the story of Tough Love Wellness

        I grew up in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., living the typical fast-food-heavy lifestyle of an American teenager. I didn’t think about the effects of what I ate or how I lived—health just wasn’t a priority growing up. After moving to Georgia in 2008 during the economic downturn, I began facing my own gut health struggles and frustrations with the mainstream medical system, which only made things worse.

In 2010, I became a licensed massage therapist after graduating from the Academy of Somatic Healing Arts (ASHA) in Atlanta, GA, a school that specialized in neuromuscular and sports therapy and was truly ahead of its time.

In 2011, I started working with a neurological chiropractor who taught me more about my body than any specialists had. During this same time, I worked at Atlanta Colonic & Massage, where I was introduced to bioenergetic practices and learned about leaky gut syndrome, candida overgrowth, and parasite cleanses. These discoveries completely transformed my health and set the foundation for my approach to wellness.

In 2012, I briefly worked with 3B Scientific, a company that manufactures anatomical models like you see in hospitals and medical schools. With 3B I had the opportunity to attend a business trip to a massage conference in California. There I was introduced to cupping therapy, and it completely changed my life. I became certified in contemporary cupping the same year, and by 2013, I had founded Tough Love Wellness, offering cupping therapy to clients recovering from injuries like mastectomies and car accidents. This is where I discovered my passion for post-op care and scar tissue treatment.

In 2016, I moved to Florida and initially specialized in orthopedic injury repair, particularly rotator cuff injuries. By 2018, I was feeling burnt out, working unsustainable hours at a chain spa while trying to adapt to the seasonal nature of Southwest Florida. Around this time, I had already been using CBD and understood its benefits, which led me to explore becoming a doctor-patient liaison through networking with medical cannabis doctors. My goal was to advocate for patients and the therapeutic use of CBD. This experience reinforced my commitment to incorporating CBD into my practice, and endocannabinoid education has since become a vital part of my work.

In 2020, when "essential worker" became a part of our everyday vocabulary, I began focusing more on medical massage. By 2022, I became certified in Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) through the Academy of Lymphatic Studies (ACOLS) and started building relationships with surgeons, working closely with post-op patients, and gaining experience in hospice care.

In 2023, I was introduced to PEMF therapy through the Healy device and attended a frequency therapy conference in Orlando. There, I met Doc Steve, a long-time practitioner of frequency therapy, and Dr. Carolyn McMakin, the author of The Resonance Effect and developer of Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) therapy. Her approach to using frequency to treat conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic pain resonated deeply with me and aligned with my vision for wellness.

Later that same year, I became seriously ill due to mold exposure in the place where I was living. This health crisis was a wake-up call and pushed me to dive deeper into the impact of mold on the body. It inspired me to write my first book on mycotoxins, which I released in 2024. While I had been informally health coaching for over a decade, this experience drove me to officially launch the wellness consulting side of my practice online, focusing on mold toxicity, gut health, and chronic illness recovery.

At Tough Love Wellness, I’ve taken my own health tribulations and turned them into triumphs, using my journey to help others heal. With a background in MLD, cupping therapy, PEMF, and other holistic modalities, my goal is to offer personalized care that gets real, long-term results. Whether you're recovering from surgery, managing chronic illness, or dealing with stress-related issues, I’m here to support you on your path to better health and well-being.