This past weekend was a biggie.
The attendance for Functional Nutrition 101 was phenomenal, we received loads of great feedback, and we had lots of fun answering questions on the Holistic Nutrition Lab Facebook Page the following day!

(It’s clearly a smart tribe that’s raised their hands to learn more about functional nutrition.)

While we’ve made the recording of the seminar available for you in case you missed it, we wanted to invite you to a special encore presentation that we’ll be hosting this Thursday night.
The extra special thing about this encore presentation is that I’m going to hop on the phone, live, to answer your questions immediately after the call.

I’M SO EXCITED TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU!

Don’t miss this opportunity to consider how the guiding principles of functional medicine apply to your successes in your practice. . .

Functional Nutrition 101 Encore Presentation

Thursday, February 27th at 5pm PT / 8pm ET
Join the seminar by phone or webcast. . .
dial-in number (425) 440-5100
access code: 842566#
or

CLICK HERE FOR THE WEBCAST

And don’t forget to grab your Done-4-You Intake Form!

I also want to take a moment to introduce you to my lead nutritionists at Replenish. You may have met them over at the Facebook Q&A after the seminar or the following day.
Our nutrition team is growing and this week you’ll meet two women to watch!
These ladies are awesome. They started out just like me and you (each with a different path, as you’ll see), and they’ve taken great initiative to shift their mindset and amplify their skills and knowledge to best serve the clients we bring into Replenish each and every day. It’s sink or swim over here, and I like to teach nutritionists to swim, no matter the health challenge that walks in the door!
There’s another reason I want to introduce you to these superstars: You’ll spend time with them in the Digestive Intensive Study Hall and on the Digestive Intensive Message Board, where you’ll quickly learn to love and respect them as I do.
Without further ado. . .

