florescence

The way she was navigating work and life became so unbalanced that work addiction combined with using alcohol as a way to relieve chronic anxiety and chronic stress (spoiler: it makes anxiety and other conditions worse!), and her personal identity being so intertwined with that of her business all took a toll on her body, mind, spirit, and quality of life.  She knew something had to change.

Brianna McKinney, FNC, NBC-HWC is an Austin, Texas-based double board certified functional medicine nutritionist and health and wellness coach, and the founder and owner of Florescence Health.

Prior to opening Florescence Health, she enjoyed a successful 20+ year career in marketing and public relations including founding Bloom Communications, the first B Corp Certified marketing agency headquartered in Texas. For years, she thrived in the fast-paced agency environment compounded by the additional pressures uniquely associated with being a female entrepreneur.

Rewinding, Brianna had a combination of symptoms that she lived with for years as her normal, going from specialist to specialist seeking answers: generalized anxiety disorder including a full year of panic attacks, papulopustular rosacea, digestive issues, brain fog, low energy, endometriosis, infertility, chronic sinus infections, and PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder). Leading up to 2015, a few became exacerbated and nothing from our traditional medical system - even through access to some of the nation’s top medical providers she had VIP access to because they were clients of her agency - was making any significant, lasting improvements. In 2016, after doing her own extensive research looking for answers, she stumbled upon Dr. Robin Berzin who had just opened a functional medicine practice called Parsley Health. Brianna had no idea what functional medicine or health coaching was, but Dr. Berzin’s approach really resonated with her and she quickly became one of her first patients at Parsley Health. 

After six years of voracious independent study on all things functional medicine and preventative health in her spare time while running her marketing agency, Brianna went back to school for nearly three years in pursuit of graduate-level education to earn recognized credentials so she can help others. She completed the most current in functional nutrition education with the highly-respected Andrea Nakayama, founder of the Functional Nutrition Alliance.  Brianna also received formal education from some of the world's leading functional medicine professionals, including Dr. Robin Berzin, Dr. Mark Hyman, Kelly LeVeque, Dr. Frank Lipman, Dr. Uma Naidoo, Dr. Sara Gottfried, Dr. Vincent Pedre, Dr. Taz Bhatia, Dr. Robert Rountree, Dr. Amy Shah, Dr. Joel Kahn, Dr. Steven Gundry, among others. Additionally, she has immense gratitude for the health and wellness coaches who served as faculty along her journey, including Dayna Yvonne Jondal, Darshi Shah, and Emily Marquis - three women who are true advocates for ethics, excellence, and credentialing in the field.

Brianna is a Functional Nutrition Counselor, board certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, and a Health and Wellness Coach, board certified by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching, a collaboration with the National Board of Medical Examiners. With reverence for the impact yin yoga has on her nervous system, Brianna pursued yin and restorative yoga teacher training with Iva Drtina-Hall and Shanti Kelly through Practice Yoga in Austin, Texas and brings the wisdom of those teachings to her work with clients and patients. Brianna also holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin, magna cum laude.

An active community leader, she has served on nonprofit boards for nearly 20 years, and is currently serving as President of the Board of Directors for NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Central Texas, President Elect for Ballet Austin Guild, and as a Board Member for AGE of Central Texas. Brianna has been an honoree for many leadership awards including: the Austin Business Journal’s Best CEO, Women in Business, and Central Texas Women of Influence; Austin Under 40’s Mentor of the Year; and Girl Scouts of Central Texas Women of Distinction.

Because wellness and longevity is a journey and not a destination, Brianna continually self-monitors her health, focused on prevention through nutrition, lifestyle, mindset, and advanced medical screening with the occasional objective support from her own functional nutritionist.