About Us

While I enjoyed many years in the corporate world, my roots always pulled me back to the kitchen.  My love for food, cooking and a desire for healthier living led to my next chapter: cooking school in Chicago and New York, where I studied to become a natural whole foods chef.  Still, there was much more to learn. It wasn’t just about cooking delicious food—it was about understanding which foods to eat, and why, to provide health and vitality, and to prevent disease and illness.

This led to further schooling and studies in functional nutrition. This combined education and skill set, inspired my desire to bring awareness to the importance of “food as medicine”—to enlighten you and share with you the importance of Real, Whole foods — so you can live well, feel great and enjoy a deliciously healthy and nourished life!

My relationship with food hasn’t always been great. For the majority of my life, I ate the wrong things. Not on purpose—I just didn’t know better. Coincidentally, I never felt well either. After graduation from Indiana University, things only escalated as a young working professional. Coupled with stress and lack of sleep, my standard American diet led to weight gain as well as skin and digestive problems, and I knew I needed a change.

While working for a food packaging design agency, I became aware of consumers’ demand for healthier food options. This awareness sparked a change to my lifestyle: eating to live. Shifting my purchasing decisions to real food and more natural home and body care products, I turned my health around. It’s this path that motivated me to pursue a career in helping others to take back their own health—and it’s the journey I’m on today.

Motivated by health and appearance in my late teens, I became a gym rat and an avid reader of health magazines. Yet, I began to notice that my family’s traditional dishes looked very different than those advertised as “healthy.” I felt confused—do I eat according to fad diets and opinions of the magazine, or how my family has traditionally eaten for years? This confusion led me to formally study holistic nutrition at Bastyr University, where I earned my Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Nutrition.

Inspired by changes in my own health, I wanted to share my knowledge and love for food—specifically, to teach how to make it and to guide others. I completed Integrative Nutrition’s program for health coaching, and through Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York, I became a Certified Health Supportive Chef. During this time, I also became a mother, and utilized my culinary skills to recreate my family’s favorite meals with a healthy twist. Since then, I’ve worked as a personal chef and restaurant sous chef. Looking for more, I joined the Nourished team to combine my passion for food, nutrition and cooking to inspire people to take control of their health by starting in the kitchen!

Growing up, we always enjoyed healthy homemade meals made with fresh vegetables and herbs grown in my mother’s backyard garden—and this upbringing is where my inspiration for healthy living began. 

After time in my corporate career and achieving an MBA in entrepreneurship from DePaul University, I decided to switch gears and follow my passion for food. As a single mother of three small children, I experienced difficulty in finding nutritious cuisine to go. I wanted to solve this “need” of our community and staying true to my roots, I opened a café in Elmhurst that offered healthy, prepared meals.  

After selling my business, I continued to expand my culinary career experience in the areas of corporate sales, large-scale kitchen operations, and business development. Joining Nourished has been the pinnacle of my career, allowing me the opportunity to incorporate my business skills within a TRUE wellness environment. I am happy to be part of a team that’s able to serve our community with organic, sustainable—and truly the most nourishing—food.

My interest in nutrition and natural living peaked at an early age. As a young adult, I developed a wholesome lifestyle but I yearned for a better understanding of how food affected my body. This inclination toward healthy living led me to Boulder where I studied kinesiology at the University of Colorado. After obtaining my bachelor’s degree, I took my education a step further to study holistic nutrition at the Nutrition Therapy Institute in Denver, Colorado. After completing the two-year program, I achieved my Master Nutrition Therapist (MNT) certification.

Closing in on graduation, I studied under various dietitians, collaborated with nutritionists on two different books and practiced nutrition in a hospital, doctors’ offices and private practices. Through my studies and personal exploration of different diets, workouts and lifestyle factors, I was able to truly heal. This journey, along with my passion for research and client interaction, led me to where I am today.

Food has been an integral part of my life. From a young age, I understood the importance of fresh ingredients, as family gatherings always centered on healthy eating and the vital role food plays in our lives. Sitting at the kitchen table to enjoy a homemade meal and share details of our day is something I’ll always cherish.

My culinary passion really took hold during my adult years while having dinner parties with friends. These dinners allowed me to introduce people to the notion that great tasting food can also be healthy, and friends frequently began asking me to share my secrets to living healthy. This led me to become a Certified Health & Wellness Coach through Soma Institute in Chicago. As a coach, I experimented even more with clean cooking, and pursued my culinary degree through College of DuPage. After spending time in a commercial kitchen, I sought a position where I could utilize my knowledge and understanding that food is medicine. As part of the Nourished™ team, I’m able to incorporate everything I love in one place: my dedication to prepare nutritious food and my appreciation for living a healthy lifestyle.

I have always been excited about food—to be around it, cook it and eat it. As a little girl, I helped my mother and grandmother work in their gardens, full of beautiful fruits and vegetables that were naturally all organic back then. Once I was old enough to work, it was a requirement to help out in our family restaurant. My favorite part was being in the kitchen with the chef, learning different culinary techniques. In a sense, this brought out the “chef” in me.

As years passed, my passion for food and cooking continued to grow. I enjoyed dining out with family and friends at different restaurants and recreating our favorite dishes at home. Food not only brought us together, but it gave me a creative outlet that I have never let go of. Today, I’m still in my happy place! My position at Nourished has taught me the importance of using real food as nourishment and incorporates things close to my heart—healthy delicious cooking, valuable lifestyle information and being surrounded by the best of the best.

I never fully understood the concept of ‘food as medicine’ until becoming part of the Nourished team. With a background in nursing after completing my BSN at Herzing University Madison, I began to feel defeated with conventional healthcare’s approach to focusing on temporary curative solutions rather than advocating for preventative care.

Despite the need for and importance of western medicine, I wanted to expand my scope and be part of the growing field of holistic health. In joining Nourished, I have become part of a company whose mission to educate aligns with my own. I am excited to combine my medical knowledge with nutrition knowledge to help all of our surrounding communities understand the impact diet and lifestyle choices have on their health now and in the future!

A healthy lifestyle has always been important to me. Born and raised in Lithuania, I spent much of my childhood cooking with my mother and helping with our naturally organic garden. Wellness was our way of life: quality of food was important, time in nature and exercising was regular, and my family always gathered around the table for a nutritious dinner at the end of each day.

After studying business in Lithuania and spending some time in real estate, I came to the United Sates for greater opportunity and to start a family. Immersed in a different culture, I embraced change while still staying true to my roots. My passion and upbringing have carried through to my two children, and together, we enjoy homemade meals and being active. Even better, I feel at home in my line of work. As part of the Nourished team, I’m surrounded by like-minded individuals and able to share my love of health and wellness with others.

I came to specialize in integrative medicine out of necessity for myself and for my patients. In my early 20s, I had chronic pain that conventional medicine didn’t have an answer for. After seeing multiple doctors and specialists, and even surgery, there was no explanation for the pain. It wasn’t until 2010, during medical school, that I was introduced to functional and nutritional immunology. I learned that my issues were caused by severe food sensitivities, nutrient imbalances and hormone dysfunction. Sure enough, once I addressed these root causes, the pain resolved.

It has since been my passion to provide patients with the individual attention, education and tools to realize their best health. I’m a continuous student, having had extensive training with the Institute for Functional Medicine, and post-doctoral studies in functional and nutritional immunology, and internal disorders. I love what I do and the impact it has had for myself, my family and my patients. We all deserve to be happy and healthy, and I’m grateful to be a part of that journey for so many people.