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

Nomi, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents are one of a kind. They adopted me and my biological brother when I was four and a half years old, and my brother was three and a half. We had just spent two years living with a foster family after my mother’s death. I remember the day that we arrived at my parent’s home. My mom was jumping up and down and saying over and over “I gotta call Jeannie, I gotta call Jeanie,” her best friend and my soon-to-be godmother. I remember thinking she was very silly. I imagine I hadn’t ever seen such a happy adult in those early years.

I was so young, but those first years are poignant and show me how my brother and I adjusted so well. We lived in a home where positivity and teamwork were front and center. It was the 1980’s so there was not a lot of awareness around mental health or therapy. If I was in this situation today, I’d have the whole family in group and individual therapy! Even without the tools and awareness that we have in 2024, my parents were intentional parents who encouraged me and fostered many essential skills for success and resiliency.

My parents taught me the value of routine. I saw a home that ran smoothly, laundry and dinner done like clockwork, and a requirement to read before an early bedtime. Routine has been what has kept me centered in the midst of a busy life. I still keep that same routine. Reading and an early bedtime are the magic in my life. That is the way I show up to my four boys, my marriage, my career, and my home with enthusiasm and patience.

My parents made me feel capable. I am not a long-term planner, but I am a long-term vision-er. I know what I want and even if I’m not sure how I am going to get there, I am going for it because I am certain I will figure it along the way. I had babysitting jobs, washed dishes at a nursing home, was a waitress and barista, and always worked for my own spending money. My parents instilled in me the ability to do hard work. I think I resented it a bit at the time but now I appreciate it.

I grew up in a home where complaining wasn’t an option. Good and solid old Midwestern values. Do your work, do it well, and do it some more. If you mess up, take responsibility and show up again. That has been how I keep moving forward. There were times that things felt unmanageable or overwhelming. Corona lockdown with all the kiddies on Zoom school comes to mind as I think back to going to bed at 8:30 pm with the kids so I could get up at 3:30 am to work on my thesis in those early morning hours before the kids woke up. Four years later I can say I’m so happy I didn’t quit, but I did have a little cry every day! (Tears are a great way to release cortisol.)

I have lived and traveled all over the world- Europe, Asia, the Middle East- and I have taken the values that my parents taught me through every country and every experience. My parents took on the big unknown when they adopted two older kids. I embrace the big unknown every day when I dream bigger and show up to my next goal. The next goal is to expand my business so I can continue to influence people of all ages and stages to have a happy and healthy relationship with food. I’m aiming for a Netflix show! I want to share my energy and inspire people ditch the detoxes and diets and embrace a way of living that is maintainable and enjoyable. Then next on my list is to do a Doctorate in Clinical Nutrition. I’m looking forward to the challenges that both of those goals bring, and I can’t wait to embrace the hard work with a smile.

Nomi, 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?

In early 2003 I was living and working in Asia. My home base was Hong Kong. What happened in Hong Kong in 2003? Everyone remember SARs? The original COVID? That was running rampant and every day we’d open up the newspaper to grim news about deaths from SARs.

Thankfully, I was young enough not feel too worried, until one day. I went on a dinner date with a guy I had just started dating. We ordered appetizers and as soon as they were brought to the table I was overcome with an intense sick feeling. I told my date that I was suddenly feeling unwell and needed to take a taxi back to my flat. He, being a gentleman, offered to escort me back and we got into a taxi.

A bit about Hong Kong: the main island is built on a mountain. The base of the mountain is the business and shopping area while the upper parts are primarily residential. There is an escalator that runs up the mountain, but you can also get to the upper areas by taxi. My date and I had hailed a taxi and we are being driven up these roads that have rather steep inclines. Many taxi drivers in Hong Kong have this habit that whenever they step on the foot break, they also yank up on the hand break. We were going up the mountain and there was a lot of stop and go traffic. The driver was constantly driving, breaking, and yanking.

