Great Graduates from SWIHA, SWINA & SOY

Layne Nyberg ~ One sweet sugar mama!

Layne Nyberg is one sweet sugar mama! As a professional aesthetician and business owner who runs two waxing salons in Scottsdale, Arizona she has always had a deep desire to help people and found her passion and purpose was in the skin industry. Earlier on, while preparing for nursing school, she found herself being drawn to serve in the aesthetic industry. As she entertained the idea of becoming a licensed aesthetician, she began to recognize the many ways the industry significantly contributes to changing people’s overall well-being. She states, “When a woman feels better about herself, she's a better mother, wife, sister, and friend – the same goes for men in their respective roles and confidence. When we feel better and look better, it truly changes our attitude, attracting similar positivity in other areas of life.”

Intuitively knowing that she was to follow her love for skincare, she researched multiple schools, declaring, “SWINA was the best school, in my opinion, particularly for the laser program, and that really intrigued me. I only wanted to learn from the best.” Layne smiles wide as she expresses, “I love skin! Before I went to SWINA it might have been creepy to say that . . . yet, now I can say it and it's not weird at all!

Topics: Great Graduates, Aesthetics, Blog

Courtney Long: An Angel in Disguise!

Courtney Long’s journey to SWIHA was, well, long. Her journey began back in 2002, while she was working as a social worker in Michigan. She was helping adults with Alzheimer’s, dementia, serious mental illnesses, developmental disabilities and traumatic injuries. While she loved to help people, the job was mentally and spiritually exhausting, and never quite felt like her true calling. While in Michigan Courtney starting hearing of this new thing called Life Coaching, yet the timing wasn’t ever quite right to do anything about it.

Learning the importance of listening to our guts or inner knowing, not just with our minds, was a crucial lesson for me.”
~ Courtney Long

Topics: Great Graduates, Life Coaching, Hypnotherapy, Blog

Nickole Swensen: Healing Lives from the Inside Out!

As a fashion design graduate and stay-at-home mom of two boys, Nickole Swensen thought feeling lackluster and exhausted was normal. She realized she had taken advantage of her health and let herself go for too long. With my poor self-care and health habits she started to not fit into her clothes, she had issues with swelling in her body, was constantly tired and was unable to get help from my family physician. Once he decided to make her health a priority she found her energy again, felt rejuvenated, and became a happier woman and mom. Nickole became hooked on this new healthier, happier lifestyle and decided to pursue a career in wellness.

In her journey to heal herself, she found her true passion and purpose was in helping others heal themselves heal from the inside out, just the way her healed herself. Once Nickole discovered her gifts and knew she wanted to learn more about supporting others in living a more healthy and happy life and do it in a loving and profitable way. That's when she sought training at SWIHA – Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

"My passion for health developed when I started to change my own health habits. From the moment I consciously began making new choices, I realized how happy I felt. I soon invited my family to join me in feeling happier and healthier. As I changed my diet, my family's diet changed as well, shifting into a healthy vegan/vegetarian way of eating. It has been an amazing transformation to be health-minded. I love being able to share the powerful information I have embodied with my clients so they are able to transform their lives, as well as the lives of their kids and families.”

Topics: Great Graduates, Holistic Nutrition, holistic entrepreneur, Urban Farming, Blog

Welcome home Shelley Tom: Her Life’s Work has been as a “Labor of Love”

SWIHA is excited to announce the arrival of Shelley Tom as our Dean of Students, on-campus. In this newly created role, Shelley will be hold the mantle of responsibility as the Student Advocate & Success Coach, charged with ‘holding space’ for student’s academic, spiritual and personal growth, building a strong on-campus community, and leading our wonderful Student Services team.

Many of you may be familiar with the Hero’s Journey, as it is included in much of the curricula at SWIHA. A large part of Shelley’s personal Hero’s Journey started many years ago, at SWIM, Southwest Institute of Myotherapy, the name of the school as it was founded 23 years ago. In fact, Shelley was in the very first massage class the college offered. At the time, 200 hours was all that was required to be licensed as a massage therapist in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her life was forever influenced, as she learned how to open her mind and think differently about her values, her body and most importantly, about Spirit. Shelley’s training changed the way she looked at the world and how she understood the ‘mind-body-spirit’ connection. In our interview, she recalls her journey back to SWIHA, how her life changed after her initial program at SWIM, her personal and professional healing work experiences, and what she’s looking forward to helping to expand here at SWIHA!

Topics: Blog

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