From Unemployed to Self-Employed with Dr. Erica Steele
Summary: Meet Dr. Erica: <br><br>Dr. Erica Steele DNM ND CFMP BCND is a Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor & Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner<br><br>I always knew from an early age that I was going to be a doctor, my job in my journey and my career was to discover which type of doctor that I would become in time. At the time I had no idea that I would be a Naturopathic Doctor. My parents are both scholars, multi-degreed, and both instilled in me the desire to learn as well as think for myself. My mother was a nurse and is now a social worker, so for me, caretaking was considered common practice when helping people. She worked with a variety of patients in a variety of settings and while in school brought me to school with her to learn. As a young girl, I sat in organic chemistry classes and ran around labs learning complex structures before my maturity. I think this prepared me to be a functional medicine practitioner. This really created a deep understanding of how the body works on a cellular level. My father is in education and my stepmother was a geneticist. Again, I learned how to question things, think independently, and recognize the science to which the art of healing really took place, which prepared me to answer the clues created in functional medicine practice. Coupled with experiencing natural healthcare practices as well undergoing acupuncture, rebirthing, reiki attunements, and participating in native American spiritual work under the age of 12. All of this prepared my calling and my path to become a naturopathic doctor.<br><br>As I grew up, a rebellious teen, I left my house to start my career in natural healthcare. At 16 years old, I was the youngest student in my class to complete a massage therapy program. I immediately left the program and began working gaining lots of various experiences across different facilities in natural healthcare. I worked in spas, organic spas, med spas, with chiropractors, in PT clinics, wellness centers, and massage clinics nationwide. I fell in love with the complexity of the body and my ability to help facilitate people’s healing. I continued my education, going to school for neuromuscular therapy, in addition to various other manual therapy modalities as my career in massage therapy expanded before becoming a naturopathic doctor.<br><br>I then was offered an opportunity to teach in massage therapy schools, as an anatomy & physiology instructor. This experience served me on many levels, honing my skills to teach people the body as well as gaining an even deeper understanding of anatomy, and physiology. From there, I decided to continue my education, while I gained experience both owning my own business, managing other people’s businesses, and eventually completing my associate’s degree in Psychology from the university of phoenix after various start stops in traditional community colleges in Southern California. Working full-time and being a single mother proved to be challenging when in turn balancing college education but I was determined to be a naturopathic doctor. I continued to persevere and not give up on my dreams while also teaching my daughter how to have a life and work balance.<br><br>about2I was at a crossroads in my education as to the direction I would take and know that I wanted to be a doctor, but still unsure of which I did more research. I studied allopathic doctors, such as MDs, and the like. Although I appreciated their philosophies it did not resonate with me, and what I felt G-Ds calling was from me. I further explored being a holistic doctor including chiropractic, osteopathy, and naturopathy, especially since I worked with many of them throughout the years. Although I appreciated chiropractic care, I did not see myself as a chiropractor especially since I had already done manual therapy for so many years. Being an Osteopath disheartened me since they had abandoned much of their holistic practices to merge with the allopathic...
