October 22, 2025 • 23 mins
Feeling stuck, exhausted, or brushed off by traditional healthcare?
Meet Dr. Nikki Helbling, a board-certified nurse practitioner, the powerhouse behind Nikki Helbling Wellness — where science meets soul.
🌻After years in conventional medicine, Nikki’s rewriting the rules of modern medicine with a root-cause, whole-person approach that helps women (and men) reignite their energy, balance their hormones, and finally feel like themselves again.
✨ Because you don’t need another “quick fix.” You need answers, alignment, and a partner who listens.
#CEOsYouShouldKnow #FunctionalMedicine #WomenInBusiness #WellnessLeadership #HealthRevolution #NikkiHelblingWellness #FunctionalMedicinePractitioner #PerimenopauseSupport #MenopauseSupport #HormoneBalance #MidlifeEnergy #RootCauseMedicine #GutHealth #MetabolicHealth #EmpoweredHealing #ThriveInMidlife
Ways to connect: Website: www.NikkiHelbling.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17BnRgHb3p/?mibextid=wwXIfrIG: https://www.instagram.com/nhwellness_?igsh=MTZ0N2xydGdwdHh5ZA==
Learn more at www.NikkiHelbling.com
Meet Dr. Nikki Helbling, a board-certified nurse practitioner, the powerhouse behind Nikki Helbling Wellness — where science meets soul.
🌻After years in conventional medicine, Nikki’s rewriting the rules of modern medicine with a root-cause, whole-person approach that helps women (and men) reignite their energy, balance their hormones, and finally feel like themselves again.
✨ Because you don’t need another “quick fix.” You need answers, alignment, and a partner who listens.
#CEOsYouShouldKnow #FunctionalMedicine #WomenInBusiness #WellnessLeadership #HealthRevolution #NikkiHelblingWellness #FunctionalMedicinePractitioner #PerimenopauseSupport #MenopauseSupport #HormoneBalance #MidlifeEnergy #RootCauseMedicine #GutHealth #MetabolicHealth #EmpoweredHealing #ThriveInMidlife
Ways to connect: Website: www.NikkiHelbling.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17BnRgHb3p/?mibextid=wwXIfrIG: https://www.instagram.com/nhwellness_?igsh=MTZ0N2xydGdwdHh5ZA==
Learn more at www.NikkiHelbling.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome in. This is the CEO's You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Hartwell. Let's say hello to Niki
Helbling of Nicki Helbling Wellness. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, thanks for having me so excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Tell us everything we need to know about your practice.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
So I'm Nicki Helbling Wellness. I created Nicki Heling Wellness
about a year ago. I opened my doors June of
twenty twenty four. I am a fully virtual practice at
the moment, so I'm able to see anybody in the
state of Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
So this is telemed tho.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It is all telimed. Yes, this is the new future
of medicine, right.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And what do you focus on?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
So I am a functional medicine practitioner. I'm a Board
certified nurse practitioner by trade, and then I got into
functional medicine to try to help women men, specifically working
with perimenopause women, trying to help them regain, you know,
back their spark in life, trying to empower them, you know.
(01:04):
And we take a look under the hood as far
as you know, checking hormones, metabolic health, gut health, really
encompassing all the different things and you.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Know, medicine has changed so much, so all those kind
of terms have really come into the forefront in the
last couple of years. And what made you focus on
those areas well?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I was working in conventional medicine and just realized, you
know how the focus of conventional medicine not to the
fault of any of the providers, because that is kind
of the instruction from insurances, you know, hospital systems. But
you know, we're just giving medications, We're just putting a
band aid on things, and we're not actually spending the time.
(01:48):
And most providers don't honestly, they don't have the time
to really try to spend time listening, getting to the
root cause of what is causing this issue, and instead
we're just putting a band aid on it and giving
another medication and you know, come back in a month
or three.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
All right, So what made you focus on that area though? What?
What do what in you? Let you know, what, let's
go back tell us about prior to developing your your practice,
what led you up to here?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
So you know, I became a nurse in two thousand
and five, and then after that, you know, I wanted
to do more, Right, I'm like a nurse. It's great,
but you know, I wanted to have even more you know, autonomy.
I wanted to be able to help patients even you know,
on a higher level and really try to make a
difference in their health. And you know, so I you know,
(02:41):
got my doctorate of nursing practice, became a nurse practitioner,
started working in the outpatient setting, and I quickly realized
how wrong I was that I had any control over
really helping people in the manner that I would like to.
