Speakers:

Ali Essig

Ali Essig is a plant-based nutritionist, pilates instructor, and founder of PlantWhys. She runs a plant-based membership that empowers women to achieve a stronger, slimmer waist through the combination of a plant-based diet and core and pelvic floor exercises.

As a mother of six, including twin baby boys, Ali’s world was turned upside down when her 37-year-old husband suffered a stroke. Despite multiple tests, doctors found no clear answers—only a recommendation to follow a heart-healthy diet by avoiding saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol while increasing fiber.

Determined to protect her family’s health, Ali dove deep into the research and discovered that a plant-based diet not only reduces stroke risk but also lowers the likelihood of all chronic diseases. Now, she combines her nearly two decades of experience teaching Pilates with a proven plant-based formula called the PlantWhys Protocol to help women stay on track with plant-based eating, strengthen their core and finally achieve the results they’ve been striving for.

Ali regularly shares EASY family friendly vegan recipes on her popular YouTube channel @PlantWhys and powerful plant-based insights on her Instagram account @PlantWhys.

Brenda Workman

Amy Jasperse

Amy is a pharmacist and diabetes care and education specialist serving southern West Virginia and is among a small group of pharmacists with this designation across West Virginia. Her current role is in clinical practice at the Robert C. Byrd Clinic in Lewisburg. The clinic is headquartered on the campus of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM).

The West Virginia native is a 1995 graduate of the Ferris State University College of Pharmacy. She has over 30 years of pharmacy experience as a technician, pharmacist, and educator. She served as adjunct faculty for the University of Kentucky and the University of Cincinnati Colleges of Pharmacy and currently is a preceptor for the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy. In 2009, Amy became a certified diabetes educator and developed an accredited diabetes education program for a local independent pharmacy group and another for the Robert C. Byrd Clinic in 2020.

Amy has worked voluntarily since 2015 to build a culinary medicine elective on the campus of the WVSOM. In December 2019, she began her role at Robert C. Byrd Clinic.  She also works as the consultant pharmacist for the clinic doing monthly clinic medication inspections, developing policies and procedures, providing drug education to the staff and patients, and coordinated covid vaccinations during the pandemic.

Disease prevention and reversal through plant-based nutrition is a particular interest for Amy and she has been a certified culinary medicine specialist since 2020.