Mia started her journey to health in 1998 when after years of feeling tired, bloated, overweight, and constantly sick, she decided there must be a better way.  She spent the next five years experimenting with diets, food, exercise, and educating herself on everything nutrition related that she could get her hands on.  In 2003, she discovered that a diet of mostly raw plant foods made her feel fantastic.  This inspired her desire to help others feel fantastic too.  This eventually led her to New York City later that year and to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where she spent a year taking classes and getting certified as a Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor. 

In New York, Mia also become pregnant with her son, Mattingly (yes, after Don), now 7.  Becoming pregnant and being a mom taught her about the critical importance of food for a healthy body and mind.  She understands how incredibly hard and rewarding it is to be a parent, and that nurtured and healthy parents are essential for happy and healthy kids.  And now that Mattingly is older, she is enjoying growing a garden with his help and watching his eyes sparkle at understanding the link between planting seeds in the ground and harvesting healthy food to eat.

Before becoming a food lover/activist and nutrition coach, Mia had several other careers.  She graduated with a BA in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University.  She went on to become a front desk supervisor and hospitality trainer for Marriott Hotels in Los Angeles and San Francisco.  She then attended law school at the University of San Francisco, and practiced maritime law on and off for eight years.  It was during her lawyer years that she realized that her passion was to help people feel great through good nutrition.  She also worked as a real estate broker in the crazy real estate market of San Francisco for two years.  Her years as a litigator and real estate broker taught her how working in a stressful career can make it difficult to make healthy eating choices.  She learned some of her most effective simple and healthy eating and exercising tricks during long stints of 12-14 hour work days.  She understands the demands and stresses of being a parent and a busy professional and how that affects overall health.

Mia is also passionate about the quality of the food we eat.  And when she says food, she means whole foods (vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, seaweeds, grains, beans, animal proteins, and dairy).  She believes that the food we eat is only as nutritious as the soil in which it is grown and that organic farming practices are essential for harvesting food that will provide humans (and animals) with the necessary nutrients we need to thrive.  Buying organic food from the health food store is the first step.  Even better is supporting local organic farmers at farmers' markets and local farm stands.  And the best is growing your own food in whatever space you have available.  She thinks there is little more magical than watching your garden grow from seed to edible bounty and sharing this joy with others.

In the past few years, Mia has focused her education on spiritual and emotional growth.  She has discovered that everything meaningful happens in our relationship with God/Source/Creator/Universe/Spririt and between people.  And that nurturing those relationships are as incredibly important as our relationship with self.  This study has opened Mia up to the infinite well of divine feminine wisdom and energy that exists in each of us.