HOW I GOT HERE

I was just 23 years old when I moved to South Sudan. I was working for a local NGO supporting survivors of human trafficking, and even though I had wanted to work in Africa since I was 12, I found myself completely unprepared for the challenges of that work and life in Juba. 

An Ohio native, by the time I moved to Africa I had already studied in London and lived in Paris. But nothing could have prepared me for the work that lay ahead... work that was traumatic in every way possible. 

Finding myself down and out in Juba, with hardly any healthy food options, my IBS was worse than it had ever been. I got malaria several times, had food poisoning on the regular and, with it, every parasite imaginable. 

I tried every possible cleanse, medication, and lifestyle to get myself back on track. Doctors weren't helpful. Nutritionists weren't helpful. After all, they didn’t know the first thing about what life in the field was really like. I felt alone and depressed, without the support I needed to avoid total burnout. 

this part is from the heart...

I studied to become a certified nutritionist at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to learn how to heal myself. In the end, I did. Even though IBS is a disease that never fully goes away, I was living my life as if it had.

After South Sudan broke out in civil war in 2013, I joined the U.S. Department of State as a subject matter expert on human trafficking. Since then, the Department has sent me to over 35 countries in Africa and Europe to engage governments to better combat human trafficking.

I soon realized two things:

Realizing this lit a spark in me.

I wanted to find a better way to prepare, equip, and support women. But not just any women - YOU - my colleagues, friends and peers… the women doing the kind of work I do, living the lifestyle I live.  

Women who feel just as comfortable in the middle of a refugee camp in Somalia as they do at an elegant, intimate dinner party in Paris.

We all lead unusual lives that few truly understand, floating between the developing world and the very privileged worlds in which most of us were raised. 

The cross-section of our experiences is what weaves our stories together. 

My vision is that this community guides, equips, and inspires purpose-driven women to live healthier, more joyful lives, even in the world’s most challenging places.

This is just a small part of my story…. I can’t wait to hear yours. 

Haley xo