How old are your kids and how long have you lived in Westport/the area? I have a 7 year old son as well as 3 dogs and 7 chickens. We have lived in Westport since the summer of 2019.
- How did you end up where you are now in terms of your job? I am a Family Nurse Practitioner who worked for over 15 years at some of the leading hospitals in New York City, including NYU, Colombia, and Mount Sinai. I have helped to lead practices across Urology, Oncology Infusion and Research. I also have experience working in Cardiology and General Family Practice. After moving to Westport and having a young son, I put my Nurse Practitioner career on pause. Then we all had to deal with COVID. This time allowed me to think about how I could best help people when I re-entered health care.
I have always been passionate about caring for patients and the promotion of healthy habits to help prevent and treat chronic illness. I also have an inside knowledge of the health care system. I felt inspired to create a business helping individuals navigate their own health, whether that be recovery from an event, a life transition or achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. To help facilitate this goal, in 2022 I completed Vanderbilt University’s Nurse Health Coaching program. Now as a Nurse Health Coach, I am able to combine my experience and passion to help clients achieve their health and lifestyle goals. I am excited to assist clients recovering from surgery, guiding them through post-partum recovery, medication management or a broad-based program to achieve a healthier lifestyle.
What was your best memory from the last few COVID years, a strange time we know… Like a lot of us, COVID left me with a lot of time to analyze my career and my own lifestyle. I realized that there was a great opportunity to combine my real-world experience with a new path that could help clients achieve a healthier life or a faster recovery. Additionally, like a lot of people I talk to, COVID disrupted a lot of my previous healthy habits. So I had to re-build my own healthy lifestyle. In some ways, I was my own first patient.
What is the best book you recently read? I love Isabell Allende, she is a fiction writer from Chile. She writes the most amazing, touching, romantic novels. The most recent one I read was Violeta.
What is your favorite podcast? Well that is funny as we have been getting into podcasts with my son. Recently we have been listening to Fun Kids Science Weekly and Earth Rangers. We love them. Whenever we are driving we listen to either one of these podcasts, and learn a lot about science and wild animals!
What is one food you could not live without? Mexican food. In town we love Mexica and Don Memo and are excited that Tacombi has come to town.
What is one product you could not live without? I cannot live without my moisturizer and sunblock.
What is your greatest fear? Drowning
What is your greatest indulgence? Definitely eating a delicious brownie. Please send recommendations!
Which talent would you most like to have? Singing! I do love Karoeke
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you? That, as a Colombian, I love to squeeze lemon on everything. Try it chips, popcorn and chicken soup!
If you weren’t doing what you are today, what might your career path might have been? I think my life would have always taken me on a path where I could help people and be there to support them when they needed it
If you could travel to one place this next year, where would it be and why? San Sebastian, Spain. It is a wonderful place with great food, great people and a beautiful landscape. Of course I also have to shout out my home country of Colombia. The mountains of Medellin and the coffee area are spectacular.
If you had 24 hours to do whatever you wanted to do, what would it be? Let’s see. I would play some tennis at Longshore and then have a gathering with friends and family where we eat, talk, dance and sing the night away.
Are you a morning person, or a night owl? How does sleep fit into your life? I am definitely not a morning person, but having a family has changed that. As a result, I have a lot of healthy sleep habit tips to pass on to those like me!
What thing has surprised you most about being in the suburbs? Westport has so many amazing offerings for activities, shopping and eating. The people have probably been the most surprising. We’ve made amazing friends across kids schools, tennis and just being in town. I’d also have to highlight the wonderful peaceful mornings versus city life.
What is the first thing you do when you walk in the door after a long day? I don’t have any choice in this matter – it’s getting a lot of kisses from our 3 dogs! But after that, it’s being thankful for my family, my house and our community.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction? Who are your heroes in real life? My Colombian grandparents have always been my inspiration. All of them have passed but they left my heart full with love, life stories and the passion for hard work.
QUICK THIS OR THAT:
At a movie: Candy or Popcorn? Popcorn
Cook or order in? Cook
Cake or Ice Cream? Ice cream
Iced Coffee or Hot Coffee? Hot coffee
Beach or Mountains? Mountains
Puzzle or Board Game? Puzzle
Wine or a Cocktail (if cocktail, which one?) Cocktail (Love a good Pina Colada)
Reading or writing? Reading
Before bed: Social media or book/TV? Social media (funny videos to sleep well)
Watch or play sports? Play
Stay in or go out? Depends; during the week stay in, but on the weekend, go out
Comedy or Drama? Comedy