Daily Inspiration: Meet Brittany Terry

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Terry.

Brittany, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Growing up my mom was in and out of the hospital for years due to her autoimmune disease that would eventually lead to a liver transplant. This was where I first became fascinated with medicine and the human body.

Went to college for biomedical sciences because I wanted to learn more about the human body and how it functions. Fell in love with learning the nitty gritty details of cell biology and the way our bodies interact with the world.

Towards the end of college, I was working in a lab/specimen processing for a local hospital and started learning about lab results and which cellular interactions they represent. This was a physical way of looking at what was happening in the body and what chemical processes were involved.

This was right about when covid was happening and it was fascinating to see the ways that inflammation and other factors changed in people’s lab work with COVID. I remember combing through patients’ labs with my coworker and trying to analyze what results meant and how different people were impacted and ended up in ICU or barely getting sick. It was an interesting perspective on inflammation and the way disease impacts the body.

This is also when my health became more complicated. I broke out with terrible acne, had constipation and bloating and pain in my stomach, gained weight, had horrible periods or no period at all, was fatigued all the time, my hair was falling out and I had joint pain at 22.

I had no luck with my gynecologist when I asked for advice and was unmotivated to seek out additional medical help with everything with COVID so I started experimenting on myself. I switched up my diet got more serious about moving my body and finally started to see some relief in my skin. I was encouraged to look further into what food can do for acne and ended up falling in love with the science of nutrition and decided to go back to school for nutrition therapy to learn more.

It was then that I learned how closely related food is to our health and how important it is to properly nourish yourself. I started eating more of the foods that fully nourish me and better understanding what that feels like and watched my acne clear up, my constipation go away, my digestive issues resolve, my hair start to grow back, I had more energy, there was more than I could even count!

After falling in love with the process of better nourishing myself through cooking and seeing how simple changes could have such a powerful effect on health in my own life, I was frustrated to look around and not see these being talked about in my work in the hospital.

I had transitioned to a cardiac role doing stress testing and EKGs by this point and realized just how little education there was to the average patient on anything when it comes to nutrition. In conversations I had with patients, I kept hearing confusion and overthinking being overarching themes of why they hadn’t achieved their goals. They were keeping up with what their doctor said and going to their appointments only to see their health continue to get worse. They were spiraling with the recommendation to simply “eat better” and “change your diet.” Without having tangible things to help them move the needle in their health.

So I created my company empowered to change this. Empwrd is a nutrition and health coaching service that comes alongside people in their health journey as they navigate lifestyle changes required to meet their goals. I contract with practitioners and work with clients directly to walk them through nutrition and lifestyle changes that are customized to fit their needs. I help clients wade through the never-ending information thrown at us to establish a routine that they can truly remain consistent with. Most importantly, I provide support as they work to navigate these changes and provide an additional point of contact to the care team and practitioner.

My health changed when I was able to better understand what the biology was behind my symptoms and WHY I was feeling certain ways. I now teach my clients the biology behind their symptoms and what nutritional changes may be able to give them relief. I help them better understand what the disease process looks like internally and how the habits they currently keep may be impacting them. By better understanding what is happening in the body, I have helped my clients reverse their prediabetes, eliminate digestive issues, correct hormone imbalances, and lower thyroid medication dosages, to name a few.

I am passionate about helping people feel heard and understood in their health journey and teaching them tangible tools that they can use as they move forward. The medical system as it stands is broken regardless of the hardworking and dedicated individuals that are within it. Empwrd fills a missing piece for what patients need to be successful and get out of the cycle of disease that is so easy to get stuck in and help people change the narrative for their health.

With empwrd, I plan to build a network of providers and patients and eventually other coaches in the area to help people feel more supported on their health journey and see more results along the way.

I am so proud to be providing for others what I so wish I had access to myself and truly feel that bringing connection back into health can be powerful in changing our medical system and the care that patients receive.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Health is a never-ending journey and there have been times in the last few years that as I am working with guiding clients, I am struggling with my health and working to understand what is happening with myself.

It can feel hypocritical to be telling someone else what to do for their health when I still struggle with mine. But it’s a great reminder for myself and to my clients that health is not a linear journey and it is normal to have ups and downs in the journey, and that doesn’t mean you aren’t doing something right.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am essentially a nutritional contracting service. I work primarily with practitioners and their clients to help them achieve better, longer-lasting results.

I do this through my unique coaching approach that is focused on habit implementation and routine building that teaches clients specific tools for improving their health. I focus on educating clients about the effects food has on their bodies as we navigate what implementing these foods looks like for them. My coaching abilities help hold clients accountable and help them apply suggestions from practitioners to their daily lives.

What sets me apart is I focus on finding my clients more energy to do the things that they love and teach them how to optimize their nutrient consumption, blood sugar regulation, and muscle tissue to boost their metabolic function and support them as they navigate the world of health.

I am most known for the work I have done with a functional medicine provider Dr. Kurt Perkins at Dr. Kurts Place where we work with clients struggling with fatigue. His supplementation and HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen therapy) combined with my nutritional and lifestyle recommendations have helped clients lower their A1C and cholesterol labs, improve energy levels, sleep, and mood, lose weight, and have these improvements last them long after our time working with them. The success that he and I were able to achieve is what inspired me to begin to contract with other practitioners and bring nutritional resources back into the conversation when it comes to health.

I am most proud of the relationships that I build with my clients. Walking any part of someone’s journey with them is not something that I take lightly. My clients and I build strong relationships and work together for longer periods than many other coaches simply because we get results AND my clients feel heard and taken care of.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
My favorite childhood memory was when my whole family would bike to get ice cream down the road and feed the geese.

Contact Info:

• Website: britlikesfood.com
• Instagram: @britlikesfood
• Twitter: @britlikesfood