Today we have Hannah Derrickson, Integrative Health Coach and Functional Practitioner, on the blog! I met Hannah almost two years ago at a CLEARSTEM Skincare event in Austin. She was working for Kendra Scott and taking an integrative nutrition course. Since then, she has become a health coach, practitioner, and an acne lab specialist. On top of that, she launched a business, quit her corporate job, and took her business full time!!!
I hope you can take away lots of tips, advice, & leave feeling inspired because there's a lot in here!!
In this post we're doing a deep dive into all things;
how she transitioned from the corporate world to taking her business full time
overcoming fear & limiting beliefs
how she cultivates confidence
her mission
how she is getting down to the root causes of people's health issues
root causes of acne
being your own guru
her simple morning routine
Introduce yourself and tell us what you do...
I’m an integrative Nutrition Health Coach and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, which is a mouth full for sure. But, essentially working to find root causes of different imbalances and symptoms within the body. I do that through different modalities of functional lab testing which is bloodwork, hormone testing, and gut panels.
I’m one of CLEARSTEM's acne lab specialists. Emily Morrow is another one of their practitioners as well, who is brilliant in the space. I work with her to evaluate those blood work panels and give girls and guys insights into their root causes of their acne and skin issues. It’s been an amazing growing experience for me and my knowledge in the field.
From Corporate Fashion to Wellness Entrepreneur
Can you share your journey of going from working corporate to starting a business in the health field?
I moved to Austin and was working for Kendra Scott as a merchandiser. I thought that’s what I wanted to do, be in the fashion industry. I think as you get into jobs, you realize what fills your cup and what doesn’t. I realized that I had this growing passion for the health industry. I started to think, could I make a career out of this?
So, I took the IIN course, The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, to become a health coach in February of 2022. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. I took another course with Cornell University online. Then I started a program, FDN, which is my practitioners certification. I did that for about five or six months until I became a practitioner. I thought I was ready, I was going to launch a practice and take clients. But, something was pulling at me to just take one more course, which is Emily Morrows course. I took her course in blood chemistry. After that, I started taking clients. It’s crazy because that was only six months ago. It happened so fast. I definitely completed a significant amount of education in what would most consider a pretty short amount of time. I was just so passionate about it that I wanted to keep learning, and here we are.
How was that transition mentally of leaving your job to take your business full time?
I was 100% scared. And I like to make that clear because I feel like a lot of people just see the before and after on social media. It makes it seem like it’s a flawless transition. I remember going to tell my boss that I was going to be leaving and taking the business full time. I was like, look I don’t know if this is the right time or the right decision, I just have this passion and I have to go with it. I went back and forth too. There would be days where I was like I got this, I was so confident. And there were days where I was like, what am I doing? My passion carried me through honestly. I knew very deeply that this is what I was supposed to be doing in this life. Which sounds very woo woo, but it’s so true.
If you are going down the entrepreneurial path, that's amazing, but you have to have the passion rooted so deeply in you that it can carry you through the days where you are scared. I’m still learning, I’m barely on month 2 of being completely on my own. This season is tough, I’m learning so much. I’m setting up my business for growth, learning the back end of things, taxes, and it’s not easy by any means. It can be overwhelming. Six months ago, I didn’t even know how to send an invoice. There were definitely times where I was like, am I going to be financially fine?
Just from the mentors that I’ve had access to in my life, I've seen that the further you get, the easier it gets. I saw this picture of someone pushing up a square up a hill. The further they push it, the more round it becomes and the easier it gets to push up the hill. That’s the metaphor I completely resonate with. When you’re first making those leaps, it feels like you’re walking through quicksand. Then, it kind of gets easier and you start to be able to run a little bit. It’s not linear, it’s going to have ebbs and flows. You gain more confidence the further you get.
How She Cultivates Confidence:
I know that everyone says keep the little promises to yourself. Wake up and go to the gym, or go to bed at the time that you said you were going to. You might have a day where you wake up late, you miss the gym, that stuff is going to happen. For me, it’s keeping the big promises. Like, I said I’m going to launch this business, and I’m scared, but I’m doing it. That’s what I think really strengthens the relationship with myself. And spending time alone. Being comfortable with your own thoughts, going out to dinner alone, which is so hard to do sometimes.