After a few moments, I realize this whole taxi ride is getting more uncomfortable by the moment. I turn to my date, and I say, “If he does that drive-break-yank thing one more time I am going to throw up. ”

We were nowhere near my apartment, so drive-break-yank happens again. As gracefully and as calmly as I could manage, I rolled down the window and projectile vomited. I actually remember the look of horror on a passenger’s face in the adjacent car as I was throwing up. It doesn’t get more awkward than that.

The next morning, I haul myself off to the doctor because I am just feeling horrible, and I am scared that I have SARs. The doctor, a nice English gentleman, checks me over and then tells me to sit down and proceeds to give me the best advice that has been the magic spice in my life ever since. He says to me, “My dear you do not have SARs. You are sick because you are exhausted. You are not sleeping enough. You need to sleep at least 8 hours a night and the hours before midnight count as double. You will not get sick if you take care of yourself and get enough sleep.”

I was young, fearful of SARs, and had always enjoyed sleep prior to moving to Hong Kong so his advice was something I took to heart. His advice turned me onto lifestyle medicine and nutrition and motivated me to find my personal path to great health.

I spent the next 10 years focused on family. I moved back to the states, got married, and moved countries again. We had four boys, moved several more times, bought as old house that needed remodeling, and had a child that had a strange autoimmune condition. It started a little before he was two years old, and we spent two and half years before we got a diagnosis. In that time, I learned how to do research and how to advocate for my child. My son’s condition went 100% into remission with the right medication, nutrition, and supplements. The proudest moment was when the head of pediatric neurology referred two families to speak with me about the protocol that had helped our son. Feeling empowered to help my son and other families put me on the path to going back to school. Initially, I did a yoga training program, then went to Duke University and trained at the Duke Integrative Medicine Center as a health and wellness coach. LinkedIn suggested me to doctor who had done his residency at Duke and who was living near me, and I started working with him on behavioral support for his patients dealing with chronic illnesses.

I still wanted more information and to be a greater resource, so I went to grad school and got my Master’s in Nutrition and Functional Medicine. Upon finishing that, I worked under two different clinical nutritionists for supervision and passed my board-exams for clinical nutrition specialist. My supervision experience and the support from the doctor that I work with were just as critical as my grad school education. I am so grateful for those connections.

Initially, after training at Duke and getting board-certified as a health and wellness coach, I was working with private clients doing one-on-one nutrition coaching and education. Then I added nutrition assessments and counseling in. I was working all week and squeezing clients in and squeezing family and life in, which did not feel sustainable. By October 2022 I was feeling a burnt out. I stopped taking private clients and was hired as head nutritionist and advisor at a supplement company that does herbal supplements specifically for women. I got to do a deep dive into herbal medicine, female hormones, and supplement production.

While I loved working with an inspired team, I needed to be at home more. Traveling overseas and being in the office was exhausting. Sitting and being sedentary was the most energy draining activity of my day. I had had an online group program called Happy Health that I ran every January. I saw how much it supported clients to make lasting changes and I loved the group format. In August 2023 I launched Hello Health bigger and better and in October 2023 I stopped working with the company. Now I am running groups full time. I work privately only with clients who have been through my group or who are referred from the doctor I collaborate with. I see amazing, lasting changes and I love the energy that everyone brings to the groups.

Most of my group participants want to lose weight, have more energy, and are seeing their body go through change as they approach middle age. They need support making consistent healthy decisions and they want personalized guidance. I have had two 40+ clients give birth to healthy babies in the last three months after being told they were unlikely to conceive naturally and carry to term. My program participants have normalized their blood sugar and lipids, seen their TSH improve, lost weight without feeling like they were dieting, and improved their symptoms of PCOS, rheumatoid arthritis, IBS, and much more.

My specialty is the intersection where nutrition/lifestyle recommendations and behaviors intersect. There is so much health information (and myths), in 2024 but not enough context, clarity and action. I help my clients to prioritize and act on the most essential wellness habits that will influence their best health and energy. We work together with their health care team, risk factors, lifestyle, and preferences to promote lasting change. To be healthier, you don’t have to do everything, you have to do more than what you are currently doing, and I can show people the way to make that achievable. My goal is to make health happy and stress-free.

