Jessica Milner graduated from ACHS with a Master of Science in Holistic Nutrition. She runs her own business, Life Glorious Life, and also works at a holistic health practice in New Jersey.
Holistic health makes a difference
Jessica first became interested in holistic nutrition when she and her husband were having fertility issues. "I was a walking pharmacy for years. All the things that could be wrong were going wrong," she says. "I was hearing things from doctors like 'Oh, it doesn’t matter what you eat. You can eat whatever you want' and I thought that was strange."
Despite the confusing advice from doctors, Jessica began to take a closer look at what she and her husband were eating. The first thing they removed from their diet was high fructose corn syrup. "We started to pay more and more attention to things like that," she says.
Some time later, Jessica and her husband were on their fifth round of IVF when they decided to also do some acupuncture. "I don’t know that acupuncture works, but I can tell you that acupuncture works, by my two daughters from that pregnancy," she says. "It fixed me up so well that I also have two sons that were conceived naturally." Because of the health improvements from the acupuncture and the diet changes, Jessica became more interested in holistic health.
Pictured: Jessica with her family
Choosing a college
While pregnant, Jessica began researching holistic ways to raise her children. "I knew I wanted to go into something in the holistic realm to get a Master's degree, but wasn’t really sure what," she says. In the end, Jessica ended up choosing holistic nutrition because it best aligned with her previous culinary degree.
Once she decided to get a Master's degree, Jessica began to search for schools online. "I started reading about accreditation and wanted to choose a school that was actually going to give me some credentials that were decent," she says. In the end, she chose the Master of Science in Holistic Nutrition at ACHS.
Natural Health Improvement Center
"When I started at ACHS, I really just wanted to do an online blog and online nutrition program and wasn’t really interested in working in a clinical setting," Jessica says. Then she went to visit the Natural Health Improvement Center (NHIC) while she was pregnant with her fourth child. "I went to see my now-colleague who is the lead practitioner," she says.
The visit completely changed Jessica's mind. "I didn’t know what to expect, but I’ll tell you when I left there, I was so blown away and called everyone and said 'This is what I’m going to do. This is how I’m going to practice nutrition,'" she says. Jessica started training at the center while studying at ACHS and is now a staff member.
At NHIC, the practitioners use Nutrition Response Testing. The website explains how this type of testing works: "Through an analysis of your body’s reflexes, we help you to determine the exact nutrients you need to supplement your diet in order to bring about balance and better health." "It’s pretty amazing, pretty accurate testing so I’ve been doing now for a couple of years is training for that and working there," Jessica says.
Pictured: Jessica working with a client at the Natural Health Improvement Center
Life Glorious Life
Life Glorious Life started as a nutrition blog while Jessica was in college at ACHS, but has evolved since then. "I don’t really blog too much any more but on the site I do offer my energy work," she says. Jessica is a Certified Emotion Code Practitioner. "I identify and help release emotions that have become trapped and lodged in people’s bodies," she says. She is also working on taking some courses so that she can offer dream interpretation.
Jessica was already offering sessions online before the pandemic began so she was well prepared to continue doing so. She explains how she does energy work with clients online through video software: "I make space in my energy to pull in some of their energy. It makes me tired and it makes me very hungry, but it works very well and it’s very rewarding to hear that the clients are doing so much better after a couple of sessions."
Pictured: Jessica working with clients at the Natural Health Improvement Center.
Advice for entrepreneurs
Starting your own business can feel daunting. As a business owner, Jessica has some advice to help:
"You kind of just have to jump off the ledge and find your wings on the way down. There’s never really going to be a right time, so to speak. I would recommend getting yourself out there, even before you open your business. Introduce yourself to other holistic practitioners in the area. That’s who you’re going to network with. Don’t look at everybody else as competition, look at them as your allies."
Jessica also emphasizes the importance of working on yourself even as you are working on your business:
"Don’t forget to work on yourself too. It’s really easy to focus on your patients and helping them get well and ignore yourself. You need to practice what you preach and be the example, because you’re going to attract the type of person that you are. If I'm not staying on my own program, then I'm going to attract people that just stop doing their program."
Looking forward
Soon, Jessica will be making a life change and moving with her family from New Jersey to Northern Idaho. "I will be opening my own practice out there," she says. I will be doing the same thing that I’m doing here, but I'm going to combine the Natural Health Improvement Center work with what I do through Life Glorious Life so it’ll all just be one thing. I’m really excited about it."
You can follow along with Jessica's journey on her Life Glorious Life Facebook page here and with her NHIC Facebook page here.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I am the social media & PR specialist for the American College of Healthcare Sciences, the Institution that publishes this blog. However, all opinions are my own. This blog may contain affiliate links. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent disease. This article has not been reviewed by the FDA. Always consult with your primary care physician or naturopathic doctor before making any significant changes to your health and wellness routine.
About American College of Healthcare Sciences
American College, founded in 1978, is a fully online accredited institute of higher education specializing in holistic health. Based in Portland, OR; our goal is to make research-driven and science-based holistic health education taught by industry-leading experts accessible to anyone anywhere while still giving students a hands-on experiential learning experience like a traditional college and a strong sense of community, school pride and student bond.
This commitment to our students and graduates reflects in our current survey results that reflect 98% of our students would recommend ACHS to a friend or family member.
We believe education is the most powerful tool for changing an individual and the world around us.
When a person enrolls as ACHS, it is vitally important that they graduate with tools they need to forge their own holistic and sustainable missions, build up their communities confidently and changing the face of healthcare with knowledge.
