March 13, 2024 • 57 mins
On this episode, I am joined by Hayley Williams of Williams Wellness. In addition to being a business owner, she is a nutritional practitioner, holistic culinary chef and dance teacher. For the last decade, she has taken her health into her own hands and been on a journey of self-discovery and healing. In her teens, taking hormonal birth control led to hormonal imbalances, cystic acne and mental health issues. She saw countless doctors, dermatologists, naturopaths and aestheticians. She felt like many were quick to sell her something to cure a symptom but was not finding help getting to the root of the problem. She graduated from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. Her passion has become helping women solve the root of their problems and feel knowledgeable in their own health journeys.
Hayley Williams, RHN // HOLISTIC ACNE & HORMONE SPECIALIST (@williams.wellness) • Instagram photos and videosAbout | Williams Wellness (hayleywilliamswellness.com)
Ashley (@filledupcup_) • Instagram photos and videos
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to the Filled Up Cuppodcast.
We are a different kind ofself-care resource.
One that has nothing to do withbubble baths and face masks, and
everything to do withrediscovering yourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:32):
I am so excited today.
I have Hayley Ann Williamsjoining me.
Hayley is a nutritionalpractitioner, holistic culinary
chef, and the owner of WilliamsWellness.
Thank you so much for joining metoday.
Hayley (00:45):
Thank you so much for having me.
Ashley (00:47):
Can you tell us a little bit about Williams Wellness and
what made you decide to open it?
Hayley (00:53):
I think a really good place to start is kind of my
background as a child andeverything I went through with
my own set of hormonalimbalances and my essentially
symptoms that I dealt with as alate teen and early into my
twenties.
So Williams Wellness wasessentially created so that I
could help women.
(01:14):
Especially going me through thesame symptoms as me and try to
help them navigate thosesymptoms.
And Williams Wellness was basedoff of the self-discovery that I
had to go through in order tohelp my symptoms and help
technically we're not allowed tosay heal, but heal myself.
So growing up I was a very eliteathlete.
(01:36):
I grew up doing many hours aweek of gymnastics, cheer,
dance, still very much involvedin the dance world.
I teach part-time and I love it.
Keeps me on my toes and keeps meinvolved in that world.
But what a lot of people don'treally know about those types of
sports is how individual andisolated they really are.
So it's not like growing updoing team sports like soccer,
(01:59):
where if you have.
A match and you lose a game.
Well, that loss is kind oftransferred and spread out
throughout the whole team.
It's not one individual taking,you know, that responsibility or
oh, I didn't try my hardest.
But you know, there was thissituation on the field too, when
you're a gymnast, a competitivenational level gymnast like I
(02:21):
was, and when you're a dancerand you're on that stage all by
yourself, you're constantlybeing critiqued and not just
that competitions or withjudges, but with everything that
you do, like the style and levelof training that we do.
Especially as young ladies,we're getting critiqued for
everything that we do.
So whether we don't have astraight leg or a pointed toe,
(02:43):
or to suck our bellies in Ithink people, when I say things
like that body image anddysmorphia comes up and they
think ballet instantly, however,that translates into, the world
of gymnastics as well, evencheerleading.
So I think from a very earlyage, I developed a little bit of
mental health issues that Ididn't even realize I had until
(03:06):
probably my late teens or earlytwenties.
So with that being said, goingthrough everything that a
teenager does or a young ladydoes, we were always being very
nitpicked and critiqued fordoing something that we love to
do, unlike many other sports.
So this stigma of being aperfectionist and, having this
(03:29):
responsibility and learningresponsibility and dedication
from a very young age and havingto self-critique ourselves was
very much embodied in who I wasfrom a very young age.
So now fast forward a little bitto being the seven-teen year old
teenager that I was and doingwhat absolutely every other girl
my age was doing.
(03:50):
I started hormonal birth controlfor the very first time.
Prior to hormonal birth control,I didn't have any health issues
whatsoever.
And I know when I talk abouthormonal birth control, this can
be a very controversial subject.
I'm a feminist myself, so it's.
Interesting to hear differentpeople's perspectives.
And I'm totally open toeverything, but this is just my
(04:12):
perspective and what I wentthrough on a personal level.
So I didn't have any priorhealth conditions leading into
this.
And like every other, you know,peer of mine, we went to the
local community center and wehad access to free hormonal
birth control.
It's the twenty-first century.
We've earned our rights asladies to have that freedom.
(04:32):
I took that and within a month,the most crazy amount of health
issues started to happen.
So leading into it, like I said,I was healthy.
Bill of health was everything.
Clean slate.
Within that month I had to getemergency rushed off of hormonal
birth control.
Even though I don't recallexactly how high my blood
(04:53):
pressure was, my blood pressurewas exceedingly high, especially
for someone of my health and myage.
Like I just retired from, youknow, being a very elite
athlete.
I gained around 30 pounds in amonth.
I was constantly swollen and redand inflamed and low energy.
Just the list of symptoms reallywent on, which was very odd for
(05:16):
someone like myself.
Didn't really think anythingmuch of it.
'cause again, I was aseventeen-year-old girl and it
is kind of alarming'cause I knowa lot of people don't really,
especially parents know whatgoes on behind the scenes in
their kids' lives.
But my parents didn't even knowI was doing this behind their
back.
Like we were just going to localcommunity center and you know,
getting this, I wasn't evensexually active to be quite
(05:36):
honest.
It's just something that you didat that age and I'm sure many
young ladies still do.
So I didn't really put two andtwo together, but I know based
off my professional educationand experience now that that's
really where my hormonalimbalances actually stemmed
from.
So fast forward from this eliteathlete who developed some
(05:59):
mental health issues around bodydysmorphia and then now to this
17-year-old girl who just had awhole bunch of hormonal issues
and this substantial amount ofweight gain.
I was kind of reallydeteriorating mentally.
So the first thing that I reallywanted to do was lose this
weight that I put on.
I just graduated.
(06:20):
I was in a relationship at thattime with my now husband and it
was my first seriousrelationship, so I was very
insecure about that.
We were very early on and as youcan imagine, it was just like a
vicious cycle going on in myhead at all times about
comparing myself and, comparisonis the thief of joy.
(06:40):
So just struggling with mymental health, struggling with
my weight I really took a deepdive in what I could do to get
my body and get myself back intothat physical shape and that
standard and that, way of life,the way my body was prior to.
Going on birth control andhaving all these health issues
arise.
(07:00):
Obviously that was the least ofmy worries at the time.
I should have been moreconcerned about the blood
pressure and, you know, tellingmy parents, Hey, like, maybe I
should go see a doctor aboutthis, the nurse.
But, you know,
Ashley (07:12):
a teenager they're, just not gonna think about things
like that.
It really is like, so surfacelevel, as a teenager, long-term
doesn't like with the frontalcortex, not even done being
processed.
It wouldn't even occur to youback then to think about that.
I know my daughter's gonna be 17this year, and you're kind of
like a big toddler sort of atthat point still.
Hayley (07:33):
You're so focused on yourself and you don't really
know what's going on, yoursurrounding, what's important,
what's not.
It's only what's important toyou in the moment.
And for me, that was justgetting back on the straight and
narrow and getting my body backinto the shape that I had always
known that I was alreadyfatigued and criticized for all
my life.
Just, you know, growing up how Idid.
But yeah, essentially my nextmove from there was just to
(07:54):
focus on losing this weight so Idid a deep dive into okay,
dieting, working out for twohours a day.
I actually became a raw veganand within the first three
months I lost all the weight.
I was feeling incredible and gotmy energy levels back.
Things were going really wellfor me.
(08:16):
And then that's when, likeanother pivotal moment in my
health.
Symptomatology happened.
This is really where WilliamsWellness is based off of.
I developed cystic acne becauseof my low estrogen levels.
So when you're working out doingcardio two hours a day, and when
(08:37):
you are eating raw, vegan, lowfat, low protein diet, your body
is not being fueled properly inorder to do its basic bodily
functioning.
I started developing cysticacne, it again just triggered
that mental health and thatperfectionist in me, and like,
oh my gosh, what are peoplethinking?
(08:57):
I had huge welts on my face whenI never had that before.
And of course, we live in such asuperficial world.
How could a young, freshtwenty-one year old not be so
insecure about that?
And then still being early on ina relationship where, you wanna
see where things are going, butyou're still so insecure and you
(09:17):
really like this guy, and you'rethinking, oh, is he like, you
know, like, think I'm gross.
I felt disgusting.
Even if people wake up with apimple on their face, they feel
blah.
Like they don't wanna go out inpublic.
Imagine literally having weltson your face, chest, back
everywhere.
I have never felt more isolatedin my life and it broke me
(09:40):
essentially.
Because of that breaking point,like a phoenix rising through
the ashes became this idea ofWilliams Wellness.
That's when I was like, oh mygosh, I don't know what to do
here.
Like I focus almost more oncontrolling my weight because
it's almost like that's the onlything I could control.
I couldn't control how mybreakouts happened or then
(10:03):
events that I needed to show upthat I was just faking sick for.
There were so many aspects of mylife I couldn't control except
for the one thing, and that wasmy weight.
My weight actually got down to a16% BMI of body fat, which is, I
don't know if you're familiar,but the red zone for women.
So it was actually quite scaryfor a little bit.
And again, being a young woman,it's nothing that you think
(10:24):
about.
Meanwhile, I was just dealing somuch behind the scenes with my
mental health and then with, mycystic acne that eventually
lasted around four years.
I ended up having to see a lotof professionals because at that
point I didn't know anything.
I was seeing dermatologists, Iwas seeing naturopathic doctors
(10:44):
conventional doctors.
Estheticians everything on asun.
I poured out thousands ofdollars as a very young woman
trying to fix the problem.
It was years of this ongoing andnot really many answers.
Not really any practitionermaking me feel seen or heard.
(11:05):
This is where it came to abreaking point again where I'm
like, I just need to figure outand take matters into my own
hands.
I did a lot of self-discovery,just a lot of reflection and a
lot of research.
And eventually with tweakingjust very superficial little
things in my diet and changingmy mindset.
(11:25):
That was a huge, huge thing forme.
And just my workouts.
I was able to, I can now say,make a full recovery.
I think still I'm an acne prone,girly at heart, and any client
of mine know, knows I love thatterm because I think once you're
an acne prone, girly, you'realways going to be.
(11:46):
But it's not to say that makinga full recovery, I don't still
have a breakout every now andthen, or I don't have a, pimple.
We're only humans.
But when your body is gone, theamount of physical, emotional
trauma and stress that it's gonethrough.
It does take a lot to kind ofget back to that balance that
your body naturally wants tohave.
(12:08):
And you know, these things arestill gonna trigger it and
they're still come up.
But now I'm at such a healthy,space mentally that I know how
to address it and deal withthese things.
So as soon as I started gettingon the street and narrow, that's
when I kind of recognized, well,I wanna also help women who've
(12:28):
been through the same experienceas me.
'cause I know how isolating itcan feel.
I know I can help people becauseI've literally done the work and
I've helped myself and I've comeout on the other end stronger
than ever.
So that's when I really decidedto pursue a professional path
that led me to creating my ownclinic, specializing, especially
(12:49):
in mental health orthorexia andskin issues and disorders,
Ashley (12:54):
I really like.
When practitioners come from aplace where they really are
understanding.
'cause if you are somebody whohasn't dealt with health issues
or hasn't had to try to find aroot cause for something, you
think it's almost like going toGrey's Anatomy.
You go to the hospital, you goto your doctor, they solve it,
and everything's fine.
That's just not.
The way that healthcare is, andespecially when dealing with
(13:16):
women, I find that they're soquick to write a prescription or
so quick to say, oh, it's this,but we never really get to the
root of it.
It's like we're just surfacelevel onto the next thing and
it's just, it's mind boggling.
Even thinking about the birthcontrol thing, they are so quick
to push that without even, youcan be like, oh, I have a
headache.
(13:37):
They're like, would you likesome birth control?
My daughter was having stomachissues for like the last year on
and off, and that's the firstthing that they're always
pushing.
Maybe she should try birthcontrol.
It's like, can you tell me theroot cause of why that should be
the case?
Unless you're actively tryingnot to get pregnant and you are
looking for one resource forthat.
They push it for so many otherthings and it is kind of scary
(14:00):
that there are so many sideeffects of birth control that
really aren't discussed and wereally don't necessarily know.
