She grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated from Davidson College with a BA in political science. When she was 21 she was diagnosed with SLE (lupus), an incurable autoimmune disease that typically requires a life of medications and waves of debilitating arthritis, among other unpredictable symptoms. Unwilling to accept this new lifestyle, she began reading about how to control her symptoms with a strict plant-based diet instead of drugs. Her success with this new diet motivated her to change career paths, return to school for four more years to become a dietitian, and start this blog to help others improve their nutrition and live better lives.