This article, where Dr. Brooke Stuart was interviewed by CanvasRebel, was published October 2022. You can check out the article right here on CanvasRebel’s website- along with many other amazing featured interviews with inspiring individuals!

Below is the conversation from CanvasRebel’s interview. Enjoy!

Hi Brooke, thanks for joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

While I was playing golf as a college athlete at the University of Miami, my dad asked me if I wanted to keep improving my game by waking up earlier and practicing harder. For the first time in my life, I realized that I actually didn’t want to do that. I thought for a very long time that I wanted to- but what I’ve come to learn is that what you think you want versus what you actually want are very different.

When I started paying attention to what I actually wanted versus what I thought I should want or what I thought I did want- I started to come into contact with experiences that were truly meant for me. I spent most of my time on the golf course listening to countless self-help and sports psychology related audiobooks. It wasn’t until the end of my sophomore year that I realized I was far more interested in the self-help and psychology books than the game of golf itself or the business school I was enrolled in. So, I decided to drop the game and switch up my studies to pursue a dual major in both Anthropology and Psychology. I ended up taking a Medical Anthropology class, where I studied medicine from around the world and it changed my whole life. Before that time, I had never heard of Chinese or Functional medicine, moreover anything that was free of side effects. I was so used to side effects and conventional medicine in America. I thought side effects were normal. But through my studies, I have learned that side effects are in fact direct effects and actually not normal at all, well at least not throughout history.

Needless to say, after this, my life was never the same. I continued to gather, learn, and absorb information out of pure curiosity and furthermore to address my own issues that surfaced along with the underlying root cause (mentally, emotionally, and physiologically speaking). Throughout this time period, I was able to get off ADHD medication, multiple acne drugs, birth control pills and other endocrine-disrupting agents (all very interesting stories, by the way, especially the ADHD one) leaving me drug-free and in the best health ever.

When I graduated from the University of Miami, I knew I wanted to pursue a career that incorporated this holistic approach that I could no longer separate myself from. I considered getting my PhD in Anthropology and Psychology, but every program I looked into didn’t feel right. Plus I wanted to work with people directly and apply what I had learned. Then, at the very last second just before the spring admissions deadline, my mentor suggested that I look into The Florida College of Integrative Medicine and that felt right.

I now spend my time working with people and teaching these principles in a variety of ways- writing, speaking and my favorite, working with patients, teams, and organizations around the world each day, helping the men and women I work with finally experience what it is to have the type of freedom and health within their bodies, minds, hearts, and lives as a whole that comes with growth and true movement forward.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

Hi, I’m Dr. Brooke Stuart and I am the founder and active president of Let Go & Grow® International, as well as holistic doctor in private practice, where I specialize in taking a holistic approach to mental health and high performance- assisting patients in unlocking their own intrinsic power to heal. Over the past twelve years, I have worked with thousands of people through my online platform, speaking engagements, and one-on-one in private practice. Using a unique combination of holistic counseling and functional medicine, I personalize and tailor treatments for patients locally in Orlando, Florida and around the world. As a physician, I am deeply committed to my patient’s personal growth and development as we use solution-oriented methods to clear issues, create health and actualizing their true potential.

My true specialty lies in the approach I take, the journey of the consultation and the transformation my patients experience within this framework. Here, I create tailored, all encompassing treatment plans for my patients and partner with them every step of the way to achieve an optimal state of health and the results they desire. Throughout this process, we work on the relationship you have with yourself, your body, life and the people in it, and take a holistic approach in evaluating what works and what does not as we explore the challenges that life brings your way. I will often recommend a unique combination of mindset, diet and lifestyle shifts along with helpful, natural remedies that will be able to support the healing process and facilitate the changes discussed in sessions.

I am also the author of The LG&G Holistic Journal, Holistic Guide Book, Reminders Workbook and the children’s book series Let’s Grow With Zo– all which are intended to help you generate awareness, explore different topics, take inventory, identify patterns, see constellations and connect the dots. At Let Go & Grow International, we are working to create the most direct and approachable way to experience growth in the world- through our online community, free resources and collaborative efforts, our intention is to curate and highlight the best to assist our community in living the life they are here to live with the power they are meant to have. Together, through Let Go & Grow, we can solve problems, explore topics related to health and growth and build an empowering ecosystem that we can each contribute to and draw from right away. Signing up for our free Let Go & Grow membership will give you instant access to free resources including our heart based practice, a simple 3 min. meditation, a wellness workshop and the ability to interact with our community in the LG&G forums where we can continue the discussion together on varying topics such as mental health, personal growth, relationships and more!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I let go of my in-person private practice to embrace the gift of going fully virtual. At that moment, where I was at the lowest I’ve been, I accepted letting go and knew that what was meant to be will be. Something about that mindset freed me to do exactly what I wanted to do, in the way I wanted to do it.

The challenges in our lives provide an opportunity to become stronger and even more resilient than we already are. We can choose to learn through observation and knowing that life works “for and with” us rather than against us. We always have the power to choose how we see challenges and how to enter into them- this process requires connection, and it asks you to be present and receptive to it. You will begin to see the choices you have more and more clearly, as your perspective heightens, and you become more and more objective. Resilience will become more of a friend, and the more you choose it, the more you will want to choose it!

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

100% NO! Looking back, I can see the tracings of when I executed on decisions that were heart-based versus mind-based, following the heart-based choices led me to the profession that I am in now. I had the gift of seeing something that I wanted clear as day and all it took was courage to act upon those choices. Throughout my journey, there were and continue to be “green lights” which feel like expansion, growth, peace and an open road. Being who you truly are and doing what you want to do requires inquiry, steps forward and the kind of openness that allows us to release and receive- release to see what is there as we become receptive to the wisdom that lies within our heart. As we continuously discover the depth, mystery and magic of who we are, we come into contact with our the talents, gifts and preferences that reflect our signature essence.

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