Meet Debbie Steinbock | Certified Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Debbie Steinbock and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Debbie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

I always say that my interest in nutrition came more out of desperation than anything else. As a teenager, I struggled with significant digestive issues and found that conventional medicine offered few answers. I turned to diet and nutrition as a way to heal my body and spent much of my college years experimenting on myself and getting better.

After graduation, I planned to move to New York City to apply to graduate schools for psychology and counseling. I discovered my integrative nutrition program while living there and fell in love with it, choosing to pursue that path instead of the PhD I had originally envisioned.

At just 22 years old, I started my own business, Mindful Nutrition, in 2000. Looking back, I realize that my youthful naïveté was a gift. I had no business background, but I learned as I went, driven by my passion to help others heal as I had. 

Now, at 48, I’ve been running my business for more than half my life and I feel incredibly grateful for the path that unfolded.

What should our readers know about your business? We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what was most challenging, or what you are most proud of.

I am a Certified Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor with a special interest in digestive disorders and autoimmune disease. I work with complex conditions that often involve gastrointestinal disease, thyroid imbalances, food allergies and sensitivities, nervous system dysregulation and more.

I feel like I bring a very personal perspective to my work with clients, one that was gained by navigating my own health challenges—both as a teen and then again in my early 30s after my daughter’s birth. 

Through both my personal experiences and professional training, I have an in-depth understanding of complex and chronic health conditions. I have grown and changed so much over the last 25 years, and my business has grown and changed alongside me.

I think I am most proud of the longevity of my commitment and success. It certainly wasn’t easy, especially learning how to run a business. Few people who get into the healing field know anything about business, and that was certainly true for me. But I was so committed to doing this work that I learned and figured it out.

What’s even more meaningful to me is that I have been practicing long enough that some of my first clients not only bring their children to see me, but those “children” are now young adults themselves! I am humbled at the thought that someday very soon I will be in practice long enough to support their children’s children as well.

And thanks to the flexibility of virtual consultations, I often have clients refer their mothers, fathers, in-laws, and siblings (even identical twins!) to me. In a world that is becoming increasingly disconnected, I love these very personal connections I get to make.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

I love the outdoors, and a perfect weekend for me involves being in nature! We live up against the Shanahan Ridge Trail and think of that trail as an extension of our backyard.

We have so many hikes that we can do along that trail that range from 45 minutes to 3+ hours! If we leave our trail (which is unusual), Sanitas is another favorite hike.

For lunches, I am a huge fan of Bar Taco and Japango, and Spruce Farm & Fish for dinner. Of course, a visit to Pearl Street is in order for any out-of-town guest!

I also love the tea shops in Boulder, as I am not a coffee drinker. Ku Cha House of Tea is a favorite—they have so many teas to choose from, and an iced Boba is always a treat! The Dushanbe Tea House would probably be another stop on the list!

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. Is there a person, group, organization, or book, that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

During my college years at Emory University, I babysat for three incredible families, each of whom got to know me well and understood my health struggles. The mom of one of these families was Lisa Heimann. She recommended the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet by Elaine Gottschall after hearing about it from a neighbor whose story was similar to mine.

Although the “Specific Carbohydrate Diet” outlined in the book didn’t completely resolve my health challenges, it was a turning point for me. It gave me more energy and a sense of wellness that I hadn’t felt in years, and it made me realize that my diet up to that point had been full of processed and refined foods.

Most importantly, it opened my eyes to the powerful connection between what I ate and how I felt—a radical idea in 1998! Looking back, this was a true turning point in my life, shaping not just my personal health journey, but also my professional path.

I’ve actually reconnected with Lisa in recent years, when our oldest daughter attended Emory, which brought me back to Atlanta for the first time in decades. I recently learned that Lisa is moving to Denver, where her three children (the ones I used to babysit, now grown men with families of their own) live. It feels like a full-circle moment!

Website: https://mindfulfamilymedicine.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MindfulFamilyMedicine/

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