Meet Melissa Pearson of Balance with Melissa in Santa Barbara

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Pearson.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
While I was getting my nutrition certification a few years ago I came across a startling realization. As a 28 years old woman I had very limited knowledge about my body, my menstrual cycle, hormones in general and what the birth control pill I’d been on for over a decade was actually doing to my body. I decided to delve into hours of personal research on how to get off the pill, heal my body, and balance my hormones naturally. I found that with each new book I read and each new online article I searched I was becoming increasingly interested in learning how hormones play a roll in the female body and every aspect of her health. As well as how the pill was negatively affecting my digestive system, liver health and mental health among other things. I was able to successfully quit the pill and naturally balance my hormones using food, herbs and lifestyle practices, with to my delight, almost no side effects or negative symptoms. My body bounced back quickly and I was delighted at how amazing I felt functioning on my own natural hormones.

I began talking to my friends and other women and was learning that I was not alone when it came to lacking body literacy. Many other woman my age, older and younger, were showing interest when I would talk about the pill and hormone balance. Menstrual health is something women don’t often feel comfortable talking about and I loved being able to provide a safe and comfortable place to spread knowledge and listen to their stories. I became so passionate about talking to and helping women navigate their hormone and menstrual health that I decided to focus my nutrition business on strictly women’s hormonal health. I took hormone specific certification courses and got my hands on all the books and other sources of knowledge I possibly could find. A fire was lite and a passion was born. Today my focus is on building my client base, sharing education through my social media outlets as well as my two ‘do it yourself’ programs that I spent months building and encompass everything my business stands for. I am also actively looking to collaborate with other holistic health professionals to create workshops and events in the area.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of growing up to be a teacher, entrepreneur and business owner weren’t even in my vocabulary. So when this passion was born to help as many woman as I possibly could on their hormone balance journey, I learned real quickly just what a bumpy road I had ahead of me. I had no background in business and chose to hire two business coaches to help me on my journey to business owner. Over the last year, I’ve experienced many ups and downs just like all entrepreneurs experience.

Some days I’ll feel on top of the world; people are showing interest in what I have to say, I have clients buying my programs, social media blowing up, the creative juices flowing. Other days no one will show up to my event, my potential client cancels and I haven’t seen income from my online programs in over a week. But I am learning the up and down rollercoaster is all part of the process and whats important more than anything is getting up every time I fall down, learning from my failures and mistakes, dusting my pants off and getting right back at it!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Balance with Melissa is a holistic nutrition based coaching business. Rather than relying on pills and fad diets I use nutrition, herbs and lifestyle changes (stress management, exercise, sleep) to help women balance hormones and ease negative symptoms that are associated with imbalance. When female sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone as well as stress hormones like cortisol are thrown out of balance due to poor diet, lack of physical activity, environment or illness a whole number of symptoms can arise. Some of these include PMS, menstrual cramps, adrenal fatigue, infertility, heavy periods, acne, headaches, estrogen dominance, weight gain, foggy head, anxiety and more. My goal as a coach is to get a peak into your health history, current diet and lifestyle, your concerns and goals so that I can create a one of a kind tailored just for you plan that will help you heal your body and find vibrant health. If someone is interested in hormone health but not ready to commit to one on one coaching I also offer two online programs, one is a liver reboot and hormone reset and the other is a program designed to help women connect to their menstrual cycle and have symptom free periods.

One of my favorite parts about my business is the education aspect. There is so much misinformation out there and so many of us grow up with high school sex ed being the only place we learn about our bodies. I love teaching women about how amazing the female body is, all it can do and how important a heathy menstrual cycle is to the rest of your health. I love when women get excited to learn more, their eyes light up at the prospect of being armed with valuable information they have been missing their whole lives. I find it important to inform women on what hormones are and how their bodies work. As well as educate them on the side effects of using synthetic hormones in the pill and provide alternative birth control options such as the fertility awareness method. I am also a Beautycounter consultant and use their mission to educate women on the dangers of the unregulated beauty industry we have here in the U.S, how toxins in our personal care products disrupt our endocrine system, as well as offer recommendations to help them make the switch to safer, hormone friendly skincare and cosmetics.

As women, I find it very important we are armed with knowledge and resources to be able to make educated choices about what is best for us and our bodies. We need to take our power back, the power to make choices for our own bodies and health rather then slap a bandaid on it and call it a day. It’s my goal to make Balance with Melissa your ally and friend when it comes to education and support on all things hormone and menstrual health.

What were you like growing up?
As a kid you could usually find me in 2 places, my play kitchen cooking up imaginary meals or in front of my mini blackboard teaching my stuffed animals and dolls how to do math. I’ve always had two main passions in my life- food and education. Growing up I went back and forth a lot about what I wanted to be when I was an adult; Chef, nutritionist, elementary school teacher. I ended up going to school to become an early childhood educator. But I never lost my love for nutrition and all things health. This passion was so strong that years later I decided to finally study nutrition and receive my certification. The best part about creating Balance with Melissa is that it encompasses my two biggest passions that stuck with me ever since I was a kid. I am a nutritionist and a teacher. I think 5 year old Melissa would be pretty proud of where we are today 🙂

Contact Info:

• Website: www.balance-with-melissa.com
• Email: melissa.pearson101@gmail.com
• Instagram: balancewithmelissa
• Facebook: balancewithmelissa

Image Credit:
Vanessa Hansen

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