I grew up in what was once a rural lake town in North Carolina where wellness seemed almost synonymous with breathing. Movement was a fact of everyday life, from playing outside with my brother to getting creative in the dance studio to channeling my inner competitor on the soccer field. Trips to the local produce stand for in-season peaches and raspberries literally made me giddy. And I preferred a haul of library books to a movie marathon any day of the week.

It wasn’t until my college years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that I began to understand just how much these elements of wellness meant to me. They gifted me the life I loved, and I wanted to find a way to spend my days sharing that gift with as many people who wanted to experience it, too.

A decade later, I’m still searching. I’ve tried many different modalities — health magazine journalism, online wellness news and feature writing, editing the work of others in the lifestyle space, personal training, yoga teaching — all with varying degrees of success. But the truth is none of them felt like “it.”

And I think that’s because I’m not someone who will be fulfilled by a single role. As a naturally curious and creative person, my mind wanders when left with the same task for too long. I need variety, I need stimulus, I need a challenge.

So at this stage of my life, I have elected not to choose a specialty, but to embrace a handful of ways I can help others. Parts of my days revolve around health and wellness writing. Others lean into the realm of personal training. In recent years, I began serving as a caregiver for my father. And as of late, I’ve added functional medicine health coaching to the top of my list.

When it comes to picking a professional title, I suppose I have quite a few to choose from. But at my roots, I’m simply a wellness advocate who thrives by helping others. And as long as what I’m doing fulfills that purpose, I’m truly living my best life.