Today we’d like to introduce you to Kylah Cortez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey started when I was 19 years old. Out of nowhere, I became chronically sick with severe gut issues. In just two months, I lost 30 pounds, which is a lot for anyone, especially a teenager. My main symptom was constant nausea. I felt sick all the time, had no appetite, and struggled just to get through each day.
I started seeing doctor after doctor, only to be told I was “fine,” that it was “just anxiety,” or that I probably had gastritis often without any testing at all. I had to beg for answers. Eventually, I underwent blood work, ultrasounds, and an endoscopy. The only thing they found was gallstones, despite the fact that I had none of the typical symptoms. To this day, I still don’t know if they were ever the issue, and I don’t think they are. I never had symptoms of them and I still don’t know if they’re even there.
After countless appointments, including consultations with a surgeon, I was essentially told there was nothing they could do except prescribe Zofran for the nausea and anti-anxiety medication. It was one of the loneliest experiences of my life. I knew something was wrong, but no one seemed willing to dig deeper.
That’s when my journey really began.
I threw myself into learning everything I could about health. I listened to podcasts, read books, researched functional medicine, herbalism, nutrition, and how the body actually works. I became fascinated by the connection between lifestyle, environment, food, and overall health. I changed everything, my diet, my sleep habits, my daily routines, and the way I cared for myself.
Nine months later, I woke up and realized my symptoms were gone.
From that moment, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life.
At 20 years old, just before turning 21, I enrolled in school to become a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P). Today, I have my own practice in the same city where I grew up, helping women find answers, support, and guidance when they feel unheard and overlooked. I strive to be the person I needed when I was at my sickest.
Looking back, I truly believe I was called to this path. If I had known my experience would lead me here, doing the work I love every day, I wouldn’t change a thing. I continue to invest in my education, constantly learning more about the body and how to better serve my clients. I’m also currently completing my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training to deepen my understanding of movement, healing, and the mind-body connection.
My journey is just beginning, and I am incredibly grateful for where it has led me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This road has been anything but smooth.
I missed out on my first year of college. I lost friendships because I was constantly sick and often just wanted to sleep. I became so isolated that it took a serious toll on my mental health because physically, I couldn’t keep up with normal day-to-day life.
Being that sick at such a young age is one of the hardest things I’ve ever experienced. You watch everyone around you start college, make memories, and live what feels like the best years of their lives while you’re simply trying to make it through the day. It’s a feeling I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
What made it even harder was not being believed. When doctors dismiss you and even people close to you think you’re being dramatic, it changes something inside of you. You start questioning yourself even when you know deep down that something isn’t right.
Even after I got better, the experience changed me forever. When you spend years learning about the body, health, nutrition, and lifestyle at such a young age, you naturally start living differently than most people around you. At 19, most people aren’t thinking twice about their health and honestly, I wouldn’t have been either if I hadn’t gone through what I did. Even now in my twenties, I often find that I see health, life, and priorities differently than many of my peers. Not because I’m better than anyone, but because my experiences forced me to learn lessons much earlier than most.
For a while, that felt lonely too.
Thankfully, living in Austin has been a gift. Austin has become such a hub for wellness, and there are so many young people here who genuinely care about health, personal growth, and living intentionally. I’ve met some incredible people and built meaningful relationships, which feels like such a full-circle moment after growing up here my entire life.
Starting a business at 21 years old hasn’t been easy either. It has required me to grow up quickly, learn fast, and navigate challenges I never expected. But I wouldn’t trade places with anyone.
I genuinely love what I do.
If given the choice, I would walk this path over and over again if it meant I could help people the way I do today. Every challenge, setback, and difficult season led me here.
At the same time, getting my health back taught me something equally important, life is meant to be lived. While I care deeply about wellness, I refuse to live in fear. I make time to enjoy being young, create memories, travel, spend time with people I love, and find balance. After fighting so hard to get my health back, I’ve made a promise to myself to fully live each day instead of walking on eggshells around life.
Every day is a gift, and I do my best not to take that for granted.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My practice is called Vivena Whole Health.
Vivena comes from the Latin word *vivere*, which means “to live” or “to restore life.” That meaning is deeply personal to me because restoring my life is exactly what I fought so hard for when I was struggling with my own health. Today, it’s what I strive to help my clients do every day. I don’t just want people to feel better, I want them to truly live again, to get their energy, confidence, freedom, and quality of life back.
The “Whole Health” part reflects what I believe at my core: the body is connected. No symptom exists in isolation, and no system functions independently. Instead of focusing on one diagnosis, one symptom, or one lab marker, I look at the entire picture.
While I specialize in women’s health, I also work with men who are looking for a deeper, root-cause approach to healing. My methodology is gut-first because I believe the gut is one of the most foundational systems in the body. When digestion, absorption, the microbiome, and the gut barrier aren’t functioning properly, every other system can be affected from hormones and energy production to immune function and mental wellbeing.
But my work goes far beyond lab testing.
I spend a significant amount of time understanding each client’s story. I review extensive health history forms, lifestyle habits, symptoms, medical history, stressors, and health timeline because I believe the clues are often found when we step back and look at the whole picture rather than chasing individual symptoms.
I also specialize in nervous system support, lifestyle transformation, and a natural root-cause approach. Healing isn’t about handing someone a supplement protocol and checking back in a month. It’s about creating sustainable changes that support the body’s ability to heal.
That’s why I work closely 1:1 with my clients through every step of the process. We focus on the foundations of health through diet, rest, exercise, stress reduction, and targeted supplementation when appropriate. I provide weekly check-ins because healing isn’t linear, and I believe support matters. My clients don’t have to navigate the process alone.
What I’m most proud of isn’t the tests I run or the protocols I create, it’s the way I care for people.
I want to be the practitioner I needed when I was searching for answers. The person who listens. The person who believes them. The person who keeps digging when others stop looking. I care deeply about every client I work with, and I see them as people, not cases.
To me, that’s what makes Vivena Whole Health different. It’s not just about coaching. It’s about partnership, support, and helping people reclaim their lives when they’ve been told they’re out of options.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I grew up in Austin, and while a lot of people complain about how much the city has changed, I’ve honestly loved watching it evolve.
I know some people don’t like all the growth and the number of people moving here, but I think it’s pretty incredible. Over the years, Austin has become a hub for wellness, entrepreneurship, and personal growth. I’ve met some of the most amazing people here, from chiropractors and somatic practitioners to hormone coaches, fitness trainers, business owners, and countless others who genuinely care about helping people improve their lives.
There’s a unique energy in Austin that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. The wellness community here is something special. People value connection, healing, movement, and living intentionally, and I think that’s a big part of what draws so many people to this city.
What I love most is that Austin somehow manages to feel like a small town and a major city at the same time. There’s always something happening, whether it’s a fitness event, farmers market, live music, outdoor activity, networking event, or community gathering. You can meet new people every day while still feeling connected to the community around you.
Community is huge here. Wellness is huge here. People are genuinely kind, supportive, and passionate about what they do.
Having grown up here, I’ve watched Austin change tremendously, but I truly believe many of those changes have been for the better. Of course, that growth comes with a few downsides. The cost of living has skyrocketed, and the traffic is absolutely brutal. Anyone who lives here knows that getting across town can sometimes feel like an Olympic sport.
But even with the traffic and rising prices, I wouldn’t want to call anywhere else home. Austin has shaped who I am, introduced me to incredible people, and given me the opportunity to build a life and business doing what I love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vivenawholehealth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivenawholehealth/
- Facebook: vivenawholehealth
