Today we’d like to introduce you to Kiana Reedy.
Hi Kiana, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a first generation multi-passionate entrepreneur and Registered Nurse. I act, model, work as a Nurse, create content, and have my own Holistic Health Coaching business. Since I was young I knew I wanted to be a performer–I wanted to be a “star”. When I was in middle school I was scouted for acting and my grandparents were nervous about me getting into the industry so I didn’t pursue the opportunity any further. In high school I took a couple drama classes but really spent most of my time in sports and science classes. I contemplated pursuing acting after high school but I think I wanted to play it safe so I went with Nursing. I got a scholarship for lacrosse to a school in Nebraska and I had an opportunity to get my Nursing degree in 4 years there as opposed to staying in California and being put on 2 year long waitlists for Nursing programs. While I was in nursing school I got really depressed as I felt that I wasn’t truly helping patients HEAL. I felt like I was providing care and medications that provided symptom treatment but didn’t address the root cause of their illness. More than halfway through the program I sat down with one of my professors admitting to her that I wanted to drop out and maybe just purse my childhood dream of acting. She encouraged me to stick it out and finish strong as I was doing well grade and performance wise. I decided that I would finish Nursing school and I made a promise to myself that if I got through it, I would then pursue my dreams of acting. I graduated in 2021, got my license in 2022, and in 2023 I got my first RN job and first acting gig.
2023 was a monumental year for me as I got out of a toxic 8 year long on and off relationship. I didn’t recognize myself physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually so I decided to go all in on my health. Through trial and error I lost over 30 lbs that year physically but I’d say I lost probably 100lbs of spiritual weight. It was during this time of investing in my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health that I took the leap to get my headshots taken and enrolled myself in a Transformative Nurse Coach program where the main focus was lifestyle medicine. At this same time, I got my first acting gig–I received a text message to my phone requesting an audition within 30 minutes and I was able to do it. I sent the audition and was booked for the gig the next day. This truly was a testimony to the work I had been doing on myself internally because I attracted this gig straight to me. At this time, I also fell in love. I had never loved anyone like this besides my ex and it just felt so aligned. I also started the Nurse Coach program and it absolutely transformed my life. “You can only take your client as deep as you’ve gone yourself”, this was something we were taught in the program and because of this I dove into releasing fears, doubts, and people that no longer served me along with developing new healthy habits. I coached some of my peers and some of my peers coached me. It was a huge spiritual awakening for me and really reignited my passion for Nursing and helping others heal. At this same time I got a modeling gig and continued landing acting gigs.
Spring 2024 I was in the best physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health of my life. I felt so aligned and decided to start my own business called; Elevate Divinely. My business is a holistic health coaching business where I help individuals grow and heal in a natural way and also to help people figure out what it is that they truly want to do with their life. Finding my truth makes me want to help others find theirs. I believe each and every one of us is capable of achieving our greatest health and dreams and I want to help people get there. I want to remind people that lifestyle medicine is some of the greatest medicine there is and that each and every one of us are our own best healers. Nobody knows your body like you do and therefore building the connection you have to your intuition and to what your body is trying to communicate to you makes a world of a difference in your ability to make good health and life decisions. I want to help make this world a more beautiful, peaceful, creative, and loving place. I also want to continue to grow my skills as an actress, model, and performer. I LOVE self expression and I don’t think I would have achieved the success I have in any of my careers if I didn’t start with my own health & wellness. Today, I am regularly acting, modeling, working as a Nurse, and growing my business. I’m also doing my best to juggle all my careers while showing up for myself, as well as, my family. My family means everything to me. They are a big motivating factor for me to continue showing up as the best version of myself I can be. In one sense, I feel like I’ve gone through so much to get to where I am today and in another sense I feel like I’m just getting started. Very excited for the future and loving every moment of this journey. There’s no “bad”, as it all fuels growth and healing. “There’s no failing, only learning”.
Another quote that has stuck with me is this, “in order to have what only 1% of people have, you must be willing to do what 99% of people aren’t”.
I spend most of my time focused on my careers, my health, or my family. I don’t go out on the weekends anymore and it’s not to say I think it’s a bad thing…I just have asked myself “does this support my goals?” when being out and the answer was no. I could go even deeper into my journey and how I got to where I am today but I think this gives a little summary of my backstory. Thanks for taking the time to read a little about me, I hope you found inspiration or insight at this glimpse in my story.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think most of my journey has been anything but a smooth road. I am very blessed to say the least and thank God every day for this beautiful life I live but I didn’t get to where I am now without experiencing quite a lot of trauma. Growing up, I was constantly back and forth between my Mom, my Dad, and my Grandparents (my Dad’s parents) as there was nasty custody battles for years of my childhood. I was an accident and my parents weren’t together when I was born. My Dad & my Dad’s side of the family didn’t know about me until my mom showed up to their doorstep after I was already a couple years old. I experienced mental, emotional, and physical abuse by family members and non family members. I was constantly put right in the middle of the hate my parents had for one another. I am grateful that I got to grow up with my grandparents and have stability with them but this also meant that I didn’t get to closely grow up with my 6 siblings. I’m the only child from my Dad. The constant custody battle came to a head when I was 13 and I made the decision that I wanted to stay living with my grandparents. I experienced a lot of emotional, mental, and physical abuse because of this decision. I hurt people’s feelings by making this decision and speaking my truth. I lost my relationship with my mom because of this decision, who before this was my best friend. My Dad wasn’t super present in my life either so it was really my Grandparents who raised me and got me through high school and college. Looking back, I realize I developed abandonment wounds from the lack of presence of my mother and father which did lead me into a toxic relationship full of once again…emotional, mental, and physical abuse.
