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

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

Right NOW, is a defining moment in my professional career. After 20+ years in clinical research, I’m pivoting to health and nutrition coaching full time. I’ve personally experienced how coaching can transform an individual’s health in ways that science takes decades to prove. My own health journey began when we came to the USA and started eating the standard American diet (ironically, it stands for SAD) which led to me putting on extra weight, developing severe hormonal acne, experiencing excruciatingly painful periods, and pre-menstrual symptoms (PMS). This started during my teenage years, as I was trying to navigate life in a new country, learn new language, make new friends, and just do what typical teenagers do. However, the symptoms continued for decades, well into adulthood. As women, we often get labeled as hormonal, emotional or sensitive; and we accept it as the norm. However, deep inside I just knew that something didn’t seem right. My love of science led me to start researching, seeking answers and that is when I learned about integrative approach to health and nutrition. Since I spent all my professional career in the pharmaceutical world, to think that nature can provide what we need, was a moment that changed the trajectory of my career.

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

I’m a certified Integrative Nutrition and Health Coach and owner of the NourishedAlive LLC, providing personalized 1:1 health and nutrition coaching.  I help clients decipher nutrition information by making it applicable to their bio-individual needs. I guide my clients to a point where they can bear witness to their own healing power. In the Nourished program, we meet once a month for six months and focus on how different foods and lifestyle choices impact health.  We start with the basics, because often the smallest tweaks can spark a new habit that creates a compounding and lasting effect. In Nourished to Alive program, we meet twice a month for six months and incorporate the mindset work, specifically focusing on how to tap into your inner knowing that helps inform what nourishes and supports your wellbeing.  

Throughout my own health journey, I’ve learned that when something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t, and we have the power within to seek the answers that will heal us. When I started paying attention to what I ate, environments I was in, people I was surrounded by, and the effects that it had on my health; this was the key. As a result, my mission as a health coach is to guide clients to a point where they can bear witness to their own healing power. Somewhere along the way we lose the inner knowing and we stop trusting ourselves.  We start looking outward for answers, we develop unwanted symptoms and, in some cases, more severe chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, etc.  I do not offer another yo-yo diet, promote starvation, or share another market gimmick. Too much information leads to misinformation and causes confusion, and we seem to just keep piling on more hoping for some different results, even when it’s not working.  Many chronic diseases are reversable through food.  Understanding what’s on our plate and what surrounds it, like relationships, careers, spirituality, home environment, physical activity, etc. is important as each one impacts our wellbeing. This is integrative health and nutrition at its core and although it may be new for some, it’s very empowering to understand how each aspect is intertwined and connected. When a client attains their health goals and thanks me, I always tell them that if I did my job correctly, I was their best cheerleader and guide.  They did all the essential work making the food and lifestyle shifts. I simply showed them how to think about their daily habits differently, which allowed them to heal themselves. And this is why my clients are so successful in keeping unwanted weight off, having energy, improved focus, healthy relationships, and living a happy and healthy life.

I’m also a mom of two beautiful children, a wife, daughter, sister, friend, volunteer, community advocate and so much more as most women are too.

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

Other than training and the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years, what I found really matters in terms of succeeding in the health coaching field, has been recognizing that we’re all bio-individually different. What may work for one person may not work for you, and even what may have worked for you in the past, may not produce the same wanted results now. As a health coach, I’ve learned that it’s my role to create a safe space where clients can feel heard and understood, and to help them understand why these changes could be occurring and how to navigate through with nourishment vs punishment, which creates lasting results.

We all have unique ability and extraordinary capacity to heal ourselves, sometimes it just takes that one person to give you a nudge or believe in you, for you to discover a healthier and happier you. It’s my honor and life’s mission to work with highly motivated individuals who are determined to break the chains of depravation, starvation and finally start nourishing their souls, bodies and minds in a way that makes them feel alive. When a client recently said “you’ve given me my health back” it was the greatest motivator to keep coaching and reaching as many people as possible to empower them with this information, so that they can reclaim their health and thrive too.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I was born in Eastern Europe, in a beautiful country, Bosnia, that was shaken by a civil war in the 1990s, forcing us to flee as war refugees to safer ground. My parents and I arrived in the USA, not knowing the language or culture. I was just a young teenager, 15 years old back then. We felt scared, but we were hopeful, because we were given another chance. The resilience within us was palpable, although we didn’t know what to call it in English at that time. We first settled in a rural town in New Hampshire, and just a short while later, we moved to Boston, MA, where I started working at a hospital after graduating college. My passion for science and health became even more obvious. Upon graduating I was working on clinical trials that provide cutting-edge treatment for patients. I loved being on the front lines of clinical research. My role evolved and required me to travel across country and that’s when I first visited Sothern California. Each time I visited San Diego, my love for the city grew. San Diego’s beautiful beaches, the weather, people, culture, surfing, food, and especially how conducive it is to an active and healthy lifestyle really drew me in. I knew that one day I’d call San Diego my home. I was willing to be resilient again, so I moved 3000 miles away from Boston to San Diego to start a new chapter. Even now, as I embark on this new chapter, leaving a corporate career to help serve highly motivated individuals who’re ready to reclaim their health, I feel it requires resilience at another level. Nonetheless, I’ve learned that we’re here to evolve and continue to learn, and if we can reframe the way we think which coaches help us to do, we can even go from good to great. Ultimately, we’re here to live our best lives and we can do that when we’re healthy because then we’re truly unstoppable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nourished-alive.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vesnarysdale/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nourishedalive
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vesna-rysdale-300a282b/
• Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/9v1PM3TiKC8zJUwScCrtuw

Image Credits
Julie Kern