ABOUT STEFF

MY FULL STORY

For a long time, I thought passion was something I had to figure out. All through my twenties, I tried to find “my thing.” In order to find it, I travelled across the whole world - from Germany to Australia - to the other side of the world. As a twenty-year-old. As far away as I could get.

I wanted to become myself - even though I didn’t know back then that this was the reason behind it. Smartphones didn’t exist back then. To connect to my family, I had to dial an immensely long number, so we mostly connected via email (I had to go into internet cafés for that and for rare calls). Of course, I missed them - but I felt free to explore who I really was.

I planned on staying six months - in the end, it turned into a full two years. With three months of traveling through Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos). Two years of fully being away from the 400-soul village I was born into. I definitely became more me than ever before. Away from the rules, the societal norms - living freely in the wild. Me feeling free - but my passion still not found.

When I got back, I crashed

Another boring job as a graphic designer - again. I felt pulled back into something I already didn’t like before, but this time it was harder - because I knew the other side. I felt stuck. In a job and a life I didn’t like. Not something easy to accept or allow myself to feel.

So I tried to adapt and “fix” myself to like what everyone else around me seemed to like.

Another three years down the line - constantly sick from trying to fit myself into a life that was clearly not for me - I made a strong move. After absolute exhaustion, where I thought to myself, “What do I even live for?” - I quit my job, gave up on finding my passion, and went back to school to enter university.

I didn’t accept this question coming up - I had to change something. I had no idea what to study or what to do next, but I knew this couldn’t be my life anymore. The decision to go back to school gave me the freedom to just be. Finally, I stopped being the grown-up worrying about my future. I was just in the moment.

And then - when I least expected it - it found me

Unexpected. Unknowingly. The moment I stopped chasing it - it came to me.

What I didn’t understand back then was that my body was already speaking to me - quietly, patiently - long before it ever needed to shout.

I did what many people do when they genuinely want to feel more themselves: I learned. I researched. I tried to do everything “right.”

I followed advice. I pushed through tiredness. I trusted plans more than my own intuition. And on the outside, it often looked like I was doing well - disciplined, informed, committed. “If someone can have a full-time job and study full-time - it’s gotta be Steff.” 

But inside, I crumbled more and more. Still carrying that smile on my face.

Inside, there were moments when something felt disconnected. And those moments became more and more frequent. First quiet - then louder and louder.

The moment things shifted

My deeper journey into health didn’t begin with a diagnosis or a breaking point. It began with curiosity.

In 2015, when I chose a plant-based lifestyle, I found myself completely lost in what I now call the nutrition jungle. So many rules. So many opinions. So many foods labelled “healthy” - and yet, so little clarity about what the body actually needs.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I went into a food store and tried to find out which of the foods I liked were vegan and completely free from animal products. For the first time, I had to read ingredient lists. And let me tell you - that really put me down a rabbit hole.

Finding out how much sht* is allowed in our food - and how many foods that should be perfectly and easily vegan weren’t - shocked me deeply. I knew I was on the right path. Because I was so surprised by what I discovered along the way, I knew: this is my thing. 

My own health struggles

Long before I even chose a plant-based lifestyle, I had tummy aches - basically after every meal. But because it was so normal, I didn’t really notice it anymore. Until one evening.

I was eating some salted crackers - pretty basic. I thought they should only contain wheat, water, and salt. I mean, what else would be needed? That’s how I was thinking back then.

It didn’t take long, and my tummy ached. As usual. But this time I thought, “Wait. What? Why - from crackers?”

So I went into the kitchen, pulled the packaging out of the bin, and was shocked by the long list of ingredients on the back. I had never thought about that before.

From that point on, I started a mission to figure out what was causing these tummy issues. I did fructose and lactose tests at the doctor’s, multiple allergy tests, took super expensive probiotics - nothing changed. All tests came back negative.

But I stayed curious. And over time, with my newfound knowledge about ingredient lists, I figured out through trial and error that I was reacting negatively to MSG (monosodium glutamate), used as a flavor enhancer.

Let me tell you - I was very surprised to find this unnecessary ingredient in my favorite cookies. That was the last time I ate them.

The urgent call from my doctor

Around that same time, there was the post office incident.

One day, I stood in a long queue waiting to get to the counter. I started feeling dizzy, but it was nearly my turn, and there was nowhere to sit _ so I pushed through.