The thing that makes me the happiest is when a client sends me an email or text and tells me how much they are still doing, even years after our sessions. I was taught in supervision that consistency is our best clinical tool and I am so happy when clients will reach out after years to tell me that they are still doing the habits that we have worked on together.

By the way, I married that guy in the taxicab and we’ve been together for 21 years.

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

While university, supervision, and continuing education is essential to how I work, I think what has made me successful is my rapport with clients.

When my kids were younger and prior to going to grad school I worked as a mentor in a gap year program for young women. I spent two days a week meeting with young women and talking about their goals, the character traits they wanted to develop, and their strengths. I realized how powerful mentoring and coaching was but I also learned how to connect and listen.

As a clinical nutritionist my sensitivity to my clients is one of my most essentials skills. People often come to me after receiving a diagnosis that scares them into action. They may be coming to me to deal with a weight issue that makes them feel ashamed. They may be dealing with habits that they are embarrassed to own up to. They may come talking about the food choices they made the last week, knowing it isn’t in line with their goals, and I am there always without judgement.

There is nothing that a client can say that surprises or shocks me and I have an immense amount of respect for my clients. They are all intelligent people seeking support and guidance. From sharing about disordered eating behaviors, to childhood trauma that comes up when discussing eating patterns, to the stress and emotions that can hijack a person’s best intentions for their health I am always fully present with my clients to listen and help them move forward with their health. It is easy to make a nutrition plan and put together a list of supplements and lifestyle recommendations, but it takes sensitivity and listening to truly understand what a client is able to do without stress so they will be able to maintain it and build on their good choices.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When my husband and I married I had thought that being a mom and working a bit on the side would be satisfying. My main goal was to be a 21st century version of Jean Cleaver. I did that for many years. Fresh cookies on the counter after school. Zoo and park trips weekly. Play date supervisor extraordinaire. Three course dinners. I remember a friend walked into my house one day when all my kids were under the age of 10 and she saw the dinner I was preparing. “Do you always make such elaborate meals?,” she queried. Of course I did. Growing up, my family had a sit-down dinner almost every night of the week. A salad to start, a main course, and dessert. Then when my fourth son was a toddler, I knew that I had to do more. I was itching inside and wanted to feel like myself. A dear friend, who is a guiding mentor and part of my front row fan club to this day, took me out to lunch. She was older than me and had gone back to school for her PhD in her late forties. She encouraged me to go back to school and got me thinking about what I wanted for myself outside of my family life.

I had grown up with a mother who had put family front and center and, given our adoption and how well adjusted my brother and I were in the years that followed our adoption, I had subconsciously felt there was no way to “do it all” as a mom. I thought a mom made her kids the center and was happy to do her own things on the side. I thought a dad did the main work outside of the house. My mom had worked part-time all of my childhood, but the house was run by her. The home, dinner, and our schedules and needs came first. I had a lot of gratitude for the normal upbringing my brother and I had had, considering that not every adoption story turns out that well. I felt that we had turned out well because of my parent’s respective roles and I thought that I would be taking from my kids if I wasn’t available to be fully present.

My friend reminded me of my academic ambitions that I had put on hold and pushed me to apply to school. I am so grateful because now when I look back at those years of grad school, I see how much it gave my kids. There were days when it was overwhelming. I remember one day studying chemistry for 8 hours. My kids left for school, after I had packed their lunches, and said goodbye as I sat and studied. I was in the same spot studying the same subject when they got home. I cried and felt immense frustration with every equation that didn’t’ work out. My kids saw that, but they also saw me pass that course and move on to the next one. We lived in a small apartment at the time, so all of my studying took place front and center at the dining room table. I love that my kids saw that it’s okay to work hard for your goals and be stressed and manage that stress. Too often we work hard and manage stress for jobs that we don’t love or things that we just have to do. I ‘m so happy that my kids got a front row seat to my growth and expansion. I see that it has influenced them to be ambitious in their studies and what they choose as they are moving on to the next stages of their life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nomiknows.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nomiknowsnutrition/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nomiknowshealth/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nomiknowsnutrition/

Image Credits
Shoshana Frend