“Follow in her footsteps – then go beyond.”

My earliest memory of falling in love with the medical field—

when I was about 4 years old and I remember playing with my dolls in the front room and I eventually got up to see what my mom was doing. When I went in the room she was sitting on the floor and she was surrounded by medical books and i looked up at the tv while hanging off her neck and she was watching a autopsy. I was terrified because all I seen was a dead body but my mom was explaining that the doctors in the video was teaching a class of student about the human body and the process of how to figure out the cause of death. I sat by her side the rest of the time he was studying and watched the video in awe.

My grandmother had some native traditional ways that she practiced, so I used to watch how she prayed and used different herbs for different symptom. I was fascinated, as I grew older I spent a lot of time with my mother in the hospital she used to work in at Evanston, IL. I was always excited to go and see how the hospital was ran. Throughout the years I seen how much respect and love people had for my mother and rightfully so. She has won so many awards for the phenomenal care she provided for her patients, and one being my high school teacher wife. He was so heartbroken that his wife was so sick and she had to have surgery which added on to his stress. I seen the hurt behind the smile he tried to give us during class, fast forward to after she had surgery and was in my mother care. He pulled me to the side and told me how thankful he was for my mother taking so much care of his wife. He brought my mother gifts and gave her money, my mother tried to give back the money because the gifts was enough but he insisted that she take it.

Experience that inspired me to follow her footsteps but to go beyond—

Since a young girl even now I look at everyone in the medical field as super heroes on how much pride and integrity in the care that they had at caring for people. In 2011 I enrolled into Everest College for the Medical Assistant program and I graduated top 5 of my class! From there I worked In a endocrinology clinic on the southside of chicago for 2 years where I worked with two of the most kind and funniest doctors by far. They inspired me to go back to school to be a medical doctor. They told me just working as a medical assistant and phlebotomist I was doing a disservice because I have so much to offer! It touched me because they seen the love I have for the medical field but most importantly, the love I have for person and caring for the people who are in their most vulnerable state. To be that warmth they need in that time. My journey has not always been sunshine and rainbows because I have worked in some medical settings that eventually discouraged me for some years. I was disgusted with how I seen some medical professionals treat patients or others on their team. I lefted the medical field for some years until the year 2015 I enrolled into Malcolm X College for nursing because working other jobs didn't fill my heart like working in the medical field did so I went back to school to start my journey again. Unfortunately I had to drop out of school because my mother fell ill and I had several deaths in the family that really affected me, so again i had to leave what I love. Even though I wasn't in school I still was studying.

During my self study time I did a lot of self reflection, I had the background of both traditional and holistic care from my mother and grandmother and great grandmother (who is full blooded cherokee native), I decided to go the holistic route. It just resigned with me because I watched and studied the holistic practitioners and I saw the love and care that they have for people that were coming sick and looking for healing with the last bit of hope of life they had left. I seen these people ( Dr. Sebi, Llaila O. Afrika, Queen Afua, Dr Aris Latham, Dr. Maat who is my husband's mother and many more respected practitioners)

Currently I am going to attend school to be a holistic practitioner to continue to carry the torch in promoting a healthy lifestyle. But healing is just not in the gut it's overall, Mind, body and soul. you have to heal as a whole to be the greatest version of yourself. My desire since a little girl was to help people to achieve their health goals and also do the same for my family. Since I have been not only studying and living a more natural lifestyle I have helped people to achieve their goals about their health and wellness. I want everyone to feel welcomed and loved in my presence and I honestly want to help and want the best for whoever I come across.

- Ja’Dae Geiger, Divine Beauty Co.