You know, what do you mean by that the visits
were short? You know, I just felt like that I was,
(03:03):
you know, just trying to say hello and getting to
know the patient, and I'm getting a knock on a
door that my next patient was ready, and you know,
I just didn't get to spend the time with people,
you know, to really listen to what their concerns were,
you know, because you had these different metrics to you
know meet in order to you know, fulfill certain criteria.
(03:27):
And then I was also working in you know, the
ICU critical care, you know, so I certainly saw that
aspect of care, and you know, we can do really
anything to keep anybody alive, right, I mean, there. There's
every mortality out there, but you know, what kind of
(03:48):
quality of life are people really having? Let alone, do
they even know what they're getting into? So then I
started working in the outpatient setting in palliative medicine, which is,
you know, patients have developed these chronic diseases, they've reached
the point where you know, we're not really able to
reverse what's going on. And I'm essentially preparing these patients
(04:12):
for you know, hospice level care and end of life.
And you know, it's valuable work. The relationships I've built,
you know, the tears that I've cried, you know, I
wouldn't trade it. But I also realized, gosh, what if
we got to these people five, ten, fifteen years sooner,
spent time listening to what was going on, educating them
(04:35):
about their nutrition, educating them about exercise, educating them about
lifestyle changes and just different things that they could do,
you know, to improve their health and avoid any kind
of chronic disease. So that is where my passion came
from that I want to get to people sooner. I
(04:57):
want to let people know everybody still has a choice, right,
but I want to know that, you know, the only
way is not just another medication and you know, waiting
for time to happen. You know, there's an active role
you can play in changing the course of your of
your health and you know, really able to have longevity,
(05:19):
quality of life and just feeling good.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
And where can people find you?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
So you can? My website is www dot Nicki helpling
dot com. You can find me on Facebook with NH wellness,
just shortened up a little bit, and same thing with Instagram,
same thing NH wellness. You can email me again very simple,
Nikki at Nikki helbling dot com and I'm happy to
(05:48):
answer any questions. You know, you can shoot me a
message on Instagram or Facebook.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
You know, you talked a little bit about your experience
prior to creating your business and you didn't just get
your your degree, your doctorate, but you also had practical experience.
What kind of how did that practical experience help you
develop this business?
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Well, it's certainly taught me what I would want to
keep and what I would want to change.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Oh, what would you do? We'll tell us what would
you want to keep and what would you change?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
So, you know, interacting with patients, I love, you know,
I love getting to know people. I love being able
to listen to them. What I would change is the
amount of time that I spend with somebody. When I
do an initial intake with somebody, I spend sixty to
ninety minutes with somebody, you know, it's not five, ten,
fifteen minutes and onto the next. I mean, I get
(06:47):
to know people when I when I have a new patient,
come on, I say, Okay, you gotta really like me,
like we're going to be married for like the next
six months or so, you know, because I believe in
really create a trusting environment, you know, having someone that
you know they can be accountable to, and just really
creating you know, a relationship that makes somebody you know,
(07:14):
feel validated, empowered and important. And you know, the the
number of times that I've heard people say, you know, uh,
you know, they said, my labs are fine, there's there's
nothing wrong with me. It's all in my head, or
you're just aging, or this is just how it goes.
And I want to change that narrative, right. I want
(07:36):
to let people know that there is another way, you know,
you're you don't just have to listen to you know,
to that like I look at even somebody's simple blood
work that you get at the regular doctor. There are
different ways that I analyze labs because again in traditional
(07:57):
conventional medicine, you know, the lab normal values does not
mean optimal. Most people don't know this, but when you
go to get your lab work done, those ranges that
you see on the blood work, that's based on a
population average, right, So that's however many people go in
and get their blood work done and then you have
(08:19):
a bell curve. You've got the low, the normal, and
the high. That's how those values are figured out. That
doesn't mean optimal. So conventional doctors are trained to look
for disease. I look for imbalances. I look for signals
before the disease, and that is a huge key to
(08:41):
you know, overall wellness and health is catching something before
it really starts making more permanent like changes in our bodies.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
You know, it's funny you talked about the initial consultation
is about an hour. I've been with the same doctor
for the past twenty years. I don't think I've met
with him cumulatively an hour in those twenty years, and
you're right, it's just not enough time to really you know,
(09:12):
it's like, all right, how are you time for your
yearly physical? Any changes? No, okay, all right, we'll see
in it next year. And he doesn't ask if what
I'm feeling or what kind of changes, what kind of
diet in my having? You know, he looks at the
blood work. Yeah, it looks like you probably should you know.
