My Journey

It’s taken me a while to pinpoint the exact moment that brought me down the path to where I am today. There have been so many hesitations and bumps in the road that I’ve encountered over the years but I believe that everything happens for a reason and I am so happy to know that I made it to where I am truly meant to be!

So we'll go back to 2013 when I found out my grandma was having triple bypass surgery. My grandma and I were very close growing up. She was my best friend. We would go out shopping together, call each other when it was storming out so we could watch the lightning together, she taught me how to knit, and her hugs were my favorite. I was devastated when I found out that she wasn't going to make it after all the complications she went through following the surgery. I knew right then and there that this all could have been prevented. 

My grandma was overweight for most of my younger years and even though she lost weight before her surgery, I knew that she was having this surgery due to the consequences of her obesity. Once I got over the initial grief of losing my best friend, I promised myself that I was going to do everything I could to try and help myself and other family members prevent this from happening. 

During this time I was a junior in high school in the prime of choosing what I wanted to do for a career. I contemplated nutrition but I didn’t want to deal with the dreaded chemistry and biology classes I knew were down the road. So instead, I chose teaching because I love children and always wanted to be a teacher. 

Although I decided that nutrition was not the career for me. I still wanted to educate myself on topics within the field. So I chose to write all of my essays on the red meat industry, agriculture, and more. I also watched numerous netflix documentaries on topics within nutrition and started experimenting with healthier recipes. 

Fast forward to my junior year of college. I'm in the midst of entering the teaching program at the university I was attending but something was just not sitting right with me. I was really at a loss with what I truly wanted to do with my life. I wanted to do something that was going to be impactful, something that would help to make a difference in this world and although teaching fulfilled these goals, I didn't feel the drive that I did when I wrote about nutrition and environmentalism. 

So we were back to square one. I’m sure my parents wanted to kill me at this point because I was already so far into my teaching degree it would be impossible to graduate within a year if I switched my degree to nutrition. Even though I was so driven by nutrition and health and it was a burning passion of mine that just stood lit within my soul for years, I knew that I couldn't graduate with a B.S. in nutrition. I had already put in so much time and money into my teaching degree, I couldn’t just let it all go to waste. 

I ended up graduating with a B.A. in English Literature which was a path that mostly all of my credits from my teaching degree could transfer over to. I did find a passion for writing and ended up getting an internship with a publishing house but there were not many jobs available fresh out of college in the thick of Covid. Which, I mean, I personally think was a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to start Subtle Unity. 

I decided to share my passion on instagram because I wanted to help inspire people to live a healthier lifestyle. I shared recipes, did my own research to find healthy ingredients to swap with other ingredients, shared workouts, etc. I loved joining the community of health micro influencers! After a while of contemplation, I decided that I wanted to make my own business and truly help my own clients to live life to its ultimate potential with nutrition and fitness. I wanted to understand the nitty gritty of nutrition, how certain foods effect different part of our body, how to help clients who may veer off track, etc. However, this wasnt going to be an easy task. 

After weeks of research, I knew that what I wanted to do required a degree in nutrition (sigh). I didn't want to have to start from square one and get another bachelor's degree. I just wanted to accomplish this degree as fast as I could so that I could get on to what i've truly been wanting to do for years. I came across a couple courses I could take but I wanted others to take me seriously. I didn't want to have a certification in nutrition, I wanted a degree with professional education. That's when I came across the University of New England. They accepted me into their masters nutrition program with my previous degree and I could accomplish the program within two years. Two years? That’s nothing! I was so thrilled to start this new chapter and get into a field I believe I was truly meant for. 

Fast forward to today. I feel prepared and even more inspired to help my clients. I just received my degree and I am already looking into more courses I can take to stay on track with this ever changing field. I have made it to where I am meant to be and I wholeheartedly can’t wait to help inspire and educate others on ways to heal, replenish and nourish the body through healthy eating and lifestyle changes. I’ve created this website to not only get my practice out there but to help educate you all through blog posts that I hope will help to inspire others. I can't wait to see where this all leads but for now this has been such a journey so far and I am so happy to tell my younger self that we truly made it! 

Until next time, 

Amanda