Kelly Stubbert

In the Natural Health Industry since 1996

Professional Qualification:A lifetime of knowledge-seeking and experience

Current Position: Wellness Provider

Kelly Stubbert grew up in a rural farming community in southern Alberta. She moved to Grande Prairie in 1993. She is a mother of a teenage daughter. Their home also includes the pitter-patter of little feet belonging to their rescue dog, Macey. Kelly enjoys preparing food and has been known to play with food combinations through experimental cooking, or as she calls it, creating invent-a-meals. Yoga plays an important part in her life, as she has been practicing for over three decades. She is an introspective woman who values the silence found within. Kelly has a natural curiosity and keen ability to ask questions, so she is always learning and sharing what she learns. Her authenticity and friendliness add to her ability to connect genuinely with customers. A long-standing employee, Kelly is a dedicated member of The Health Hut team.

What is one item on your bucket list?

I want to become a restorative yoga instructor. I like that restorative yoga can be for any age, body, injury or ability level. I want to teach it when I retire.

If you were a colour, what colour would you be? Why?

Turquoise, because turquoise water is beautiful and makes me feel tranquil. The turquoise waters I've seen have been still, calm, and quiet. They're inviting and make me feel light.

Who inspires you?

God inspires me. He is where I get strength, courage, love and support.

What is a self-care practice you are doing or would like to start doing?

I do yoga as often as possible, at home and in a class three times a week. I go for massages. I spend time outside. I do enjoy shovelling snow on a sunshiny, crisp winter day. I make some quiet time every day, where I'm often meditating. If I'm not meditating, I sit in stillness without any noise, no music or television. I take supplements daily and do my best to eat nutritious food 80% of the time. Sleep is essential to me: a nap is a real treat.

Teach us something new that you are learning about right now.

I'm curious about testicular cancer and why it's so prevalent in young men, ages 18-25. The prevalence of that age group is not new, but it's new to me. I have two young cousins who have been affected by it, one who has passed away and one who has recovered, so it has touched me personally.

I wonder if testicular cancer is an effect that screens are having on our young people. We have heard that breast cancer is linked to young women who carry cell phones in their bras, so with young men, are they carrying their phones in their front pockets? Or back pockets? Does it have to do with where they're carrying them at all? Or is it more about exposure, like the amount of screen time from a young age? We know the effects cell use can have on the brain, so does that travel through and transfer to other areas of the body? These are thoughts I'm having and what I'm learning.

Another thing I'm learning is how to be quieter and that not everything needs a response. I'm learning that through parenting a teenager. I've asked parents of grown-up children how they parented their teenagers and I had more than one mom suggest to listen and not respond or react. If they need or want, they'll ask. I'm learning that the other things they say are most often them processing out loud. I'm also learning not to take what they say personally. So quiet is good. Stillness is important.

What led you to work at The Health Hut?

I had some health issues in my late teens and was taking two different prescription medications that had adverse interactions. The medications could have killed me. I lost trust in the conventional medical system and thought that there had to be another way. I found one: I used cobra pose through my yoga practice to get relief and realignment for hiatus hernia.

The interest also started with food and herbs. Before I started working there, I enjoyed camping and hiking and had an interest in surviving in nature. I knew about poisonous and edible plants. I've also always enjoyed preparing food. So working at The Health Hut meant I got to talk with people about herbs and nutrition and how we can get what we need through them. I believe that food is medicine.

What do you find enjoyable about working at The Health Hut?

I enjoy my colleagues as well as the different customers that come in. For me waiting on customers is much more than selling them nutritional supplements. I do like to converse with people and find out where they're at, to share what I know. Having conversations is how you form relationships. It's why people come back and ask for you because you've created a trusting relationship.

As a Supplement Advisor, what area of natural health do you most enjoy discussing with customers?

Being able to nurse babies, I'm pretty passionate about that. I like to share my story. I used only herbs and visualization to breastfeed my adopted child. So when it comes to talking about struggling with nursing, it's like oh yeah, you can do it! because let me tell you what the body is capable of doing!

How has your understanding of health or dis-ease changed throughout your career?

When I started working there, I wouldn't have believed that emotion gets stored in the body or how a feeling can create a physical symptom. According to Chinese medicine, emotions get stored in different organs and various centres in the body. Louise Hay taught that too. I also know about the energy meridians and how energy does or doesn't flow in the body. I use this knowledge when customers come in, whether they've had a diagnosis or they know from their symptoms where the discomfort is in their body. I like to ask questions that might bring out the emotion of what they're going through, like grief or fear.

I've seen it in my own body. I get pain in different areas, and I can have limited mobility. I look up my emotional symptoms in my notes or a book, and I make connections. I check in and ask myself, Is it true? or Does it make sense for where I am in my life right now?

With customers, it's about making people aware. Just that awareness and being able to talk about it can clear where that emotion is stored and so clear up emotional symptoms.

Describe a memorable conversation with a customer.

I remember a young lady coming in with her mom. They shared a story about the young lady giving birth and giving the baby up for adoption. They'd come to the store weekly or at different stages of that birth-to-adoption journey. It wasn't about getting supplements; it was about getting support. I understand that journey, so I was able to empathize with them and support them. I haven't seen them for years now, but it was memorable.