Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Fenton.
Hi Victoria, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I became unwell at 17, without many answers forthcoming from the medical industry, I was labeled with mental illnesses and prescribed anti-depressant medication. As a young woman who had become sick overnight, I did not take the medication offered, because the whole diagnosis did not make sense to me. This began my journey into the healthcare world. Initially, I started by educating myself on psychology and exploring psychotherapeutic disciplines. I also discovered support in the worlds of energy medicine and self-awareness systems. But still, I was unwell. From there, my investigations into Functional Medicine started. As a UK national, I did not have much local information, so I began to look abroad, studying with various international online schools to gain awareness and understanding of what was happening to my body. What started as a personal journey to find health thus transformed into an educational array of researching anything that could support my recovery. Along the way, I trained as a Naturopath, eventually qualifying in Naturopathy, Functional Medicine, and as a coach. My diagnosis came a decade after I first became unwell, by which time it was confirmation of what I had already identified. I implemented all of my tools and fully recovered, after which I realized that I had gained tools, information, and a wealth of wisdom that I could use to help others. I set up a clinical practice that rapidly became a popular medical hub on Harley Street, London, UK. I partnered with leading doctors, psychiatrists, and innovative healthcare companies, creating medical protocols and clinical operations systems, as well as advising on using and implementing new technologies in healthcare. However, disillusioned with what was necessary to abide by the rules of the medical system in the UK, and desiring to integrate protocols that I could not easily access, I decided to close my clinic just before the global pandemic. An unintended but much-needed 18-month stay in South Africa saw me write my memoir, consult to various leading healthcare and health-tech companies, and further nuance (and improve) my philosophy on health and how to support resilience, healing, and regenerative wellness. I recognized that my ideas would be most welcomed in the US so I set about establishing a US business – offering healthcare guidance to individuals and clinical operations consulting to practices. After moving to Austin, Texas, I discovered a population willing to invest in their overall health, and clinical partnerships which allowed me to thrive and bring my unique flavor of medicine to a whole new clinical population.
Let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
It has been a challenging road. The early days of my illness almost took my life several times. Beyond that, establishing new healthcare paradigms in worlds invested in keeping the status quo has always been challenging. In the early days, we were bringing new ideas to the world. Latterly, it has been necessary to ensure that the correct information is out there (the internet is the wild west when it comes to healthcare information!). More importantly, relocating to America was a massive commitment of time and finances, requiring a huge leap of faith and trust that this was the right decision. Other struggles include being a female in a male-dominated industry and also rescinding medical licensures to restart – several times over – as I have moved to new places. There is a lot of red tape to navigate, which is a challenge in an industry that should be aimed solely at trying to help people.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Unveil specializes in healthcare consulting, services, and guidance. From 1:1 services to full-suite, in-clinic consultancy for medical practices, we bring revolutionary, cutting-edge systems thinking to healthcare, offering integrative medicine, coaching, trauma integration training, and media that supports educating the masses on what being truly healthy means. Currently, our primary consulting work is provided within our clinical partnership with Dasein Health, an Austin-based healthcare practice. Within Dasein, Unveil provides clinical support for patients and the business’s operational side.
Have you learned any exciting or essential lessons due to the COVID-19 crisis?
I completely re-evaluated my life during COVID-19, and it taught me that so often, we proceed with our norms and what we do, and we don’t take time to pause and reflect on things. The COVID-19-mandated reflection time was necessary – even for someone like me, a therapist who knows how to do these things! – for us all to check in with our priorities and our desires. Another important lesson of the COVID-19 crisis was that unchecked and ongoing fear can profoundly influence our behaviors and patterns. It was clear that fear drove things for a long time during the pandemic, and we witnessed how negative and detrimental that can be for health and happiness – irrespective of the relevance and the appropriateness of the fear. The human system isn’t built to withstand long-term, unabated fear, and I think the COVID-19 pandemic was an experiment in what the response of systems would be when exposed to that. I think that we are still learning the full impact of that; and will be for many years and decades to come.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.
com/victorialfenton - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/ victorialfenton/aweQ© 2y57w6s46cx5ur43f5cy 5rg4v
