Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Vieyra.
Hi Katie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a family nurse practitioner and have been in the field of nursing for over 20 years working in a variety of settings from hospitals and clinics to home health. I observed early on that so many of my patients were looking for alternative approaches to care but were not finding what they were looking for which led many to self-treat with a variety of vitamins, supplements, and other “quick fixes.” At best, they were getting some relief with no side effects and at worse they were causing more harm than good. Oftentimes, people were just wasting their money and feeling frustrated with the lack of improvement in their health.
After being asked by so many of my patients if the things they were taking were helpful, I decided to educate myself so that I could better support my patients. I began by reading books, attending conferences, and following experts on social media. The more I learned, the more I realized I didn’t know as much as I thought I did. Eventually, I decided to pursue an actual certification in functional medicine where I learned so much about addressing the dis-ease that people often feel before they get diagnosed with an actual disease process and how to minimize the symptoms of disease by supporting the foundations of health.
Once I felt that I could confidently support others, I decided to open my own virtual practice: Empowered Health & Healing Functional Medicine. I felt it was important to include the word “empowered” in the name of my practice because I believe it is so important for people to take ownership of their health and know that they can heal and feel full of vitality again.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The process of starting my own practice has been a learning curve as this is my first venture as an entrepreneur. At times, I felt like I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Luckily, there are a lot of resources available online to help guide you in the process of setting up a business. I am also thankful for the people in my life who have given me good advice along the way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My functional medicine practice primarily focuses on helping people who have been told that all their labs and other testing are normal and that they are “fine” even though they definitely do not feel “fine.” I really like helping this cohort because it is a bit like putting together a puzzle in the sense that each person comes with their own jumbled puzzle pieces. I work collaboratively with patients as we sort through their history, symptoms, lifestyle, triggers, and other key aspects that shape this unique person and contributes to their current state of dis-ease or chronic illness.
I haven’t picked a specific specialty in the sense of being a gut health or hormone or weight loss provider. This is intentional because as we put the puzzle pieces together, it reveals that often times there is an interplay between different systems in the body where, for example, the gut is affecting the hormones and the hormones are affecting the gut. For this reason, I feel like it would be very limiting to focus on just one specialty as everything is interconnected.
What makes you happy?
Many things in life make me happy. Professionally, I love educating people about their health and meeting them at their level of readiness to support them on their health journey. It is very rewarding when patients have that lightbulb moment when things make sense and that clarity gives them a new perspective on their health.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://empoweredhealthhealingfm.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-vieyra-msn-aprn-fnp-bc-662b163a0
Image Credits
Photos by: Maria Dominguez
