Inspiring Women: Meet Julie-Anne
This blog was originally written by Madeleine Villa.
Julie-Anne Nayler is a young entrepreneur, Registered Psychotherapist, Senior Addictions Counsellor and Physical Trainer who has a passion for helping women in all aspects of their life. Learn more about what makes Julie-Anne so incredibly inspiring!
Early life and School
Julie-Anne grew up as a French-Canadian in a loving home with her mother Mireille, father Garry and older sister Stephanie primarily located in the Durham Region. She was described as being wildly outgoing and incredibly successful at many things - a Chameleon!
She grew up speaking both French and English and excelling in all aspects of her life: She played baseball and was scouted as a catcher for the Women’s Canadian Team, she loved to swim and became a lifeguard, she was part of drama clubs, sports teams of all sorts as well as plenty of clubs in high school. Her social life was no exception, she's a self-proclaimed “social butterfly” winning grade 8 grad queen and being nominated for prom queen. Your image might be of the stuck-up prom queen but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Julie-Anne was incredibly compassionate, always rooting for the underdog. A personality trait that would lead her to her next chapter...Postsecondary
Julie-Anne went to school for Psychology at Tyndale University and immediately jumped into a Masters in Counselling Psychology at Yorkville University. She says that it was during a trip to India that she developed her passion for helping women. She spent her time working in Mother Theresa’s Home For the Sick and Dying and lead groups for women who prostituted in the red light district, also while working with children suffering from substance abuse. While completing her Master's Degree, Julie-Anne was working two jobs: as an Addictions Counsellor as well as a Case Worker at a shelter for abused women and a residential treatment program for women suffering from mental health issues and substance abuse - busy was an understatement.
Big Changes
All her hard work paid off six years ago when she finished her Master's Degree and began to work as a Psychotherapist at the hospital. Her life would take a major shift though when an “everlasting” relationship ended. Julie-Anne says that this was a big learning experience for her:
“This was difficult and lead me into a few years of true vulnerability, digging deep and uncovering layers of my heart (both messy and beautiful) - my beautiful disaster. Although I always had a passion for women, this was the catalyst that truly set off more soul searching and uncovering keys that helped me. And I believe can help so many women. During this time, my tribe truly got smaller. I recognized the importance of investing and maximizing time with particular people. I was introduced to the last member of my tribe right before my break up. I believe this was divine as we now call each other ‘purpose mates.’”
This experience helped solidify her love for helping women in all aspects of their lives. She got her personal trainer certificate and continued leading groups for young girls in schools, hosted events and invested in anything and everything that had to do with helping women realize their valYOU, beYOUTy, and YOUniqueness and began her own business Her Inner Heart.
Julie-Anne said it was really a no brainer “I naturally had a passion for people - I mean it's what drove my heart toward pursuing schooling in counseling and psychology. Although as I navigated throughout my career and life, I realized how important the mind-body-soul connection was/is”
Her Inner Beauty
Her Inner Heart is a business with women at the core of it’s being. It is a business focussed on empowering women mind, body, and soul through events and workshops. However, Julie-Anne knows that not all women are ready to make such a leap and often uses her physical training as a way to make that first connection. Julie-Anne elaborates:
“I realized that helping women has to come from all angles and entry points. My heart is for every woman to know how valYOUable, beYOUtiful and YOUnique she is. With that said I wanted to equip myself with the tools to enter a woman’s heart (so to speak) from all entry points. I can offer to talk and empower a woman BUT if she is not ready she may not want too. If a woman comes to me and says “Julie-Anne I want to get healthy and start eating better", my training and empowering her physically may slowly start to create an entry or a path to opening more of the emotional."
She continues: "It takes courage to dig deep and I believe that for every woman it starts at different places. This is why I became a personal trainer. You cannot truly engage a woman and delve into the magic that is her INNER heart without helping align mind-body-spirit. After all, when all three are aligned, this is when we can become our BEST SELVES.”
Her Inner Heart held it’s the first event in September focussing on healthy vs. unhealthy relationships. The next event is May 26th, 2019 where Julie-Anne and a few other inspiring women will be discussing beYOUty: The “ideal” Body.
Julie-Anne spoke at Henkaa’s first Inspiring Women event and was such a hit, we had to include her for our second event coming up early May. Julie-Anne will be speaking at our Women's Wellness Event about mind, body and soul and the importance of staying true to who you are.
