Great Graduates from SWIHA, SWINA & SOY

It was in the wee hours of the evening that Spirit spoke to Sarah Senst. “I was unable to sleep one night feeling depressed and anxious about my future. A late night TV commercial for the Life Coaching program at SWIHA was shown! The commercial, the program and the school immediately spoke to me!”

What fueled Sarah’s passion and consuming interest in the Life Coaching program, stemmed from her position as the ultimate life coach – parenting! “I've always enjoyed engaging with people and learning their 'stories.’ This strength has allowed me to connect with many different people from many different backgrounds. People really do care that you care – they don’t care as much about what you know. I think people can feel that I care when they are around me. My passion became more focused after my own personal experience of raising three children in a one-adult home; I realized others could also benefit from support, non-judgement and acceptance in their own parenting experiences. I came to understand that society can be very critical of parents and it is not an area we are highly trained in or prepared for, yet it is perhaps one of the most important jobs in existence. I wanted to create a place where people could talk about the fears, resentments, anxieties, hopes, dreams, frustrations and blessings that accompany raising healthy children. Hence my coaching business, No Perfect Parents, was born in 2005.”

StevieAnne Petitt is well on her purposeful path to be an internationally-known and well-received Conscious Comedian and Inspirational Speaker. Stevie’s comedic approach to conscious living prompts her audience to “Lighten up Enlightenment”, finding the humor in this human experience!

Stevie’s journey has been nothing shy of miraculous. She lived in foster and group homes after childhood abuse that resulted in her becoming a ward of the state. Stevie remembers being divinely-guided by one or two mentors at each significant turning point in her journey. “Looking back now, I find that every event was divinely orchestrated to bring me to who I evolved into today. I have the vague memory of several mentors, counselors and therapists whose brief comments of praise and inspiration fueled me for months and motivated me to dream big.”

Paul Smith is the epitome of a SWIHA #GreatGraduate, displaying the reverent and resilient balance between action and stillness. Paul is a life-long student who has used every ounce of his experience to expand his own personal growth and empower that in others.

He shares that he has found his life purpose through integrating his past experiences and observations: “Human beings have the capacity to be so healthy and so happy. All people can have a very loving connection between family, friends, colleagues and teammates. I have been observing and studying throughout my entire life so that I could help others. Unfortunately a few tragedies have occurred: my grandfather died of cancer, my high school head football coach died of cancer, my little cousin overdosed on prescription medication and my little brother took his own life. I've observed so many other tragedies and challenges - and numerous disheartening news stories are aired every day.

Keta Baker is a true #GreatGraduate and the testimony of her journey is as divinely guided as she is. Keta’s story begins with her questioning the universe, “One Saturday afternoon in 2012, my sister brought me to this Italian restaurant in Phoenix. We pulled up to the restaurant and out of my mouth came the words, ‘This is a nice place to have my life coaching business housed in.’ This was followed by me looking up and saying, ‘What?’ . . . ‘What life coaching business?’” What Keta Baker didn’t fully understand at the time was that she was getting ‘downloads’ from Spirit.

Humbly, Keta explains, “I began to get these downloads of a whole business plan and what I was to do to help others as a Life Coach. I didn’t have anything to write on, so as soon as I got inside of the restaurant, I grabbed several napkins to record what I knew was God’s plan for my life. That evening I Googled what a Life Coach was and began searching for schools where I could learn to become a Life Coach. I prayed for direction for the path the Divine placed me on. A few days went by and after diligently listening and looking, SWIHA, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts, came up.”

Keta quickly called the next day to schedule a tour of the SWIHA campus in Tempe, Arizona.

“When I walked in the main lobby, it felt like birds were singing, music was playing, and the sun was shining inside the building. The environment was so friendly and welcoming and provided this awesome feeling. I sat with an Admissions Coach and she went over Life Coaching and tuition for the program. When I left, my mission was to get $1800 so I could enroll in the program.”

Ayesha Dalton’s recently-opened spa, just over 9 months old, has a warm and loving atmosphere that exudes professionalism and pristine care. Ayesha’s passion for beauty and well-being developed long before her studies at the Southwest Institute of Natural Aesthetics. She is passionate about what she does, sharing, “I value the importance of taking care of how I look. I’m here to help anyone who needs encouragement and advice to look and feel their best. Therefore my passion became obvious to me, as did the awareness that I should share this with all who want to experience it.”

Parul Agrawal is an internationally-known and highly-regarded author, coach and speaker who has truly taken her passion and created a successful platform that nourishes both her clients and herself! Parul latest achievement is so exciting! What started as juicing and workshops has grown into her having an international presence as a well-known and highly-rated published author. You’ll love her story:

Maria Kalamas opens up to how purposeful her path has been and how her attendance at SWIHA was intended all along. “January of 2010, I was working in a doctor’s office employed as an office manager. The doctor was an MD, yet practicing alternative medicine, specializing in bio-identical hormones. He was helping people heal through proper supplementation, healthy nutrition, bio-identical hormone replacement, Chelation - which is a very effective way to treat heavy-metal poisoning - coaching and outsourcing them to various healing arts therapies, from massage to spiritual coaching and other various holistic practices that he had tried and believed were effective. I soaked in all the information he was giving me because I wanted to help heal people physically, mentally and emotionally,” shared Maria.

Maria was extremely grateful for the training that was so well aligned with her passion; yet she had a deep desire for more tools. This led her to the Life Coaching program at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. She received a complimentary pass to attend a weekend-long Life Coaching class, which was so divinely-orchestrated; Maria doesn’t even recall the specifics behind the gift, just that is was a life-changing weekend!

Cameo Wilson is one incredible individual who has learned to nurture her own self growth and in doing so found her roots and a deep-seated passion for urban farming and sustainability. What brought her to SWIHA was a self-imposed desire for self-growth, followed by the committed decision to take care of herself.

“By taking care of myself physically and emotionally through eating well and observing my own nutritional intake, I found a love for my own well-being and the ability to share my journey of health with others. I decided to further my education in what I love and pursue Nutritional Coaching as an avenue to serve. Food, eating healthy and wellness all resonated with me so I began searching online for schools that offered programs with these options in coaching. SWIHA was the first one to pop up and instantly I felt like that was the option I wanted to explore.”

Cameo states excitedly with smile in her voice, “It just felt right to me to check it out and it felt like home right away. I came to a Gifts and Graces

event (which are held the First Friday of every month) where I received a complimentary Life Coaching session around my career goals.” Instantly, her gut feelings were confirmed and it was obvious that she was destined to be a student walking the very halls she was visiting that First Friday.

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!

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.”