Meet Megan Liebmann, Replenish Lead Nutritionist

Megan LiebmannHello to all!!
My name is Megan and I’m a certified holistic health counselor practicing within the functional nutrition model at Replenish PDX. I live in Portland, Oregon with the love of my life and our sweet 2-1/2 year-old son, Oskar.
I’d love to give you a glimpse into how I found myself as Andrea’s right-hand girl. Sometimes I can hardly believe it myself!
All my life I’ve considered myself extremely fortunate. Not so much in the ways of finances or even life circumstances, but more in the ways of people. I have been graced with some of the best people in the world and Andrea Nakayama is one of them.
I found my way to Andrea through a couple of mutual friends. I had recently moved to Portland after graduating from the Evergreen State College in Olympia. My studies at Evergreen were, to say the least, all over the place. I found my passion in studying herbal medicine and alternative ways of healing, but I had no idea how to put that passion into action or practice.
Arriving in Portland, I found myself working in various restaurants and bars, but I was also looking to continue down the path of health and wellness. I love working with people, and I knew I wanted more than serving toast and whiskey.
It was after about a year of living in Portland that the pivotal connection to Andrea was made. I was sharing my dream of working with people on their nutrition with those mutual friends when they both suggested I meet Andrea.
Now, I have a tendency to be shy and somewhat timid, especially when meeting people for the first time. But this meeting was different. I knew nothing about Andrea, except that she had worked wonders on our friend’s daughter’s severe eczema, via a healing diet, and that she was busy flying back and forth to NYC for a nutrition program.
When I was welcomed into Andrea’s house, I knew immediately that she was special. We sipped tea and talked about the future of nutrition as she guided me in what schooling I should pursue. That was the premise of our meeting, I had asked for her advice on my next steps. Andrea shared the story of her husband Isamu’s illness and death with me with so much strength, courage and candor, and at that moment I knew full well that this woman was going to change the face of healthcare as well as my life, forever.
It was in that first interaction that I decided that I would do anything to learn from Andrea. I offered to babysit her son Gilbert in exchange for her wisdom and guidance. I didn’t want to be paid by this single mama working to change the world. I just wanted to soak up a fraction of what she knew.
I took my job seriously. I was showing up for Andrea and proving myself worthy of her tutelage, but more than anything, I was showing up for myself. Every minute I spent was worth its weight in gold.
Within a few months of my dedication and continued support, Andrea asked me to be her assistant. She was almost finished with IIN, had completed one other nutrition certification at that time, and yet already had a more-than-full client load. Something she was doing was working! She was teaching her Sweet Tooth, Bitter Truth and Fat or Fiction classes to small groups of about 20 individuals in her home, and I was lucky enough to sit-in on each class she hosted. I would literally hang on every word as I frantically took notes. (I still do the same in each of her classes.) There was so much to learn and I didn’t want to miss a thing!
As Replenish grew, the hours I was needed grew as well. And I was so thankful. Although I was (at first) shipping supplements and running around making copies, I was still learning. I didn’t care what I did, as long as I could keep learning!
Meanwhile something else was also growing. . . in my belly. I told Andrea the news that I was to have a baby in the coming months!
I was still working at two different restaurants ~ both bar-tending and serving breakfast ~ as well as working as Andrea’s assistant. It was a lot, but it was my work for Andrea that fueled me; that’s what I looked forward to each day. I had plans of going back to working as a server/bartender once my baby was born, but as you may know, having a baby has a real tendency to change your entire world.
I didn’t want to go back to serving in that way. I wanted to work one-on-one with people and serve something much bigger. I wanted to help people take back their precious health like I was witnessing Andrea do in her counseling practice. I was watching the accolades pour in for her work and I wanted some of that. I wanted to empower people to sit in the driver’s seat of their own healthcare and learn to dig for the root cause of what was ailing them.
That’s when I went to Andrea and let her in on my dream.
It was Andrea that decided it was the perfect time for me to make the leap and take initiative. Once again she took me under her wing and started teaching me at an even deeper level. She would have weekly meetings with me, coaching me on how to best build a bridge to clients, learn to determine and meet them where they are in their healing journey, while also giving me the ins and outs of our anatomy and physiology and the clinical side of her practice. All the while I was back in school, obtaining my own health coaching credentials. I was making my dream come true.
In all my education, (and it has expanded since that first leap to include more functional nutrition, more herbal therapies and a deep exploration into working with individuals through pregnancy, childbirth, nursing and the early years of life), it was Andrea that gave me tools to effectively illuminate and communicate with clients about “what’s going on in there.” Lucky for me she started to hand me select clients ~ first a few and then what felt like buckets at a time! When she offered Holistic Nutrition Lab Digestive Intensive everything fell further into place for me. It was with that course that I began taking our clients to the next level. . . I actually had confidence and wasn’t just making my dream come true, but living it. I was making a difference in people’s lives, truly serving their needs.
I’ve now officially been working for Andrea for five years. I’ve certainly watched Replenish and Andrea’s outreach grow, and I’ve been a part of it every step of the way. But when I look back at my investment and all I’ve put into those five years, I can hardly believe my growth, both personally and professionally. I’ve gone from serving toast and whiskey to being a part of a movement to change the face of healthcare. How exciting is that?
Andrea has been such a gift in my life. She has a unique knack, not just for teaching, but for seeing the potential in each person whose life she touches and helping to bring that to the fore. She never gives up ~ on a health condition or a person. She has helped me dig deep within myself, to find courage that I never knew I had, and to access what she calls “my unique genius”. It is because of Andrea and Replenish that my dream to help people come into their healing potential is a reality on a daily basis.
I’m eager for this new year of the Digestive Intensive, and to both learn from Andrea and stand by her side as we help you realize your unique genius and your dreams.

GOT QUESTIONS FOR MEGAN?

Head over to the HNL Facebook Page and post them beneath her picture!

GOT QUESTIONS FOR ME (ANDREA)?

Join me on Thursday night after the FN101 Encore for a live Q&A.

GOT QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DIGESTIVE INTENSIVE

Check out the sneak peak video inside DI over at Holistic Nutrition Lab!

I’ll send you a reminder on Thursday about the Functional Nutrition 101 Encore. (In that email reminder I’ll be pleased to introduce you to another woman to watch.) And I’ll see you after the Encore for some live Q&A. Woohooo!
In the meantime, mark your calendar for Thursday night’s Encore (5pm PT / 8pm ET followed by Q&A), and enjoy tomorrow’s Clinical Quickie!
Warmly,

By:

Functional Nutrition Alliance provides the comprehensive online Functional Nutrition training in the Science & Art of the Functional Nutrition practice. Learn to address the roots of your clients’ suffering with client education, diet & lifestyle modifications.