because I value myself, I know I am important. I poured hundreds of hours and dollars into various therapies, therapists, books, Apps, and surprise! I am also using my own Holistic Nutrition to naturally ease stress, such as specialized herbal teas, tinctures, mushrooms, a sleep tracking app on my Google Pixel watch, a strict sleep higene routine, a structured morning routine, and exercise. For my 50th birthday, I gave myself the gift of going “no contact” with the people that adopted me and helped me financially. I had to reinvent myself and was pleasantly surprised when all my hard efforts led me to become a USA Green Level Boxing Coach, which ultimately led me to teach Boxing to youth and adults to my Community thought the City of Durham’s Parks & Recreation Department. Teaching boxing is a great complement to my Holistic Nutrition business. Boxing is a great exercise that benefits you physically and mentally, helping you rest your brain and give you a great night’s sleep. I thought the Hurleys broke my will, but with all my hard work, I was able to come back stronger over and over again, stumbling on creating healthy mental health skills and then building new healthy coping skills and healthy stress management skills. Everyday feel like Heaven now.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Beverly Engel is the first author I found that helped me process pain caused by the woman who adopted me – a woman that my adopted brother from a different gene pool. We called the narcissist “Mommy Dearest.” Beverly wrote books on several styles of abuse, and also wrote about her experience being abused, becoming the abuser, and now helping people heal from abuse. Later in my healing journey, the most profound woman in my life is Marisa Peer, a woman who didn’t want to take a lifetime of therapy to feel good. I want to help people love themselves enough to take care of their mental health and well-being. Life is too short. Today it’s time to Enjoy Your Food, Enjoy Your Life!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.everchangellc.wordpress.com
- Twitter: @HolisticHurley
- Other: https://Patreon.com/EverChangeLLC
