Rene Rose, Herbalist mANP
Welcome to It’s Rene Rose, a blog dedicated to Herbs & Lifestyle! Why write in a world of vlog? I’ve always been attached to writing partly because it runs in my blood, my own grandfather being a senior editor at McGraw books in NYC and my birth father an author. I also studied Fashion Journalism at SOFA Manila and am a contributing writer for Smart Parenting. Although I have just started my vlog on YouTube, I’ve been writing for my website for quite sometime. I enjoy how much more I can say in writing without all the nervousness that comes with vlogging! I hope this blog serves as a supplement of my thoughts and insights to my YouTube videos which are short glimpses into my life and herbalism. Please do drop me a message or send me an email, as I love to hear from all of my readers and followers: reneroseherbalist@gmail.com
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Coming to Asia…
In the same year I graduated from high school, I was given the opportunity to compete in a national beauty pageant in the Philippines. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to explore and travel before I settled down for college, and so I travelled to Manila unable to speak or understand the local language and unknowingly in for the biggest culture shock of my life.
I arrived an 18 year old unprepared for the journey that laid ahead let alone a national beauty pageant. I was housed, along with 30 other girls, in the housing provided by the Miss Earth Organization, a beautiful mansion located in the heart of Manila.
Miss Earth & Becoming an Expat
I was crowned Miss Philippines Earth Air in 2010 one month before I turned 19 years old. Aside from being truly shocked for my lack of training, I was even more excited for the next year of my life. I spent the next 12 months travelling around the Philipplines with a side trip that lasted almost 2 months in Vietnam as a spokesperson for the Miss Earth Organization on the issues of Environmental awareness and charitable causes for children. I learned to understand basic Tagalog and the customs surrounding Filipino, and Asian, culture in dining, speaking, and dressing.
The most important thing I’ve taken from my one year of a reigning beauty queen in a foreign country, was to quickly adapt and adopt to the more acceptable way of behaving without compromising my own morals.
I learned to be more open-minded, understanding and patient. As a foreigner in a foreign country, it’s important to let down all those walls you built in belief that the way things are done in your home country are the standard for other countries… As an American, this was the biggest struggle for me. To see and experience things that shook my whole existence was to openly accept that some culture customs, no matter how foreign to me, were completely common to the people around me. And I learned to respect that. I even grew to love it!
Career in Modelling and My Journey Into Wellness
After I relinquished my crown I received opportunities to work as a runway, print and commercial model. Working with brands such as Nestle, McDonalds, Canon Cameras, SM Malls, BEBE, Axe, Human Nature and more. Also hosting on Solar Entertainment TV and walking for Philippine Fashion Week.
After a while, I found the modelling industry to be destructive to my health and wellbeing. The late nights and early mornings, partying and the flimsy relationships started to take a toll on my health. As rewarding as modelling can be for others, it turned out it wasn’t as fulfilling for me and I always knew I wanted to do more…
I’ve always had a natural interest in health, practicing yoga for over a decade and vegetarianism for 6 years, but I realized I didn’t have any education or formal training within the subject of health other than the books I’ve read. So I enrolled in a online nutrition school in New York City, received a New York State certificate to health coach and started health coaching private clients in Manila.
My First Businesses, The Chai Natural Nail Cafe, and Building Oh, Holiday!
My First business was a Nail Spa and Cafe I put up in 2014… And after 4 years we are still servicing over 300 loyal customers! I incorporated a lot of my wellness rituals into the spa, using natural products rather than chemical based ones and providing organic nail polish options to our customers. Follow us on Instagram here!
After two years of focusing on running my private health coaching practice and the nail spa, I co-founded Oh, Holiday! (formerly known as Kana Oriental) with my sister in 2016. Our shop started with focusing on creating and providing botanical skincare products that served multiple uses. I travel often and wanted to create products where you didn’t feel the need to buy 6 different bottles that did 6 different things, rather we worked to incorporate multi-uses into every single one of our products: like our Signature Balancing Oil as a beauty oil but also effective for hormonal issues when rubbed into the lower abdomen.
Motherhood, Home Wellness & Herbalism
My husband and I welcomed our son, Luca, into the world in July of 2015. Him coming into our lives inspired me to branch my health coaching knowledge into other areas of life like motherhood and wellness at home which brought to life Meta Wellness, a home wellness and mentoring business I set up with my good friend to encourage mothers to pursue their health, career and financial goals! Luca is the sweetest extension to our little family, having taken over 80 flights in his first two and a half years, it’s safe to say he hardly leaves our side and we enjoy experiencing the world with him.
For about a year and a half I experienced infertility when trying to conceive a second time. I knew I had endometriosis but did not know to what extent it had damaged my uterus. After finding out one of my Fallopian tubes was blocked I quickly took matters into my own hands and started to explore more natural ways of healing as an extension to the food I was already eating. This is where my herbal medicine journey began and after a few months of my own herbal medicine protocol, we welcomed our precious daughter, Holiday Rose, by water birth on January 25th, 2019 through the same Fallopian tube that was previously blocked. She’s a complete lucky charm and has taught me even more about the trials and rewards of motherhood and health.
I quickly realized how important herbal medicine was, a gift our ancestors took thousands of years to perfect and which has long been pushed to the side in favor of more synthetic and harsher treatments, that sometimes may not be all that necessary. I believe there can be a harmonious blend between the two types of medicines, when life is threatened especially. I like to think of herbal medicine as supportive, nutrition as nourishing and allopathic medicine as life-saving. Sometimes you only need two, and other times you may need all three. In my 3rd year of Herbal Medicine, I still have a long way to go as I journey to achieve 10,000 clinical hours. Currently I am regulated by the Association of Naturopathic Practitioners in the UK, which allows me to practice with good conscience.
If you’d like to book a consultation please visit this link HERE!
Why Read This Blog?
I’d like to share my knowledge of health, herbs & wellness in its rawest form as I learn through my own experiences. I’m a mother, entrepreneur, wife, traveller and your herbalist hoping to share with you quality information, good thoughts and interesting stories.
If you’re here for the pretty travel photos, insights into herbalism, tips and tricks on motherhood, solace and comfort as an Expat, wellness advice for your home and office, healthy recipes, entrepreneurial journeys, or for just a splash of Asian culture, you’ve come to the right place! These are the topics that not only interest me, but apply to my everyday life and I’m happy to share all of my experiences hoping it’ll inspire my readers to live happily in and out of their comfort zone.
Thank you for visiting and enjoy! I’d love to hear from you!
x Rene Rose
