Behind the name Siena Fertility + Wellness

When I set out to change the status quo of my life back in 2014 and go back to school to learn about nutrition, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was a young mom of a 1 year old and renting a house in Seattle with my husband who had just recently surpassed me in income. I didn't make enough money to live in Seattle, so we were just barely getting by. Why does a woman in this situation decide to go do something that will put her in debt and risk the good things she has going for her? Well, I wanted to live out God's purpose for my life and I knew what I was doing was not it.

I wanted to live out God's purpose for my life and I knew what I was doing was not it.

Before I left my job, I had told my former boss that my dream job would be to teach couples Fertility Awareness or Natural Family Planning. When I finally got the guts to let her know I was leaving my job, it became possible for me to attend the training of my choosing. I was planning to build my nutrition business and hopefully someday learn to teach NFP, but that day was basically handed to me. Thanks, God! Thanks benefactor!

Photo credit: Katie Kolbrick Photography

At the beginning of 2016, 6 months after graduating as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I figured I should start a business. I did all the legal paperwork to make this happen and I was official on paper. Beyond that, I had no clue and I was paralyzed with anxiety thinking I had nothing to offer in the world of social media and nutrition. I read somewhere that you shouldn't go back to school or start a business the same year you have a baby. That was sound advice. I did not listen to that advice. That year I gave birth to my second baby and started a program to become a FertilityCare™ Practitioner. The result was more discouragement and anxiety about my business. Some was postpartum depression and anxiety and some was just the fear that most entrepreneurs have of being lost in a sea of people who are out there making it happen. Either way, the combination was almost too much to bear and my own anxiety kept me from progressing for about a year.

The first name I chose for this business in 2016 was Healing Generation. It seemed to rhyme with every other nutrition business out there, so I figured, this works, I'll grow into it. That was the problem, I had no idea how to grow into this name. I couldn't grow into a name that in no way represented me and my mission. This one issue had me struggling until I finished my FertilityCare™ Practitioner program. You have to know what drives you in order for it to drive you! Enter the name Siena Fertility + Wellness.

Speak the truth in a million voices, it is silence that kills - St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena has long been a patroness of mine. She inspired me with her ability to influence the early church and convince the Pope to do the right thing. She was on fire for love of Christ and gave every ounce of her energy to making sure people knew they were loved and that they mattered. She constantly gave of herself to help the poor and sick and had a mystical marriage to Jesus. I had to name my business after a woman who sought to help Christ's church and help others discover their God-given abilities. The name Siena refers to the city in Italy, which I have been to and also love, so whichever way people want to interpret the name is fine by me.

Many couples come to me just to work on fertility. This can be desperately trying to avoid pregnancy or desperately trying to become pregnant. I teach couples and single women Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System to both avoid and achieve pregnancy and monitor their health. I also offer a nutrition program for optimizing fertility, which is called Feed Your Fertile Body™, it was developed by Sarah Russell, NTP, CGP, PhD. For couples who are looking for a more individualized approach to fertility, I help them chart their cycle using Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System.

I work with clients on optimizing their health to deal with any issue they are facing. Some just want to be in good shape, some want to address a health condition that is affecting their life. Some people who are so lost in their particular health issue, they don't know where to turn and they hear about NaProTECHNOLOGY™ and come to me to learn Creighton Model to figure out what is going on. In teaching Feed Your Fertile Body™, Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System and teaching about nutrition, my mission is to help people achieve optimal wellness.

Here we are. St. Catherine of Siena is my inspiration and I am in the business of helping women and helping couples to achieve optimal health. I know, for many reasons that have become obvious to me, that I am doing exactly what God wants me to be doing. I am so excited to be here to help and serve you.

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