The Start of Something More Aligned
Welcome!
If you’ve found yourself on my website, I’m so glad you’re here! My name is Victoria, or Tori to friends and family. For most of my life, I knew I wanted to create a space where I could share content and connect with others in a meaningful way. I’ve always loved writing, talking with people, and finding the beauty in life, so this seemed like a perfect fit. But like many, I’ve spent years debating if I should start something, made excuses about it not being the right time, and ultimately got caught up in day-to-day life instead of taking the leap and trusting myself. Well guess what? I’ve FINALLY decided it’s time.
I hope this brand concept can evolve into something special and meaningful, and to do that successfully, you need to know the girl behind the screen. So, here’s a short introduction and reasoning behind my newly launched website and content creation.
My Story
In 2018, I graduated from Ohio University, moved back home to Cleveland, Ohio, and started working in corporate America. For several years, I’ve been in traditional marketing and communication roles, which have been good to me. During this time, I’ve gained quality experience in digital and content marketing, public relations, and project management, and I’ve also earned my MBA. This career path has been safe and steady, and I'm very appreciative of it. However, after experiencing some shifts in my life due to chronic health conditions (more on that below), I started to wonder if I was put through these challenges in order to help others in a similar situation. I used to dream about having my own brand, working directly with companies that align with my interests in the health and wellness space, beauty industry or fashion world, and having flexibility to be myself and connecting with people in a genuine way while making a living, but it always seemed unrealistic.
So, after seven years of pushing down this dream and living for the weekend, hoping a dirty martini with friends, a weekend getaway with my husband, or a post-pilates matcha would fix me and bring back my spark, I’ve decided it’s time to make this brand dream official. At this point, it’s more of a passion project (esp. during my recovery phase), but I hope that it can eventually grow and reach people going through a similar situation.
The Shift
A couple months ago, I finally hit my wall, or really, my turning point. I’d been, and still am, struggling with chronic health conditions mostly related to my gut and hormones. The constant stress I was putting on myself to keep pushing through was too much, and my lab results showed it. For so long, battling the never-ending list of symptoms was normal, and so I just kept going. I’d experienced minor issues most of my life, but they were never THIS bad. For background, as a kid, most food hurt my stomach, and in high school, I was put on birth control to help with severe “girl problems” my doctor believed could be endometriosis… and it just continued from there with terrible and unpredictable stomach issues even while following a restricted SIBO diet, extreme brain fog, day-long fatigue, body weakness, phantom fevers, rashes that would last months, and so much more. Not sure what I’m talking about? Imagine feeling like you have a never-ending flu and wake up feeling like you got two hours of sleep when you actually got 12… and this went on for YEARS.
When I couldn’t take it any more about a year and a half ago, I started working with a functional medicine practitioner. I was eating healthy, exercising, taking a million supplements, and making slow progress. I’d made improvements, but I never felt great. I also never truly pumped the brakes long enough to do any serious healing. Then in May 2025, I finally decided to take a step back from glamorizing a busy lifestyle. Since then, I have been focusing on rebuilding who I want to be and the life I want to live. This has encompassed everything from my health to lifestyle and career, with my main goal being to slow down, heal my body and start living more intentionally.
This health journey has been slow, painful and isolating. It’s personal and challenging, and I know that so many others are suffering in silence as well, ignoring signals their body is giving them, or going to doctor after doctor only to receive shoulder shrugs or lots of expensive medical labs and prescriptions with little hope. For that reason, I’m making the decision to share my story, things that have and/or are helping me, as well as anything else that seems relevant as I continue navigating this crazy thing called life.
My Vision
My goal is to take the leap of faith that I probably should have done years ago in order to connect with people, help others and (eventually) work in a way that is more aligned. So, if you’re someone who’s been craving ways to romanticize life, on your own healing journey or wants to find your spark again, I hope you stick around.
In the next post, I’ll provide more specific details about the content I’ll be focusing on so you can decide for yourself if you want to follow along. Life is so beautiful, and we, as a society, need to get back to enjoying this experience and being part of a supportive community.