When I finally reached the counter, I had one hand on it and collapsed, quickly sitting down on the floor in front of it.

People were incredibly kind - panicking around me, asking if they could help. One person held their phone to my ear while a medic asked if I needed help. Thank you, dear people - but I’d had this before. Not as urgently, but it wasn’t new.

As a child and teenager, this happened often - whenever I had to stand in one place for too long. So I thanked them and went straight to my doctor.

They took my blood. The next day, I received a call:
“Your iron is dangerously low - you urgently need to take iron medication. Like now.”

I did what I was told.

Later on, it all made sense. In my younger years, a teacher once had to pick me up - I remember waking up in his arms as he carried me to another teacher’s house so I could regain consciousness. Another time, I collapsed into the mayor’s arms during a parade where we had to stand for a long time.

By then, it felt almost normal. Nothing unusual anymore at that point.

My research deepened

By this point, I knew how to work around my tummy aches. And I realized that eating meat and dairy - which I was eating at the time of my collapses - wasn’t protecting anyone from nutrient deficiencies, despite what’s so widely claimed.

Because of my own experience with low iron and collapses throughout my life, I questioned this belief and did my own research.

And I found out: yes, you can live very well on a purely plant-based diet. In fact, when done with care and thought, it can be even healthier than the typical Western diet.

So I continued this journey.

And fun fact: not once since then have I experienced a collapse again. This has been 11 years now.

The journey continued

I started noticing how often health advice ignored the human behind the body. How rarely stress, emotions, nervous system regulation, or life context were truly considered.

People wanted to eat better - but they didn’t want to listen. Or change anything.

That’s when I knew: if I wanted real answers, I had to go deeper.

Why were so many people not listening - even though living healthy seemed so simple at that point?

Learning to listen - not control

I dove deep into nutritional therapy, systemic coaching, holistic health, stress, and human behavior - not to collect titles, but to understand myself better and how the body truly works as a system.

My curiosity turned me fully vegan in 2015, which led me to discover my passion for nutritional therapy.

Today, I am a fully licensed Nutritional Therapist with a Bachelor of Science degree (Hochschule Anhalt, Germany). Wanting to understand human behavior even deeper led me to become a licensed Systemic Coach (ECA) and Systemic Trainer. My Business Health Management degree took me deeper into psychology and stress understanding.

And my biggest teacher has always been life - and myself.

It was always within me. I just couldn’t see it, because I was searching for it on the outside.

What changed everything

Through my studies, lived experience, and work with others, one thing became very clear:

True health is not created through restriction, discipline, or constant self-optimization.
It’s created through understanding, alignment, and trust.

Understanding our behaviors, beliefs, traumas, childhood, the society we grew up in, our close relationships - even our ancestors - it all shows us why we are who we are.

When we stop fighting the body and start listening, everything changes.

Symptoms stop being enemies - they become information.
Fatigue becomes a message.
Cravings become communication.
Discomfort becomes guidance - not failure.

Why I do this work

Today, I work as a licensed Nutrition Therapist (B.Sc.), Systemic Coach, and Wellbeing Mentor. But titles are not what define my work.

What defines my work is this:

• I help people reconnect with their body - without fear, pressure, or overwhelm.
• I help them understand what truly supports them - physically, mentally, emotionally.
• I help them build health in a way that feels grounded, sustainable, and real.

I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions.
I don’t believe in extremes.
And I don’t believe that health should feel like another full-time job.

And because I lived through all of this myself, I gained a deeper understanding of other people’s struggles too.

I believe your body already knows the way - it just needs the right environment, the right knowledge, and a little space to speak.

And almost guaranteed - if you really want to - you’ll even find your own spark along the way. 

YOUR HEALTHIEST SELF

Everything I offer today - my course, my masterclass, my free resources - is built around one simple truth:

Your Healthiest Self is not something you need to become. It’s something you remember.

You’re not broken.
You don’t need fixing.
And you’re not behind.

You’re already carrying everything you need - and I’m here to help you reconnect with it.

What I learned: My whole journey became my entry point to my passion. If I hadn’t walked it all - with all its twists, turns, and labyrinths - I wouldn’t have noticed what had always been slumbering within me.

I needed to take those exact steps, make those exact mistakes and detours. Because without them, I wouldn’t understand human behavior the way I do today.

And it all starts within.
For each and every one of us.

XoXo, Steff