(09:33):
He makes, you know, an offhanded suggestion, but really doesn't
dig into that, and that probably I should have been
going to you twelve fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
It's never too late. It's never too late.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And are you so focused on metopause? Obviously that's going
to be female, but you also see men as well.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
I do.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
I do.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I've had a lot of really wonderful successes with you know,
several male patients that I've had just this past six months,
and you know, removing joint pain, weight loss. I mean,
just what lights me up is when someone is able
(10:16):
to finally tell me I can't remember the last time
I felt this good, and someone getting their life back.
You know. I was just had a patient visit last
night and it was it was one of my male patients,
and he was telling me that, you know, even his
mood has dramatically improved, and you know, things that he's agreeable.
(10:36):
Now he would have grumpily just ignored and said, no,
I'm not doing that, and he's like now open minded
and now just just living a totally different life. I mean,
just giving somebody their life back and you know, giving
them joy that they necessarily didn't even know they lost, right,
like getting that back.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
When it comes to men, the the word hormones is
just kind of been a recent revelation. You know, my
dad's generation or my or my mother's you know, when
you talk about perimenopause, we didn't have that term. My
mother didn't know what part it was menopause, and the
doctor was like a shrug, all right, well, good luck.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
That attitude has changed. It has changed changing. It's not
not everybody is is educated as they should be about
those kind of portions of our life. And as we
get older, especially men, I'm going to you know, from
a male point of view, you know, having sex at
(11:39):
a later age is a good thing, and if there's issues,
it should be addressed when they're younger. Am I saying
things that are wrong?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
No, but it's again, it's never too late. Yeah, you know,
there's a lot of hormone replacement therapy with men, you know,
because it goes both sides, right. Women lose libido, men
lose libido. And in fact, in this age group of
you know, my perimenopausal women thirty five, you know, fifty
to sixty, that's like the highest rate of divorce because
(12:15):
women are changing, men are changing. Women are like, oh,
I don't really have you know, I don't want to
have sex with my husband, and you know, because they
don't feel well and they don't know why. And then
men are like, oh gosh, my wife doesn't want have
anything to do with me, you know. And that's literally
how it can start.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Let's focus on women in paramountum pause, the women that
come to you, what you talk walk me through the
whole process, you know, what happens when they call you
and contact you. You start with the consultation. What are
some questions that you ask.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Well, I asked them what their three main health goals
are and if they could wave a magic wand what
would what would they want? What would they want to
feel like? You know, so we definitely because I want
to focus on what's important to them, you know, and
then we start looking at the different symptoms that they're experiencing.
(13:14):
And then you know, I look at their medical history,
their current medications, if they've had any trauma. Trauma plays
a huge role in somebody's future health. It really does.
And you know, I I tell people all the time,
and you know, if they have passed traumas that they
(13:36):
have not worked through, they will never be able to
fully heal, you know, because that is part of releasing
those traumas that can really impact our overall health.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Can you give us some examples of traumas that people
should take care of.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Sure, anything like any kind of you know, from childhood,
you know, having you know, emotional issu choose. You know
a lot of people have suffered with like bullying, you know,
just being able to let those things go and really
let them move through you. Certainly there's obviously more you know,
(14:14):
higher level of abuse with you know, domestic violence, you
know those sorts of things.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
It could be divorce, even divorce.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Absolutely lost you know, loss of a family member. You know,
all of those things can present trauma, if you know,
because everybody's individual. So that's the other thing that you know,
I think is really important to talk about because every
single person is is an individual, right, we have different
eye colors. We have different personalities, we have different ways
that we process emotions. So why in conventional medicine could
(14:47):
we possibly expect to fix everybody with the same solution. Right,
So in my practice, I look at the individual. There
is nothing cookie cutter about what I do. I have
to individualize my care for every single patient because you know,
everybody is completely different and I can't possibly expect everybody
(15:09):
to heal the same way, or to resolve issues in
the same way, or take the same amount of time
to fix something as somebody else. You know, there are
even just the way people cope with something or with change.
You know. Some if I give people like you know, X,
Y and Z to change their diets, some people are like, yes,
no problem. And I have other people like whoa pump
(15:31):
the brakes? I cannot do all of that, you know,
and I got to go their pace, and that's fine.
