Today we’d like to introduce you to Francesca Heinz Marino.
Hi Francesca, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I don’t know if you can relate to this but there was a point in my life where I realllyyy struggled with my body image and what it meant to be “healthy.” When I was 15 I got a call that my Nonna, my best friend, had passed away… my body trembled as I knew my life would never be the same without her. She was too young to be gone.
They told me it was due to her diabetes, which is often caused by an inactive lifestyle and being overweight, so I was led to believe that if I remained overweight I would die young, too. The next summer, I was sent off to a weight loss camp for kids. Yep, fat camp. It was the hardest yet most rewarding summer of my life, I shed Sweat & Tears daily. I didn’t care that my asthma was so bad I could barely breathe, I saw great results and weight fell off my body with every mile I ran. I spent the next five years of my life obsessed with unhealthy fad diets and taking phentermine which is an intense pharmaceutical medication that curbed my appetite completely. I looked skinny enough so I thought I was healthy. When I was 20 I got a call that my mamma was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, 2 weeks later my dad was diagnosed with leukemia. My whole world shook as I contemplated losing both of my parents at the same time. It made no sense to me how two seemingly healthy (aka fit) individuals could get CANCER. While they were in and out of doctors’ appointments, chemo and radiation, I stayed home to care for my 3 younger siblings. I then had the opportunity to go with my mom to The Optimum Health Institute, a holistic healing center and experience how a raw alkaline diet could CURE the incurable.
I’ll never forget this one tiny lady whose skin all over her body was red and peeling off of her share her story. She was desperate for healing and it dawned on me in that moment that skinny does NOT equal healthy. I had it all wrong, what about the health of my organs? My blood cells? That’s when I had an awakening to what true health is. I spent one month at this center doing their program learning about food as medicine and how to get rid of all the toxins in our daily products and life. I witnessed miraculous healing from people who were told they had only three months left to live. BOTH my mom & dad included, they are healthy and cancer-free today! It was truly life-changing. Since then, I have been devoted to living a balanced, healthy life. As a certified Holistic Nutritionist, fusing Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, I launched my business The Well n’ Wild to help others stay healthy so they never get to the point of cancer. I’ve continued to see miraculous healing through alkalized living water, herbs, and food as medicine. If you are struggling with gut health, hormone health, your weight, or maybe just want to detoxify to stay clean I am here to serve you.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The path I have taken is indeed “the road less traveled” – and maybe for good reason. It looks luxurious, I get to travel around the world while running a business online and hosting in-person international wellness retreats – but it comes with countless hours on the computer, doing admin work, marketing, emails, logistics, and accounting. I wear ten hats. I have been through many highs & lows, and lessons – not failures, but lessons. My business has shape -shifted tremendously over the years and it’s been a challenge top create consistency. Voyage LA first interviewed me five years ago when I was doing business under the name of Sì Sono, my first shot as an entrepreneur selling lava stone mala beads to the yoga community. The hardest part about starting your own business is that there is no “roadmap to success” its trial and error. Somedays I wanna give up and just go the easy route of having set hours to work and a set income but then I remember that, for me, my mission here on this planet is bigger. Its to be of service and it is to impact the world in a positive way – changing the lives of many wild ones and empowering them with the tools to show up as their highest selves on a daily basis.
We’ve been impressed with The Well n’ Wild, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Francesca is a Laguna Beach-based nutritionist, herbalist, and women’s wellness educator whose teachings emanate from her extensive education in holistic healing, Ayurveda, herbal medicine, cooking, and nutrition. Her work has gained global attention for its integrative guidance on health and wellness. Frankie’s approach merges the practical and spiritual, educating and empowering individuals to take preventative steps and make lasting changes.
Currently, she runs live online programs to help people feel more empowered, healthy, and strong. The “Hormone Harmony” program has gained notable attention from women because it teaches them a roadmap of how to live in sync with their menstrual cycles. This is a step-by-step guide of what foods to eat, what workouts to do, and what lifestyle tips “match” with what phase of your cycle you are in. It teaches women how we are not meant to live within the 24-hour time construct but rather our bodies go through different seasons every 28 days and if we can better understand and support those seasons we will create a life where we do less and get more done, avoiding burnout ever again.
The following program is an Ayurvedic Cleanse – ancient Ayurvedic principles suggest people to do a cleanse at least once a season. Francesca takes these principles to a whole new level by fusing ancient teachings with a modern approach, making it practical and supportive for you living in the 21st century. It’s actually more important than ever before to cleanse regularly due to the hidden toxins and chemicals in the foods we eat, the air we breathe, and products we use. Which is where REWILD Retreats comes into play.
Yep, these epic retreats give people the opportunity to ReWild their life and return back to nature by teaching people how to create a more holistic life that doesn’t consist of hidden chemicals and toxins in everything. Students develop a daily yoga practice and morning ritual to take home with them, they learn how to craft their own home care products and learn about basic herbs to introduce into their medicine cabinet. All the while – traveling in epic locations around the world and creating a strong community.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
One way or another, I was always destined to work in the food industry. My family just didn’t think it would be for heath and healing; we have a long history here as my great great great grandfather is HJ Heinz who founded The Heinz Company. Yep, like the ketchup. Honestly, this is something that I may or may not be that proud of today because let’s be real – The Heinz Company Has grown to be a worldwide corporation and I am not super confident in saying that its practices have remained pure. Heinz revolutionized the food industry by inventing a way to preserve food so that citizens would have vegetables for the winter, truly revolutionary in 1869. Well, that all got taken way to far by 2023 and I will say that I am not a supporter or large food corporations who sell “preserved” aka processed foods today. I support small batch, local, and organic produce that has the health of our earths soil first in mind because this directly affects the health of our gut microbiomes and overall being. I have spent countless hours trying to shift some of the large-scale practices that Heinz uses today but my family no longer has control of the company in that way. The last of it was sold from our hands in 2013. SO IT IS INDEED TIME FOR A NEW LEGACY TO BE BORN: One that honors creating whole, organic, and unprocessed foods, provides access to clean and healthy water, and implements regenerative practices for the earth. How to do this? Well, it all starts in each and every citizen’s home. Through empowering the people. THAT is what The Well n’ Wilds mission is, to return to the simple way.
Pricing:
- REWILD International Retreats are around $2,500 with higher + lower packages
- Hormone Harmony Program is $750
- The Well n’ Wild Ayurvedic Cleanse is $250
Contact Info:
- Website: www.francescaheinzmarino.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewellnwild/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewellnwildculture
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/francescaheinz
