Career change: From air hostess to fertility naturopath and entrepreneur
- Written by Candice Meisels
Nikki's inspirational story and tips for couples wanting to conceive.
Nikki Warren is a fertility naturopath and Mum of two children based on the Sunshine Coast. She has assisted hundreds of couples as a fertility naturopath and with her premium range of pre-conception, prenatal and post-natal supplementation, NaturoBest, which are tailored to each stage of conception, pregnancy and the post-natal period.
Nikki Warren battled with polycystic ovarian syndrome. She was officially diagnosed at the age of 27, in the midst of her career as a busy air hostess.
Nikki says: “I was finally diagnosed through ultrasound and saw an endocrinologist. It was a relief to finally have a diagnosis. I was a big-time party girl and I think my lifestyle contributed to the PCOS. Between my job as a shift worker and then coming home and partying non-stop, it had to affect my body eventually.”
“My journey began after commencing the contraceptive pill when I was 27. I started piling on the weight and acne appeared on my chin. As a result, I decided to come off it a couple of months later. After coming off the pill, my period didn’t return, I continued to rapidly gain weight to a total of 10 kilograms, and the acne on my chin only compounded the damage to my self-esteem. Over the next 12 months, my period hadn’t returned, and I saw specialist after specialist before turning to complementary medicine. I saw a homeopath, an acupuncturist and finally a naturopath. I was feeling pretty despondent by that time. The naturopath formulated a liquid herbal mixture for me and within three weeks my period returned, the acne started to clear and over the next few months I lost several kilograms. I could not believe the outstanding results, it inspired me to study naturopathy the next year.”
“I knew that my weight gain was related to not having a period and interestingly as soon as I started taking the herbs, my period resumed 3 weeks later and the weight start dropping off. I became very interested in learning about the function of hormones and how they relate to every aspect of health”
Nikki fell pregnant at 28 whilst working as a flight attendant since the age of 22.
“That year, while studying and working full time as a flight attendant, I conceived my daughter. In hindsight, my unplanned pregnancy was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to me. Being a single mum was tough, but the fast-paced lifestyle I led as a flight attendant prior to my pregnancy, was certainly not good for my health.
Working night shifts on long-haul flights in early pregnancy was a struggle in itself, let alone dealing with morning sickness. I spent many days in hotel rooms hovering over the toilet bowl and none of the natural remedies I tried seemed to help.
Nikki’s health journey and pregnancy coupled with morning sickness and the hectic pace of working whilst being pregnant, led her to follow her passion and to study Naturopathy.
She completed a Diploma in Naturopathy and an Advanced Diploma in Herbal Medicine followed by a Bachelor of Health Science, whilst juggling life with her daughter.
At 36, when her daughter was 6 years old, Nikki got married and wanted to conceive a second child.
“Nine years later I was married and ready to prepare for my second pregnancy. As part of my degree, I undertook extensive research into morning sickness and discovered some insights I had never heard of in my five years of working as a fertility naturopath. With this pregnancy, my husband and I followed a preconception care plan and I fell pregnant with my second child straight away. I designed and had made by a compounding pharmacist, a prenatal vitamin that also reduced morning sickness.
It worked so well for me and subsequently my clients, that I knew I had to take it to the market. My aim was to help as many other women as possible on a much larger scale than I could in my clinic. So was born my Prenatal Trimester One formula and NaturoBest was launched in 2016.”
Nikki’s two children, Taylah and Phoenix. are now 15 and 6 years old. Nikki no longer works as a fertility naturopath as she focuses on her role as Director and Founder of NaturoBest.
Nikki’s Top Tips for couples wanting to conceive:
1. Follow a preconception care plan for 4 months
2. This includes detox, give up or limit alcohol, switch from drinking coffee to tea, quit smoking, lose weight if they need to, switch to eating organically.
3. Take preconception supplements including a multi, calcium and magnesium supplement, fish oils and probiotics and potentially herbs if they have health issues that need correcting (guided by a medical herbalist).
4. Take more nutritional supplements than what are in a preconception multi and for this they should be guided by a naturopath or nutritionist.
