Certified Health Coach
Rubina Khan Shapoo
Live your healthiest life possible!
To write about more than four decades of my journey on the earth is no easy task. I call myself a tumbling bumbling soul who just happened to achieve a few things. As a young girl, growing up in the underdeveloped state of Bihar in India, my exposure to disparity, inequality, and gender discrimination began early in life. My mother was often pitied and ridiculed for birthing seven girls. However, I found my own Gloria Steinham in my backyard- my mom- who stood up to the conservative Muslim community of her village, for the education of her daughters. Education was a son’s privilege. She rebelled as she had big dreams for her daughters too! She walked away from the ancestral money, richness, and comfort. And her rebellion paid off. Her daughters and their progeny are educators, doctors, and journalists today. I never give up - making a difference is a legacy I inherited!
I made it to one of the top colleges of Delhi University, Miranda House, thanks to my mothers’ persistence and dedication!
Reverse, Reclaim, Rejuvenate
I wanted to join the nonprofit sector and work for marginalized communities, but destiny had a different road map planned for me. I went to meet a journalist friend, Richa Pant, who was working with a premier English broadcasting company, NDTV at that time, to discuss my prospects. I wanted to know if there are any non-profits that I could join, Instead, she asked me to go for an interview right away, as the company was hiring production assistants. I went for the interview and got the job. I had no resume so I was asked to write one promptly. Unprepared, I scratched a few basics about myself on a piece of paper. For the next twenty years that I spent at NDTV, I experienced both professional and personal growth. I rose to head the Madhya Pradesh Bureau in Central India - from production, I shifted gears to reporting, loving every minute of my new profession.
Every day brought new challenges and along with it came opportunities to learn something new I got my stories in crowded buses and bustling trains. I reported untold stories of hungry children, missing daughters killed for being born in the wrong gender. Stories of India’s girls being teased and harassed, Delhi's distressed daughters, corrupt politicians, failing systems and so on. My story Birthing Against all Odds on maternal mortality, a joint venture between NDTV and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, won a UNDP Silver award. I am a hard worker who loves telling stories and connecting with people.
Resilient Warrior
Then life happened! On 2nd August 2012, my 7-year-old daughter's laboratory result rewrote my whole destiny! She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a type of cancer that attacks the bone marrow.
Now as a mother, I used all the skills that I had learned as a journalist to unravel The Emperor of all Maladies - Cancer. I started looking out for foods, nutrition that would help my daughter battle this disease!!!
I went back to my roots.
Fountain of knowledge in our Indian traditions and food, I read, researched, spoke to elders in our families and community.
Myrrah’s cancer journey brought us to America. She had relapsed exactly two months after her conventional treatment ended in India. The doctors in America were surprised at how Myrrah survived because her medicine was not exactly working for her!And thus was born a badass Nutribullet mom!
It was my childhood friend, Piya, who encouraged me to think about both sharing and enhancing the knowledge that I had gathered about food and healing. Her words became my guideposts. I decided to reinvent myself, I knew my calling was to help people heal themselves but also needed to learn more. So I decided to pursue a course that would teach me the science behind the food at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition,a pioneer in the field of holistic nutrition. Piya and her very kind husband decided to sponsor my education at IIN and the rest is history!!! As a health coach, I am dedicated to reverse diabetes, renew and rejuvenate your health.
As a health coach, my mission is to help people navigate their health journey, to believe in one simple fact of life that our body is capable of healing itself with wholesome natural nourishment.