I'm I'm happy to do that because they deserve individual care.
You know, we're not We're just not all of the same.
So you know the number of people that come to
me that you know just say, oh, you know, you're
(15:51):
just getting older or just eat less, move more. You know,
Oh you're fine, it's all in your head. Oh, your
labs are normal. Sorry. I just actually had another two
patients come to me. She was dealing with some GI issues.
Went to her GI doctor and the GI doctor said,
can't find anything wrong, just keep a positive attitude and
(16:13):
call me in a month.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Well, and that's real. I didn't make that up. And
hormones play a big part of that too.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Absolutely absolutely talk about that, so you know, it's everybody
will respond a little bit differently. We have people going
through perimenopause that feel everything like they can be standing
in a freezer and they're sweating, right, they can be
(16:42):
you know, waking up in the middle of the night sweating,
and they have other people that are actually cruising through
you know, but we do know that the depletion of
these hormones does have an effect on our brain health,
our bone health, our cardiovascular health. You know, cardiovascular health
(17:03):
is you know issues is still the number one cause
of death in women. So you know, I know there's
been like a lot of scary talk about, like with
breast cancer, but the science just doesn't support that. We
have so many women in menopause so they've stopped having
(17:25):
a cycle, their estrogen levels have as simply essentially depleted
and they're developing breast cancer, so it can't be estrogen.
So I mean, that's a whole other We can have
an entire other conversation just on on hormones, you know specifically.
But you know, again, like everybody responds differently when they're
(17:48):
when they're going through it, So you know, some people
still sleep, find other people are up all hours of
the night and they can't sleep. And that's also one
of the first things that I work on with everybody
is that you have to be sleeping, because that is
when we heal. If we are not sleeping, well, we
are not going to heal, we are not going to
improve anything. I used to be one of those people
(18:09):
where I was like, oh, yeah, I got this two
hours four to sleep, I'm golden, I'm good. And then
I learned, and then I learned all the negative things
that can happen to you when you don't sleep. So no,
I prioritize sleep.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I agree. I agree. When I get up, I get
up real early, and so I prioritize I have a
very strict routine at night. And so many people said, well,
it's just one night. It's like it's my routine. I
need to get seven or eight hours sleep because I
have to speak into a microphone and be understood and clear,
(18:44):
and the amount of sleep is vital. But so many
people neglect that part of their life.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
They do, they do. It's actually really it's really scary
to me. But having been somebody, So that's where I
feel like a lot of you know, passion comes from.
My business is that I've walked this walk, right, you know,
I'm I'm I'm in the thick of it. I'm a
perimenopausal women going through all the things, and you know, yeah,
(19:14):
I did wake up one day going Okay, where did
this twenty pounds around my ways come from? Right? Like
I mean, I just you know, like you just it happens.
So I can also relate to, you know, the people
that are coming to me and the struggles that they're having.
You know, same thing. Like I just said about sleep.
I used to not sleep and then you know, I
(19:34):
got some education and you know, just realize the value
of that. So I feel like I can relate to
the people that I work with.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Well, let's talk about weight loss, because I'm sure that
you you a lot of people that you talk to
are having issues with that.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
They absolutely are, and you know, it's comes down to
really helping women feel good in their skin. Okay, I'm
not going to promise everybody that they're going to go
back to looking like they did whenever they were in
high school or whatever they felt like they were their best. However,
(20:12):
it's it's all about making all of the other changes
that can actually allow them to look in the mirror
and like what they see and really becoming. You know,
we certainly do work on weight loss. It certainly does happen,
but it's more than that. Like I want women to
know that they're more than a number on the scale, right.
(20:34):
Health doesn't come from just the number on the scale.
There's a lot of different variables. And you know, I
can tell you that stress and these levels of stress
that we have, you know, I mean it's very different
than twenty thirty forty years ago of how you know,
(20:55):
women grew up right or you know, our stress levels
are through the roof between working and mothering and you
know those that are you know, married or have a
partner and you know, just trying to manage all the
things and juggle all of the things. And you know,
(21:17):
I feel like over over time. You know. Again, I'm
I'm speaking directly about women because I am one. But
you know, we've lost ourselves over time, right, and haven't
made ourselves a priority, and haven't made our self care priority.
