“I thought arthritis was an old person’s disease,” Casey said. “The pain started in my smaller joints, like my fingers, toes and wrists, but then it affected every joint in my body. It was debilitating. There were days when I couldn’t get out of bed.”

“The doctors told me that it was genetic, which confused me because, at the time, we couldn’t pinpoint an immediate link in my family,” she said. “I was puzzled that the doctors didn’t investigate the cause. I had no idea what an autoimmune disease was and found it hard to explain. All people saw was a healthy young woman, yet I was in intense pain.”

Casey started to experiment with her diet and lifestyle. “I started making small changes. I stopped drinking excessively. I reduced inflammatory foods, started exercising more and practicing mindfulness” she said. “The more I learnt, the more passionate I became about natural health.”

“I decided to leave the high-stress corporate environment and enrolled in nutrition full-time at Endeavour in Sydney. Studying nutrition was the best thing I did. I changed my career and my life, and now, I rely on a minimal dose of medication. As a person living with a chronic health condition, you can feel helpless. As soon as I understood that there was another way to improve my quality of life, I wanted to share it with others.”

Casey completed most of her degree on campus. “From the moment I walked into my first class, Endeavour was such a supportive environment. I made some lifelong friends and learnt so much from the incredible lecturers,” she said.

“I didn’t have many expectations at the start,” Casey said. “I was focused on improving my quality of life. As I got further into the degree, I saw a whole industry and my future career. I ate up all the content and thought, ‘if I can use this to help myself, I can help others.’”

In 2021 after she graduated, Casey relocated to Brisbane. She already had a business name, Wise Wellbeing Nutrition, which she had chosen for her Instagram years earlier. “I had a few clients from Sydney who were keen to stay on, so we transitioned to Zoom. From there, my online consultations grew organically,” Casey said.

Casey also works as a nutritionist for a wholefoods retail brand, Market Organics, providing advice to customers on the shop floor. “I love engaging with people in person. It’s a great way to keep up to date with trends and get to know the health food products and supplements that are available. I’ve had the opportunity to write educational content and run workshops for my local community with Market Organics too. I’m grateful to have found work that compliments my online business.”

While Casey’s current clients see her for various conditions, she would like to steer her business more toward helping people with autoimmune diseases and gut health concerns. “With my experience, I think that’s where I can make the biggest difference.”

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