Like I read a study the otherday that was talking about.
How so?
I'm gonna be thirty-nine thisyear.
When I was in high school, theydid a study on the people my age
that now we're seeing moremental health and more
depression issues and they werelinking it back to birth
(14:22):
control.
But it's like that conversationnever happened.
Or even that, you know, scarypamphlet of like everything that
could go wrong.
Nobody is, or very few people Iwould have to assume are
actually sitting the time andactually reading that or having
a discussion about all the sideeffects before actually deciding
to take it long term.
So it is just really frustratingthe way that women's health in
(14:45):
general, no matter what theissue is, can be when you're
trying to find root causes forthings.
I can definitely believe thatyou ended up having to spend
thousands of dollars, whichagain leads to more mental
health issues because it's likemoney doesn't grow on trees and
maybe you don't have family togo to, or maybe you don't have,
a job that'll pay all of it,where you have to really
balance.
(15:06):
You end up having to decidewhat's more important, my rent
or my health.
It's just unfair that that's asituation that so many people
face.
Hayley (15:13):
Our healthcare system, for lack of better terms, is so
corrupt.
It really is.
That's why I always stress, likeeven if, for example, I just
went to my naturopath last weekjust getting some annuals done,
blood work done.
And she had mentioned over 1million people in BC do not have
a GP right now.
Oh yeah.
(15:34):
Like, sorry.
I'm like, first of all, everyoneshould have access to a GP, but
not only that, like we asindividuals need to start taking
matters into our own hands whenit comes to our individual
health.
I'm a firm believer thateveryone should have a
naturopathic doctor as well as aGP and a registered holistic
nutritionist.
That's what I am.
When it comes to, evaluatingtheir day-to-day stressors like
(15:57):
lifestyle, mindset their diet.
We should not be putting all ofour eggs in one basket when it
comes to GPs.
They're very much needed in ourworld.
We're very thankful to have themwhen, we're one who has one.
But we need to really starttaking accountability for our
health.
I think that's the reason why Imade it out to the other end,
(16:18):
because I was so sick and tiredof feeling the way that I did
and suffering, with my ownmental health, that I was strong
enough to be accountable formyself and take matters into my
own hands, even when I feel likeI wasn't being seen or being
heard.
But yeah, to touch base on, yourdaughter's experience with
(16:38):
hormonal birth control andeverything, it's really quite
alarming.
So this is why pharmaceuticalssuch as Accutane and birth
control, they actually aren't amethod to treat or cure acne or
any hormonal imbalance for thatmatter.
I see it all the time within mypractice.
Clients are prescribed birthcontrol to help with their PMS
(16:58):
symptoms, for example.
And then when they decide tocome off, because they haven't
addressed the root cause, all oftheir issues start coming back
immediately.
They stunt the production ofinflammatory markers and
hormones essentially mask thesesymptoms temporarily.
As great as this might sound fora quick fix in a society that,
it was all about instantgratification.
(17:20):
We need to be realistic andunderstand that good things
should take time.
These quick fixes, they come atthe extreme expense of.
All the side effects that weknow and that, like you listed,
we should be extremely concernedabout what imbalances this is
throwing off in our body andwhat other conditions will arise
(17:41):
as a result.
I remember like, Accutane wasabsolutely recommended to me as
an option at one point, and allI could remember was my mom's
mantra because she grew up withextreme acne issues.
Mind you, it was more in herearly teens.
It was that hormonal shift thatyou have at that stage of life.
(18:02):
She was on Accutane andunfortunately as a result, had
several miscarriages.
I don't think people realizeAccutane completely deteriorates
your liver.
Her many miscarriages wereessentially correlated with the
amount of Accutane that she usedin her teenage years.
I was an IVF baby essentiallybecause of it.
(18:24):
And then my sister is adoptedand it kind of impacted her
health in such a long-term waythat you wouldn't have seen it
coming as a teenager like shewas.
I just remember her telling methis throughout my childhood and
I knew that that was one thing Iknew I didn't wanna take,
especially if I wanted to have afamily one day.
(18:46):
So at least I was kind of on thestraight and narrow in that
aspect.
I'm someone that advocates foryou have choices.
There are options other thanpharmaceuticals.
I'm all about educating peoplewhen it comes to those options,
and that's.
A huge part of what makesWilliams Wellness, especially
the hormone specific side ofWilliams Wellness what it is
(19:07):
because we are not educated inour formal system like schools
when it comes to infradingrhythm, for example, in women
and how we can cycle, track andlearn all about ourselves.
A lot of women who take birthcontrol are taking it, for
prevention and that's great.
I think that that's awesome thatin this day and age as women, we
(19:29):
have that choice and I'm soproud of that.
But then when I educate peopleon how they can use their own
internal infrading rhythm andcycle track and cycle sync and
be so in tune with themselvesthat they know that only six
days that they're ovulating andcan actually get pregnant,
there's something even morepowerful and impactful in being
(19:51):
so in tune with yourself thatyou don't need hormonal birth
control pills in order toprevent that or for family
purposes.
Ashley (20:02):
I think there's so much misconception, or even just a
lack of education.
Like I think when we think abouthormones, I don't even think
that we really necessarilyunderstand what our hormones
function is in our body.
How we can even notice when it'sout of whack.
Like I just don't think untilyou're older, until it affects
you, I guess, differently thatwe really even talk about it or
(20:24):
think about it.
So I think that's a big part ofit, that it's like, oh, I'm a
woman.
I have hormones.
This will fix hormones.
Boom.
Done.
Hayley (20:31):
Or we think of hormones, we think the sex hormones, we
think, oh, women have estrogen,men have testosterone.
Well, actually there's way moreto hormones than that, but
that's all we're taught about inschool, so why would we know
much more about them?
Ashley (20:43):
I definitely think in this day and age, and while you
know, there's good and badthings about the internet, we do
have the ability to, ask thesequestions and do this research.
Hormones are so important,whether you are a teenager,
whether you are in yourthirties, forties, fifties, like
they play such a vital role thatI just don't necessarily think
that we prioritize them.
I totally understand with teensor even people in their
(21:06):
twenties, that you have the mostenergy that you will ever have.
You feel the best.
For the most part that you'reever gonna feel health-wise,
that I think for them it's easyto kind of be like, I don't have
to worry about this now, or thisisn't a priority yet.
It's one of those things that wereally do have to, think more
about the root cause and thinkabout why things are happening
(21:26):
and know what's going on in ourbodies.
Hayley (21:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
A lot of it is just people,honestly, being unaware and
being naive because like Imentioned, it's not something
we're educated about in schoolsystems and unless we're taking
it upon ourselves, like thankgoodness for the accessibility
that we have at the tip of ourfingers in this day and age.
But unless we're actually havingthese questions popped up in our
(21:51):
mind, why would anyone kind ofthink, oh, you know, hormones is
more than just, you know, likereproduction health.
Yeah.
No, having this balance set ofhormones is.
Interval and feeling balanced inabsolutely every single area of
our life.
Whether it's sleep, energylevels, weight, mood, hunger,
anxiety, depression, likeabsolutely every single key
(22:13):
process in our body is becauseof hormones.
I think, just being an advocateand preaching that awareness has
really helped.
I know especially my clientswhen they come to see me,
especially for the first timejust educating them on
everything that hormonesactually do and the role that
they play in their overallhealth and how they control
(22:36):
absolutely every bodily functionthat you need to actually live
in a day.
Their mind is blown'cause theyhad no idea that you, hormones
were more than just reproductivehealth.
Ashley (22:48):
Our hormones change a lot as well too.
It's like once you feel likeyou've balanced them, it's like
you could have kids and thatthrows it off.
I feel like perimenopause issomething that doctors are
totally in the dark about andthat they feel like it happens
so late.
I don't feel like it happens solate.
I feel like mid thirties isreally where that conversation
needs to start happening, soit's also one of those
(23:09):
frustrating things where you arelike, I'm set.
I know this.
I got this.
And then your body is like, justwait.
Hayley (23:14):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
I'm so thankful that you broughtthat up.
That's like, oh, that honestlymakes my skin crawl.
I had a friend that just had hersecond kid, she was saying how
the doctor, she's literally 34years old and the doctors were
calling her pregnancy ageriatric pregnancy.
I'm like.
Oh my gosh.
Again, it's like the women inhealthcare crisis, like we're
(23:35):
not being heard, we're not beingrepresented properly.
We have a young, very healthythirty-four year old who I know
for a fact could conceive wellunder her forties is being
called geriatric.
Like what do you think that'sdoing to our mental esteem, like
our mental health?
Like, are you kidding me?
This is 2024 wake up doctors.
Ashley (23:57):
It's not 17 hundreds anymore.
Kids aren't having kids at 12.
Like we're not over the hill by30.
We're living longer than we'veever lived before that I know so
many women who have youngchildren that are in those age
groups.
Hayley (24:11):
Yes, again, being aware of your body and really knowing
exactly what's going on.
If you're even thinking aboutbecoming pregnant or if you are
in those reproductive years,there are things you can do to
kind of take action ahead oftime, like going and getting
some blood work done at yourlocal naturopath, or, I know
they even do this at Life Lab.
If you're covered under medicalinsurance, they will do this for
(24:33):
free.
You can get a specific test donecalled anti malaria and hormone,
and it can actually take a lookat your ovarian reserve at any
age..
So if you are, you know, aprofessional woman, trying to
climb the corporate ladder, orjust so focused on another area
of your life that you think youmight start a family a little
(24:55):
bit later on in life, and that'ssomething that's, toggling you.
I encourage you, go get thistest done because it can be so
insightful for, how long youactually have.
And trust me when I say this,34, 35, 36, 37, 38 is not, and
should not be considered ageriatric pregnancy, especially
if you know what's going oninternally within your own body.
(25:15):
So for any lady has ever beentold that it's not the case,
trust me, and
Ashley (25:19):
It's amazing to know that there are tests.
I feel like sometimes when yougo to the doctor, it's like you
feel like it's like the blindtalking to the blind and you
feel like you don't haveoptions.
And it's good to know thatreally there are a lot more
tests that can tell us what'sgoing on and that we don't have
to feel like we're helpless.
Hayley (25:38):
Absolutely.
With my background my story,that's exactly how I felt.
I felt like I had the blinderson.
I have a really amazingnaturopathic doctor that I work
with now.
When I actually send a lot of myclients there, if I feel like
they wanna investigate or havefurther testing, they need to be
done.
But back when I was first, youknow, going through all of my
issues, my health issues, therewas a naturopathic doctor that I
(26:00):
saw no more than 20 minutes.
Why are you not spending moretime with getting to know your
clients?
With my clients, the initialconsultation I spent on average
two hours with them filling outintake forms and getting to know
everything I possibly can aboutthem before even giving them any
recommendations.
I just feel like I'd be an awfulperson to not know as much as I
(26:23):
possibly could.
About my client in order to givethem the best catered
recommendations to help them.
So that's what I was referringto earlier, like our medical
system is unfortunate becauseeveryone thinks, you know,
Canada, we get free healthcare,this and that.
It's like, a lot of us don't anda lot of us, like I said, don't
even have general practitionerswilling to see us for 20
(26:46):
minutes.
So it's in crisis
Ashley (26:49):
My family's lucky enough, we do have a family
doctor.
It's also really frustratingbecause you still feel like
you're not getting answers.
You still feel like you're beingkind of glossed over.
It's really, really challengingto find an amazing GP that will
run tests that will look for theanswers.
'cause I know that they're outthere.
It's just, it's a needle in ahaystack a lot of the times.
Hayley (27:09):
It really is.
Ashley (27:10):
For anybody listening, like outside of BC or outside of
Canada, we don't even havewalk-in clinics really anymore.
No.
Some cities will have an urgentcare, but even urgent care is
really frustrating in the sensethat, to use my daughter as an
example, she thought she hadstrep throat.
So we went to the doctor, theydid a swab for her but they
weren't like, let's swab itagainst everything that it could
(27:33):
possibly be.
They just decided it was strepthroat.
So they did just one test.
We ended up having a call fourdays later after they already
wrote her a prescription forsomething.
She didn't need theprescription.
And four days later we werestill left in the dark.
'cause they were like, yeah, Idon't know what to tell you.
