We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Candia Lea Cole a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Candia Lea , thanks for joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

I would say that my professional career represents the fertile outgrowth of my self-learning/self-healing journey that began during my teenage years, when I was dealing with a mystery illness that allopathic doctors were not trained to diagnose or treat. I missed my high school graduation due to illness, which for me, was a real wake-up call that I needed to adopt a new and healthier lifestyle. What I didn’t know at the time, was that I was dealing with the symptoms of environmental illness, which is illness that develops in the body when it is exposed to toxins, and it doesn’t have an effective way to process them. Something that I learned about myself as I embarked on my self-healing journey to explore the underlying cause of my health mystery was that I had been exposed to a toxic chemical when I was growing inside of my mother’s womb, and I had been born with a “dirty gene” that made it difficult for my body to perform certain vital functions, including detoxification. Because of this gene, I was predisposed to develop many of the health conditions that I dealt with while growing up, which wreaked havoc on my immune system, my hormonal system, and my neurological system.

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?

Because allopathic doctors had not been able to provide me with the answers that I needed in order to get well, I became a student of the natural healing arts, I was inspired to study books whose topics addressed herbal medicine, acupressure, massage, fasting, detoxification, clay therapy, and Chinese 5 Food Element Theory. I was fascinated by what I learned about all of these topics, and I eagerly experimented with the healing protocols that were suggested by the authors of my reading materials. While studying about the role of nutrition in preventing disease, I also had the opportunity to learn about how food is produced for the masses. And that’s when I became aware of the problems that result from treating food crops with toxic chemicals, and raising animals in confinement operations. It dawned on me that if the earth and living things were being made sick by industrial farming practices, I, myself, could not be healthy.

Adopting an organically raised whole foods diet was the best decision I ever made for my health. As I learned about the powerful health properties contained in plant foods, I was inspired to experiment in my family’s kitchen with the creation of meals that I imagined would be therapeutic for my health, as well as the health of plants, animals, and living things. I created “milk without the moo” beverages by blending nuts, seeds, fruits, natural sweeteners, spices, and flavorings, with liquids in my kitchen blender. I also created dairy-free smoothies by blending fruits (or vegetables) with super foods, spices, and liquids. I also taught myself how to cook nature’s ancient whole grains, which I accented with vegetables, herbs, legumes, nuts, and seeds. All of these nutrient-rich foods, I discovered, served to detoxify and nourish my body and support me in feeling healthier.

During this very instructive time on my self-healing journey, my mom was invited to be on the board of an organization known as “Cancer Victors & Friends”, whose mission was to provide the public with educational tools that could support people in finding alternative forms of health care. Her job within the organization involved arranging hotel stays for the health experts who would come to our state to speak. As fate would it, she offered up our home as a “Bed n’ Breakfast” destination for two pioneering doctors (and bestselling authors) whose names were Dr. Paavo Airola, N.D. and Dr. Richard Barmakian, N.D. While staying at our home, I had the opportunity to serve them healthful meals and talk about the self-healing journey that I was on. I was surprised and delighted when they praised my meal creations, as well as my decision to walk the path of a self-healer. When, before leaving to go back home, they signed copies of their books for me, I was deeply touched by the messages they wrote to me. Dr. Barmakian prophesized that I had “been chosen” to learn about health “the hard way” so that one day, I would help others. Dr. Airola echoed that sentiment and encouraged me to teach others how they could use food as a form of medicine.

During the late 70’s and early 80’s, I used my newfound knowledge about food and nutrition to establish a natural foods catering service known as Gourmet Gatherings. I prepared artistic gourmet food buffets for a variety of health care professionals in my community. I later added Meals That Heal to my catering services, and cooked meals for their patients who had special dietary needs.

​In 1989, I had the opportunity to participate in Minnesota’s “Great Growing Organic Food Cook-Off”, an event designed to promote organic agriculture and sustainable cuisine. After being honored with the top prize, I managed to attract the attention of a California-based publisher (formerly known as Woodbridge Press) whose founder was eager to publish my first cookbook: “Not Milk…NUT MILKS!” The success of this book, led to the publication of two others, including “Gourmet Grains: Main Dishes Made of Nature” and “Super Smoothies! Taste the Nectar of Life!”

Throughout the 1990s, I served as a freelance food writer and food stylist for popular magazine publications such as Vegetarian Gourmet, Woman’s World, Vegetarian Times, Llewellyn’s Gardening Almanac, Veggie Life, and numerous newsletters, including Dr. Julian Whitaker’s Health & Healing Newsletter. I also shared my voice on several radio shows and local cable TV programs, and I collaborated with organizations such as VRG (Vegetarian Resource Group) and FARM (Farm Animal Reform Movement) to produce educational events at schools in Minnesota.

During the mid-90’s, after being invited to entertain a group of young adults about healthy living on the west coast, I was awakened to my higher calling: The calling to create ed. tools that would support families in nourishing wellness in their bodies and the earth, and prepare them to serve as Eco-Intelligent Lifestyle Mentors in their homes and communities.

The educational tools that I’ve created since then (Including books, infographics, cooking classes, podcasts, and various online trainings) highlight the importance of non-toxic living, organic farming, whole foods nutrition, and drugless, holistic health care. One of the trainings I’ve created that I’m the most proud of is my Eco-Mentor Leadership Training for young adult women, which I will be launching this spring. The theme of the training is: “”Nourish Your Eco-Intelligence: Become the Eco-Mentor You Were Born to Be!” It features my Eco-Mentor Guidebook, my memoir, and 6 Activity Journals, all of which are designed to be used together for an experience of learning that invites a true sense of discovery and empowerment on the path to eco-intelligent living. .

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

It has been essential for me to develop great resilience in my business life, because I’ve faced many hardships on my entrepreneurial journey. Developing 20 books, hundreds of educational tools, and three websites has (as you might imagine) demanded a great deal of my time and energy. In fact, I have had to make formidable sacrifices in my personal life to create my body of work. At times on my journey, I have gotten sick due to my inability to establish work-life balance. What has kept me going, I feel (besides high vibrational nutrition), is faith that I am on the right track, and I’m here on earth to serve humanity. and fulfill my soul’s mission.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start?

Funding my business has largely been a process of investing my own sweat equity into its development. Those of us who have the desire to be entrepreneurs, but who have not sought and acquired funding from outside sources, must work very hard to build our business offerings from the ground up. That is what I have done. I have created products and then sold them. I have also trained dozens of interns to help me accomplish certain tasks, such as graphic design work and blog posting. And this has saved me a lot of money that I didn’t have in my budget. my interns have told me they love working with me because they learn so much from me in the process, They learn to be better at what they do, and they also learn about eco-conscious living. It’s a win-win for them and me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ecointelligenteating.com
• Instagram: https://www.pinterest.com/candialea/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ecolearninglegacies/?pnref=lhc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candia-lea-cole-39aa7510/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/EcoMentor/with_replies
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CandiaLea
• Other: www.greentutor.co www.eco-mentor.com