I’ll start by saying that it takes two people to be in a toxic relationship and that nothing I say is to put fault on anyone, I am simply sharing some of my experiences and take accountability for who I was in this relationship and the part I had in its toxicity.
I had self worth issues that kept me in a relationship where I didn’t feel like I was properly being loved or maybe I stayed because toxicity and challenge was comfortable to me. During this relationship I did get pregnant and ultimately made the decision to not have the baby. I didn’t believe myself and a child would have stability and security within this relationship and I didn’t want to repeat history and cause a child to grow up with parents who hated each other and cause that child deep trauma. To be very honest, I also made this decision because I didn’t want to be tied down, I wanted to be free and still figure out what it was that I wanted in life. I knew deep down that I had big dreams and I wasn’t living a life that was going to get me there. This relationship ended up pretty nasty but the growth I experienced during and after was incredible. I’m grateful for the years I got to spend loving and being loved by this man and while we didn’t make it work I will be forever thankful for the amazing memories and lessons that came from it. After this relationship, I did spend quite some time alone and then attracted another man into my life who did end up breaking my heart. We fell in love and it was amazing until differences in spirituality came up and there was an inability to accept views other than ones that were already there. Not only that, but once again there was an avoidant attachment on his behalf and an anxious attachment on mine. I realized at this point that my abandonment wound was still attracting the same type of emotionally unavailable man with just a different face. After many nights of crying myself to sleep questioning, “am I not good enough?” and “why can’t I have a man who lights my soul up but also loves me properly?” I chose to focus on loving myself and healing. I am still a work in progress and I would be lying if I said I still didn’t have moments where a part of me wants to go back to an icky
situation or settle for someone just because it’s “comfortable” and “what I know”. I do understand that the further I go into my healing and self love journey the easier moving on gets…so every day I continue focusing on what I can control and becoming a better version of myself. Affirmations, meditating, yoga, journaling, and prayer all really help me to refocus on my healing and self love. My relationship with God is really what has gotten me through the hardest seasons of my life. Losing both my Great Grandma (who was my favorite person on this earth) and Dad during this romantic relationship stuff in 2024 also played a huge factor in the wounds that came up and the feeling of loss. Still navigating everything but having a solid health & wellness foundation has helped me greatly along with my relationship with God.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m currently focused on building a strong foundation in every area of my life. I am working as a Nurse, acting, modeling, & providing holistic health coaching services within my business. I specialize in gut health and women’s health. I emphasize the importance of good gut health & how it directly impacts all other areas of our health—weight loss, sleep, metabolism, memory, mood, athletic performance, skin, & so much more. I also coach on the importance of understanding your menstrual cycle as a women—our hormones as women differ greatly from men & there are certain weeks of the month where we are designed by nature to accomplish different things. Not every week is the same & there is only one week out of the month where our estrogen is at its peak. Alternatively men wake up with peak testosterone every morning. Obviously there are variables that affect this such as age, sleep, BMI, metabolism, etc but this is a very general statistic to both men and women.
What are you most proud of and what sets you apart from others?
I am most proud of going after my dreams no matter what obstacles I’ve run into—my resilience and applying it to all my careers. Overall I’m proud of just going after what I want. Most people don’t give themselves permission to be their authentic self and really ask for what they want but I do.
I believe what sets me apart from others is my holistic approach in every aspect of life. I’m not just focused on physical health or mental health but rather all areas of health—emotional, spiritual, financial, environmental, social, etc.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is having peace and feeling absolutely fulfilled. It’s waking up excited to be alive and going to sleep at night feeling accomplished. Success is having your internal world be so beautiful that your external world matches that beauty. It’s looking at my loved ones knowing I have positively impacted them. Success is looking at myself in the mirror and being proud of not only what I see but what I feel. It’s having the time freedom to travel and explore beautiful places with beautiful people. Success is inspiring others to heal, grow, and elevate into the person they dream of being just with my presence alone. It’s being able to do what I want, when I want, and how I want.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/balancedbykiana
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kianaforever/
https://www.instagram.com/elevatedivinely_ - Other: https://kianareedy.my.canva.site/my-model-portfolio-website
Image Credits
Mark Allen