You either have to come backhere or make another doctor's
appointment.
So it's this cycle of being ableto take time off work, having
(27:54):
your kid, get sick in front ofyour eyes and not being able to
help them.
And then the other option isbasically to go to the emergency
room where we shouldn't be goingto the emergency room for a sore
throat, but a lot of people thatdon't have the family doctor or
can't necessarily afford anaturopath, that's what we're
stuck with.
And then our hospitals arecrumbling and so short-staffed.
(28:15):
And so just insanely swampedthat even when they see you,
you're lucky if they actuallysee you and hear you it's very
scary if you actually havesomething wrong and you're
looking for help in our systemas it is right now.
Hayley (28:28):
It absolutely is.
And like even more reason nowmore than ever to really try to
take accountability for yourhealth and start asking these
questions to yourself likeyou're waking up.
If you're a woman, if you're nothungry first thing in the
morning, that's one of thebiggest red signs that, you
know, that's a biomarker ofhealth.
I think most concepts of healthin the western medical field are
(28:54):
very outdated principles.
We should not be looking at BMIanymore.
Even weight to a certain extentshouldn't really be an issue.
There's different, you know,circumstances such as, being
diabetic or obese, but forexample, if I was a lady in the
18 hundreds, I'd be consideredlike obese, right?
So a lot of the, what'sconsidered biomarkers of health
(29:17):
are actually very much outdated.
So just kind of being educatedin, well, what is an actual
biomarker of health for womenbeing hungry first thing in the
morning, making sure you'reactually having not just a
period every month, but you'reovulating every month.
A lot of women don't even knowif they actually are ovulating
(29:37):
every month.
How are your energy levels yourlibido?
Obviously that's a huge one forwomen, especially as we age.
What's our lack of focus?
Like, do we have brain fog?
Do we have any anxiety ordepression?
Our attitude, our emotionalstate, these are huge biomarkers
of health that we don't reallytake into consideration, and
(30:00):
it's something we really need tostart asking ourselves because
it's almost like once you do getbetter, and I'm gonna relate it
to my issues.
Having acne and all my healthissues, mental health issues is
like a huge dark cloud over yourhead all the time.
But then once you do understandwhat true optimal health is,
once you do finally achievethat, it's like the dark cloud
(30:24):
that was over your head all thistime finally breaks and you've
just opened up yourself to thisnew perspective of life you
didn't even know existed.
It's quite wild and I know Iexperienced that firsthand and
again, that's what the principleof Williams Wellness is really
based off of is achieving thatoverall health.
(30:44):
And that's something that canabsolutely be done if we really
know how to look for it.
Ashley (30:50):
I think our health is the most valuable thing that we
have.
It's just a matter of findingthe right person.
Hayley (30:56):
One person, one practitioner, that it is not
gonna be like a one size fit allbecause I know, people will
compare me to a dietician, forexample.
And when I was going down thepath of.
What is even the differencebetween RHN or a dietitian, or
what do I wanna pursue, likethere's so many different
practitioners out there that Ifeel like there's no right or
(31:19):
wrong necessarily.
There's only what's gonna beright for you.
So basing your Practitionersprinciples off of your own
morals and principles is hugebecause I'm sure even viewers
like listening to this probablycringe at the fact that I'm
saying naturopathic doctor.
There are still people that arelike, oh, they're so who do
witchcraft or whatever.
But, you know, everyone is justdifferent in their perspective.
(31:43):
And so choosing a practitionerthat resonates mostly with them
and their own morals andstandards and principles is
gonna be huge.
And then you are gonna be ableto receive those recommendations
so much better than if you'rekind of, resisting them in that
sense because you don't believein what they have to offer.
Ashley (32:04):
Yeah, that's so true too.
Can you explain what type ofthings clients would seek you
out for or what kind of thingsyou can help people with?
Hayley (32:14):
So, as a registered holistic nutritionist, there's
really no extent to what peoplecan't see us for.
We are known for preventativemeasures, mostly because we like
to focus on the body as a whole.
I often refer to myself as aholistic nutritionist, as like
totally cliché as that sounds.
(32:36):
But it's really because weembark on the many aspects that
make us human.
So we have our physical body,our physical being, we have our
mental, emotional state ofhealth.
We have then this whole otherlayer that's.
Invisible, but very muchprevalent in everything we do.
And that's our spiritual aspect.
If we're struggling in any ofthose areas, even the spiritual
(33:00):
aspect of it, like what's ourpurpose in life that's gonna
show up as physicalsymptomatology in our body.
And again, like I related myacne issues to me being low
estrogen, well why was I lowestrogen in the first place?
Streamline that back domino,effect that back.
And then you can eventuallyreally, really narrow down what
(33:20):
the root cause is.
And that was my mental healthissues and not feeling good
enough and having thisperfectionist mindset not being
in the moment.
And really that's just narrowingit down to that root cause.
So there's always gonna be astreamlined effect of a certain
symptom and where it came from,but anyone wanting to seek out.
(33:41):
A holistic nutritionalpractitioner like myself, just
because I specialize essentiallyin hormones and acne because I
dealt with that.
That was my path, that was myjourney.
You know, you can see me for anassortment of issues.
We're trained in addressing thewhole body and the many layers
(34:03):
that make us, us.
We address these by ourlifestyle factors, our diet
mindset, the mental, emotionalstate.
We're very food forward first,but every now and then we do
need to make supplementationrecommendations.
I have a few clients right nowthat aren't seeing me at all
with any hormonal or skinissues.
I have a client who'spre-diabetic and seeing me
(34:25):
because of that.
I also have a young woman thatsuffers with anxiety and I'm
helping her navigate that.
So really anything in your lifethat you're struggling with,
especially if it's preventativeand we're going to, get down to
the root cause before it becomesa bigger issue than it needs to
be.
People can come see me and Iwould be more than help and have
(34:49):
a root cause discussion and thisdiscussion that we're having
right now and deep dive intowhat makes'em them and why these
symptoms might be showing up forthem.
Ashley (34:58):
I love that you brought up preventative because I think
sometimes we think too much.
Like, oh my gosh, we're sick nowI have to deal with it.
Where it's like if we really getahead of it and help our bodies
along the way, then it's like wecan avoid some of those things
and those roadblocks before theybecome big problems that we have
to tackle.
And it's so crazy how.
Trauma and stress can live inour body and then just cause all
(35:23):
of these other things.
And I think that mental healthaspect isn't talked about enough
or is starting to become a placewhere it's not as taboo and
stigmatized as it once was.
That it's like to understandthat piece is huge.
Hayley (35:37):
Yes.
It is becoming more mainstreamand I'm so thankful for that.
But absolutely touching base onthat preventative aspect.
If I was able to, comprehend mymental health issues back then,
I guarantee you I wouldn't havedeveloped my acne issues and my
hormonal imbalances.
I think a lot of people, arebecoming.
(35:59):
More aware and they're wantingto take accountability for their
overall health, which is great.
And so now people are startingto think preventative measures.
Think of everything we wentthrough with the pandemic.
Like I've had a lot of peoplecome to me as clients and wanna
just address their immune healthin order to get their immune
system as strong as possible inorder to prevent them from
(36:22):
getting sick, possibly.
Preventative measures and thatmindset is becoming more and
more mainstream now, which isgreat.
I think especially because, youknow, in our day and age we're
seeing these baby boomers allend up deteriorating and it is
so unfortunate in the ICU andjust seeing how they're aging
and it's really, really sad.
(36:43):
That's a whole otherconversation, that aspect of
healthcare.
Us millennials are now seeingthis and we're seeing how our
grandparents have been aging andhow our parents are starting to
age and we're starting to thinkpreventively.
Like we do not wanna end up likethat.
We want a quality of life for aslong as possible.
And that's something I know thatI've been internally struggling
(37:05):
with and trying to deal withbecause all my grandparents,
unfortunately, have passed awayfrom really abrupt diseases that
absolutely could have beenpreventative, especially even
being genetic.
Like a lot of people thinkthey're doomed if they have, a
specific genetic disease, likeif prostate cancer runs in their
(37:26):
family, that's not necessarilythe case.
We, have the ability now to turnon and off these gene receptors
in our DNA, just through basiclifestyle and dietary habits and
monitoring our stress.
And there's so much we can do toactually control our genetic
makeup that it's no longer amake or break because we have
(37:47):
that information now it's gonnabe interesting to see how we
age.
We're already seeing peoplestart to live longer now as a
result.
So again, if there's one thingyou can do, it's act to now.
The biggest asset you'll everhave in life is yourself and
your body, and you take thesethings for granted, especially
when things happen so abruptly.
(38:07):
You really, take things forgranted until it happens to you.
Ashley (38:12):
I know that the younger generation, everybody loves to
bash them, but it's like theyreally have switch the mindset
in the sense that, like, say myparents' generation, it's like
you worked until you retired andwork was so important where I do
like that the mind shift ishappening now where it really
is.
I don't wanna spend, you know,sixty-five years in an office
(38:35):
building that I really wannatake my time and value it and
live my life.
So I do like that it is sort ofshifting, so that they'll be
able to enjoy their liveslonger.
Hayley (38:46):
Exactly.
I think it's funny that youmentioned like our parents and
grandparents because.
I remember so vividly my, I'mlaughing, it's actually awful,
but my grandma was in thehospital.
She just had another stroke andthis was right in the middle of
my schooling.
And I was kind of telling herlike, I'll come up with a plan
(39:06):
for you.
We'll get you on this straightand narrow.
You can be a case study clientof mine.
I think it's great because ourgeneration is starting to make
our parents and grandparentsmore accountable for their
health.
So we are stepping up in thataspect because we're so aware
now in this day and age thatwe're kind of stepping up and
(39:28):
making sure they're being on topand staying accountable for
their own health, which I think,is so necessary for our
generation to do.
Ashley (39:37):
Can you tell me if people wanna work with you?
Do you do in-person or online orboth?
Hayley (39:43):
Yeah, it is totally up to the individual.
I do have my own home-basedclinic and I love in-person
consultations.
It just allows me as apractitioner to be able to get
to know you and your entirety.
We also have thatperson-to-person, conversation
and interaction, which is soimportant, especially when
(40:05):
helping build trust in clients.
But a lot of my clients are fromout of province too, and that's
where technology is amazing.
I think after the wholepandemic, when we moved mostly
to online, a lot of people aremore comfortable in their homes
now as well.
It's kind of become a moreconvenience thing, which is
(40:26):
absolutely fine.
And so majority of my clients,I'd say 90% of them I do online
consultations with as well.
And I can work with anyone inthe world at any time by doing
so.
It's totally up to theindividual.
Ashley (40:39):
That's awesome.
Can you tell me a little bitabout the monthly memberships
that you offer?
Hayley (40:43):
I offer a certain amount of packages I do three months,
six months, or monthlymemberships.
In all honesty, there's certainclients that I would recommend
the monthly memberships for.
And there for people who maybeare.
A little bit past thatpreventative stage.
Maybe they already have aprevailing disease or, serious
issue that they're, dealing withand they need a little bit more
(41:05):
handholding and a little bitmore accountability.
They have access to a privatechat of mine 24 7 if they need
help with anything, even goingto the grocery store, sending me
a picture of a product.
Hey, should I be consuming thisfor dinner or whatnot?
It's just for the client who hasmore severe health issues, but
also is just coming from anaspect of not knowing anything
(41:26):
about where they should start.
So I would definitely recommendthose monthly memberships for
those people.
The average client that I have,if they're coming to see me in
the first place and recognizewhat RHNs do in the first place,
they already have a reallyawesome grasp of.
optimal health and well-beingand where they want to go and
their goals.
(41:47):
A monthly membership wouldn'tnecessarily be for them, I would
say just a three-month or asix-month package, depending on
the severity of their case.
Ashley (41:54):
Can you tell me a little bit more about your services?
Hayley (41:56):
So before I even get started on a client, I always
offer a 20 to 30 minute freediscovery call.
Again, it's mostly just aboutbuilding that trust and seeing
if I'm a practitioner thatresonates with them and that's
okay if I don't because everyonehas their thing.
Some people would rather workwith a dietitian'cause they
believe in that aspect more it'stotally up to the individual.
(42:18):
So that's where a discovery callis.
Great We also assess whether myservices are covered under their
medical plan and medicalbenefits, because a lot do, and
I'm part of my alumniassociation.
