Karen Urbanek - CEO, Holistic Healthcare Practitioner, Author, Chef, Course-Creator, and MOM!

Known by radio talk shows and health conference attendees as the "Cell Health Protector," Karen is out to do one thing: flood your body with the feeling of empowerment! 

Karen has delivered over 1,000 seminars on disease prevention and healthy living, written four books on holistic healthcare and healthy eating, founded two Organic cafes, two Holistic Healthcare and Education Centers, two non-profit organizations, and organizes conferences and retreats to date. If you've ever wanted to meet a woman out to set the world on fire for holistic health and self-empowerment, you've found her! (And if you were here, she would look you in the eyes and tell you to set your fears aside, follow your God-given vision, and watch the universe conspire to make it happen).

A mother to eleven children (you read that right -11), Karen doesn't just speak from years of research, but from years of experience! She and her husband Roger raised their family eating and living this way.  She knows both the challenges and the joys that mothers and care-takers face. Most of her children are now grown and live around the country doing a variety of exciting jobs (from programming fighter jets to running a canine care center), but they reunite whenever possible to "party like it's 1999!" (Don't underestimate the power of back-yard party lights). 

The beginning of her natural health journey: Having grown up on medications for epilepsy, she was motivated to remove all pharmaceuticals from her life in her early adulthood.  She became epileptic free at age 21 using nutrition and herbs, and further studied to become a Holistic Healthcare Practitioner.  

Amy Sprouse - Chief Operating Officer, Public Health Advocate, and Functional Fitness Athlete

Amy Sprouse is passionate about combining the worlds of Eastern and Western Medicine. She graduated from Brigham Young University with her Bachelor's Degree in Public Health - Epidemiology (the statistical study of the cause and spread of disease) and a minor in Management. She is currently obtaining a Master's degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins and has been accepted to the Master of Business Administration program at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, China. Her long-term career interests include health policy reform and researching alternative cancer treatments. She intends to play a role in shifting healthcare systems to be more prevention-oriented, affordable, and integrative. 

Amy is a competitive athlete in Crossfit, but is an even bigger fan of yoga, trail runs, ju jitsu, and playing with children for exercise. Her favorite past times are song-writing and traveling. She speaks Mandarin Chinese fluently and looks forward to expanding HHE's reach in foreign countries, especially select regions of Asia and Africa. 

As the 7th child in a combined family of 11 from rural Wisconsin (a daughter of Karen Urbanek), she grew up deeply appreciating holistic health but didn't understand the depth of the role it played in a nation's vitality and prosperity until she traveled internationally. 15 countries and 5 continents later, she has a new appreciation for how each country around the world practices health differently, and believes we have a lot to learn from each other. 

Amy is honored and excited to be serving as the Chief Operating Officer of HHE, and hopes to meet you in-person at a conference, course, or retreat. 

Debbie House - Chief Information Officer & Director of Customer Experience & E-Learning Certified Life Coach

Debbie has two children in their 20's, and a husband of 24 years. She grew up in the suburbs of New York City, and lived another 20 years in Hunterdon County, NJ. A few years ago, a work transfer brought her family to a town just south of Chicago, where she currently resides. You may even occasionally hear that NY accent ;)

As an Integrative Wellness and Life Coach, Debbie believes that guiding and supporting people through a combination of holistic modalities empowers them towards wholeness, harmony and balance. By  understanding that true balance will require an occasional re-balance, people develop their own unique system for maintaining their own health needs. 

Through the years, Debbie's life has taken many turns, and one turn landing her with employment in the family business. It was here that Debbie developed her skills in website administration and development. Through hard work and dedication, she pursued the extra education necessary to be successful in this field. She has since turned those acquired skills into her career, which allows her to not only express her creativity, but work alongside an amazing collaboration of team members at Holistic Health Educators. The ever changing environment of the online world is one of the things she loves most about her job because there is always something new to learn and apply. 

