Even in kindergarten, I had major problems with my respiratory system. I spent more time at the doctor's than anywhere else, I was often absent from kindergarten, and my mom always knew which emergency room was on duty — just in case, because I received injections in case of emergency.

I often had obstructive bronchitis and laryngitis, I was anemic and I have vivid memories of Christmas Eve and Christmas that I spent in Klaićeva as a very small child. There was not much help and they said that the situation would calm down when I started elementary school. Later, when I became a mother, these memories would be the foundation and driving force of all the changes that I would introduce into my family. I did not want to go through the stress that my mother went through.

Upon entering elementary school, the situation really calmed down in an instant, until entering puberty. After that, my health declined again, frequent bronchitis returned, my inhalation allergies became active and the situation became worse and worse.

When I hit puberty, I started taking excessive doses of Ketonal because it was the only thing that helped me with the pain, but it didn't pose a problem to anyone and I was told it was normal, so it was normal for me — like for many young girls at that age.

Do you know in which case we would react in a timely manner to the intensity of pain that causes 12-, 13-year-old girls to take Ketonal? In one in which menstrual education is more extensive than a single paragraph in a biology textbook.

In high school, my health started to cause me major problems — frequent bronchitis turned into asthmatic bronchitis, and my allergies became more and more severe, and I ended up on antihistamines and a pump. The antihistamines made me extremely tired, and besides being sick often and spending a lot of time in the emergency room, I also had to carry the pump with me everywhere because I needed it every day. My menstrual cramps became more and more intense, and I would miss school because I found it difficult to function. I still didn't get any understanding, and somehow everyone around me accepted that this was just how it was, that I was simply oversensitive and had a low pain threshold.

But I didn't accept that because I always believed that there were reasons and solutions to everything that happened to us. One day, on my way home from school, I saw an herbal pharmacy near Frankopanska Street and something called me to come in. A lady greeted me inside and asked how she could help me, but I had no idea what I was looking for. I told her everything that was bothering me and she suggested that I try drinking tea made from black marshmallow and marshmallow root. I paid for my herbs, went home, made myself some tea that was a beautiful blue color, which is why I fell in love with it so much that I had no problem drinking 2-3 cups a day. Within three months, I no longer needed a pump every day and this was the beginning of my intense interest in herbs. I was in the 2nd year of high school at the time and since then I have only used the pump a few times in exceptional situations.

I went to university in Dubrovnik, primarily because of love, but also because of a subject that seemed very interesting to me. I studied Aquaculture, later Mariculture, and in my first year I lived in a dormitory with nuns with two roommates. At that time, there was no student dormitory and a large part of my pocket money went to rent. Since it was impossible to leave any food in the shared kitchen of the dormitory because I would run out of everything in 24 hours, I ate out, gained 10 kg, my health went into decline, and now I went from having frequent bronchitis to being sick all the time except in the summer, allergies were killing me, I developed dermatitis that wouldn't go away, and I started taking much stronger painkillers that were less and less effective.

In my second year of college, we moved in together as tenants, and in my third year, into our little house, where we still live today. That's where my mindset slowly started to change, we had our own garden, a yard, we were away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and I got what I wanted to achieve by leaving Zagreb - peace and quiet.

From 2012 to 2017, I ended up in the ER almost every month due to worsening symptoms during my period, but they still assured me that it was all normal and I felt like they didn't hear my level of concern. The more friends I met, the more I realized that my experience and what I was going through wasn't the most normal.

My partner is trying to convince me to go to the hospital, but I don't want to because I expect to be ignored again, but in the end I give in and go. Emergency hospitalization follows, followed by surgery a few days later, and I'm diagnosed with endometriosis. At that moment, I'm on the one hand overjoyed because it means I'm not crazy, and on the other hand terrified because I don't even know what that means.

I didn't get many answers to my questions except that I had two options - take the birth control pill or get pregnant. The pill was never an option for me, and since we had been in a relationship for 6 years and were definitely planning a family, we got engaged, got married in the company of our closest friends, I graduated, and we became parents.

