A Morden native has returned home after decades abroad as an international Nutritional Therapist, working in New York, London and the Middle East.

Sonia Funk hopes to share her unique perspective on wellness and healthcare after consulting for clients around the world, including a billionaire in a palace on the Red Sea.

She recounts setting the menu for the seven chefs that prepared the billionaire's meals. "He took me into the second kitchen, which was even bigger, and said, "this is for when kings come." I just stood there... that was a big of a game-changer."

From consulting for the elite to the small town family, and working with a range of practitioners, Funk says her mission is to connect the western medicine and natural medicine.

"There's just so much each of the islands have to offer each other if we just build a bridge to communicate properly," she says.

While traditional medicine has many solutions, she says natural medicine can supplement health and wellness as well.

The challenge is communication, which often comes down to a battle of ideology and cooperation between branches of practitioners. "The human ego is the problem," Funk says.

"Not everyone is really up for that, but there are a lot of practitioners are because they see they have to deal with the lifestyle, you have to deal with how the person feels about themselves."

She also notes not all natural health practitioners are certified, and customers can end up burdened with a regimen of questionable supplements, or self supplementing. "But it's not their fault, they're just trying to feel better."

Offering wellness consulting to companies is also a burgeoning market, she says, as employers see the benefit of having healthy employees, "companies are suffering with sick leave, stress leave... presenteeism is a really big cost to companies that their just starting to recognize."

Moving forward, Funk says she looks forward to establishing herself and making connections among the health practitioners in multiple disciplines.