Karyn Calabrese declares “she is not special”. Yet it is undeniable, she has a special gift. She has learned to listen to the knowledge innate within herself and become a leading holistic healer and teacher.
Many people look at Karyn at 60 and assume she inherited a strong matriarchy. The facts are, however, that both her mother and grandmother died at ages younger than Karyn is now. With this seeming fate at hand, she sets out to prove her genetic heredity wrong. This is where her story begins.
Alone with two children to raise, she bough her first wheatgrass juicer and opened a new life of growth and prosperity with her first business, growing and distributing wheatgrass. More importantly this began her life-long exploration into the inter-connectedness between food and body and the ultimate attainment of self-insurance and inner peace.
Karyn had been a vegetarian for 12 years, but this was merely a first step leading towards a completely raw food diet. No doubt this is a tough life to come to. It is out of the “norm” and denies what we have so long held as “truths”. To make this more feasible, Karyn opened her raw-foods restaurant, Karyn’s Fresh Corner, which was a thriving success. A few months ago, her restaurant moved to a bigger location and was renamed “Karyn’s”.
Although mostly self taught, Karyn had many mentors along the way. It was through these interactions that Karyn found the next important step in her path.
She believes it is not enough to simply eat live foods but to cleanse the body of the strong, negative, anti-life foods still in the body. Today, Karyn teaches detoxification classes through the year to give these lessons to others. To facilitate this process of cleansing, she opened a holistic therapy center, Karyn’s Inner Beauty Center.
This is where we find Karyn today. A 60 years old woman and “Raw Foodist of the Year” who lives the full, lively life she envisioned giving herself. She is working on a book that gives the voice to the positive experiences of the people she has helped along their own journeys. And this is what, contrary to what she declares, does indeed make her special. She is creating an all-encompassing environment of food, health, guidance and care where we can all participate in our own well being.
For as Karyn herself questions at the end of every day: “If you don’t take care of this [your body] where are you going to live?”
Innovative Holistic Health Leader
As one of the most popular and innovative leaders in the holistic health industry, Karyn is the owner and founder of Karyn’s in Chicago, Illinois. Karyn’s includes a vegan raw-food restaurant where one can find delicious, organic raw food entrees, and a holistic center where clients receive nutritional counseling and other holistic therapies.
Professional History:
Popular Public Speaker
Karyn has been featured on numerous radio shows such as “For Your Health Matters.” Local television news program have also featured her as an expert in the holistic health field. She has been a speaker at the Black Women’s Expo, and has been featured numerous times on local and national television broadcasts such as on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Bill Campbell’s CBS show.
Nutritional Counselor
Karyn has done extensive counseling with clients on a fee basis and for those who could not afford her services, on a charitable basis. Her beautifully ageless physical appearance and boundless energy at age 57 directly demonstrate her message of good health. She is a glowing model for men and women who feel the need to change their lifestyles.
People Empowering Advocate
Karyn’s philosophy is that we can heal ourselves naturally to correct damage done to our bodies from unhealthy environments and poor food choices. Her restaurant and her philosophy have been featured in numerous magazines and newspaper articles.
Personal:
Karyn, a 60-year-old former model and actress, has a son, a daughter and one grandchild. She has been a student of classical piano for 17 years and studied acting at the Ted Liss School of Acting and at the Jane Brody School. She currently lives at home with her entrepeneur husband and bengal tiger cat.
Credits / Community Service:
Karyn has made appearances as a model on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and as a “Sexy Mom” on “The Jenny Jones Show”. She as also appeared in numerous national commercials, print ads and on an album cover.
Karyn, is an often sought after guest speaker at events with community clubs, churches, service groups and youth groups. She also enjoys providing delicious raw food samples and organization free events at her restaurant.