While there have been a few amazing twists and turns in Debbie's career, none feel as fortunate as that first conversation with Karen and Amy. Their contagious enthusiasm and positivity are the center of Holistic Health Educators. Making sure that this enthusiasm shines through within the online presence is a top priority of Debbie's!

Jennilyn Griffiths - Program Director, Certified NASM Personal Trainer

Jennilyn started in the health industry as a certified NASM personal trainer ten years ago. She gravitated towards weight training because she loved how it made her feel strong and powerful. Also at that time not many women were seen lifting weights in the gym and it was considered by some to be a male sport. However she dug deep into science and research and discovered all the incredible benefits it had for women’s health including increasing bone density, slowing down aging, preventing muscle loss (sarcopenia) in later years, hormone health, weight management, and avoidance of disease. She pursued bodybuilding/fitness competitions for a few years and learned the science of how to lose body fat and improve your metabolism.

Originally she got into the health industry because she suffered severe digestive issues in her young teen years. She made it a mission to discover what was wrong with her and how to fix it herself. As she dove into books, podcast, and webinars, she discovered holistic health care and began to solve the puzzle of her debilitating digestive issues. She now has a big passion for digestive health in particular because she understands how much misinformation is out there in traditional western medicine. 

She met Karen and took her Therapeutic Nutritional Counselor program in 2014. She was absolutely fascinated by holistic health care and the human body. She continued her education and took other courses like precision nutrition, metabolic analytics, brain optimization, and metabolism courses. In 2015 she helped start a big fitness event called “Fitcon” in Salt Lake City Utah which grew to over 30,000 attendees! They had athletic competitions and hundreds of health and fitness vendors. Then in 2017 they started Fitcon Summit which was the educational seminars at Fitcon. She brought in experts from around the world to speak on brain health, gut health, fat loss, metabolism, exercise, mobility, and longevity. She continues to love learning and is excited to have a new audience to teach and learn how powerful they really are to fix their own bodies!

Karmen Wehrhan - Content Contributor,  PharmD, HRT Specialist, Health Food Nut, Bookworm, and Mom

Karmen is a trained pharmacist specializing in hormone replacement therapy. She has worked in a variety of settings in the pharmaceutical industry, and found a passion for compounding pharmacy (individualized, patient-centered treatments). Karmen graduated from Drake University with a doctorate in pharmacy, and loves consulting with people about hormonal imbalances and how to fix them. She has a passion for meeting new people, and loves sharing her knowledge about holistic health.

Karmen is a self-proclaimed health food nut, and loves trying new recipes that taste amazing while feeding her family well. It was on this journey to wellness through food that she met Karen! Karmen spends a lot of time in the kitchen with her two children, teaching them how to cook, and enjoying the yummy treats that it produces.

Aside from being a full time mother to two wonderful kiddos, Karmen enjoys hiking, traveling, reading a good book, and spending lots of time with her hubby, Andy. If you happen to find her curled up with a book, you'll probably hear her say, "Let me just finish this page" more than once!

Karmen not only brings her expertise in the pharmacy industry, but also her passion for health and wellness with a holistic mindset to our team. She's always searching for ways to whole-person wellness that minimize the use of pharmaceuticals and maximize healing the body from within. Karmen is excited to help empower people across the globe to achieve their wellness goals, and have some fun along the way!

Rachel Gubler - TNC Program Coordinator, Certified TNC, Holistic Iridologist, and Mom

Rachel grew up in a family that used various holistic healing modalities. She grew up experimenting with oils and herbs, observing in what ways they strengthened or soothed body. In 2013 she experienced chronic and debilitating anxiety. She eagerly searched for answers besides medication that only numbed her ability to experience & enjoy life. She attended one of Karen's classes and kept learning more until she found herself completing the TNC program! She continues to use this knowledge to continue to better her & her family's health. 

Rachel is passionate about helping others take control of their health. She works with clients to direct & empower them in achieving their health goals. She studied holistic iridology and graduated #1 in her class. She is currently studying business management and marketing at BYU-Idaho. She dreams of using this knowledge to plan wellness retreats and support companies like HHE to reach as many people as possible. 

