Hi, I’m Jenna-
I’m a Family Nurse Practitioner, Certified Functional Hormone Specialist, and lipedema specialist. For years, my work focused on helping women rebalance hormones and restore gut health through evidence-based, functional approaches. But everything shifted when I was diagnosed with lipedema myself — and discovered just how hard it was to find providers who truly understood this condition.
That experience changed the direction of my practice. I realized that my background in hormones, metabolism, and women’s health was the perfect foundation to care for women with lipedema, since hormones play such a powerful role in the condition. Today, I dedicate my work to providing compassionate diagnosis, comprehensive care guidance, and advocacy for women like me who deserve answers, validation, and support.
Why Work With Me
I have worked in the health space for 10+, first as a nurse in the ICU and then as a nurse practitioner in a variety of settings, including pulmonology, sleep medicine, men’s health, and internal medicine. During those years, I saw how often women’s symptoms were dismissed or misunderstood. I eventually turned to functional medicine, focusing on women and their hormones, before life threw me the lipedema curveball and shifted my path once again. My focus now is creating the space, care, and clarity that so many of us in the lipedema world have been searching for.
QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING
- Certified Family Nurse Practitioner
- Master of Science in Nursing
- Certified Functional Hormone Specialist
- Estima-Certified Women’s Health Coach
- Advanced DUTCH test and GI-MAP training via Rupa University
- Advanced dysautonomia training via The American Autonomic Society + The Dysautonomia Project
- Certified weBreathe Breathwork Facilitator
- Additional continuing education on: functional medicine, gut health, hormone health, mycotoxin illness, mental health, & more!
MY PHILOSOPHY
Let’s face it, medicine is a broken system that left both myself and my patients yearning for more. I burned out under the pressure to ‘just prescribe another pill and move on’, the pressure of quantity over quality when seeing patients. Just as Hippocrates, the ‘Father of Medicine’, believed in the mind/body/spiritual connection, I too feel there is no way to achieve health without considering all of these elements that make us into the unique, brilliant beings that we are. We are so much more than just the sum of our parts.
Now, as a lipedema specialist, I bring together the best of my functional hormone background with lived experience to provide care that’s both evidence-based and deeply empathetic. Every woman deserves to be heard, validated, and guided with compassion.
To view more information about my professional background and education, click here.
My journey
Like many women, my story began with years of struggling to “figure out” my health. As a teenager and young adult, I battled hormonal acne, irregular periods, fatigue, and eventually a diagnosis of PCOS. After the traditional medical system left me with more questions than answers, I dove deep into science, nutrition, and functional medicine, becoming a Functional Hormone Specialist to support other women experiencing what I had lived through.
But when I was later diagnosed with lipedema, everything shifted. Suddenly, I was once again the patient searching for answers— and finding very few providers who truly understood. I felt dismissed, isolated, and frustrated. That experience was the turning point: I knew I had to use my background and training to fill the gap I desperately wished had been filled for me.
Today, my journey has come full circle. I blend my expertise in hormones and women’s health with my lived experience of lipedema to help women finally feel seen, understood, and supported. My goal is simple: to provide the clarity and care I wish I had when I needed it most.