I’m inspired to change the way women experience healing. I imagine a world where food is medicine & functional lab testing is the standard.
Since I was a teenager, I have struggled with persistent acne. Over the years, I tried everything — restrictive diets, monthly facials, dermatologists, prescriptions, every skincare product imaginable. Nothing healed my acne for the long term; at best, treatments worked for a short period before the acne came back every time. It was the biggest pain point in my life — isolating, and it stripped me of my confidence.
I was always convinced that my acne was being triggered by something deeper in my body, because nothing else was working. That suspicion led me to explore functional medicine.
After connecting with other functional practitioners, I took a blood chemistry course to learn what it looks like for the body to function at optimal capacity, and how different patterns in lab work can present physically — one of those presentations being acne.
I started Waterside Nutrition with a focus on longevity and using food as medicine. But my own struggles with acne inspired me to pivot, so I could help women just like me who had lost hope that clear skin was possible. Now, we apply those same functional medicine principles to acne — healing it through a combination of acne-safe skincare, nutrition, and lifestyle recommendations based on each woman’s unique acne patterns, revealed through functional lab work.
When I’m not working...
I love to spend time outside in the sun. My favorite spot is on the beach, with my chair close enough to where the tide can touch my feet, and a good book in hand. If I'm not at the beach, you can find me at home cuddled up on the couch with my kitties.
I’m always up for...
Cooking a new recipe, playing pickleball, or trying out a new restaurant with friends.
I can't live without...
Jesus, my cats, my closest friends, good food, and sunshine.
Through my teenage years and undergraduate years, I struggled with acne, rosacea, and chronic inflammation. I was the heaviest I had ever been. I was also on birth control, and various prescriptions from my dermatologist to heal my acne. I didn’t care about what I put on my face or in my body.
I ditched the prescriptions and birth control. I switched to all “non toxic” skin care. I was getting monthly facials & chemical peels. I realized later this was just destroying my skin barrier and causing more inflammation in my skin. I was eating super “clean” eating all high quality, organic foods 90% of the time. My acne was still getting worse.
The wellness community encouraged me to cut diary, gluten & eggs from my diet to heal my acne, so thats what I did. Also, all of this time I had been rotating through different skin care products for acne prone skin. Lastly, I was working with a local functional practitioner (who did not specialize in acne) on “detoxing” and it made me feel terrible and my skin was the worst it had ever been.
At the end of 2024, I completed a blood chemistry course that taught me how to identify red flags and patterns of dysfunction in lab work. This training allowed me to uncover the unique patterns triggering my acne and create a personalized plan to clear my skin — combining nutrition and lifestyle support with science-backed, acne-safe skincare.
Believe it or not, even though I had the education and capability to be my own practitioner, I still struggled with my acne. It wasn’t until I reached out for support from a fellow functional practitioner who also specializes in acne that I was finally able to heal. It wasn’t a lack of capability — it was that I was too emotionally attached to my own case. The right strategy, combined with the right support, is what made healing possible.