Business Talk
Welcome to Business Talk, where we dive deep into the stories behind the businesses that shape our communities. We bring you conversations with inspiring entrepreneurs who share their journeys, challenges, and the unique value they bring to their customers.
In this podcast, we explore the passion and vision behind successful businesses, uncovering the secrets to their success and learning about the innovative products and services they offer. Whether you're a fellow entrepreneur looking for insights or simply curious about the businesses in your area, this podcast is your go-to source for inspiration and practical advice.
So, sit back, relax, and join us as we explore the dynamic world of business, one story at a time."
Business Talk
Female Patients Over 35—Cortisol Imbalances, Sleep Disruption, and Cascading Health Effects
Ever wonder why you feel terrible even when your doctor says your test results are "normal"? In this eye-opening conversation with Michelle, owner of Footsteps to Wellness, we explore the gap between traditional medical approaches and true wellness optimization.
Michelle shares her fascinating 20-year evolution from massage therapist to board-certified nurse practitioner, driven by her passion for addressing root causes rather than symptoms. Her practice philosophy centers on a radical concept: listening to what patients are experiencing rather than focusing solely on numerical ranges from lab tests.
We dive deep into the often-misunderstood world of hormone therapy for both men and women. Michelle explains how even patients with "normal" testosterone levels can experience significant symptoms, and how women suffering through perimenopause often find little help from conventional medicine. She reveals alarming patterns she's seeing in female patients over 35—cortisol imbalances, sleep disruption, and cascading health effects including high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and weight gain.
The conversation offers practical wisdom too. Michelle shares her foundational advice for weight management: proper hydration with plain water, adequate protein intake, and the critical importance of 7+ hours of deep, restorative sleep. She explains the fascinating connection between sleep deprivation, elevated cortisol, and those unstoppable cravings for salty and sugary foods that sabotage weight loss efforts.
Ready to redefine your relationship with healthcare? Discover how Footsteps to Wellness is transforming medicine from "sick care" to true "healthcare and wellness." Whether you're struggling with unexplained symptoms, weight management challenges, or simply want to optimize your health, this conversation will change how you think about your wellbeing. Connect with Michelle for a free consultation and take your first step toward genuine wellness today.
Welcome back everyone to Business Talk, the show, where we dive into the industries that keep our world moving. I'm your host, dda, and in today's episode I'll be speaking with Ms Michelle. She's a nurse practitioner and she owns a company called Footsteps to Wellness. How you doing, michelle?
Speaker 2:I'm great, DDA. Thank you so much for the invitation. How are you I?
Speaker 1:am doing awesome. Thanks for asking as well. So, listeners, each episode, we sit down with experts such as Michelle, innovators, business owners to uncover the real stories and insider knowledge. Plus, we will discuss some important topics as it relates to their industry. If you enjoy this content and want to hear more, be sure to hit the subscribe and like button. So, with that being said, we're gonna dive right in. We're gonna go ahead and talk to Ms Michelle her background. Go ahead, michelle.
Speaker 2:All right, so my background I've been in the medical field for over 20 years. I started out actually as a massage therapist. Then I went to LPN school. I got my associate's degree, became a registered nurse, continued on and got my bachelor's degree and got my master's degree and now I'm a board certified family nurse practitioner.
Speaker 1:Well, congratulations. And I know you said you started off as a massage therapist. Yes, why did you choose going down that road in the beginning? And then it led you to? You know all the different services that we'll talk about briefly in this episode.
Speaker 2:I was more interested in a natural way of healthcare, and massage therapy was a way at the time to do that. It helps people to relieve stress and, as we know, so many chronic illnesses evolve from chronic stress. So that was an avenue that I took at the time to help clients with stress management, also to help with chronic issues that they had or chronic shoulder pain recovering from motor vehicle accidents.
Speaker 1:Very interesting. So there's, like you mentioned, the word chronic is prevalent among all the different services, you know, in one shape form or another, correct?
Speaker 2:Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1:And you know, when I was looking at your website, ms Michelle, it kind of shares. You know you offer so many different services, from weight loss to functional medicine, to peptide therapy, vitamin therapy, sexual wellness, hormone therapy. There's just so much that you offer. Of all the services that you kind of offer, what is a couple of those that really stand out? You're smiling. I'm sure there's some top of mind right.
Speaker 2:It's hard to say. There isn't particularly one service that stands out. The most popular services I can say are hormone replacement therapy, weight loss and functional medicine. Take care of my clients. So we start off with a what I call is functional wellness. So initially we uncover the root cause of a person's health concern and then, depending on what that is and their goals of care and mine as well depends on what the treatment would be. So I don't prescribe general mainstream medication.
Speaker 2:I prescribe more of a lifestyle medicine and treatments that help to optimize a person's health usually in an area that they may be deficient in, and that's usually with the services that you had mentioned earlier. So whether it be weight loss, a way to help them prevent and reverse disease or manage chronic health conditions that way, or be peptide therapy or hormone therapy, so when it comes to weight loss, you know I'm sure there are people out there that are everybody is trying to lose weight in some form or fashion.
