EP#129: Wellness Collaborative with Jennifer Watson

What if you could uncover the secrets to optimal health by simply understanding your body's own signals? Join us as Jennifer Watson from the Wellness Collaborative shares her transformative journey from traditional to functional medicine—a shift sparked by her son's health struggles. Her story is a testament to the power of seeking answers beyond the conventional "pill for an ill" approach. Jennifer offers a compelling narrative on how functional medicine harnesses the body's innate healing capacity with the aid of comprehensive lab testing, tailored nutrition, and lifestyle changes. This method doesn't just mask symptoms but seeks to resolve the root causes, providing a roadmap to wellness that is both personalized and empowering.

Jennifer debunks myths surrounding functional medicine, addressing misconceptions. She highlights the critical role of cortisol and stress in health, especially for women navigating perimenopause. Through her insights, listeners learn why the old mantra of "eat less, exercise more" might actually undermine well-being by introducing additional stress. This episode is rich with practical advice and innovative health strategies that challenge traditional norms. Jennifer's expertise invites listeners to rethink their approach to health, urging them to embrace a more holistic path to harmony and balance in their lives. Don't miss this opportunity to gain a new perspective on your health journey!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lisa Swiftney.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hi everyone and welcome to Episode 129 of the
Good Neighbor Podcast.
Today, I have with us JenniferWatson, and she is with the
Wellness Collaborative.
How are you doing today,jennifer?
I'm great, lisa, thank you.
Wellness Collaborative.
How are you doing today,jennifer?
I'm great, lisa, thank you forhaving me.
How are you?
I'm doing really well, thankyou.
Let's first start off bytelling our audience about your

(00:36):
business.
What do you do?

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yes, thank you.
So we are WellnessCollaborative.
It's a virtual functionalmedicine consulting practice
that's dedicated to wellnessempowerment.
We like to help families gobeyond conventional band-aid
approaches and focus onuncovering and addressing the
underlying causes of theirhealth challenges.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
That is good, and so many people are looking for
different ways to, you know,review their health and
functional medicine is, I wantto say, the up and coming, but
it's been around for a littlewhile.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
Yes, I should say, it's actually the old medicine
and traditional medicine is thenew medicine.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Right, right.
So tell our listeners aboutyour journey.
How did you get started?

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Absolutely so.
I've been in traditionalmedicine for over 20 years.
I started off as a nurse andthen became a family nurse
practitioner and loved what Idid, but then my son became ill
and we struggled to find answersand that finally led me down
the road of discovery and foundfunctional medicine and it was a

(01:52):
light bulb moment for me and myfamily.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Wow, that is amazing.
Can you tell us a little bitabout any myths or
misconceptions that you hearabout in your industry?

Speaker 3 (02:09):
Oh, absolutely.
Well, I think there are.
Like you said, functionalmedicine is up and coming and I
think it's becoming moremainstream.
But a lot of people don't knowexactly what it is and think, oh
, maybe it's like woo-woo andstrange, you know, but
functional medicine reallybelieves that the body has an

(02:30):
innate ability to heal itself.
So when it has all that itneeds, the body can really be in
balance and harmony, sounderstanding that there really
is a way to find a solution toyour problem and not be left
with just a medication or whatwe call a pill for an ill.

(02:52):
So what functional medicine doesis it looks at testing.
So it looks at lab testing andmaybe when you go to your doctor
you're feeling really crummy,doctor, you're feeling really
crummy, right?
I see that a lot of timesthey're feeling low energy,

(03:14):
maybe GI issues, and they doyour lab work and the doctor
says, well, you're fine, right,Everything looks normal.
And functional medicine is ableto look at that lab work in a
new way and look and say, oh,this is really the optimal range
that it should be in and yourlives really aren't normal.
It's not in your head.
There is an issue and we canactually fix it, and we do that
with a variety of approaches.
Sometimes it's supplements,looking at different herbs,

(03:38):
vitamins, minerals.
Sometimes it's nutrition thatneeds to be optimized.
A lot of people think thatthey're really eating healthy
and maybe they're not.
I have a lot of women,especially when they get in
perimenopause, they're actuallynot eating enough and they
actually need to eat more orthey need to eat a bigger
variety of foods.
And sometimes it's lifestyle.
As you get in perimenopause too, your adrenals are actually