We're constantly advocating forthat.
And even if your, company oryour medical plan does not offer
registered holistic nutritionalservices.
(42:41):
We can contact them and we'vedone this before and they've
added onto that.
So there's definitely waysaround it too.
But the discovery calls, justgetting to know each other,
going over my different servicesthat I have to offer, what their
health goal is, what servicewould best suit them.
From there we would book ininitial consultation if they
felt like we were a good fit.
Ashley (43:03):
Is there any information that they should bring with them
to the initial consultation.
Hayley (43:08):
So not necessarily I want my clients to come in
almost not knowing what toexpect, because based on their
reactions, I can kind of gaugewho they are as well.
Right?
Our initial consultation processis intense, I'm not gonna lie.
But they always feel so muchlighter and invigorated after,
(43:29):
and it's usually two hourconsultation that feels like it
goes by in 20 minutes.
I just had a client today that Ihad an initial consultation
with, and she literally at theend of the consultation said,
wow, I feel like I just was withmy therapist and had a really
good therapist session.
I'm like, that's amazing.
Like, I'm so happy I could have,you know, brought that relief to
you.
(43:49):
But we go over a series ofintake forms, lifestyle
assessment forms, like I said,to get to know all about the
individual.
The more that I know, the moreI'm able to, on the back end of
things, get to work and come upwith some really, really
concrete recommendations cateredspecifically to them, which is
(44:09):
very, very important.
If you're working with apractitioner, make sure they're
not people that are copying,pasting the same recommendations
to everyone because everyone isso bio-individual and we all
have such different needs.
That's why no one diet.
Fits all people essentially.
So we go over all of thoselifestyle assessment forms.
We go over a chart called theNutriSystem profiles, and it
(44:34):
really assesses where all of ourdifferent systems are.
So we have our endocrineglandular system.
If you know anything abouthormones and you know, that's
our hormone system.
We have our gut, we have ournervous system, digestive
system, cardiovascular system.
We assess all of those systemsand where they're at
health-wise.
And it's a great visual aspectsfor clients to see too, right
(44:57):
off the bat, to see where theirscore is at.
Even though before they evenfill out that chart, I already
know exactly what systems aregonna show up the highest just
after having their lifestyleassessment forms filled out.
It's great for them to see intheir follow up that when the
numbers are starting to getlower, even if they're not.
Feeling like they're makingprogress, they can visualize it.
(45:19):
Well, you might not be feelingit because you're, looking, down
the straight and narrow to youroverall end goal, but you
actually are making progress.
Look at how low the scores arenow.
So it's more instantgratification for people because
let's be honest, we do live in avery instant gratification world
and if people don't feel likethey're getting the results they
want, it's gonna be crippling tothem as well.
(45:41):
So we do those sets of forms andafter the initial consultation I
do send them with some homeworkthat's just a little bit more
information.
Helps me gather all of myinformation gathering for coming
up with their very individualrecommendation report for them.
Ashley (46:04):
Which I guess would be so frustrating for people in the
sense that we're so used to theAmazon world where it's like, I
want it two days later, I haveit.
Healing is such a journey thatit's like you can't go into it
expecting a straight line thatit can be, a little bit of
progress forward, a little bitbackwards and I guess if you're
in a situation where you'retrying to heal, it's like giving
yourself grace to know that itis a journey and you have to
(46:28):
celebrate your small wins, notjust whatever your end goal is.
Hayley (46:32):
Absolutely.
Health is not linear and Ialways tell my clients too,
usually in the discovery call,however long you've been dealing
with a symptom, you have to gointo your health journey
expecting it to take that long.
To get your body back tohomeostasis and where it's
supposed to be functioning at anoptimal level.
And honestly, that's just thecold hard truth.
(46:55):
I dealt with my hormonal issuesbefore I actually started seeing
progress for four years.
That was in my early twenties.
I'm now in my early thirties,but truth be told, I feel like I
haven't even had that optimallevel of health until the last
three years just because my bodywas still kind of trying to
return back to that homeostasisand that balance that it's so
(47:16):
longed for and fully recoveredfrom.
It's not to say that I stilldon't get a breakout or pimple
every now and then, but I havethe mindset of the tools and the
resources that that breakout nowonly lasts a day and the next
day because I've utilized mytools and my information, my
resources, it's literallyinstantly gone.
And I think that is a huge thingto recognize when it comes to
(47:39):
progress is.
Don't look at the end goal.
Look to how far you have comesince and really appreciating,
like you said, the small wins.
Because at the end of the day,those little small wins are
what's going to get you one stepfurther to that overall end
goal.
One thing I really, really wannanote when it comes to acne and
skin health, and especiallyinsecurity issues and mental
(48:00):
health for ladies, we shouldnever be striving for
perfection.
And I know this because that'swhat I did.
That's how I was so emotionallyand mentally unstable for many
years, is having thatperfectionist mindset.
There's nothing that triggers memore than seeing all these
different filters on, socialmedia, Snapchat, whatever, of
(48:22):
women with zero pores.
It really is not the case.
We need to have realisticexpectations of, progress over
perfection.
And if you are gonna beconstantly striving for an end
goal of having that perfectfiltered face all the time, you
are never ever going to be ableto achieve that.
(48:43):
You're just gonna be sufferingfor a long time until you come
that realization.
'cause it just doesn't exist.
It just doesn't exist.
Ashley (48:53):
I totally agree with you.
And even the people that werelike, I wish that we looked like
this person.
That person doesn't even looklike that person when we really
think about it.
As society, we're basically toldnot to age it's basically like
dye your hair, fix your face, bethis size, look this way.
And it's like those societalpressures, changes so much from.
(49:15):
I guess like season to seasonand what society thinks they can
sell us.
But it's also understanding ifyou make it to 40, 50, 60, 70
wrinkles in cellulite, whatever,that's so impressive that you
were able to have the lifeexperience of that, Switching
that mindset that that is moreimportant than I guess the male
(49:35):
glaze or societalattractiveness.
Hayley (49:38):
Absolutely.
And like I, gosh knows, Isuffered with body dysmorphia
just with orthorexia alone.
That's one thing that reallyhealed me was, doing that
self-discovery.
It's not an easy journey, butwhen you overcome it, it's like
a light at the end of the tunnelI'm thirty-two years old, and
it's really actually quite sadthat this generation still has
(49:59):
this mindset.
But I know my mom, for example,and I love her to death, if she
hears this, she's probably gonnafeel so bad that I'm saying
this, but every time I see mymom it, like she's so used to
that fourteen-year-old athlete.
I used to be that double zero.
And she's always asking, oh,have you gained some weight?
Or, I don't think she's evendoing it in a judgmental way.
(50:22):
It's literally just because shegrew up in a day and age where
it was so socially conditionedfor them to be a stick-thin size
zero.
And it's like, I'm a woman now.
I have boobs, I have a butt.
I still have a very in shapebody, even though I don't have
that eight pack that I did whenI was training 25 hours a week
(50:44):
as a national level gymnast.
But again, it's that wording asparents that we really, really,
really need to be, you know,cognitive of.
Because whether the parentthinks that it's not affecting
them or the child themselvesdon't think it's affecting them,
it is literally being ingrainedlittle by little I know
(51:06):
firsthand.
Going through all my issues.
I didn't even know they wereissues until I realized they
were issues.
I still teach part-time, andthis is one aspect of why I
really, really love working withyoung women, especially in the
dance world, because I know howharshly they're criticized I was
in their shoes before.
I am so aware of my wording andmy language when it comes to
(51:29):
them because I know firsthandwhat it can do to them.
I still am critiquing'em, but ina very different approach.
I focus on technique because atthe end of the day, as an
athlete, especially dancer, youneed to have a certain
technique, not just for theartistry side of things like we
all envision, but for the safetyaspect.
(51:50):
You have to be able to engageyour core in order to land
properly or you're gonna hurtyourself.
I use that as a tool to helpthem with their.
Technique.
So that, you know, later on inlife they don't have these
issues come up.
I know they're gettingcriticized already and I make
sure that you don't have to bethe best as long as you're
(52:11):
having fun.
And I make it more about, areyou having fun?
Are you loving doing what you'redoing?
It's not about the first placeor the gold.
Did you have fun and do you feellike you did the best you could?
Okay, great.
Then I'm proud of you.
If, you know, they come out ontop, and I've had this happen
before, if they come out with afirst place or whatever, the
crazy rankings are the danceworld.
I'm like to be so outta touch,even though I'm very much in it
(52:33):
still, they come up with thesecrazy double diamond, platinum,
whatever.
Even if they do come out on topwith that, award.
The first question I ask themis, do you have fun?
Do you feel like you did thebest they did?
They're like, well, I feel likewe could have done better.
I'm like, okay, well then youneed to work on that because I
was proud of you up there andlook at how well you did.
Like you should be focusing onhow much fun you're having
(52:55):
instead of the critiquing sideof things.
But yeah, that's just the reasonwhy I love staying involved.
Even though I only work, 15hours a week doing that, I think
I'll always be involved as longas possible just because that's
a little piece of me that I cangive back to my younger self.
And I wish I had more coachesgrowing up that would've done
(53:16):
the same, essentially.
Ashley (53:18):
It must be healing to be able to kind of give back in
that sense and be that personthat you didn't get to have.
I.
The norms when we were youngerare so different than they are
now that it is so important tobe very mindful of critiquing
bodies and critiquingeverything.
I know my daughter did balletfor eight years and just
(53:38):
thinking of the things that wereset in the moment of like, oh,
make sure your posture is thisand all of the different things
that it's like you don't realizeuntil much later the impact that
all of those things can have.
Or even just the impact ofhaving to wear certain costumes
that for them to be in front ofthe audience and feel that
pressure of like, so-and-so'sarms look this way or so and
(54:00):
so-and-So whatever body thingthat you're telling yourself and
it's like it can get so in yourhead.
So if you have somebody that yourespect and value saying, Hey,
we did awesome.
All of that doesn't matter.
You got this.
I loved it.
That is really what they carrywith them.
Hayley (54:17):
Absolutely.
When it comes to language,that's a huge thing.
And I know I have a lot ofpeople in the dance industry
that seek out my nutritionaladvice as well.
I've actually worked with manyex students of mine who are
professional dancers now.
They work prima ballerinas andthey're just off jet setting the
(54:38):
world, working with certaincompanies and things like that.
And they come back to me whetherit's with nutritional advice or
especially in the ballet world,even though it's gotten a lot
better.
I will admit it's still verymuch a thing in the ballet world
body dysmorphia.
I've worked with ex-students ofmine who have, you know, had to
have some serious help with allof their things that they've
(55:01):
gone through with their bodydysmorphia.
And again, that's a whole notherthing of throwing off your
hormones, low estrogen aria, allthat.
I'm very thankful in my line ofwork, just even still pursuing a
career as a dance teacher.
I've had the opportunity and I'mnow the nutritionist for IDTS,
which is the International DanceTeaching Standards.
(55:21):
And it's great because duringthe module three portion of that
curriculum for dance teachers,they have to have a conversation
with me in order to pass about,proper nutrition.
We always bring up, whether it'sin the curriculum or not, I
always make a point of bringingup the language.
Because there still are, a lotof eating disorders associated
with the world of dance,especially ballet.
(55:44):
And so even though it's not apart of the curriculum, it's
something that I really touchbase on because they're gonna go
on and educate the nextgeneration, and we wanna break
the stigma.
We wanna make sure that womenare growing up being comfortable
with their bodies and who theyare.
There's no one size fit all.
This isn't the nineties anymore.
We shouldn't be stick thin, andthat's not healthy.
(56:06):
We need a certain amount offacts, especially as women, in
order to be able to properly.
Go about our bodily functioning,like not just for the
reproductive aspect, but ourinfradian rhythm.
We're all gonna be at thecertain body weight when we've
achieved optimal health that wereally need to be at.
Whether that's a size eight orsize zero, it doesn't matter.
So we need to really startrecognizing that and helping
(56:29):
bring up the next generation sothat we raise really strong
women with great heads on theirshoulders that have that
emotional capacity to makereally healthy, educated choices
for themselves and then theirfamilies as well,
Ashley (56:43):
and agree with that more.
And I really appreciate youtaking the time to have this
conversation with me today.