Her Mission
What would you say is your mission in the health and wellness space?
My mission is to give people hope that they can heal themselves and really feel their best through a very natural perspective. I think a lot of the power has been taken out of our hands. For example, you’re having painful periods? Go on birth control. You’re having acne? Go on birth control. My mission is first education. Educating people so they feel empowered to make those decisions. Because, as a practitioner, I can tell you what to do all day long and why, but if you don’t really understand it, it's going to be harder for you to make changes.
You do have an impact on how your body functions, the prevention of some diseases, and how you’re feeling on a day to day basis. And secondly, giving the tools and knowledge to get there. How do we build the best protocol that’s the best for their body, and how do I explain their lab results in a way that they can understand? In short, it would be making everyone an expert on their own body, and giving them the power to make changes that they see fit.
I love that you make a very specific protocol tailored to each person. Especially with social media, it can be so overwhelming with all of the different advice.
100%. I see that all of the time because I’ll get so many questions on, "Should I take Athletic Greens?" "Should I get AMRA Colostrum?" "Should I get Cymbiotika supplements?" I’m like, well I don't know, what symptoms do you have? Because each person is going to have different needle movers. Somebody with PCOS could take a certain supplement that really helps with blood sugar regulation and they might see a lot of improvement in their symptoms. But, if somebody has crazy gut infections and they take that same supplement that worked for someone with PCOS, it’s probably not going to have as much of an impact on them. That's not where their symptoms are coming from. You can spend hundreds of dollars on all these supplements that are being recommended to us, or take that money and go get a blood test. Go work with a functional practitioner and see what your body is actually needing.
How is it different taking a blood test at the doctors vs. taking a blood test and bringing it to you?
When I’m looking at blood work, I’m looking at it with completely different ranges and a completely different lens. First, I’m using completely different lab ranges that are more optimal. And secondly, using it to paint a story with your symptoms. Their ranges are based on a very large subset of the population; people who might be taking care of themselves, but it also includes people who are sick and not feeling good. Most of the time, your blood work will come back and they’ll say, “Yep, you’re normal, everything looks good here.” But, they’ll bring that same bloodwork to me and I’ll have 19 markers out of my optimal ranges. I look at what are the most optimal people feeling, what are their ranges? It’s a smaller range vs. conventional medicine. Their ranges keep getting bigger and bigger because the population keeps getting sicker and sicker.
Do you think money plays a role in conventional medicine in some instances?
Unfortunately, money is always a thing. We always have to look at the goal and agenda behind it. An example I like to use is cholesterol. Cholesterol is very demonized, and people are going on statens. 8 out of the 9 doctors who write the national cholesterol guidelines are paid by the pharmaceutical industry. The staten industry to lower cholesterol levels is billions of dollars. So, there is 100% a correlation there. That’s unfortunately sad because it’s hard to speak out on that and give people the empowerment because I’m not going to go against your doctor as a practitioner. From a legal perspective, they have to have that say. But, educating people on some of the other root causes, for example why your cholesterol might be high. Putting the power back in their hands.
This day and age I think everybody has to be their own guru. Unfortunately, we can’t just take someone’s word for it, unless you have maybe a functional doctor or practitioner who you really trust is looking into the root cause of things.
You have intuition, you have gut feelings. You know what’s good for you. So tapping into that too. I think that we’ve lost that art a little bit. We constantly want someone else to tell us what is good for us and what we should be doing. But, think about what feels good for you. That has to be an aspect of it.
Let's Talk About Acne...
You're also on the acne lab panel, what is that process like?
The CLEARSTEM acne lab panel is bloodwork, and so from there we take that and see what is out of medical range but also what is out of optimal range for skin health. Then, bucket it based off the four core pillars of the root causes of acne that Emily has formulated and build a protocol based off their labs to help heal their acne naturally.
What would you say are the major root causes of acne that you’ve seen?
There are a lot of moving parts. Of course everybody is different. We have done over 400, close to 500 protocols now. There's no protocol that’s the same in there. I would say a lot of infection and inflammation in the body. We’re seeing some things like heavy metals, blood sugar dysregulation, and nutrient deficiencies. You think about the world we live in now, we're exposed to these things at a higher rate. Of course the body needs help detoxing and eradicating infection. Our skin is our largest detox organ, of course it’s going to push things out from our skin.