And you know, just empowering women to let them know
that there is an answer. You know that you're feeling
(21:41):
this way. The symptoms that you're having are simply messages
and we needed decode them to figure out what we
need to fix to get you feeling your best.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Okay, I'm going to flip the script and I'm going
to ask you if you could wave a magic wand
what are the three things people should know about NICKI helpling.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
So people should know that again, I can service anybody
in the state of Pennsylvania through telemedicine. I work on,
you know, individualizing care, you know, really connecting the dots
of your symptoms and really trying to get you know,
to the root cause and get you feeling feeling well,
(22:27):
you know, to actually be able to say, you know,
I feel good and you know I'm I'm the best
you know, accountability partner. I'm the best cheerleader for you,
and you know I thoroughly enjoy walking the journey with somebody,
and there's nothing better in the world than helping somebody
(22:51):
feel better and hearing somebody say thank you. I owed
all to you, but then I tell them I gave
them the tools, they did the.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Work and the website one one more time.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
It's www dot nicki Helbling dot com.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
NICKI Helbling, of NICKI Helbling Wellness and a CEO you
Should Know NICKI, Thank you so.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Much, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
This has been the CEOs you Should Know podcast, showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy. Part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Hurtwell. Thank
you so much for listening.
Welcome in. This is the CEO's You Should Know podcast.
I'm your host, Johnny Hartwell. Let's say hello to Niki
Helbling of Nicki Helbling Wellness. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, thanks for having me so excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Tell us everything we need to know about your practice.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
So I'm Nicki Helbling Wellness. I created Nicki Heling Wellness
about a year ago. I opened my doors June of
twenty twenty four. I am a fully virtual practice at
the moment, so I'm able to see anybody in the
state of Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
So this is telemed tho.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It is all telimed. Yes, this is the new future
of medicine, right.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And what do you focus on?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
So I am a functional medicine practitioner. I'm a Board
certified nurse practitioner by trade, and then I got into
functional medicine to try to help women men, specifically working
with perimenopause women, trying to help them regain, you know,
back their spark in life, trying to empower them, you know.
(01:04):
And we take a look under the hood as far
as you know, checking hormones, metabolic health, gut health, really
encompassing all the different things and you.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Know, medicine has changed so much, so all those kind
of terms have really come into the forefront in the
last couple of years. And what made you focus on
those areas well?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I was working in conventional medicine and just realized, you
know how the focus of conventional medicine not to the
fault of any of the providers, because that is kind
of the instruction from insurances, you know, hospital systems. But
you know, we're just giving medications, We're just putting a
band aid on things, and we're not actually spending the time.
(01:48):
And most providers don't honestly, they don't have the time
to really try to spend time listening, getting to the
root cause of what is causing this issue, and instead
we're just putting a band aid on it and giving
another medication and you know, come back in a month
or three.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
All right, So what made you focus on that area though? What?
What do what in you? Let you know, what, let's
go back tell us about prior to developing your your practice,
what led you up to here?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
So you know, I became a nurse in two thousand
and five, and then after that, you know, I wanted
to do more, Right, I'm like a nurse. It's great,
but you know, I wanted to have even more you know, autonomy.
I wanted to be able to help patients even you know,
on a higher level and really try to make a
difference in their health. And you know, so I you know,
(02:41):
got my doctorate of nursing practice, became a nurse practitioner,
started working in the outpatient setting, and I quickly realized
how wrong I was that I had any control over
really helping people in the manner that I would like to.
You know, what do you mean by that the visits
were short? You know, I just felt like that I was,
(03:03):
you know, just trying to say hello and getting to
know the patient, and I'm getting a knock on a
door that my next patient was ready, and you know,
I just didn't get to spend the time with people,
you know, to really listen to what their concerns were,
you know, because you had these different metrics to you
know meet in order to you know, fulfill certain criteria.
(03:27):
And then I was also working in you know, the
ICU critical care, you know, so I certainly saw that
aspect of care, and you know, we can do really
anything to keep anybody alive, right, I mean, there. There's
every mortality out there, but you know, what kind of
(03:48):
quality of life are people really having? Let alone, do
they even know what they're getting into? So then I
started working in the outpatient setting in palliative medicine, which is,
you know, patients have developed these chronic diseases, they've reached
the point where you know, we're not really able to
reverse what's going on. And I'm essentially preparing these patients
(04:12):
for you know, hospice level care and end of life.