Rachel spends her time going on walks with her family, playing the piano, reading, and making delicious food. She loves combining her desire to eat healthy with her passion for cooking. She loves having friends and family over to eat delicious and uplifting food. She loves gardening and putting that produce to use in her kitchen. 

Rachel is delighted that you have found Karen Urbanek and Holistic Health Educators. She knows first hand how these programs change lives for the better. 

Tammy McArthur - Rehabilitation Counselor, Reiki Master, Yoga Teacher, AO Scan Technician, TNC

As a self-proclaimed career “mom doing all the mom things”, Tammy raised four children and took part in raising 17 additional throughout the years. It wasn’t until she went through a divorce in 2000 she started her true self-discovery journey. Tammy attended Weber State University where she achieved her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in criminal justice. Tammy became a mentor and an advocate for single moms facilitating support groups, became a youth mentor and a peer parent to individuals within the Child and family services system. She became a foster parent and participated on many boards relating to parental education and child protection, becoming an advocate for at risk youth.

Tammy moved to Wyoming 14 years ago where she continued raising her family and  actively involved in the community. At the age of 52 she returned to school to obtain her master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling after spending several years as a substitute teacher and realizing there was a strong need for disability and at-risk youth advocacy.

Tammy moved away from her adult children, three grandchildren, their families and extended family members to become employed as a rehabilitation counselor servicing hundreds of clients that have disabilities or other barriers to optimal independent living. Realizing the connection between mental health and physical health Tammy began learning more about ways to create balance between the two. She became certified as a Reiki Master assisting clients in experiencing the healing flow of energy. The mind-body connection to her into obtaining her Yoga RYT-200 teacher certification focusing on trauma sensitive asana practices (poses), breathing techniques, Mudras (hand gestures) and meditation, as a way to assist individuals in exploring their unique mind-body connection.

She attended an informational session with a friend where she met Karen and Amy. She immediately knew she wanted to become a therapeutic nutrition counselor (TNC) and explore new and exciting ways that she could support her clients, her family, and herself. And so, the journey begins…

Colain White -
Therapeutic Nutritional Counselor, Holistic Health Coach, AO Scan Technician

My Goal is to help people transition to a healthier lifestyle while still living with family who may not want to make those same changes; yet.

I am all about agency and education. Everyone has agency, as do I, but only I am responsible for my own learning. I believe consistently educating myself during my journey will of course help me, but it also prepares me to help others, like my family, when they are ready. I like to know the “Why” of things, but I really like to know the “How” so I can practice and repeat. Most of my family tell me I drink “dirt,” if that gives any indication of my challenges.

What I was taught, or at least retained, when I was raised and while raising my own children, is not everything I needed to know in order to have the health and energy that I want now so that I can get down on the floor and play with my grandsons or play soccer, etc. with them for years to come. I

’m learning and I commit to help you learn how to take back your health and even some of that youthful feeling that you may have thought, or consigned yourself to think, was gone forever.

My expectation of being grandma is to play and have fun along with my grandkids, not just watch them.

I have no intention of running marathons as some of my friends started doing at age 50; I could now, and that is huge! I really want to help you do whatever it is you want to do. For example, my family and I like to backpack and camp. This means I have to carry everything I want or need with me for several miles. Last summer my husband and I hiked into Union Falls. It was over 18 miles round trip in nine hours including time to sit at the falls and the Scout Pool. We forded the river 3-4 times each way along with other obstacles. We took only water, filters and a few fresh fruits and vegetables to eat for breakfast and lunch. We had all the energy we needed. Recently we were hiking in Moab and had to run most of the three miles back to the car before complete darkness set in. I’ve rock climbed and walked for miles and miles and miles while site seeing in Europe all after, or around, the age of 50 and overcoming some health challenges.

You can make changes too and do some of the things you thought you couldn’t; if you want to, of course!