In addition to painkillers, I was now receiving injections almost every month because I was experiencing crippling pain that made me dependent on my partner for even the most basic needs. I felt a little crazy and began to believe what I had been told for years — that I simply had a low pain threshold. Until one day, while preparing for a lab, where I was working and writing my thesis, I found myself in a situation where I felt a strange sensation in my abdomen, as if there was something else besides the pain. I remember describing it as if I had a water balloon inside me.

After graduating, I had a lot of free time, during my pregnancy I worked as an external collaborator at the university, I taught practicums in two courses and that first pregnancy was wonderful for me. I don't think I have ever enjoyed my life more and I never will than I did during that first pregnancy. Total bliss. Although, at this age I don't understand at all why anyone would impose pregnancy on a 23-year-old and what would have happened to me if our plans had not been in accordance with that recommendation.

During pregnancy, I researched more about endometriosis, low tox lifestyle, diet and epigenetics. I started taking the first steps I knew how to take — I decided to introduce aromatherapy into my home, I bought the first low tox products and I made the first cosmetic products in my kitchen.

My Luka, who lived under my heart at the time, was the biggest motivation for my action steps. With the birth of our Luka in 2018, everything changed. I made even bigger moves, I removed almost all conventional products from the house and replaced them with low-tox products, and I started paying attention to the composition of all the products I used.

In a very short time, my dermatitis started to drastically decrease, I stopped coughing and sneezing non-stop, my allergies stopped being so intense, my sleep quality improved and for the first time I feel such big and drastic changes in my health. I open an Instagram profile and start sharing my journey, further educating myself and creating an everyday life filled with tools for the challenges I face. In the meantime, I also gave birth to Toni, who was an additional incentive for me to continue to be hungry for knowledge.

Today I am a certified aromatherapist and herbalist, low tox educator, health coach and consultant. I am constantly upgrading my knowledge through education about Ayurveda, TCM, bodywork , nutritional therapies, clinical and preclinical medicine, epigenetics, etc., all with the aim of providing myself and other women with security, information and guidance in working on long-term health and vitality.

From 2018 until today, I realized that a large part of my problems with the respiratory system, allergies and dermatitis come from an imbalanced immune system and that by listening to advice that I needed to strengthen it, I was only further exacerbating my health situation. With this knowledge, I took action and the result is clear, I very rarely get sick, the recovery phase is much shorter than before, I don't jump from infection to infection, I have no active allergies, and I don't have dermatitis either.

I gave birth to two children prone to bronchitis and atopy, and in consultation with my pediatrician, I applied the same knowledge to their health care, and I got the same results and progress. Motherhood has brought me to a point where I realized that working on my health starts at home, not in the clinic. During my second pregnancy, my endometriosis returned, and after the pregnancy, they told me again that it would be a good idea to take the pill, which I refused.

Instead, in addition to completely cleansing my home of endocrine disruptors, I supported my detoxifying organs, introduced anti-inflammatory foods and herbs, increased my fruit and vegetable intake, engaged a nutritionist, worked on the emotional anatomy of my diagnosis, dedicated myself to regulating my nervous system, said goodbye to hustle culture, started living in harmony with my cycle, reduced stimulants, started resting more, delved deeper into my genetics, and over time turned my back on everything and everyone who was in any way disrupting my inner peace, and thus my health. I kept my cycle and tracked every day of it, addressed a bunch of symptoms, and learned to regulate and control endometriosis-related problems that would suddenly appear due to stress or a slightly faster-paced everyday life.

Today I am healthier than ever, I have more energy than when I was a teenager, I am calmer, more settled, my family is healthy, and I have become the person I wish I had known 15 years ago — the one who listens, who helps, and who seeks answers. Although mentally difficult, I would not change my path and my story because it has brought me so much, including the capacity and opportunity to help other women and their families be healthier.

From this mission, the Holistic Zone and Wild Mallow were born – a space and brand through which I combine traditional and scientific teachings, nature and feminine cyclicity. Through the Holistic Zone, I restore women's trust in their own wisdom, and through Wild Mallow, I create cosmetics and herbal preparations that nourish, heal and respect the body.

Besides work and education, I use my free time to read fantasy books and movies, cook, spend time with my children, watch series, and have family moments filled with dreaming and planning.

I hope you found this biographical journey of mine interesting and educational, and that it gave you the opportunity to get to know me better as the owner of the brand.