My Journey
to Inner Strength

Mom, Health Coach, Cancer advocate, Recipe Tester and developer, Vegan and vegetarian Chef, Marketer, Designer. Two times cancer survivor!
 
I live in Lisbon with my daughter and two dogs. I was born in Tunisia, lived in various European countries and US states. I am a dual citizen of Portugal and the United States.
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​Since childhood, you would find me in the kitchen. I was curious how culinary and health had a connection. Though I studied Architecture then followed a design & marketing profession, the healthy lifestyle and culinary filed never left me. While I was living in North Carolina, in 2006, I started helping families with healthy meal prep. At the time, it was mostly for fun. Two years later, I started testing recipes for Leite's Culinaria and a variety of published cookbooks. 

In 2012 I finally decided to certify myself in plant based culinary through Rouxbe and a year later took the certification of plant-based nutrition through Cornell University from T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies (CNS). In 2013, I took yet another step and took the certification in Holistic Health Coach through IIN in New York.  

It was in 2014 that I received that call that no-one expects to get. Breast cancer was not unknown to me as both my mother and my aunt had dealt with it. I was my mom´s informal caretaker back in 1992.

In May 2014, I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. I had a radical mastectomy where I was declared NED (no evidence of disease), 4 doses of AC; A - doxorubicin, also known as Adriamycin and C – cyclophosphamide (known as red-devil) and 12 of taxol chemo.

From the moment I was diagnosed, I looked up someone in Columbia, SC (where I lived at the time) to help me through all modern medicine treatments - also known as convencional medicine, with a holistic mindset. I was fortunate to come across Hima Dalal, from Vital Energy. Hima helped me throughout the whole process, from pre-surgery with reiki, crystal energy work, to occupational and physical therapy. She also gave me hints as to Ayuverdic nutrition to better my body and ease the effects of anesthesia and chemo. 

Apart from the help I received from Hima, I also did vitamin C infusions and H2O therapy, along with yoga, meditation, psychology sessions, art therapy and visualization.

Any person's journey cannot happen alone. It is helpful to look for a coach who will guide you and keep you accountable for your actions. Having just finished the holistic health coach, I had the help of two of my colleagues and I myself also followed the guidelines I had just learned.

Another important part was to become part of a new clan, I found YSC, a non-profit organization for young breast cancer women. They gave me the support I needed, they understood what I was going through, and through this organization I also had the chance to learn the tools needed to help others starting their process. 

Thanks to cancer, and my journey, I realized what I needed to do to better my life. Some decisions were tough, though were needed to help myself. One of them was to ask for divorce, move to my home country Portugal and at age 50 restart my life. I left behind a financially comfortable job, and home, belongings from a lifetime and moved into the unknown. 
 
Since my own journey I was committed to use my own experience to help other cancer survivors as I know only too well the process, the fears, the unknown. Suddenly all I had studied thus far, and the training from YSC made even more sense to me.
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Today, living in Lisbon, I still coach survivors online who live in the US as well as personally here in Portugal and Mozambique.

Apart from health coaching, I still do recipe testing and development, weekly menus for families, culinary workshops and along with an amazing Mozambican survivor, we opened a NGO here in Portugal (that was first started by her in Mozambique), Associação Casa Rosa to help women with breast cancer.
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My free time is to spend with the family and friends, travel, enjoy art and read a good book.