Can you let everybody know wherethey can find you online if
they're looking for you?
Hayley (56:54):
Yeah, you can go to my website,
haileywilliamswellness.com.
I'm also on social media.
You can find me on Instagram atWilliams.Wellness.
Ashley (57:03):
Awesome.
Thank you so much.
Hayley (57:06):
Thank you so much.
I had a great time chatting withyou.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of The
Filled Up Cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear.
You can also connect with us atfilledupcup.com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
(57:29):
episode.
Welcome to the Filled Up Cuppodcast.
We are a different kind ofself-care resource.
One that has nothing to do withbubble baths and face masks, and
everything to do withrediscovering yourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:32):
I am so excited today.
I have Hayley Ann Williamsjoining me.
Hayley is a nutritionalpractitioner, holistic culinary
chef, and the owner of WilliamsWellness.
Thank you so much for joining metoday.
Hayley (00:45):
Thank you so much for having me.
Ashley (00:47):
Can you tell us a little bit about Williams Wellness and
what made you decide to open it?
Hayley (00:53):
I think a really good place to start is kind of my
background as a child andeverything I went through with
my own set of hormonalimbalances and my essentially
symptoms that I dealt with as alate teen and early into my
twenties.
So Williams Wellness wasessentially created so that I
could help women.
(01:14):
Especially going me through thesame symptoms as me and try to
help them navigate thosesymptoms.
And Williams Wellness was basedoff of the self-discovery that I
had to go through in order tohelp my symptoms and help
technically we're not allowed tosay heal, but heal myself.
So growing up I was a very eliteathlete.
(01:36):
I grew up doing many hours aweek of gymnastics, cheer,
dance, still very much involvedin the dance world.
I teach part-time and I love it.
Keeps me on my toes and keeps meinvolved in that world.
But what a lot of people don'treally know about those types of
sports is how individual andisolated they really are.
So it's not like growing updoing team sports like soccer,
(01:59):
where if you have.
A match and you lose a game.
Well, that loss is kind oftransferred and spread out
throughout the whole team.
It's not one individual taking,you know, that responsibility or
oh, I didn't try my hardest.
But you know, there was thissituation on the field too, when
you're a gymnast, a competitivenational level gymnast like I
(02:21):
was, and when you're a dancerand you're on that stage all by
yourself, you're constantlybeing critiqued and not just
that competitions or withjudges, but with everything that
you do, like the style and levelof training that we do.
Especially as young ladies,we're getting critiqued for
everything that we do.
So whether we don't have astraight leg or a pointed toe,
(02:43):
or to suck our bellies in Ithink people, when I say things
like that body image anddysmorphia comes up and they
think ballet instantly, however,that translates into, the world
of gymnastics as well, evencheerleading.
So I think from a very earlyage, I developed a little bit of
mental health issues that Ididn't even realize I had until
(03:06):
probably my late teens or earlytwenties.
So with that being said, goingthrough everything that a
teenager does or a young ladydoes, we were always being very
nitpicked and critiqued fordoing something that we love to
do, unlike many other sports.
So this stigma of being aperfectionist and, having this
(03:29):
responsibility and learningresponsibility and dedication
from a very young age and havingto self-critique ourselves was
very much embodied in who I wasfrom a very young age.
So now fast forward a little bitto being the seven-teen year old
teenager that I was and doingwhat absolutely every other girl
my age was doing.
(03:50):
I started hormonal birth controlfor the very first time.
Prior to hormonal birth control,I didn't have any health issues
whatsoever.
And I know when I talk abouthormonal birth control, this can
be a very controversial subject.
I'm a feminist myself, so it's.
Interesting to hear differentpeople's perspectives.
And I'm totally open toeverything, but this is just my
(04:12):
perspective and what I wentthrough on a personal level.
So I didn't have any priorhealth conditions leading into
this.
And like every other, you know,peer of mine, we went to the
local community center and wehad access to free hormonal
birth control.
It's the twenty-first century.
We've earned our rights asladies to have that freedom.
(04:32):
I took that and within a month,the most crazy amount of health
issues started to happen.
So leading into it, like I said,I was healthy.
Bill of health was everything.
Clean slate.
Within that month I had to getemergency rushed off of hormonal
birth control.
Even though I don't recallexactly how high my blood
(04:53):
pressure was, my blood pressurewas exceedingly high, especially
for someone of my health and myage.
Like I just retired from, youknow, being a very elite
athlete.
I gained around 30 pounds in amonth.
I was constantly swollen and redand inflamed and low energy.
Just the list of symptoms reallywent on, which was very odd for
(05:16):
someone like myself.
Didn't really think anythingmuch of it.
'cause again, I was aseventeen-year-old girl and it
is kind of alarming'cause I knowa lot of people don't really,
especially parents know whatgoes on behind the scenes in
their kids' lives.
But my parents didn't even knowI was doing this behind their
back.
Like we were just going to localcommunity center and you know,
getting this, I wasn't evensexually active to be quite
(05:36):
honest.
It's just something that you didat that age and I'm sure many
young ladies still do.
So I didn't really put two andtwo together, but I know based
off my professional educationand experience now that that's
really where my hormonalimbalances actually stemmed
from.
So fast forward from this eliteathlete who developed some
(05:59):
mental health issues around bodydysmorphia and then now to this
17-year-old girl who just had awhole bunch of hormonal issues
and this substantial amount ofweight gain.
I was kind of reallydeteriorating mentally.
So the first thing that I reallywanted to do was lose this
weight that I put on.
I just graduated.
(06:20):
I was in a relationship at thattime with my now husband and it
was my first seriousrelationship, so I was very
insecure about that.
We were very early on and as youcan imagine, it was just like a
vicious cycle going on in myhead at all times about
comparing myself and, comparisonis the thief of joy.
(06:40):
So just struggling with mymental health, struggling with
my weight I really took a deepdive in what I could do to get
my body and get myself back intothat physical shape and that
standard and that, way of life,the way my body was prior to.
Going on birth control andhaving all these health issues
arise.
(07:00):
Obviously that was the least ofmy worries at the time.
I should have been moreconcerned about the blood
pressure and, you know, tellingmy parents, Hey, like, maybe I
should go see a doctor aboutthis, the nurse.
But, you know,
Ashley (07:12):
a teenager they're, just not gonna think about things
like that.
It really is like, so surfacelevel, as a teenager, long-term
doesn't like with the frontalcortex, not even done being
processed.
It wouldn't even occur to youback then to think about that.
I know my daughter's gonna be 17this year, and you're kind of
like a big toddler sort of atthat point still.
Hayley (07:33):
You're so focused on yourself and you don't really
know what's going on, yoursurrounding, what's important,
what's not.
It's only what's important toyou in the moment.
And for me, that was justgetting back on the straight and
narrow and getting my body backinto the shape that I had always
known that I was alreadyfatigued and criticized for all
my life.
Just, you know, growing up how Idid.
But yeah, essentially my nextmove from there was just to
(07:54):
focus on losing this weight so Idid a deep dive into okay,
dieting, working out for twohours a day.
I actually became a raw veganand within the first three
months I lost all the weight.
I was feeling incredible and gotmy energy levels back.
Things were going really wellfor me.
(08:16):
And then that's when, likeanother pivotal moment in my
health.
Symptomatology happened.
This is really where WilliamsWellness is based off of.
I developed cystic acne becauseof my low estrogen levels.
So when you're working out doingcardio two hours a day, and when
(08:37):
you are eating raw, vegan, lowfat, low protein diet, your body
is not being fueled properly inorder to do its basic bodily
functioning.
I started developing cysticacne, it again just triggered
that mental health and thatperfectionist in me, and like,
oh my gosh, what are peoplethinking?
(08:57):
I had huge welts on my face whenI never had that before.
And of course, we live in such asuperficial world.
How could a young, freshtwenty-one year old not be so
insecure about that?
And then still being early on ina relationship where, you wanna
see where things are going, butyou're still so insecure and you
(09:17):
really like this guy, and you'rethinking, oh, is he like, you
know, like, think I'm gross.
I felt disgusting.
Even if people wake up with apimple on their face, they feel
blah.
Like they don't wanna go out inpublic.
Imagine literally having weltson your face, chest, back
everywhere.
I have never felt more isolatedin my life and it broke me
(09:40):
essentially.
Because of that breaking point,like a phoenix rising through
the ashes became this idea ofWilliams Wellness.
That's when I was like, oh mygosh, I don't know what to do
here.
Like I focus almost more oncontrolling my weight because
it's almost like that's the onlything I could control.
I couldn't control how mybreakouts happened or then
(10:03):
events that I needed to show upthat I was just faking sick for.
There were so many aspects of mylife I couldn't control except
for the one thing, and that wasmy weight.
My weight actually got down to a16% BMI of body fat, which is, I
don't know if you're familiar,but the red zone for women.
So it was actually quite scaryfor a little bit.
And again, being a young woman,it's nothing that you think
(10:24):
about.
Meanwhile, I was just dealing somuch behind the scenes with my
mental health and then with, mycystic acne that eventually
lasted around four years.
I ended up having to see a lotof professionals because at that
point I didn't know anything.
I was seeing dermatologists, Iwas seeing naturopathic doctors
(10:44):
conventional doctors.
Estheticians everything on asun.
I poured out thousands ofdollars as a very young woman
trying to fix the problem.
It was years of this ongoing andnot really many answers.
Not really any practitionermaking me feel seen or heard.
(11:05):
This is where it came to abreaking point again where I'm
like, I just need to figure outand take matters into my own
hands.
I did a lot of self-discovery,just a lot of reflection and a
lot of research.
And eventually with tweakingjust very superficial little
things in my diet and changingmy mindset.
(11:25):
That was a huge, huge thing forme.
And just my workouts.
I was able to, I can now say,make a full recovery.
I think still I'm an acne prone,girly at heart, and any client
of mine know, knows I love thatterm because I think once you're
an acne prone, girly, you'realways going to be.
(11:46):
But it's not to say that makinga full recovery, I don't still
have a breakout every now andthen, or I don't have a, pimple.
We're only humans.
But when your body is gone, theamount of physical, emotional
trauma and stress that it's gonethrough.
It does take a lot to kind ofget back to that balance that
your body naturally wants tohave.
(12:08):
And you know, these things arestill gonna trigger it and
they're still come up.
But now I'm at such a healthy,space mentally that I know how
to address it and deal withthese things.
So as soon as I started gettingon the street and narrow, that's
when I kind of recognized, well,I wanna also help women who've
(12:28):
been through the same experienceas me.
'cause I know how isolating itcan feel.
I know I can help people becauseI've literally done the work and
I've helped myself and I've comeout on the other end stronger
than ever.
So that's when I really decidedto pursue a professional path
that led me to creating my ownclinic, specializing, especially
(12:49):
in mental health orthorexia andskin issues and disorders,
Ashley (12:54):
I really like.
When practitioners come from aplace where they really are
understanding.
'cause if you are somebody whohasn't dealt with health issues
or hasn't had to try to find aroot cause for something, you
think it's almost like going toGrey's Anatomy.
You go to the hospital, you goto your doctor, they solve it,
and everything's fine.
That's just not.
The way that healthcare is, andespecially when dealing with
(13:16):
women, I find that they're soquick to write a prescription or
so quick to say, oh, it's this,but we never really get to the
root of it.
It's like we're just surfacelevel onto the next thing and
it's just, it's mind boggling.
Even thinking about the birthcontrol thing, they are so quick
to push that without even, youcan be like, oh, I have a
headache.
(13:37):
They're like, would you likesome birth control?
My daughter was having stomachissues for like the last year on
and off, and that's the firstthing that they're always
pushing.
Maybe she should try birthcontrol.
It's like, can you tell me theroot cause of why that should be
the case?
Unless you're actively tryingnot to get pregnant and you are
looking for one resource forthat.
They push it for so many otherthings and it is kind of scary
(14:00):
that there are so many sideeffects of birth control that
really aren't discussed and wereally don't necessarily know.
Like I read a study the otherday that was talking about.
How so?
I'm gonna be thirty-nine thisyear.
When I was in high school, theydid a study on the people my age
that now we're seeing moremental health and more
depression issues and they werelinking it back to birth
(14:22):
control.
But it's like that conversationnever happened.
Or even that, you know, scarypamphlet of like everything that
could go wrong.