And you know, it's valuable work. The relationships I've built,
you know, the tears that I've cried, you know, I
wouldn't trade it. But I also realized, gosh, what if
we got to these people five, ten, fifteen years sooner,
spent time listening to what was going on, educating them
(04:35):
about their nutrition, educating them about exercise, educating them about
lifestyle changes and just different things that they could do,
you know, to improve their health and avoid any kind
of chronic disease. So that is where my passion came
from that I want to get to people sooner. I
(04:57):
want to let people know everybody still has a choice, right,
but I want to know that, you know, the only
way is not just another medication and you know, waiting
for time to happen. You know, there's an active role
you can play in changing the course of your of
your health and you know, really able to have longevity,
(05:19):
quality of life and just feeling good.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
And where can people find you?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
So you can? My website is www dot Nicki helpling
dot com. You can find me on Facebook with NH wellness,
just shortened up a little bit, and same thing with Instagram,
same thing NH wellness. You can email me again very simple,
Nikki at Nikki helbling dot com and I'm happy to
(05:48):
answer any questions. You know, you can shoot me a
message on Instagram or Facebook.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
You know, you talked a little bit about your experience
prior to creating your business and you didn't just get
your your degree, your doctorate, but you also had practical experience.
What kind of how did that practical experience help you
develop this business?
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Well, it's certainly taught me what I would want to
keep and what I would want to change.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Oh, what would you do? We'll tell us what would
you want to keep and what would you change?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
So, you know, interacting with patients, I love, you know,
I love getting to know people. I love being able
to listen to them. What I would change is the
amount of time that I spend with somebody. When I
do an initial intake with somebody, I spend sixty to
ninety minutes with somebody, you know, it's not five, ten,
fifteen minutes and onto the next. I mean, I get
(06:47):
to know people when I when I have a new patient,
come on, I say, Okay, you gotta really like me,
like we're going to be married for like the next
six months or so, you know, because I believe in
really create a trusting environment, you know, having someone that
you know they can be accountable to, and just really
creating you know, a relationship that makes somebody you know,
(07:14):
feel validated, empowered and important. And you know, the the
number of times that I've heard people say, you know, uh,
you know, they said, my labs are fine, there's there's
nothing wrong with me. It's all in my head, or
you're just aging, or this is just how it goes.
And I want to change that narrative, right. I want
(07:36):
to let people know that there is another way, you know,
you're you don't just have to listen to you know,
to that like I look at even somebody's simple blood
work that you get at the regular doctor. There are
different ways that I analyze labs because again in traditional
(07:57):
conventional medicine, you know, the lab normal values does not
mean optimal. Most people don't know this, but when you
go to get your lab work done, those ranges that
you see on the blood work, that's based on a
population average, right, So that's however many people go in
and get their blood work done and then you have
(08:19):
a bell curve. You've got the low, the normal, and
the high. That's how those values are figured out. That
doesn't mean optimal. So conventional doctors are trained to look
for disease. I look for imbalances. I look for signals
before the disease, and that is a huge key to
(08:41):
you know, overall wellness and health is catching something before
it really starts making more permanent like changes in our bodies.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
You know, it's funny you talked about the initial consultation
is about an hour. I've been with the same doctor
for the past twenty years. I don't think I've met
with him cumulatively an hour in those twenty years, and
you're right, it's just not enough time to really you know,
(09:12):
it's like, all right, how are you time for your
yearly physical? Any changes? No, okay, all right, we'll see
in it next year. And he doesn't ask if what
I'm feeling or what kind of changes, what kind of
diet in my having? You know, he looks at the
blood work. Yeah, it looks like you probably should you know.
(09:33):
He makes, you know, an offhanded suggestion, but really doesn't
dig into that, and that probably I should have been
going to you twelve fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
It's never too late. It's never too late.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And are you so focused on metopause? Obviously that's going
to be female, but you also see men as well.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
I do.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
I do.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I've had a lot of really wonderful successes with you know,
several male patients that I've had just this past six months,
and you know, removing joint pain, weight loss. I mean,
just what lights me up is when someone is able
(10:16):
to finally tell me I can't remember the last time
I felt this good, and someone getting their life back.
You know. I was just had a patient visit last
night and it was it was one of my male patients,
and he was telling me that, you know, even his
mood has dramatically improved, and you know, things that he's agreeable.
