Meet Dr. Natalia Pellegrino | Naturopathic Doctor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Natalia Pellegrino and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Natalia, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor was having a vision of who I wanted to serve, and knowing what they want and need for their health. I spent many years trying to ‘serve everyone’ as a generalist, but realized I needed to be more specific to be able to provide more specialized care. So I focused my business on women ages 30-45 dealing with hormonal and gut issues.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As a naturopathic doctor, I am passionate about helping women tune into their bodies, get to the root cause of their symptoms, and promote better health utilizing evidence-based natural medicine. People seek me out when they know they can go deeper to investigate why they are not feeling their best, and they won’t settle for just ‘feeling okay’. The focus is on optimal health and prevention of future lifestyle-related illnesses like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and more. I am most excited about teaching women about the simple habits they can change in order to feel great. Since this can take time to create lasting habit change, I have recently created a 4 month 1:1 program including in-depth lab testing and more support, for those who are truly committed to doing the work, and I’m really excited about this!

I became interested in nutrition and natural medicine in my teens, and eventually went to massage therapy school after being encouraged to by a close friend who was enrolled at a local school; this is where I learned so much more about healing in general, from the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yoga, nutrition, and mind/body modalities. I did massage therapy for about 10 years, but in the back of my mind I knew that becoming a naturopathic doctor was my true calling, and would allow me to go deeper into helping people on their healing journey. My path to get to naturopathic medical school was not easy, since I was getting a late start, and had to repeat many of my basic science classes since they had expired from my Biology Degree years prior. Once I finally made it to naturopathic medical school, the workload was intense, but I stayed connected to WHY I was doing it; it is a calling, and my passion for helping others reach their health goals also keeps me motivated and inspired on my own path to greater health. So the biggest lesson I learned along the way, is stay connected to your passion and your WHY for doing what you do. It really is true that when you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There’s so much art, culture, and great food in the Twin Cities, so there are many options! There are abundant restaurants, coffee shops, independent bookstores, and museums to choose from, so it’s hard to name just one of each. But given that my family is Ukrainian, I am always down for good perogies; my go-to place for those is Kramarczuk’s in Minneapolis. My husband and I recently discovered Cecil’s deli in St Paul, which is family owned and a local fixture since 1949, and we think it’s the best reuben we’ve ever had, even compared to my hometown in NYC! The Minneapolis Institute of Art is outstanding, and I also love the Walker Art Center and it’s sculpture garden. The MN History Center and Mill City Museum are also great stops. Being the land of 10,000+ lakes, Minnesota is beautiful in spring, summer and fall, and there are so many lake activities to choose from; I would love to take a friend canoeing, or for a nature walk at one of the many amazing parks. There are also some amazing waterfalls, like Minnehaha or Taylors Falls. The visit would not be complete without a visit to Stillwater, with tons of cute shops and restaurants, a visit to the local speakeasy, or even a scenic paddleboat cruise down the St. Croix river. I also recently discovered Wild Rice retreat in neighboring WI, which is a beautiful retreat center in nature, with healthy food, yoga, massage, and mindfulness classes; so this is on my list for when friends visit as well!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Encouragement from my husband, colleagues, teachers, and friends was vital to my success. The path I chose was the “road less travelled” where I would have to make my own way rather than following a traditional career path in healthcare. Also I feel that enlisting support to create my biz was critical to my success, including a graphic designer and branding expert who took my vision and turned it into a beautiful brand and website, as well as various other professionals like lawyers, copywriting experts, business coaches and more!

Website: www.drnataliapellegrino.com

Instagram: @drnatalia.pellegrino

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-pellegrino-nd-27207641/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soulseedwellnessdrpellegrino/