Nobody is, or very few people Iwould have to assume are
actually sitting the time andactually reading that or having
a discussion about all the sideeffects before actually deciding
to take it long term.
So it is just really frustratingthe way that women's health in
(14:45):
general, no matter what theissue is, can be when you're
trying to find root causes forthings.
I can definitely believe thatyou ended up having to spend
thousands of dollars, whichagain leads to more mental
health issues because it's likemoney doesn't grow on trees and
maybe you don't have family togo to, or maybe you don't have,
a job that'll pay all of it,where you have to really
balance.
(15:06):
You end up having to decidewhat's more important, my rent
or my health.
It's just unfair that that's asituation that so many people
face.
Hayley (15:13):
Our healthcare system, for lack of better terms, is so
corrupt.
It really is.
That's why I always stress, likeeven if, for example, I just
went to my naturopath last weekjust getting some annuals done,
blood work done.
And she had mentioned over 1million people in BC do not have
a GP right now.
Oh yeah.
(15:34):
Like, sorry.
I'm like, first of all, everyoneshould have access to a GP, but
not only that, like we asindividuals need to start taking
matters into our own hands whenit comes to our individual
health.
I'm a firm believer thateveryone should have a
naturopathic doctor as well as aGP and a registered holistic
nutritionist.
That's what I am.
When it comes to, evaluatingtheir day-to-day stressors like
(15:57):
lifestyle, mindset their diet.
We should not be putting all ofour eggs in one basket when it
comes to GPs.
They're very much needed in ourworld.
We're very thankful to have themwhen, we're one who has one.
But we need to really starttaking accountability for our
health.
I think that's the reason why Imade it out to the other end,
(16:18):
because I was so sick and tiredof feeling the way that I did
and suffering, with my ownmental health, that I was strong
enough to be accountable formyself and take matters into my
own hands, even when I feel likeI wasn't being seen or being
heard.
But yeah, to touch base on, yourdaughter's experience with
(16:38):
hormonal birth control andeverything, it's really quite
alarming.
So this is why pharmaceuticalssuch as Accutane and birth
control, they actually aren't amethod to treat or cure acne or
any hormonal imbalance for thatmatter.
I see it all the time within mypractice.
Clients are prescribed birthcontrol to help with their PMS
(16:58):
symptoms, for example.
And then when they decide tocome off, because they haven't
addressed the root cause, all oftheir issues start coming back
immediately.
They stunt the production ofinflammatory markers and
hormones essentially mask thesesymptoms temporarily.
As great as this might sound fora quick fix in a society that,
it was all about instantgratification.
(17:20):
We need to be realistic andunderstand that good things
should take time.
These quick fixes, they come atthe extreme expense of.
All the side effects that weknow and that, like you listed,
we should be extremely concernedabout what imbalances this is
throwing off in our body andwhat other conditions will arise
(17:41):
as a result.
I remember like, Accutane wasabsolutely recommended to me as
an option at one point, and allI could remember was my mom's
mantra because she grew up withextreme acne issues.
Mind you, it was more in herearly teens.
It was that hormonal shift thatyou have at that stage of life.
(18:02):
She was on Accutane andunfortunately as a result, had
several miscarriages.
I don't think people realizeAccutane completely deteriorates
your liver.
Her many miscarriages wereessentially correlated with the
amount of Accutane that she usedin her teenage years.
I was an IVF baby essentiallybecause of it.
(18:24):
And then my sister is adoptedand it kind of impacted her
health in such a long-term waythat you wouldn't have seen it
coming as a teenager like shewas.
I just remember her telling methis throughout my childhood and
I knew that that was one thing Iknew I didn't wanna take,
especially if I wanted to have afamily one day.
(18:46):
So at least I was kind of on thestraight and narrow in that
aspect.
I'm someone that advocates foryou have choices.
There are options other thanpharmaceuticals.
I'm all about educating peoplewhen it comes to those options,
and that's.
A huge part of what makesWilliams Wellness, especially
the hormone specific side ofWilliams Wellness what it is
(19:07):
because we are not educated inour formal system like schools
when it comes to infradingrhythm, for example, in women
and how we can cycle, track andlearn all about ourselves.
A lot of women who take birthcontrol are taking it, for
prevention and that's great.
I think that that's awesome thatin this day and age as women, we
(19:29):
have that choice and I'm soproud of that.
But then when I educate peopleon how they can use their own
internal infrading rhythm andcycle track and cycle sync and
be so in tune with themselvesthat they know that only six
days that they're ovulating andcan actually get pregnant,
there's something even morepowerful and impactful in being
(19:51):
so in tune with yourself thatyou don't need hormonal birth
control pills in order toprevent that or for family
purposes.
Ashley (20:02):
I think there's so much misconception, or even just a
lack of education.
Like I think when we think abouthormones, I don't even think
that we really necessarilyunderstand what our hormones
function is in our body.
How we can even notice when it'sout of whack.
Like I just don't think untilyou're older, until it affects
you, I guess, differently thatwe really even talk about it or
(20:24):
think about it.
So I think that's a big part ofit, that it's like, oh, I'm a
woman.
I have hormones.
This will fix hormones.
Boom.
Done.
Hayley (20:31):
Or we think of hormones, we think the sex hormones, we
think, oh, women have estrogen,men have testosterone.
Well, actually there's way moreto hormones than that, but
that's all we're taught about inschool, so why would we know
much more about them?
Ashley (20:43):
I definitely think in this day and age, and while you
know, there's good and badthings about the internet, we do
have the ability to, ask thesequestions and do this research.
Hormones are so important,whether you are a teenager,
whether you are in yourthirties, forties, fifties, like
they play such a vital role thatI just don't necessarily think
that we prioritize them.
I totally understand with teensor even people in their
(21:06):
twenties, that you have the mostenergy that you will ever have.
You feel the best.
For the most part that you'reever gonna feel health-wise,
that I think for them it's easyto kind of be like, I don't have
to worry about this now, or thisisn't a priority yet.
It's one of those things that wereally do have to, think more
about the root cause and thinkabout why things are happening
(21:26):
and know what's going on in ourbodies.
Hayley (21:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
A lot of it is just people,honestly, being unaware and
being naive because like Imentioned, it's not something
we're educated about in schoolsystems and unless we're taking
it upon ourselves, like thankgoodness for the accessibility
that we have at the tip of ourfingers in this day and age.
But unless we're actually havingthese questions popped up in our
(21:51):
mind, why would anyone kind ofthink, oh, you know, hormones is
more than just, you know, likereproduction health.
Yeah.
No, having this balance set ofhormones is.
Interval and feeling balanced inabsolutely every single area of
our life.
Whether it's sleep, energylevels, weight, mood, hunger,
anxiety, depression, likeabsolutely every single key
(22:13):
process in our body is becauseof hormones.
I think, just being an advocateand preaching that awareness has
really helped.
I know especially my clientswhen they come to see me,
especially for the first timejust educating them on
everything that hormonesactually do and the role that
they play in their overallhealth and how they control
(22:36):
absolutely every bodily functionthat you need to actually live
in a day.
Their mind is blown'cause theyhad no idea that you, hormones
were more than just reproductivehealth.
Ashley (22:48):
Our hormones change a lot as well too.
It's like once you feel likeyou've balanced them, it's like
you could have kids and thatthrows it off.
I feel like perimenopause issomething that doctors are
totally in the dark about andthat they feel like it happens
so late.
I don't feel like it happens solate.
I feel like mid thirties isreally where that conversation
needs to start happening, soit's also one of those
(23:09):
frustrating things where you arelike, I'm set.
I know this.
I got this.
And then your body is like, justwait.
Hayley (23:14):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
I'm so thankful that you broughtthat up.
That's like, oh, that honestlymakes my skin crawl.
I had a friend that just had hersecond kid, she was saying how
the doctor, she's literally 34years old and the doctors were
calling her pregnancy ageriatric pregnancy.
I'm like.
Oh my gosh.
Again, it's like the women inhealthcare crisis, like we're
(23:35):
not being heard, we're not beingrepresented properly.
We have a young, very healthythirty-four year old who I know
for a fact could conceive wellunder her forties is being
called geriatric.
Like what do you think that'sdoing to our mental esteem, like
our mental health?
Like, are you kidding me?
This is 2024 wake up doctors.
Ashley (23:57):
It's not 17 hundreds anymore.
Kids aren't having kids at 12.
Like we're not over the hill by30.
We're living longer than we'veever lived before that I know so
many women who have youngchildren that are in those age
groups.
Hayley (24:11):
Yes, again, being aware of your body and really knowing
exactly what's going on.
If you're even thinking aboutbecoming pregnant or if you are
in those reproductive years,there are things you can do to
kind of take action ahead oftime, like going and getting
some blood work done at yourlocal naturopath, or, I know
they even do this at Life Lab.
If you're covered under medicalinsurance, they will do this for
(24:33):
free.
You can get a specific test donecalled anti malaria and hormone,
and it can actually take a lookat your ovarian reserve at any
age..
So if you are, you know, aprofessional woman, trying to
climb the corporate ladder, orjust so focused on another area
of your life that you think youmight start a family a little
(24:55):
bit later on in life, and that'ssomething that's, toggling you.
I encourage you, go get thistest done because it can be so
insightful for, how long youactually have.
And trust me when I say this,34, 35, 36, 37, 38 is not, and
should not be considered ageriatric pregnancy, especially
if you know what's going oninternally within your own body.
(25:15):
So for any lady has ever beentold that it's not the case,
trust me, and
Ashley (25:19):
It's amazing to know that there are tests.
I feel like sometimes when yougo to the doctor, it's like you
feel like it's like the blindtalking to the blind and you
feel like you don't haveoptions.
And it's good to know thatreally there are a lot more
tests that can tell us what'sgoing on and that we don't have
to feel like we're helpless.
Hayley (25:38):
Absolutely.
With my background my story,that's exactly how I felt.
I felt like I had the blinderson.
I have a really amazingnaturopathic doctor that I work
with now.
When I actually send a lot of myclients there, if I feel like
they wanna investigate or havefurther testing, they need to be
done.
But back when I was first, youknow, going through all of my
issues, my health issues, therewas a naturopathic doctor that I
(26:00):
saw no more than 20 minutes.
Why are you not spending moretime with getting to know your
clients?
With my clients, the initialconsultation I spent on average
two hours with them filling outintake forms and getting to know
everything I possibly can aboutthem before even giving them any
recommendations.
I just feel like I'd be an awfulperson to not know as much as I
(26:23):
possibly could.
About my client in order to givethem the best catered
recommendations to help them.
So that's what I was referringto earlier, like our medical
system is unfortunate becauseeveryone thinks, you know,
Canada, we get free healthcare,this and that.
It's like, a lot of us don't anda lot of us, like I said, don't
even have general practitionerswilling to see us for 20
(26:46):
minutes.
So it's in crisis
Ashley (26:49):
My family's lucky enough, we do have a family
doctor.
It's also really frustratingbecause you still feel like
you're not getting answers.
You still feel like you're beingkind of glossed over.
It's really, really challengingto find an amazing GP that will
run tests that will look for theanswers.
'cause I know that they're outthere.
It's just, it's a needle in ahaystack a lot of the times.
Hayley (27:09):
It really is.
Ashley (27:10):
For anybody listening, like outside of BC or outside of
Canada, we don't even havewalk-in clinics really anymore.
No.
Some cities will have an urgentcare, but even urgent care is
really frustrating in the sensethat, to use my daughter as an
example, she thought she hadstrep throat.
So we went to the doctor, theydid a swab for her but they
weren't like, let's swab itagainst everything that it could
(27:33):
possibly be.
They just decided it was strepthroat.
So they did just one test.
We ended up having a call fourdays later after they already
wrote her a prescription forsomething.
She didn't need theprescription.
And four days later we werestill left in the dark.
'cause they were like, yeah, Idon't know what to tell you.
You either have to come backhere or make another doctor's
appointment.
So it's this cycle of being ableto take time off work, having
(27:54):
your kid, get sick in front ofyour eyes and not being able to
help them.
And then the other option isbasically to go to the emergency
room where we shouldn't be goingto the emergency room for a sore
throat, but a lot of people thatdon't have the family doctor or
can't necessarily afford anaturopath, that's what we're
stuck with.
And then our hospitals arecrumbling and so short-staffed.