(10:36):
Now he would have grumpily just ignored and said, no,
I'm not doing that, and he's like now open minded
and now just just living a totally different life. I mean,
just giving somebody their life back and you know, giving
them joy that they necessarily didn't even know they lost, right,
like getting that back.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
When it comes to men, the the word hormones is
just kind of been a recent revelation. You know, my
dad's generation or my or my mother's you know, when
you talk about perimenopause, we didn't have that term. My
mother didn't know what part it was menopause, and the
doctor was like a shrug, all right, well, good luck.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
That attitude has changed. It has changed changing. It's not
not everybody is is educated as they should be about
those kind of portions of our life. And as we
get older, especially men, I'm going to you know, from
a male point of view, you know, having sex at
(11:39):
a later age is a good thing, and if there's issues,
it should be addressed when they're younger. Am I saying
things that are wrong?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
No, but it's again, it's never too late. Yeah, you know,
there's a lot of hormone replacement therapy with men, you know,
because it goes both sides, right. Women lose libido, men
lose libido. And in fact, in this age group of
you know, my perimenopausal women thirty five, you know, fifty
to sixty, that's like the highest rate of divorce because
(12:15):
women are changing, men are changing. Women are like, oh,
I don't really have you know, I don't want to
have sex with my husband, and you know, because they
don't feel well and they don't know why. And then
men are like, oh gosh, my wife doesn't want have
anything to do with me, you know. And that's literally
how it can start.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Let's focus on women in paramountum pause, the women that
come to you, what you talk walk me through the
whole process, you know, what happens when they call you
and contact you. You start with the consultation. What are
some questions that you ask.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Well, I asked them what their three main health goals
are and if they could wave a magic wand what
would what would they want? What would they want to
feel like? You know, so we definitely because I want
to focus on what's important to them, you know, and
then we start looking at the different symptoms that they're experiencing.
(13:14):
And then you know, I look at their medical history,
their current medications, if they've had any trauma. Trauma plays
a huge role in somebody's future health. It really does.
And you know, I I tell people all the time,
and you know, if they have passed traumas that they
(13:36):
have not worked through, they will never be able to
fully heal, you know, because that is part of releasing
those traumas that can really impact our overall health.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Can you give us some examples of traumas that people
should take care of.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Sure, anything like any kind of you know, from childhood,
you know, having you know, emotional issu choose. You know
a lot of people have suffered with like bullying, you know,
just being able to let those things go and really
let them move through you. Certainly there's obviously more you know,
(14:14):
higher level of abuse with you know, domestic violence, you
know those sorts of things.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
It could be divorce, even divorce.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Absolutely lost you know, loss of a family member. You know,
all of those things can present trauma, if you know,
because everybody's individual. So that's the other thing that you know,
I think is really important to talk about because every
single person is is an individual, right, we have different
eye colors. We have different personalities, we have different ways
that we process emotions. So why in conventional medicine could
(14:47):
we possibly expect to fix everybody with the same solution. Right,
So in my practice, I look at the individual. There
is nothing cookie cutter about what I do. I have
to individualize my care for every single patient because you know,
everybody is completely different and I can't possibly expect everybody
(15:09):
to heal the same way, or to resolve issues in
the same way, or take the same amount of time
to fix something as somebody else. You know, there are
even just the way people cope with something or with change.
You know. Some if I give people like you know, X,
Y and Z to change their diets, some people are like, yes,
no problem. And I have other people like whoa pump
(15:31):
the brakes? I cannot do all of that, you know,
and I got to go their pace, and that's fine.
I'm I'm happy to do that because they deserve individual care.
You know, we're not We're just not all of the same.
So you know the number of people that come to
me that you know just say, oh, you know, you're
(15:51):
just getting older or just eat less, move more. You know,
Oh you're fine, it's all in your head. Oh, your
labs are normal. Sorry. I just actually had another two
patients come to me. She was dealing with some GI issues.
Went to her GI doctor and the GI doctor said,
can't find anything wrong, just keep a positive attitude and
(16:13):
call me in a month.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Well, and that's real. I didn't make that up. And
hormones play a big part of that too.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Absolutely absolutely talk about that, so you know, it's everybody
will respond a little bit differently. We have people going
through perimenopause that feel everything like they can be standing
in a freezer and they're sweating, right, they can be
(16:42):
you know, waking up in the middle of the night sweating,
and they have other people that are actually cruising through
you know, but we do know that the depletion of
these hormones does have an effect on our brain health,
our bone health, our cardiovascular health. You know, cardiovascular health
(17:03):
is you know issues is still the number one cause
of death in women. So you know, I know there's
been like a lot of scary talk about, like with
breast cancer, but the science just doesn't support that. We
have so many women in menopause so they've stopped having
(17:25):
a cycle, their estrogen levels have as simply essentially depleted
and they're developing breast cancer, so it can't be estrogen.
