Health coach focuses on assisting moms

As a wildland fire dispatcher, Shaira Dossey loved knowing that she was helping people and making a difference. But when she and her husband had their first child, she found her new calling as a holistic health coach for moms.

“My target audience is moms because of my own experience,” said Dossey. “I had no idea what I was doing as a first time mom and I didn’t have a support system. I hear a lot of moms saying, ‘We only get two visits after giving birth.’ But they need more support and I want to be that long-term support system for them.”

Initially, Dossey was unsure if she would return to work, but when her child Kai was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at only 6 weeks old, Dossey knew she would spend the genesis of motherhood fighting to save her son.

“When the pediatric surgeon ordered the ultrasound, they found out Kai had neuroblastoma. There was a 3 centimeter tumor on his left kidney and his liver had a bunch of other cancer spots,” Dossey added. “During his biopsy, he was under anesthesia, and because his liver was so big, he was having a hard time getting oxygen, so they life-flighted us to Seattle immediately that night.”

Over the course of six months, Kai underwent four rounds of chemotherapy before eventually going into remission. Knowing that time with her son was priceless, Dossey decided to look at work from home options and landed on health coaching. She was always interested in health, but didn’t know much about it.

“I’ve always felt like I’m pretty good at listening to people and understanding how they’re feeling and being able to use that to help people better their lives. I hope that when clients are done working with me that I’ve made a positive difference in their life.”

Dossey graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition , and received her nutritionist certificate from The International Sports Sciences Association. During the yearlong program, Dossey learned about the importance of food as medicine.

“Within the first few modules I learned about how your mental and emotional health affects your physical health and how cancer can be reduced significantly by eating better foods and staying away from processed and genetically modified foods. We can actually alter our DNA with food,” she said.

Dossey’s education at the IIN allowed her to study with the world's top health and wellness experts including Mark Hyman, Gabrielle Bernstein and Mark Bittman. Equipped with the resources to set her free from her own health struggles, Dossey knew that she could also make a positive impact in the lives of others.

“In the program, I was my own first client. Everything we learned, I utilized. I knew that it worked and that I could apply it to other people,” Dossey explained. “I used to struggle with anxiety, depression, and obsessive compulsive disorder, but now I know how to fight back. With my second baby, I’ve had bouts of postpartum depression, but I’m utilizing the tools I’ve learned and I can see the difference.”

Dossey offers a six month health coaching program as well as monthly nutrition coaching as a contractor with Camp Gladiator. So far, Dossey has helped women make better lifestyle decisions, manage their time, get more sleep, start their own businesses, and even overcome fertility issues.

“I had a client who I helped during the last two months of her pregnancy and the first three months of postpartum,” said Dossey. “It was her first pregnancy and we set up a very thorough postpartum plan. After she had her baby, she told me she felt like she had everything she needed. She had a support system set up, she knew who to rely on, she knew what to do food wise, and how to ask her husband for help.”

Dossey believes that nourishing the body off-plate is just as important as what is on your plate. Because of this, her program also focuses on relationships, career, finances, spirituality, and creativity.

“These are the things that give you joy inside. When you’re a happier person, your body is able to heal, but if you’re under stress, your body can’t take care of itself,” she said. “My main goal is to support moms emotionally and mentally and help them feel like they’re thriving in motherhood. I give moms the tools to balance their time as well as the encouragement that they need.”

To learn more about Dossey’s wellness program, visit her website at shairadossey.com or visit her Instagram account @shaira.dossey. Dossey can be contacted via email at contact@shairadossey.com.

Reporter Summer Zalesky may be reached at szalesky@dailyinterlake.com.