Our Story
About the SHE Team
our story
SHE is actually an acronym for Superior Health Experience. We established SHE to transform women’s treatment in the medical community from inferior to superior.
Superior
Health
Experience
10 years ago when Dr. Michele started diving into Functional Medicine; she had been an NP working in trauma and was questioning everything. Kate (daughter) became her symptom guinea pig. Anytime she had even a sniffle, Dr. Michele would go into puzzle-solving mode trying to determine the underlying cause.
As Kate got older, she became more concerned about her health. Struggled with miscarriages, hormonal issues, and depression. Conventional medicine failed her in a big way and it became only natural that she would team up with her mom to bridge this gap in women’s health care.
As our practice grew we began to notice we were serving a generation of women that were struggling with the similar challenges of hormonal imbalances, hypothyroidism, infertility, gut disorders, anxiety, depression, hyperactivity + chronic illness. This was supposed to be the best time of their lives, but they were completely burnt out.
In a time of direct-to-consumer marketing from Big Pharma, a messed up food pyramid, birth control bandaids, low cal+low carb fad diets, corporate farming + corruption in the food industry – these illnesses are the norm. Because of a loss of trust in doctors as Big Business, Big Pharma, Big Insurance, and Big Government took over our medical system, women today rely on easy-to-access health resources such as WebMD, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, for self-remedies leaving them confused, frustrated and without long term results.
So our purpose is to now deliver that Superior Health Experience to women by cutting through all the BS from these easy-to-access resources and providing you with not only individual, physiologically appropriate solutions but someone to take the stress off your shoulders – a relationship where you can depend on a trusted guide to support you, push you, teach you with an understanding of what your body actually needs to get better.
My goal is to help women truly understand their bodies while providing them with the right tools to achieve superior health.
Michele Duffy
Before discovering functional medicine 11 years ago, I worked in conventional medical settings for a number of years following my graduation from Minnesota State University. I attended Creighton University to earn my doctorate and thought I would be able to solve all the medical problems I saw with more traditional education. That did not happen.
It is my joy to take care of others, but conventional medicine, in my opinion, has not changed with the advancement of healthcare and disease management over the years. I believe that evidence-based, patient-centered approaches and building real relationships are needed to create meaningful and lasting change. Patients are increasingly restricted in their time spent with healthcare providers. Due to this time constraint, symptoms are managed with drugs rather than the underlying problems explored.
After writing prescription after prescription to mask symptoms, I realized there was a better way to help people achieve optimal health. Instead of treating chronic diseases, I wanted to reverse them.
In my journey to learn more about the root cause of disease, I have been led down a new path by opportunities that came my way. I returned to school and trained at both The Institute for Functional Medicine and the School of Applied Functional Medicine.
As I learned more about the root cause of medicine or functional medicine, I couldn’t help but spend more time teaching and helping patients. I found the power of functional medicine and its ability to address the root causes of illness. As I embraced this radically different approach, I saw a dramatic increase in patient outcomes and satisfaction. My goal is to help women truly understand their bodies while providing them with the right tools to achieve superior health.
Chronic disease does not just “appear.” Lifestyle and environment alter gene expression, leading to disease. Sleep and relaxation, movement and exercise, nutrition and hydration, stress, relationships, trauma, and microorganisms are just a few examples of these influences on our health. We now know that much of our overall health and disease states are influenced by lifestyle and environmental factors.
Helping women that are going through similar struggles and desperate to find answers so they can feel young, alive, and enjoy life,
Kate Duffy
I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BS in Psychology because of my deep interest in behavior modification- and fun fact – I did decide to apply that knowledge as a dolphin trainer for many years. As I struggled throughout my 20s with various health issues and got little support from conventional medicine, I became interested in a more natural approach to my health. After trying all the fads (diets, exercise + new age practices).
I realized I needed a structured and foundational program to round out my psychology background. I returned to school to study nutrition at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and became a board-certified health coach. I teamed up with my mom to help women that are going through similar struggles and desperate to find answers so they can feel young, alive, and enjoy life, and I am so excited to bring functional medicine to you in a more accessible way.