What things are you building into a protocol for someone to heal their acne?
We’re using a lot herbs, natural supports, different food changes, and lifestyle factors. Implementing things like castor oils packs to support the liver, or maybe this person needs to track their blood sugar for a little bit and see what the trends are over time to see if they have a lot of glucose spikes and dips. Maybe it's filling the gap with a nutrient deficiency, and they need more zinc. It’s looking at a lot of different aspects.
Optimizing Your Morning
What is your typical morning routine?
This changes based on where I am in the country, honestly. But, there's a couple things I always strive to do. I’m honestly not a fan of 2 hour morning routines. It’s not sustainable.
I always think of a couple words. Optimization, light, movement, gratitude.
Optimize: Optimize what you’re already doing. If you are already going for a walk in the morning, listen to a podcast, or do your gratitude while you’re walking. It’s like habit stacking. Everyone is making coffee or a matcha in the morning. Can that coffee be tested for mold and mega toxins? Can you add in some raw honey to support your liver? Some salt for electrolytes? I have a creamer that’s filled with a bunch of amazing vitamins, minerals.
Sunlight: There’s so many studies behind getting sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning.
Movement: I agree that there needs to be slow mornings sometimes. But, some kind of light movement every day to get your body moving. I’m a big fan of that.
Gratitude: There's so many studies around practicing gratitude on a daily basis and this can be so quick. 3 things I’m grateful for, 3 things I’m excited for, and 3 things I’m looking forward to. A lot of us are waking up like, “I have x,y,z to do today, I’m so overwhelmed.“ If you can start by thinking of something you’re grateful for, it’s automatically going to set you in a better trajectory for the day.
I'm obsessed with coffee so I need to know what creamer you use!!
Core Formulas Daily Basics. It’s Emily Morrow and Allie Hobson's company. They came out with a coffee creamer in 2023. It has sold out like 5 times because it is so amazing. We use it a ton in the ClearStem Acne Lab panel. It has Vitamin A, D, E, and K in it. It’s supporting blood sugar and the thyroid. There’s a ton of good things in there.
What is your go to breakfast?
I aim for 30-40 grams of protein at breakfast. Your body hasn’t eaten in 8-12 hours from sleeping and you're dehydrated. Your body is looking and searching for nutrients. So, making sure that it’s really high quality and nutrient dense, at least in that first meal of the day. I will make eggs and turkey bacon. Force of Nature is a really good company that has grass fed breakfast sausages. I love having a high quality protein powder on hand. I’ll make yogurt bowls with coconut yogurt and protein powder. Or a protein smoothie. I’m always trying to front load some protein at the beginning of the day so if I don’t get as much protein as I’d like at lunch or dinner, I know I at least set myself up for success in the beginning of the day.
What is your skincare routine?
I keep it relatively simple. I obviously use a lot of CLEARSTEM, they are my go to. I’ve always loved Squalene Oil, I’ve used that from a very young age, SeaBuck Thorn oil, pomegranate seed oil, different oils that don’t clog your pores. I do love facials, however, it’s really hard to find a clean facial. Especially for our acne prone clients, it’s hard to find a facialist that uses non pore clogging, clean ingredients that aren’t going to mess with your skin. Also, doing a lot of things internally for our skin. Making sure we’re really hydrated on a cellular level, and our nutrient deficiencies are filled. And I love red light therapy. It can help a lot with acne scarring, eczema, dermatitis, and other skin issues.
What makes you GLOW?
Having a really strong relationship with myself. The more I work on my relationship with myself, the more I trust myself, go outside my comfort zone, and work really hard. I feel like that’s what really gives me a glow and feel confident. Strengthening the relationship with myself is something that I have learned is really crucial as a business owner, entrepreneur, and in the wellness space. We can take all the supplements, use the castor oil packs, the red light therapy, but it always comes back to how you think of yourself.
And I would say supporting overall detoxification in the body. Hydrating, sweating, and moving, Making sure that your body is able to detox, get heavy metals and bacteria out of the body.
Where you can follow Hannah:
@hannahbrookewellness
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