Speaker 1:Is that that could be a correct statement, right?
Speaker 2:Sure absolutely.
Speaker 1:So, with that being said, is there kind of any type of advice, like things that they can do ahead of time, prior to you know, maybe, and then, of course, speaking with you as a professional, you make sure they're on the right track. Is there anything that, any kind of tips, you can give our listeners?
Speaker 2:uh, generally speaking, um, hydration is key. So making sure that you're drinking enough water and that's not the water in diet soda or coffee or tea, that is plain water. Making sure that you prioritize sleep and make sure that you're prioritizing having enough protein in your diet those are mainstays anyway, but outside of a consultation with myself, those are things that I would recommend.
Speaker 1:Interesting. And when you talk about sleep, you know we always hear that sleep is so important and getting a minimum of eight hours. How does that relate to weight loss?
Speaker 2:Not only weight loss but weight management. So not only just eight hours of sleep, but at least seven hours of deep, restorative sleep. That's when your body restores itself Over time. When you're not getting deep, restorative sleep, or under chronic stress, and your body repairs itself during the sleep cycle. So if you're not getting proper sleep, adequate sleep, it can increase your cortisol level.
Speaker 1:When your cortisol levels are increased.
Speaker 2:You generally have more cravings for salty foods, sugary foods, which can lend itself to weight gain.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's well stated, Very good information. And let's kind of jump over to hormone therapy. Can you kind of share a little bit about what that looks like in your world?
Speaker 2:share a little bit about what that looks like in your world. So I see men and women, both for hormone replacement and hormone optimization. So a lot of my clients will see their primary care provider. For example, a male will get testosterone testing, where they're only testing one portion of the panel and their levels may be in range. However, they still have symptoms. So where I come in is I help to optimize a man's health and wellness, even though they still may be in the normal range, but they're probably closer to the lower range. So everyone is not just a number or a range. I pay more attention to what my clients tell me and their symptoms.
Speaker 1:I pay more attention to what my clients tell me and their symptoms. And then I guess, from a woman's, point of view.
Speaker 2:Can you elaborate or go a little bit into that as well? Absolutely so. Some women will come in and they may not be menopausal meaning that they're still having periods but they have symptoms that we would call in the perimenopausal phase that are very similar to menopause and they are just miserable. So they may be having weight gain, they may be having irregular periods, they may be having brain fog, their mood is just off, they don't feel like themselves or they have low libido where it's affecting their life. In mainstream medicine there isn't a pill for perimenopause, so I can help a woman alleviate those symptoms so that she can live the best life that she can live, even though she's not menopausal.
Speaker 1:That's great information. Ms Michelle, you know there are listeners here that are wanting to kind of get an idea of maybe you have a story or can share. Don't mention their name, of course, but can you share maybe a patient story? That just was an aha moment, not only for the patient but for you as well.
Speaker 2:Oh, so many, so many.
Speaker 1:Just pick out one.
Speaker 2:For example, for females. I find that over the past I would say since January or so I'm getting more and more females roughly in the ages of 35 and up wanting to get their hormones checked. They're getting more informed that the way they're feeling. They're not getting answers from their primary care doctor and they're looking for answers. They're becoming more educated and they want more of a wellness approach and finding out what is the root cause as to why they feel the way they do. What I'm seeing a lot is women having a lot of cortisol imbalances. They're not getting restorative sleep. They're working, they're taking care of their families and their bodies are not responding. They are not having healthy libido, so they're suffering in their romantic relationships. They're suffering in their health. Their blood pressure is getting higher, they're having insulin resistance, their weight is getting higher, and it's more and more and more of this that I'm seeing over and over again, with different faces, slightly different stories, but same underlying problems.
Speaker 1:Wow, that is a lot, and it seems like there's so much that goes to hormone replacement therapy, correct?
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely, and I was looking at your website and I take this away from it Footsteps to Wellness is redefining medicine, moving from sick care to healthcare and wellness, and I love that because it kind of puts everything into perspective of the services that you provide for your patients. Well, michelle, ms Michelle, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to share with our listeners about your service and how you're helping your patients. You know, see the light at the end of the tunnel, if you might say, and hopefully we can have you back on again in the near future. Before of the tunnel, if you might say and hopefully we can have you back on again in the near future. Before we do that, would you mind providing your phone number as well as a website for our listeners to get a hold of you?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Our phone number is 352-388-7075. We are located in Claremont, Florida, and we do offer a complimentary consultation with myself. It can be done in the office or it can be done virtually, and you can book a free consultation at FootstepToWellnesscom. We're also social. We're on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, again, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with our listeners and hopefully we can have you back again in the near future.
Speaker 2:My pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 1:You're very welcome. Thank you for tuning in to First Media Consulting Podcast. If you enjoyed the podcast, subscribe today To nominate a business you would like to recommend to be on our show. Go to firstmediaconsultingcom or call. Thank you for listening.