(28:15):
And so just insanely swampedthat even when they see you,
you're lucky if they actuallysee you and hear you it's very
scary if you actually havesomething wrong and you're
looking for help in our systemas it is right now.
Hayley (28:28):
It absolutely is.
And like even more reason nowmore than ever to really try to
take accountability for yourhealth and start asking these
questions to yourself likeyou're waking up.
If you're a woman, if you're nothungry first thing in the
morning, that's one of thebiggest red signs that, you
know, that's a biomarker ofhealth.
I think most concepts of healthin the western medical field are
(28:54):
very outdated principles.
We should not be looking at BMIanymore.
Even weight to a certain extentshouldn't really be an issue.
There's different, you know,circumstances such as, being
diabetic or obese, but forexample, if I was a lady in the
18 hundreds, I'd be consideredlike obese, right?
So a lot of the, what'sconsidered biomarkers of health
(29:17):
are actually very much outdated.
So just kind of being educatedin, well, what is an actual
biomarker of health for womenbeing hungry first thing in the
morning, making sure you'reactually having not just a
period every month, but you'reovulating every month.
A lot of women don't even knowif they actually are ovulating
(29:37):
every month.
How are your energy levels yourlibido?
Obviously that's a huge one forwomen, especially as we age.
What's our lack of focus?
Like, do we have brain fog?
Do we have any anxiety ordepression?
Our attitude, our emotionalstate, these are huge biomarkers
of health that we don't reallytake into consideration, and
(30:00):
it's something we really need tostart asking ourselves because
it's almost like once you do getbetter, and I'm gonna relate it
to my issues.
Having acne and all my healthissues, mental health issues is
like a huge dark cloud over yourhead all the time.
But then once you do understandwhat true optimal health is,
once you do finally achievethat, it's like the dark cloud
(30:24):
that was over your head all thistime finally breaks and you've
just opened up yourself to thisnew perspective of life you
didn't even know existed.
It's quite wild and I know Iexperienced that firsthand and
again, that's what the principleof Williams Wellness is really
based off of is achieving thatoverall health.
(30:44):
And that's something that canabsolutely be done if we really
know how to look for it.
Ashley (30:50):
I think our health is the most valuable thing that we
have.
It's just a matter of findingthe right person.
Hayley (30:56):
One person, one practitioner, that it is not
gonna be like a one size fit allbecause I know, people will
compare me to a dietician, forexample.
And when I was going down thepath of.
What is even the differencebetween RHN or a dietitian, or
what do I wanna pursue, likethere's so many different
practitioners out there that Ifeel like there's no right or
(31:19):
wrong necessarily.
There's only what's gonna beright for you.
So basing your Practitionersprinciples off of your own
morals and principles is hugebecause I'm sure even viewers
like listening to this probablycringe at the fact that I'm
saying naturopathic doctor.
There are still people that arelike, oh, they're so who do
witchcraft or whatever.
But, you know, everyone is justdifferent in their perspective.
(31:43):
And so choosing a practitionerthat resonates mostly with them
and their own morals andstandards and principles is
gonna be huge.
And then you are gonna be ableto receive those recommendations
so much better than if you'rekind of, resisting them in that
sense because you don't believein what they have to offer.
Ashley (32:04):
Yeah, that's so true too.
Can you explain what type ofthings clients would seek you
out for or what kind of thingsyou can help people with?
Hayley (32:14):
So, as a registered holistic nutritionist, there's
really no extent to what peoplecan't see us for.
We are known for preventativemeasures, mostly because we like
to focus on the body as a whole.
I often refer to myself as aholistic nutritionist, as like
totally cliché as that sounds.
(32:36):
But it's really because weembark on the many aspects that
make us human.
So we have our physical body,our physical being, we have our
mental, emotional state ofhealth.
We have then this whole otherlayer that's.
Invisible, but very muchprevalent in everything we do.
And that's our spiritual aspect.
If we're struggling in any ofthose areas, even the spiritual
(33:00):
aspect of it, like what's ourpurpose in life that's gonna
show up as physicalsymptomatology in our body.
And again, like I related myacne issues to me being low
estrogen, well why was I lowestrogen in the first place?
Streamline that back domino,effect that back.
And then you can eventuallyreally, really narrow down what
(33:20):
the root cause is.
And that was my mental healthissues and not feeling good
enough and having thisperfectionist mindset not being
in the moment.
And really that's just narrowingit down to that root cause.
So there's always gonna be astreamlined effect of a certain
symptom and where it came from,but anyone wanting to seek out.
(33:41):
A holistic nutritionalpractitioner like myself, just
because I specialize essentiallyin hormones and acne because I
dealt with that.
That was my path, that was myjourney.
You know, you can see me for anassortment of issues.
We're trained in addressing thewhole body and the many layers
(34:03):
that make us, us.
We address these by ourlifestyle factors, our diet
mindset, the mental, emotionalstate.
We're very food forward first,but every now and then we do
need to make supplementationrecommendations.
I have a few clients right nowthat aren't seeing me at all
with any hormonal or skinissues.
I have a client who'spre-diabetic and seeing me
(34:25):
because of that.
I also have a young woman thatsuffers with anxiety and I'm
helping her navigate that.
So really anything in your lifethat you're struggling with,
especially if it's preventativeand we're going to, get down to
the root cause before it becomesa bigger issue than it needs to
be.
People can come see me and Iwould be more than help and have
(34:49):
a root cause discussion and thisdiscussion that we're having
right now and deep dive intowhat makes'em them and why these
symptoms might be showing up forthem.
Ashley (34:58):
I love that you brought up preventative because I think
sometimes we think too much.
Like, oh my gosh, we're sick nowI have to deal with it.
Where it's like if we really getahead of it and help our bodies
along the way, then it's like wecan avoid some of those things
and those roadblocks before theybecome big problems that we have
to tackle.
And it's so crazy how.
Trauma and stress can live inour body and then just cause all
(35:23):
of these other things.
And I think that mental healthaspect isn't talked about enough
or is starting to become a placewhere it's not as taboo and
stigmatized as it once was.
That it's like to understandthat piece is huge.
Hayley (35:37):
Yes.
It is becoming more mainstreamand I'm so thankful for that.
But absolutely touching base onthat preventative aspect.
If I was able to, comprehend mymental health issues back then,
I guarantee you I wouldn't havedeveloped my acne issues and my
hormonal imbalances.
I think a lot of people, arebecoming.
(35:59):
More aware and they're wantingto take accountability for their
overall health, which is great.
And so now people are startingto think preventative measures.
Think of everything we wentthrough with the pandemic.
Like I've had a lot of peoplecome to me as clients and wanna
just address their immune healthin order to get their immune
system as strong as possible inorder to prevent them from
(36:22):
getting sick, possibly.
Preventative measures and thatmindset is becoming more and
more mainstream now, which isgreat.
I think especially because, youknow, in our day and age we're
seeing these baby boomers allend up deteriorating and it is
so unfortunate in the ICU andjust seeing how they're aging
and it's really, really sad.
(36:43):
That's a whole otherconversation, that aspect of
healthcare.
Us millennials are now seeingthis and we're seeing how our
grandparents have been aging andhow our parents are starting to
age and we're starting to thinkpreventively.
Like we do not wanna end up likethat.
We want a quality of life for aslong as possible.
And that's something I know thatI've been internally struggling
(37:05):
with and trying to deal withbecause all my grandparents,
unfortunately, have passed awayfrom really abrupt diseases that
absolutely could have beenpreventative, especially even
being genetic.
Like a lot of people thinkthey're doomed if they have, a
specific genetic disease, likeif prostate cancer runs in their
(37:26):
family, that's not necessarilythe case.
We, have the ability now to turnon and off these gene receptors
in our DNA, just through basiclifestyle and dietary habits and
monitoring our stress.
And there's so much we can do toactually control our genetic
makeup that it's no longer amake or break because we have
(37:47):
that information now it's gonnabe interesting to see how we
age.
We're already seeing peoplestart to live longer now as a
result.
So again, if there's one thingyou can do, it's act to now.
The biggest asset you'll everhave in life is yourself and
your body, and you take thesethings for granted, especially
when things happen so abruptly.
(38:07):
You really, take things forgranted until it happens to you.
Ashley (38:12):
I know that the younger generation, everybody loves to
bash them, but it's like theyreally have switch the mindset
in the sense that, like, say myparents' generation, it's like
you worked until you retired andwork was so important where I do
like that the mind shift ishappening now where it really
is.
I don't wanna spend, you know,sixty-five years in an office
(38:35):
building that I really wannatake my time and value it and
live my life.
So I do like that it is sort ofshifting, so that they'll be
able to enjoy their liveslonger.
Hayley (38:46):
Exactly.
I think it's funny that youmentioned like our parents and
grandparents because.
I remember so vividly my, I'mlaughing, it's actually awful,
but my grandma was in thehospital.
She just had another stroke andthis was right in the middle of
my schooling.
And I was kind of telling herlike, I'll come up with a plan
(39:06):
for you.
We'll get you on this straightand narrow.
You can be a case study clientof mine.
I think it's great because ourgeneration is starting to make
our parents and grandparentsmore accountable for their
health.
So we are stepping up in thataspect because we're so aware
now in this day and age thatwe're kind of stepping up and
(39:28):
making sure they're being on topand staying accountable for
their own health, which I think,is so necessary for our
generation to do.
Ashley (39:37):
Can you tell me if people wanna work with you?
Do you do in-person or online orboth?
Hayley (39:43):
Yeah, it is totally up to the individual.
I do have my own home-basedclinic and I love in-person
consultations.
It just allows me as apractitioner to be able to get
to know you and your entirety.
We also have thatperson-to-person, conversation
and interaction, which is soimportant, especially when
(40:05):
helping build trust in clients.
But a lot of my clients are fromout of province too, and that's
where technology is amazing.
I think after the wholepandemic, when we moved mostly
to online, a lot of people aremore comfortable in their homes
now as well.
It's kind of become a moreconvenience thing, which is
(40:26):
absolutely fine.
And so majority of my clients,I'd say 90% of them I do online
consultations with as well.
And I can work with anyone inthe world at any time by doing
so.
It's totally up to theindividual.
Ashley (40:39):
That's awesome.
Can you tell me a little bitabout the monthly memberships
that you offer?
Hayley (40:43):
I offer a certain amount of packages I do three months,
six months, or monthlymemberships.
In all honesty, there's certainclients that I would recommend
the monthly memberships for.
And there for people who maybeare.
A little bit past thatpreventative stage.
Maybe they already have aprevailing disease or, serious
issue that they're, dealing withand they need a little bit more
(41:05):
handholding and a little bitmore accountability.
They have access to a privatechat of mine 24 7 if they need
help with anything, even goingto the grocery store, sending me
a picture of a product.
Hey, should I be consuming thisfor dinner or whatnot?
It's just for the client who hasmore severe health issues, but
also is just coming from anaspect of not knowing anything
(41:26):
about where they should start.
So I would definitely recommendthose monthly memberships for
those people.
The average client that I have,if they're coming to see me in
the first place and recognizewhat RHNs do in the first place,
they already have a reallyawesome grasp of.
optimal health and well-beingand where they want to go and
their goals.
(41:47):
A monthly membership wouldn'tnecessarily be for them, I would
say just a three-month or asix-month package, depending on
the severity of their case.
Ashley (41:54):
Can you tell me a little bit more about your services?
Hayley (41:56):
So before I even get started on a client, I always
offer a 20 to 30 minute freediscovery call.
Again, it's mostly just aboutbuilding that trust and seeing
if I'm a practitioner thatresonates with them and that's
okay if I don't because everyonehas their thing.
Some people would rather workwith a dietitian'cause they
believe in that aspect more it'stotally up to the individual.
(42:18):
So that's where a discovery callis.
Great We also assess whether myservices are covered under their
medical plan and medicalbenefits, because a lot do, and
I'm part of my alumniassociation.
We're constantly advocating forthat.
And even if your, company oryour medical plan does not offer
registered holistic nutritionalservices.
(42:41):
We can contact them and we'vedone this before and they've
added onto that.
So there's definitely waysaround it too.
But the discovery calls, justgetting to know each other,
going over my different servicesthat I have to offer, what their
health goal is, what servicewould best suit them.
From there we would book ininitial consultation if they
felt like we were a good fit.
