Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brittany McDonald. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Brittany thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

In the winter of 2019 I hit my breaking point with my health. My husband and I went wine tasting with friends and then got dinner at fried chicken restaurant. I hadn’t drank much or over eaten but a few hours later I was incredibly sick in ways that would be TMI to share. What I will say though, is my gut felt like it was in the worst knots I’d ever experienced. Prior to this event I had been getting chronic stomach aches, acne all over my body and intense PMS. So when I experienced that horrible night, I was ready to make a change for my health.

I worked with a naturopath doctor and discovered my horrible gut health was leading to all my symptoms. As I worked on improving my diet and learning so much about the body, I started sharing everything on my Instagram account. Before I knew it I was getting messages from people asking for advice to help improve their health!

Cue the 2020 pandemic and I found myself with more time than ever. I loved being a resource for people but I knew I needed to get proper education and tools to provide accurate advice. Thats when I signed up to get my Holistic Nutritionist Certification from the American Fitness Professionals and Associates (AFPA).

Since completing my certification in October 2020 I have grown my online audience, been interviewed for health news articles for USA Today and Eat This, Not That. and I partnered with brands as a nutritionist spokesperson.

In May 2022 I completed a rigorous training with Restorative Wellness Solutions to become a Gut Health Practitioner to expand my knowledge. I then went on to establish my business Her Gut Instincts LLC, where I help clients heal their bodies with nutrition and lifestyle.

I like to think the defining moment in my professional career was getting my Holistic Nutritionist certification but I actually think it was that one night where I finally decided to make health the top priority. Thanks to that, it sent me down a path of amazing opportunities I never would have expected.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Like many people in the health and wellness space I started down this path because of my own health problems. I had chronic stomach aches, painful full body acne and crazy PMS for most of my life. On my journey to heal I learned that my gut and lack of proper nutrition were triggering my symptoms. As I started making the changes in my own life I was sharing everything I learned on my Instagram (hergutinstincts) account & growing a following.

After many questions in my DMs I decided to become a certified Holistic Nutritionist and later added to my credentials by becoming a Gut Health Practitioner.

I now have an established business, Her Gut Instincts LLC where I help women heal their bodies naturally using nutrition and lifestyle to feel their most vibrant healthiest selves. .We do this by connecting the dots of a variety of aspects (nutrition, environment, health history, etc) and getting to the root of the problems. After evaluations, informative questionnaires and sometimes lab tests, I create a tailored 3 month protocol for the client to use as guidance.

It’s the best feeling when a client who came to me with chronic symptoms sends me a random text saying she’s able to enjoy food again with out stomach aches or bloat. Or when a client says she’s been more energized and able to sleep at night because we focussed on healing her nervous system.

My hope is that after working together, my clients not only leave feeling so much better but also empowered with the tools to help them navigate their health the rest of their lives.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve always been interested in health and wellness but as a teenager my resources were the magazines. I grew up thinking healthy meant skinny and no fat/carb/calories. So as I was trying to achieve that version of “healthy” my actual health was taking a hit.

After experiencing my breaking point with my health, I started to recognize everything I had learned about “health” wasnt accurate. Instead I became educated on how to properly read ingredient labels, the benefits of macronutrients like fat, protein and carbs, & how the body actually needs to functions.

Over time I have retrained my brain from thinking that healthy LOOKED a certain way, to recognizing healthy is more about FEELING a certain way.

Now I get to teach client the same things :)

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I’m still growing so I answer this question humbly but the feedback I get from my audience and clients is that they appreciate how approachable I am. By sharing my health journey publicly online and providing high value content I’ve been able to establish myself as a health professional who understands what you’re going through and truly wants to help. I think as a result it draws more people to work with me or share my name.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hergutinstincts.com/
• Instagram: hergutinstincts
• Youtube: Hergutinstincts
• Other: Tik Tok @hergutinstincts

Image Credits
Codi Villalobos