I’m Darlene and my passion is to make a positive changes in the lives I am so blessed to touch. It brings so much joy to teach and encourage my client’s to take control of their health and change their life to become the healthiest they can be. Let me back track to where it all began.
In 2003 my sister Stephanie and I had a dream of owning our own business and making a positive impact on our clients and community. Our goal was to open a Day Spa that had an upscale look without the upscale “attitude.”A place where our customers would receive the quality and results oriented skin care in a quiet and relaxing environment. During the construction of Eden Day Spa we started our own personal journey to wellness and discovered a unique spa niche in the process. We became acquainted and developed a very successful partnership with the M’lis Company and their Wellness and Detox programs. Fifteen plus years and hundreds of successful programs later, I love what we do!
As a child, I always had tummy aches. Fast forward to the age of 15, I woke up with horrible pain in my stomach. It was so painful I could hardly breathe. My parents rushed me to the hospital and next thing I knew I was admitted into the hospital and scheduled to have my gallbladder removed the next morning. My parents and I didn’t know any better so we followed Doctors orders. Unfortunately with the removal of my gallbladder came a host of many other problems. For those of you that don’t know, it is a vital organ needed for digestion. My life now revolved around constant abdominal pain and trying to figure out what to eat that would keep me from an expedited trip to the restroom. I had developed IBS symptoms. (Irritable bowel syndrome) I accepted this life style as I didn’t know any alternative and let’s just say, Imodium A-D was my best friend and I built a high tolerance for pain. I lived this way for 9 years. In 2003 at 24 years old, I went through my first program with the M'lis company. After completing the Candida Cleanse program, I have been symptom free for 16+ years. To maintain excellent health, I followed a proper diet in conjunction with quarterly mini cleanses and longer programs as needed.
I think it is important for me to share a bit of Stephanie’s health story. Remember she is my sister so I lived eight years watching her suffer so to see her transformation was priceless. At 18 years old, she had jaw surgery as a result of terrible TMJ. Shortly thereafter, she began Esthetician school. Six weeks after school began, she came down with a sore throat that would not go away. The doctor’s diagnosis was strep throat and he prescribed antibiotics. A week later, after no improvement in her health, she woke up and could not get out of bed. Her symptoms comprised of extreme fatigue, aches all over and a tight chest. A return trip to the doctor revealed that she had “Mono” mononucleosis. The doctor said she would be contagious for a month and to let it run its course. After being house bound for 30 days, she went back to school but never felt 100%. She was constantly tired, continued to have tightness in her chest, became very sensitive to sound and caught every cold. She would sleep 12 hours per day and still felt exhausted. Her life revolved around constant tiredness. Mononucleosis can stem from the Epstein-barr virus which she had and progressed to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Stephanie started to notice that certain foods would make her symptoms worse. Being a thin, petite girl, her philosophy was, “I’m skinny, I can eat whatever I want.” Now for the first time in her life she started to pay attention to what she was eating. She didn’t score very high on the candida screening test (shared below), however she still went on the program because it was the cleanest and most healing program. In 30 days, it was like a miracle as she was feeling the best she had in eight years. She was symptom free. She continued to eat well and do mini detoxes every few months. Each month she saw improvement. By the one-year mark of continued healing, she was able to trust to live symptom free. She had to let her mental state catch up to her body. She still had the fear if she didn’t take it easy or sleep enough, she wouldn’t make it through the day.
Connecting with the M’lis Company
Although skeptical of alternative health, we attended an alternative health care training seminar in 2003 sponsored by the M’lis Company. The wellness mentors provided me with a three page questionnaire of symptoms to determine if I had Candida. I scored moderately high, however my sister did not. We were advised to begin the Candida Cleanse program. In order to support each other, we did the program together. The program consisted of not eating anything that contained yeast or anything that would feed the candida; taking herbs to detox the body, and supplements to build the immune system and build friendly bacteria. To further flush out toxins, the program included exercise, detox body wraps, massage, ionic foot cleanses, drinking lots of water and a few liquid days.
Thirty days later, we were both symptom free! We learned our bodies could heal themselves if provided with the right tools and environment. Through this experience, we decided wellness would be the perfect complement to our day spa and thus our Wellness Center was born. I was feeling so good I was on fire and wanted to put everybody and anybody through program. Back in 2003, it was just the beginning of people being open minded about holistic health care and there were not many food options in the store as there is today to truly make a lifestyle change.
My focus was the day-to-day operations and to create a pleasant experience for our clients, as well as being a certified wellness mentor through the m'lis Company, where I mentored clients through their programs. It has been fulfilling to witness clients suffering from auto-immune disorders (e.g., fibromyalgia, arthritis, celiac disease, candida, and many others) to a symptom -free life. I am amazed and invigorated helping my clients get more energy and lose weight knowing I have made a positive change in their life.
In 2016, after much thought and prayer, we became aware change was necessary to devote more time to our families and venture out in our personal lives. I was torn as I didn't want to give up my love of helping people. God opened the door and I was able to open Eden Wellness Express in March of 2017. This enables me to continue my work with clients and expand further than my local community. I have the opportunity to mentor and work with my clients over the phone and ship products directly to their front door. The best part is having the best of both worlds - to be with my husband and four-year old son and to work from home. I look forward every day to focus on developing ways to help my clients succeed on their journey to wellness!