Ashley (43:03):
Is there any information that they should bring with them
to the initial consultation.
Hayley (43:08):
So not necessarily I want my clients to come in
almost not knowing what toexpect, because based on their
reactions, I can kind of gaugewho they are as well.
Right?
Our initial consultation processis intense, I'm not gonna lie.
But they always feel so muchlighter and invigorated after,
(43:29):
and it's usually two hourconsultation that feels like it
goes by in 20 minutes.
I just had a client today that Ihad an initial consultation
with, and she literally at theend of the consultation said,
wow, I feel like I just was withmy therapist and had a really
good therapist session.
I'm like, that's amazing.
Like, I'm so happy I could have,you know, brought that relief to
you.
(43:49):
But we go over a series ofintake forms, lifestyle
assessment forms, like I said,to get to know all about the
individual.
The more that I know, the moreI'm able to, on the back end of
things, get to work and come upwith some really, really
concrete recommendations cateredspecifically to them, which is
(44:09):
very, very important.
If you're working with apractitioner, make sure they're
not people that are copying,pasting the same recommendations
to everyone because everyone isso bio-individual and we all
have such different needs.
That's why no one diet.
Fits all people essentially.
So we go over all of thoselifestyle assessment forms.
We go over a chart called theNutriSystem profiles, and it
(44:34):
really assesses where all of ourdifferent systems are.
So we have our endocrineglandular system.
If you know anything abouthormones and you know, that's
our hormone system.
We have our gut, we have ournervous system, digestive
system, cardiovascular system.
We assess all of those systemsand where they're at
health-wise.
And it's a great visual aspectsfor clients to see too, right
(44:57):
off the bat, to see where theirscore is at.
Even though before they evenfill out that chart, I already
know exactly what systems aregonna show up the highest just
after having their lifestyleassessment forms filled out.
It's great for them to see intheir follow up that when the
numbers are starting to getlower, even if they're not.
Feeling like they're makingprogress, they can visualize it.
(45:19):
Well, you might not be feelingit because you're, looking, down
the straight and narrow to youroverall end goal, but you
actually are making progress.
Look at how low the scores arenow.
So it's more instantgratification for people because
let's be honest, we do live in avery instant gratification world
and if people don't feel likethey're getting the results they
want, it's gonna be crippling tothem as well.
(45:41):
So we do those sets of forms andafter the initial consultation I
do send them with some homeworkthat's just a little bit more
information.
Helps me gather all of myinformation gathering for coming
up with their very individualrecommendation report for them.
Ashley (46:04):
Which I guess would be so frustrating for people in the
sense that we're so used to theAmazon world where it's like, I
want it two days later, I haveit.
Healing is such a journey thatit's like you can't go into it
expecting a straight line thatit can be, a little bit of
progress forward, a little bitbackwards and I guess if you're
in a situation where you'retrying to heal, it's like giving
yourself grace to know that itis a journey and you have to
(46:28):
celebrate your small wins, notjust whatever your end goal is.
Hayley (46:32):
Absolutely.
Health is not linear and Ialways tell my clients too,
usually in the discovery call,however long you've been dealing
with a symptom, you have to gointo your health journey
expecting it to take that long.
To get your body back tohomeostasis and where it's
supposed to be functioning at anoptimal level.
And honestly, that's just thecold hard truth.
(46:55):
I dealt with my hormonal issuesbefore I actually started seeing
progress for four years.
That was in my early twenties.
I'm now in my early thirties,but truth be told, I feel like I
haven't even had that optimallevel of health until the last
three years just because my bodywas still kind of trying to
return back to that homeostasisand that balance that it's so
(47:16):
longed for and fully recoveredfrom.
It's not to say that I stilldon't get a breakout or pimple
every now and then, but I havethe mindset of the tools and the
resources that that breakout nowonly lasts a day and the next
day because I've utilized mytools and my information, my
resources, it's literallyinstantly gone.
And I think that is a huge thingto recognize when it comes to
(47:39):
progress is.
Don't look at the end goal.
Look to how far you have comesince and really appreciating,
like you said, the small wins.
Because at the end of the day,those little small wins are
what's going to get you one stepfurther to that overall end
goal.
One thing I really, really wannanote when it comes to acne and
skin health, and especiallyinsecurity issues and mental
(48:00):
health for ladies, we shouldnever be striving for
perfection.
And I know this because that'swhat I did.
That's how I was so emotionallyand mentally unstable for many
years, is having thatperfectionist mindset.
There's nothing that triggers memore than seeing all these
different filters on, socialmedia, Snapchat, whatever, of
(48:22):
women with zero pores.
It really is not the case.
We need to have realisticexpectations of, progress over
perfection.
And if you are gonna beconstantly striving for an end
goal of having that perfectfiltered face all the time, you
are never ever going to be ableto achieve that.
(48:43):
You're just gonna be sufferingfor a long time until you come
that realization.
'cause it just doesn't exist.
It just doesn't exist.
Ashley (48:53):
I totally agree with you.
And even the people that werelike, I wish that we looked like
this person.
That person doesn't even looklike that person when we really
think about it.
As society, we're basically toldnot to age it's basically like
dye your hair, fix your face, bethis size, look this way.
And it's like those societalpressures, changes so much from.
(49:15):
I guess like season to seasonand what society thinks they can
sell us.
But it's also understanding ifyou make it to 40, 50, 60, 70
wrinkles in cellulite, whatever,that's so impressive that you
were able to have the lifeexperience of that, Switching
that mindset that that is moreimportant than I guess the male
(49:35):
glaze or societalattractiveness.
Hayley (49:38):
Absolutely.
And like I, gosh knows, Isuffered with body dysmorphia
just with orthorexia alone.
That's one thing that reallyhealed me was, doing that
self-discovery.
It's not an easy journey, butwhen you overcome it, it's like
a light at the end of the tunnelI'm thirty-two years old, and
it's really actually quite sadthat this generation still has
(49:59):
this mindset.
But I know my mom, for example,and I love her to death, if she
hears this, she's probably gonnafeel so bad that I'm saying
this, but every time I see mymom it, like she's so used to
that fourteen-year-old athlete.
I used to be that double zero.
And she's always asking, oh,have you gained some weight?
Or, I don't think she's evendoing it in a judgmental way.
(50:22):
It's literally just because shegrew up in a day and age where
it was so socially conditionedfor them to be a stick-thin size
zero.
And it's like, I'm a woman now.
I have boobs, I have a butt.
I still have a very in shapebody, even though I don't have
that eight pack that I did whenI was training 25 hours a week
(50:44):
as a national level gymnast.
But again, it's that wording asparents that we really, really,
really need to be, you know,cognitive of.
Because whether the parentthinks that it's not affecting
them or the child themselvesdon't think it's affecting them,
it is literally being ingrainedlittle by little I know
(51:06):
firsthand.
Going through all my issues.
I didn't even know they wereissues until I realized they
were issues.
I still teach part-time, andthis is one aspect of why I
really, really love working withyoung women, especially in the
dance world, because I know howharshly they're criticized I was
in their shoes before.
I am so aware of my wording andmy language when it comes to
(51:29):
them because I know firsthandwhat it can do to them.
I still am critiquing'em, but ina very different approach.
I focus on technique because atthe end of the day, as an
athlete, especially dancer, youneed to have a certain
technique, not just for theartistry side of things like we
all envision, but for the safetyaspect.
(51:50):
You have to be able to engageyour core in order to land
properly or you're gonna hurtyourself.
I use that as a tool to helpthem with their.
Technique.
So that, you know, later on inlife they don't have these
issues come up.
I know they're gettingcriticized already and I make
sure that you don't have to bethe best as long as you're
(52:11):
having fun.
And I make it more about, areyou having fun?
Are you loving doing what you'redoing?
It's not about the first placeor the gold.
Did you have fun and do you feellike you did the best you could?
Okay, great.
Then I'm proud of you.
If, you know, they come out ontop, and I've had this happen
before, if they come out with afirst place or whatever, the
crazy rankings are the danceworld.
I'm like to be so outta touch,even though I'm very much in it
(52:33):
still, they come up with thesecrazy double diamond, platinum,
whatever.
Even if they do come out on topwith that, award.
The first question I ask themis, do you have fun?
Do you feel like you did thebest they did?
They're like, well, I feel likewe could have done better.
I'm like, okay, well then youneed to work on that because I
was proud of you up there andlook at how well you did.
Like you should be focusing onhow much fun you're having
(52:55):
instead of the critiquing sideof things.
But yeah, that's just the reasonwhy I love staying involved.
Even though I only work, 15hours a week doing that, I think
I'll always be involved as longas possible just because that's
a little piece of me that I cangive back to my younger self.
And I wish I had more coachesgrowing up that would've done
(53:16):
the same, essentially.
Ashley (53:18):
It must be healing to be able to kind of give back in
that sense and be that personthat you didn't get to have.
I.
The norms when we were youngerare so different than they are
now that it is so important tobe very mindful of critiquing
bodies and critiquingeverything.
I know my daughter did balletfor eight years and just
(53:38):
thinking of the things that wereset in the moment of like, oh,
make sure your posture is thisand all of the different things
that it's like you don't realizeuntil much later the impact that
all of those things can have.
Or even just the impact ofhaving to wear certain costumes
that for them to be in front ofthe audience and feel that
pressure of like, so-and-so'sarms look this way or so and
(54:00):
so-and-So whatever body thingthat you're telling yourself and
it's like it can get so in yourhead.
So if you have somebody that yourespect and value saying, Hey,
we did awesome.
All of that doesn't matter.
You got this.
I loved it.
That is really what they carrywith them.
Hayley (54:17):
Absolutely.
When it comes to language,that's a huge thing.
And I know I have a lot ofpeople in the dance industry
that seek out my nutritionaladvice as well.
I've actually worked with manyex students of mine who are
professional dancers now.
They work prima ballerinas andthey're just off jet setting the
(54:38):
world, working with certaincompanies and things like that.
And they come back to me whetherit's with nutritional advice or
especially in the ballet world,even though it's gotten a lot
better.
I will admit it's still verymuch a thing in the ballet world
body dysmorphia.
I've worked with ex-students ofmine who have, you know, had to
have some serious help with allof their things that they've
(55:01):
gone through with their bodydysmorphia.
And again, that's a whole notherthing of throwing off your
hormones, low estrogen aria, allthat.
I'm very thankful in my line ofwork, just even still pursuing a
career as a dance teacher.
I've had the opportunity and I'mnow the nutritionist for IDTS,
which is the International DanceTeaching Standards.
(55:21):
And it's great because duringthe module three portion of that
curriculum for dance teachers,they have to have a conversation
with me in order to pass about,proper nutrition.
We always bring up, whether it'sin the curriculum or not, I
always make a point of bringingup the language.
Because there still are, a lotof eating disorders associated
with the world of dance,especially ballet.
(55:44):
And so even though it's not apart of the curriculum, it's
something that I really touchbase on because they're gonna go
on and educate the nextgeneration, and we wanna break
the stigma.
We wanna make sure that womenare growing up being comfortable
with their bodies and who theyare.
There's no one size fit all.
This isn't the nineties anymore.
We shouldn't be stick thin, andthat's not healthy.
(56:06):
We need a certain amount offacts, especially as women, in
order to be able to properly.
Go about our bodily functioning,like not just for the
reproductive aspect, but ourinfradian rhythm.
We're all gonna be at thecertain body weight when we've
achieved optimal health that wereally need to be at.
Whether that's a size eight orsize zero, it doesn't matter.
So we need to really startrecognizing that and helping
(56:29):
bring up the next generation sothat we raise really strong
women with great heads on theirshoulders that have that
emotional capacity to makereally healthy, educated choices
for themselves and then theirfamilies as well,
Ashley (56:43):
and agree with that more.
And I really appreciate youtaking the time to have this
conversation with me today.
Can you let everybody know wherethey can find you online if
they're looking for you?
Hayley (56:54):
Yeah, you can go to my website,
haileywilliamswellness.com.
I'm also on social media.
You can find me on Instagram atWilliams.Wellness.
Ashley (57:03):
Awesome.
Thank you so much.
Hayley (57:06):
Thank you so much.
I had a great time chatting withyou.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of The
Filled Up Cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear.
You can also connect with us atfilledupcup.com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
(57:29):
episode.
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