During the last 30+ years, AFPA has certified over 130,000 health, nutrition, and fitness professionals. We regularly feature distinguished and new graduates who are using what they have learned to inspire others and make a difference.
Meet one of our featured graduates, Kellie Hamilton BSN, RN, HN. She earned her Holistic Nutritionist Certification from AFPA.
Meet AFPA Graduate Kellie Hamilton BSN, RN, HN
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Kelly, and I am a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Nutritional Wellness Consultant with AFPA. I am a practicing surgical ICU nurse in central Massachusetts and the very proud owner of A Better Path to Wellness.
How did you initially become interested in health and wellness?
I became interested in holistic health and wellness after graduating from one of the top nursing programs in Massachusetts back in 2014. The first non-nursing book I picked up after a four year bachelor’s program in science and nursing was a book on holistic health and nutrition and kitchen chemistry. I was floored by the evidence-based science and information and the helpful tips that no one had ever shared with us. I started asking around my friends that were in med school, and no one was learning about this very key piece of health and wellness. There was such a lack of evidence-based nutrition, and I decided right then and there that I was going to start filling that void.
Which AFPA certifications have you earned, and why did you choose those certification programs?
I chose to be a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Nutritional Wellness Consultant with AFPA. After extensive research, I really wanted a program that fit not only with the kind of alignment of how I saw myself as a coach going forward, but I also wanted something that was going to work with my busy schedule. I wanted something that could be done online that had great customer service.
I did extensive research into reading reviews, comparing programs, and AFPA just really checked all of those boxes for me. I also liked that I could call and get a live person and ask questions and talk to them about what the program really looked like for somebody who had no idea what to compare it to.
The reason I chose the certifications I did was because I wanted to have one foot in holistic medicine and one foot in Western medicine. I felt like there is such a disconnect and there’s such a place for both of them. I wanted to offer people more preventative health and nutritional interventions to pair with their health. And the Holistic Nutritionist Program really aligned so well with that way of thinking.
Get Your Free Guide to Becoming a Holistic Nutritionist
Learn about the important role of holistic nutritionists, what it takes to be successful as one, and how to build a lucrative, impactful career in nutrition.
How are you using your certification?
I use my certification by helping people in many ways. Mainly, I have a home office here in Worcester, Massachusetts where I work with clients virtually from all over the country. I help them one-on-one in education sessions. We look at where you are and help form a holistic plan for you and how you can use foods and things in your environment, whether it’s adding things or omitting things that are just really affecting the overall quality of your health.
I am also a very passionate public speaker. I love to do educational events, workshops, and speaking engagements. In the last couple years of my business, I’ve really branched out. I’ve had the ability to lecture to the athletic department for my alma mater, which was amazing. I have won pitch contests talking about innovations on how to change the face of what health looks like. I have upcoming events for senior centers and doing speaking engagements for them. I’ve been featured on cable access TV on topics like Parkinson’s nutrition and more. I have really put the certifications and licenses that I have received to use, and it has helped propel me into the health, wellness, and nutrition space.
What are your favorite parts of running your business?
My favorite aspects of A Better Path to Wellness is the people that I get to meet, whether it’s the one-on-one people who find me for sessions and education, or the people I meet out in the community doing vendor events or speaking engagements. I have made some of the best friends, and colleagues, and I have some of the best clients that I could have ever asked for. The people that I get to engage with on a regular basis from having launched this business and using my certificates this way have come back to me tenfold. I’m so glad that I get to do that and I get to meet and work with some of these amazing people.
Do you have any success stories you’d like to share?
I am grateful to say that I have a lot of success stories that I could share, but picking one would do a disservice to the amount of hard work my clients all put in. Collectively, the amount of weight loss, the amount of diminished chronic disease, the amount of medications that my clients have been able to come off, the biomarkers like the lipid panels, the fasting glucose, the insulin levels that have all been reduced in a healthy, positive, sustainable manner have just shattered my expectations on what people can really achieve when they put their mind to something and have the power of a educated, professional, empathetic coach behind them. And that really in itself is the success story of my clients because they all achieve success in their own way. It has been a pleasure and will continue to be as long as I advance in my career to cheer them on and support them and yell their success stories from the mountaintop because they deserve it.
What advice would you give others considering getting certified through AFPA?
My advice to other people who want to get certified through AFPA is to do it. It is affordable, timely, and can be done on your own accord. And I think that it is only going to better you as a person, as a practitioner, as a coach, to continue to educate yourself and be able to apply that to the patients, clients, whatever you refer to them as, that you take care of, it’s only going to make you better in the long run. And the resources that you get from joining this community alone will continue to serve you throughout your career.
How can we find you online?
A Better Path to Wellness
Instagram @a_better_path_to_wellness
Read more AFPA graduate success stories
Get Your Free Guide to Becoming a Holistic Nutritionist
Learn about the important role of holistic nutritionists, what it takes to be successful as one, and how to build a lucrative, impactful career in nutrition.