(04:03):
helping create your hormonesthat your ovaries used to, and
so you're very stressed and thestress and the high cortisol is
actually affecting everythingdownstream and contributing to
the issues.
So it's really able to look atall the different body systems
and how they work together andcreate a lifelong plan that can
help people feel better.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Wow, and I've heard more and more about the cortisol
.
Never knew what cortisol levelswere before, never heard about
them until the last couple ofyears, and I'm like, hmm.
And I've also heard aboutpeople that go on these low
calorie diets and the reasonthey can't sustain is because
they're not eating enoughabsolutely.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yes, we've been taught for a very long time that
you eat less and exercise more,and that can be one of the
biggest detriments to our health, actually, because it creates
stress when you're not eatingenough food.
Food is fuel your body needs,and when you're not giving it
enough fuel, for sure you'regoing to be cranky or tired or
low energy.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
True, true.
When you're not working on yourbusiness, what do you like to
do for fun?
I heard you have a few children.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yes, so I have three kids, one in high school and two
in middle school, and so myfree time is often spent.
I love watching them in theirsports, whether it's going to a
cheer practice or a middleschool, and so my free time is
often spent.
I love watching them in theirsports, whether it's going to a
cheer practice or a soccer game.
But my biggest thing is I liketo try new things, so I'm always
doing something new, whetherit's taking a cooking class or

(05:36):
trying a new restaurant orhanging out with my husband.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Oh fun.
I like doing cooking classestoo, One of my favorite things,
In fact.
I know a gal in Rochester andI'm doing a fun class with her
coming up in two weeks.
I'm pretty excited.
Gives you new ideas when you goto those cooking classes.

Speaker 3 (05:57):
Absolutely Well, and sourdough is the new big thing,
so that's something that I'mgoing to learn how to do myself.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Good, that'll be fun.
Yeah, can you describe onehardship or life challenge that
you rose above and can now saybecause of that challenge that
you're better and or stronger?
Absolutely Well.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
I would really like to touch upon.
When my son got sick, I think Ihad the benefit of having some
knowledge, being a healthcareprovider myself, but what I
really strive to do is helpother people become an advocate
for their own health.
That's something that, when myson got sick, I had to start
really doing some of my ownresearch and not relying on the

(06:47):
doctor to tell me what to do,but really step into as a mom
and as a woman and a researcher,stepping into my own own
intuition and understanding thatthere is something wrong and
there's something more out there, and needing to find what that
answer really is.
And once I finally let myselfdo that and delve into the

(07:10):
research and went back to school, I was able to not only help my
son but then help my wholeentire family and extended
family.
And now this is what I get todo and I really, really love it
and found my true calling and mytrue passion.
That's one thing that I hopeother people can do is really
learn to be an advocate foryourself and trust yourself.

(07:31):
If you feel like something isoff, you know, look for another
answer.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
I think that is so important, because we have to
learn to advocate for ourselves,because nobody else will do
that.
I think in general, people relyon modern medicine and don't
listen to their bodies.
What is one thing you wish ourlisteners knew about your

(08:03):
business?

Speaker 3 (08:05):
oh well, there's a couple things, but one thing, I
think with functional medicinewe don't take insurance, because
when you take insurance youhave to rely or you basically
work for the health insurancecompany.
They dictate what tests you cando, how, how often you can meet
, and I work for my clients, sowe do take HSA and FSA.

(08:26):
So that's one thing that Ithink people forget.
You may have free money sittingout there somewhere with an HSA
or FSA account, so we do takethose and we're virtual, so we
can work with anyone anywhere,which I really love.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
That is good and it is so important.
It's funny how insurance doesdictate a lot of what we can and
cannot do, absolutely.
Our listeners are now intrigued.
They love your story.
They want to learn more.
How can they contact you?

Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yes, so they can go to our website.
It's jenniferwatsonwellnesscom.
There is a application that youcan fill out.
It just lets me know a littlebit more about you and what
you're looking for and then wework together to have a free
consultation and where we canlearn more about how we work
together.
Or they can call us at248-221-2720.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Great, Jennifer.
Thank you so much for being aguest on our Good Neighbor
podcast today.

Speaker 3 (09:35):
Thank you so much for having me.
This is wonderful and I lookforward to working with you
again in the future.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast,
Rochester.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnprochestercom.
That's gnprochestercom, or call248-988-9640.