About Me
My name is Karen Appolonia and Coach To Better Health is the web portal to my health coach consulting practice. I am a certified Health Coach with over 20 years of experience working in health care. I currently practice in Winston-Salem, NC, but I am also able to work with clients anywhere in the US via telephone or Skype.
From a very young age, I wanted to help others. Knowing that I wanted to be in a "helping profession" and to understand more about people, I graduated from Appalachian State, a part of the University of North Carolina system, with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, a minor in Psychology, and a concentration in Gerontology. After a couple of years exploring the great "out west," nurturing my love of nature through hiking, backpacking, skiing, and camping, I returned to Appalachian again for graduate school, this time, earning a Master of Arts degree in Communication Disorders.. Guided by my strong desire to help people heal, after establishing my career as a Speech Pathologist and while working with adults with communication, cognitive, and swallowing disorders in long term care, I attended the North Carolina School of Natural Healing in Asheville, NC to receive a certification in Massage Therapy.
"It is in changing that we find purpose"--Heraclitus
Having spent 20 years as a Speech Pathologist, working in hospitals, long-term care, and home health settings, as well as seeing clients for massage therapy, my passion for helping people to achieve a greater level of health is stronger than ever. Throughout my years of working in healthcare, I have repeatedly come face to face with the consequences of years of unhealthy lifestyles and the life-altering impact. I am all too frequently surprised by comments from my patients who are far too young to have chronic and debilitating (but preventable!) illnesses who attribute it to their age. Having great empathy for these patients and the many more who are suffering from unhealthy lifestyles, my wish is to help as many people as possible to achieve greater health and wellness.
Guided by this same empathy, and, once more, by my desire to help people heal, pursuing a certification in health coaching and taking my career in a new direction was an obvious and natural progression. I attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Health Coach Certification Program, which is approved by both the National Consortium for Credentialing Health and Wellness Coaches and by the Center for Credentialing and Education to receive my certification.
Coaching my clients to better health and wellness is not only an extension of my years of experience working with patients in healthcare, many of whom have chronic "lifestyle-related" illness, but is also in alignment with my own values and lifestyle. I come to you with a personal love of, and striving for an ever-increasing healthy and balanced lifestyle. My personal approach for my own life is to keep things as simple and natural as possible--eating mostly whole, natural, and organic foods, getting a moderate amount of exercise, adequate rest, managing stress, and practicing gratitude. Though a health coach does not give specific nutritional advice (only a registered dietician can do that), I love cooking and eating healthy and have learned lots of tips and tricks along the way to make it as easy as possible to incorporate nutritious foods into my day. Healthy choices don't have to be boring or hard (and should NEVER leave you feeling deprived!) and I can honestly say that I feel better now than I did 15 years ago--just from making small but steady changes. Making better choices should be exciting and empowering and I sincerely wish to inspire you toward greater health and wellness!