Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharissa Bradley.
Sharissa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My education is in Psychology. My childhood was very difficult and I always thought that I was meant to help children like myself, in similar situations. My mother got sick when I was really young and I thought I was meant to save the kids. I went to school for 10 years, I got my master’s degree in developmental psychology. I was offered a university teaching position before I even graduated. I was so excited to finally have a career. Then, I got sick, very sick. Now, I was the mom I went to school to protect children from. I couldn’t get out of bed, I was too tired to play with my small children who had no idea what was wrong with me. It was then, I learned, that my true calling was to make sure there were no sick moms. I was wrong all along, I needed to go to the source and fix the moms so we never had sad kids! I leaned heavily on my research degree and learned as much as I could to heal myself of 4 autoimmune diseases. Once I felt well enough to help other people I started learning how to coach the sick and help make them well. This is my calling and my passion. It comes from years of pain that has pushed me to help heal as many people as I possibly can with my time here on earth. I now run a nutrition practice where I guide people through my program and help them get back to the life they love. I am so passionate about helping people because I desperately wanted someone to help me. Now that I am well enough, I am spreading my knowledge as far and wide as I possibly can. I am a teacher by trade and a nutritionist out of sheer love.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Going from always being an employee to being self-employed has many challenges.
There are many people in my life who expect me to fail so they can remind me how hard life is. I have had to build a new tribe of supportive and collaborative people in order to keep hope that I can continue to play this game. I love what I do and I love helping people but I certainly get down about the logistics of it all. I have a great support system now and I am staying true to my path. It has been an amazing road with tons of bumps but all of those bumps have taught me extremely valuable lessons and for that I am grateful.
Please tell us about Independence Through Nutrition.
My company is called Independence Through Nutrition, I am a behavioral nutritionist and owner of the company.
In short, I help people who are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired get their motivation and their life back. I am a runner, I have been a competitive runner since I was 10 years old. It is in my blood, but getting sick took that away from me. I felt like I was being robbed of my passion and part of my persona. I identified with that piece of my life so strongly that when I am not running I do not feel whole. This is the type of thing I help with. All I want is for every single person, I have the pleasure of helping, gets to have their life back, their passions back and feel like a complete person again. I strongly believe that we do not have to give in, roll over and give up. I believe with the right help and motivation we can all be the best versions of ourselves. Even if you do not know what that means. I will help find it.
I specialize in helping people who are truly ready to feel their absolute best. I realize that is a scary concept, as most of us don’t have any idea what that looks like. That is the most exciting part…we get to find out together!
What sets me apart from everyone else is my personal experiences. I grew up with a very sick mother, I have an incredible formal education all about the human mind and body as well as personally healing myself. I also had the incredible opportunity to heal my own mom in my late 20’s. She is now living an incredible life on the beach with energy and joy. I want to change the way the world sees food and medicine. I am most proud of my unwavering passion to help as many people as I can.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I wouldn’t change a thing. I have learned some hard lessons and probably the hardest way, but it got me to where I am now and I am very happy with the results. I am pleased with where I am and where I am going. Starting a business is a tricky thing but it is magical when it all comes together.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.droffood.com
- Phone: 760-468-3512
- Email: droffood@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @droffood
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/independencethroughnutrition
Image Credit:
Lacey Connolly
Brooke McDougal
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