A Life Journey Towards Learning – Exclusive Interview With Ciara Clark

Ciara Clark is a Level 2 Integrative Health Practitioner, Holistic Health Coach, Certified Yoga Instructor, and Plant-Based Expert. As a former Scientist by trade, she suffered from years of debilitating digestive distress, which led her on a personal journey to achieving optimal wellness. Through the power of mindset, movement, plant-based nutrition, and functional medicine, Ciara blends her scientific and holistic expertise to create customized wellness approaches, empowering her clients to find strength in healing their own bodies. She utilizes an individualistic approach to focusing on their unique biochemical needs to restore the body on a cellular level.

Ciara is the founder of Ciara Clark Wellness, where she helps high-achieving leaders to amplify their gut health and achieve their goals to bring vitality back into their bodies again. Her intention is to support busy professionals with developing a deeper understanding of their biological footprint, and the food and lifestyle choices that work best for them, while improving their overall energy, balance, health, and well-being.

Ciara Clark, Integrative Health Practitioner

Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.

My name is Ciara and I’m a Level 2 integrative health practitioner, holistic health coach, yoga instructor, and plant-based expert. I’m also a former Scientist by trade, having worked on all stages of immunology, oncology, and cellular-based therapeutic programs. I live outside of Boston, MA with my husband and our son who is my world. I live a very simple life, enjoying every little ounce of peace and serenity that I can infuse into my being. I’ve always had a passion for helping people, which is why I was so drawn toward becoming a Scientist at 14 years old. At one point during my career, I wanted to become a field Scientist, supporting African nations with AIDS research and analyses. This is when I decided to start traveling to such places as Africa and Nepal to offer my support as a volunteer. My passion for wellness and helping people has always been in me. After encountering my own personal challenges with my health and gaining deeper insight into what it really meant to live a healthy lifestyle, I changed my trajectory toward supporting other high-achieving women who are on a similar life path.

What is your business name and how do you help your clients?

Ciara Clark Wellness was founded with the intention of helping high-achieving leaders, mostly women, to eliminate their bloat, amplify their gut health, and achieve their goals to bring vitality back into their bodies again. I support them by incorporating the six pillars of my business, which include mindset, movement, plant-based nutrition, helping clients to reduce their toxic load, stress management, and sleep hygiene. My intention is to really support busy professionals by developing a deeper understanding of their biological footprint, and the food and lifestyle choices that work best for them, while improving their overall energy, balance, health, and well-being.

What differentiates me from your traditional health coach is that I’m a former Scientist by trade. I’ve worked in the Biopharmaceutical industry for over 10 years, and I know how to look at the latest research and decipher it with ease. I also incorporate functional medicine lab testing into my practice, which helps my clients get to the root cause of why they are not feeling their absolute best.

Who inspires you to be the best that you can be?

As cliche as it may be, my son truly inspires me to be the best human that I can be. Children have a way of resurfacing all your deep-rooted traumas while bringing this sense of joy and lightness into your world. He's literally the sweetest and kindest soul that I've ever met, and I honestly believe that he is here to teach me some invaluable lessons. For my own personal expansion really. Whether or not I'm here to receive it, every day presents a teachable lesson.

What is your work inspired by?

My business was born out of my own personal struggles with my health. As a former Scientist, I suffered from years of debilitative digestive distress, which led me on a personal journey to achieving optimal wellness. I've suffered from horrible acne on my face, issues with thyroid dysfunction, high levels of stress which wreaked havoc on my cortisol levels, and eczema on the back of my neck and legs, which are all rooted in poor gut dysfunction. So, I really work to blend my scientific and holistic expertise to create customized wellness approaches, empowering my clients to find strength in healing their own bodies. I utilize an individualistic approach to focusing on their unique biochemical needs to restore the body on a cellular level.

Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.

My greatest career achievement isn't monetary or tied to a specific accolade. Simply put, it's perseverance. I started to build my business when I was 6 months pregnant, phasing out of teaching in-studio yoga classes, and working a full-time job in the biopharmaceutical industry. I didn't anticipate the challenges that were ahead of me, particularly with a little one to take care of and without the support of childcare. Four years later, I'm happy to say that perseverance is paying off. Over the years, I've learned that building a business is truly about the experience of the journey. The level of internal growth and expansion that is developed along the way is one of the most invaluable experiences during my entrepreneurial journey. Also, it's been wonderful seeing my clients thrive through our work together. Experiencing their newfound joy and confidence has been quite rewarding.

If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?

The wellness industry is so intertwined with the privilege to the point where it almost seems like it’s inaccessible, particularly to marginalized communities. My version of wellness is based on the foundation of how we can create the best environment for our mind, body, and spirit with the resources that we have right in front of us. I don't want people to think that they’re not affluent enough to get well or that their skin is not fair enough to be recognized or deemed worthy of receiving such privileges, or even being a part of the conversation. As a woman of color, I think it's important for us to be a part of the conversation about what it means to “live well” and create space where women can continue to learn, grow, thrive, and build community.

Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.

When my father passed away when I was 19, it changed everything. I became depressed. I took time off from school and isolated myself from family and friends. I had no sense of purpose. I wanted to be healthy (mind, body, and spirit) and so began my extensive journey toward learning how to nourish my body for health versus physicalities. To reframe my mental state for proper well-being and to educate others who were on a similar life journey. Little did I know how much he would shape me into the person that I am today.

Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info!

Read more from Ciara!