Daily Inspiration: Meet Tanya Carroccio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanya Carroccio.

Hi Tanya, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I went from healthy to unhealthy in just over a decade. In my late 30’s, I was an executive with a hospital/healthcare system. I loved leadership and had been climbing that leadership ladder for over 10 years, so I was excited to advance my career. Unfortunately, I felt as though I needed to prove myself every day. This mindset ensured I did not have a good work/life balance. I was working long hours, eating poorly, exercising less, ignoring stress, and slowly becoming sick. Which I also ignored. I did not address what my body was trying to tell me. “Something is wrong” would scream with the many symptoms I was experiencing. These included irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal reflux, weight gain (even with low calories), high blood pressure, insulin resistance, cravings, and high cholesterol. Not to mention the brain fog, hormonal imbalance, fibroids, gall stones, headaches, and lack of energy. These did not happen all at once. That might have scared me like someone who suddenly has a heart attack or a stroke as the wake-up call.

My path to chronic disease was a very slow process. I was 47 years old. As a nurse practitioner, I knew what to do and what medications I needed to take to help relieve my symptoms. So, I started on the pharmaceutical dead end. It’s a dead end because you never get better, usually get worse, and must take medications for the rest of your life. I started researching wellness and alternative ways to address my issues. That is when I reached out to my colleague and (now) business partner, Dr. Lauren Bachman, DNP, Functional Medicine Board Certified. I also enrolled in Institute for Functional Medicine clinical certification course. I started understanding and acknowledging what I needed to do to reverse my disease state and help others do the same.

That is how Benehealth was conceptualized. Benehealth is a functional medicine and natural aesthetics center. Of course, I was the first client. I am over 40 pounds lighter, off all pharmaceuticals, and have none of my previous symptoms. My energy, brain function, immune system, and GI system are better than when I was in my 20’s! I am so excited that Benehealth is helping hundreds of people reach optimal health and look and feel their best every day.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This is a two-part question. The first part is the road to getting healthy. I will be honest, making significant changes to your lifestyle is never smooth, but it does not stay rocky for long. The reason for this is that you become a different person health-wise. Once you get a taste of feeling great and reversing your symptoms, you do not want to return. Oh, sure, there are times when you may revert to old habits or have life situations that make putting your health as the number one priority more difficult. A readiness mindset reduces the bumps in the road to making necessary changes. We encourage our clients to stay on the course and offer support through our practitioners, wellness navigators, nutritionists, and health coaches. The clients that come to us have decided they are ready for change and recognize that conventional medicine does not have the time or resources to help them.

The second part is opening Benehealth. We opened our doors 7 months ago, but it took about 12 months to prepare everything. As with any start-up, there are struggles, high times and low times, and feelings of joy and failure. Sometimes all of these are on the same day. We have mostly relied on organic marketing, word of mouth, and networking to get our client base. We have been very fortunate to have a steady number of clients and look forward to our continual growth. Our biggest hurdle is letting people know we are here and ready to get them better and at their peak performance.

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Currently, I am the Founder/CEO and one of the clinical practitioners at Benehealth. I have a doctorate in advanced practice nursing and am a board-certified nurse practitioner; I specialize in natural aesthetics with a functional medicine (whole-body) focus; I completed the IFM applying for Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice® Certification. In this role, I love innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership, and the clinical, client-facing role. I have a strong background in quality, safety, and compliance, which has been a great experience for a start-up in health and wellness. I am very excited about our comprehensive plan for growth with Benehealth. Not only is there a high demand for functional and integrative medicine, we know numerous practitioners want to start working primarily in this field. Because f this dual demand, we are working on our rapid expansion model to get Benehealth throughout Arizona and eventually nationwide.

What sets us apart? We have a proprietary program for our clients/members, proven to work continuously. We have weekly team meetings that collaborate to ensure our clients get the best care through team communication. Once our functional medicine clients leave the door (or video), we are still ensuring the best care is happening. We also focus on natural or regenerative aesthetics. This means we leverage your body’s ability to regenerate cells and improve signs of aging, sculpt stubborn fatty areas, and look radiant and healthy. To learn more about functional medicine, visit our website or https://www.ifm.org/.

What do you think about happiness?
I love being busy, not just busy. I like the productive busyness. I am a checklist person, so I love checking off accomplishments. Even marking off groceries on a list feels good! With a start-up, I get plenty of checklists. I also love spending time outdoors – kayaking, hiking, camping, and scuba diving are my favorites. Meditation, deep breathing, positive affirmations, and walking outdoors are my go-to happy place when I can’t do my favorite outdoor activities. One of the things I like to remind my clients about is the importance of finding their happy place and visiting it often. While going through my health crisis, I locked the door to my happy place. Even when I wanted to go there, I was too tired or had a headache or stomach ache. Now that I have little to no symptom burden, I am in my happy place most every day.

We came up with our slogan – “Because good health is everything.” If you are feeling unwell, you can’t enjoy the things you love (or at least not as much or as often).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.benehelth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benehealth_az/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Benehealth4Life