So I mean, that's a whole other We can have
an entire other conversation just on on hormones, you know specifically.
But you know, again, like everybody responds differently when they're
(17:48):
when they're going through it, So you know, some people
still sleep, find other people are up all hours of
the night and they can't sleep. And that's also one
of the first things that I work on with everybody
is that you have to be sleeping, because that is
when we heal. If we are not sleeping, well, we
are not going to heal, we are not going to
improve anything. I used to be one of those people
(18:09):
where I was like, oh, yeah, I got this two
hours four to sleep, I'm golden, I'm good. And then
I learned, and then I learned all the negative things
that can happen to you when you don't sleep. So no,
I prioritize sleep.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
I agree. I agree. When I get up, I get
up real early, and so I prioritize I have a
very strict routine at night. And so many people said, well,
it's just one night. It's like it's my routine. I
need to get seven or eight hours sleep because I
have to speak into a microphone and be understood and clear,
(18:44):
and the amount of sleep is vital. But so many
people neglect that part of their life.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
They do, they do. It's actually really it's really scary
to me. But having been somebody, So that's where I
feel like a lot of you know, passion comes from.
My business is that I've walked this walk, right, you know,
I'm I'm I'm in the thick of it. I'm a
perimenopausal women going through all the things, and you know, yeah,
(19:14):
I did wake up one day going Okay, where did
this twenty pounds around my ways come from? Right? Like
I mean, I just you know, like you just it happens.
So I can also relate to, you know, the people
that are coming to me and the struggles that they're having.
You know, same thing. Like I just said about sleep.
I used to not sleep and then you know, I
(19:34):
got some education and you know, just realize the value
of that. So I feel like I can relate to
the people that I work with.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Well, let's talk about weight loss, because I'm sure that
you you a lot of people that you talk to
are having issues with that.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
They absolutely are, and you know, it's comes down to
really helping women feel good in their skin. Okay, I'm
not going to promise everybody that they're going to go
back to looking like they did whenever they were in
high school or whatever they felt like they were their best. However,
(20:12):
it's it's all about making all of the other changes
that can actually allow them to look in the mirror
and like what they see and really becoming. You know,
we certainly do work on weight loss. It certainly does happen,
but it's more than that. Like I want women to
know that they're more than a number on the scale, right.
(20:34):
Health doesn't come from just the number on the scale.
There's a lot of different variables. And you know, I
can tell you that stress and these levels of stress
that we have, you know, I mean it's very different
than twenty thirty forty years ago of how you know,
(20:55):
women grew up right or you know, our stress levels
are through the roof between working and mothering and you
know those that are you know, married or have a
partner and you know, just trying to manage all the
things and juggle all of the things. And you know,
(21:17):
I feel like over over time. You know. Again, I'm
I'm speaking directly about women because I am one. But
you know, we've lost ourselves over time, right, and haven't
made ourselves a priority, and haven't made our self care priority.
And you know, just empowering women to let them know
that there is an answer. You know that you're feeling
(21:41):
this way. The symptoms that you're having are simply messages
and we needed decode them to figure out what we
need to fix to get you feeling your best.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Okay, I'm going to flip the script and I'm going
to ask you if you could wave a magic wand
what are the three things people should know about NICKI helpling.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
So people should know that again, I can service anybody
in the state of Pennsylvania through telemedicine. I work on,
you know, individualizing care, you know, really connecting the dots
of your symptoms and really trying to get you know,
to the root cause and get you feeling feeling well,
(22:27):
you know, to actually be able to say, you know,
I feel good and you know I'm I'm the best
you know, accountability partner. I'm the best cheerleader for you,
and you know I thoroughly enjoy walking the journey with somebody,
and there's nothing better in the world than helping somebody
(22:51):
feel better and hearing somebody say thank you. I owed
all to you, but then I tell them I gave
them the tools, they did the.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Work and the website one one more time.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
It's www dot nicki Helbling dot com.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
NICKI Helbling, of NICKI Helbling Wellness and a CEO you
Should Know NICKI, Thank you so.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
Much, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
This has been the CEOs you Should Know podcast, showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy. Part of iHeartMedia's
commitment to the communities we serve. I'm Johnny Hurtwell. Thank
you so much for listening.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com