Haile Thomas, is 19 years old. Amazingly, as a 19-year-old she has accomplished far more than any of us would imagine doing in a lifetime! As the youngest individual to graduate from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, she has become a world-renowned speaker, wellness and nutrition coach, author, compassion activist, and the CEO of a non-profit called HAPPY. HAPPY stands for Healthy, Active, Positive, Purposeful, Youth. When she was just 12 she founded this nonprofit to address the need for affordable or free plant-based nutrition for at-risk communities. She does this through holistic and wellness education to teens around the world, emphasizing plant-based nutrition. She has reached around 90,000 teens and that number is continually growing. Why did she want to start HAPPY? Well, like many entrepreneurs, she noticed a need in the community. When she was young, her family successfully reversed her father’s type 2 diabetes. Throughout this process she started to notice that other students are being affected or diagnosed with conditions like her father… so she decided to change that. Obviously, she has achieved her dream; however, she continues to strive to impact as many youths as she can. She is a speaker at many famous venues such as TEDx and Good Morning America and has partnered with many companies such as Williams and So
noma, Nike, Hyatt Hotels, and many more. Haile is truly an inspiration. She has shown me what determination to a cause looks like and how personal passion can cause a rippling impact on society.
If you are interested in learning more, here is the website I used to learn more about Haile: https://www.hailevthomas.com/
This is a great example of how one’s positive experience can lead to more positive impact for others. After her father’s reversal of Type 2 diabetes, she was given the confidence and motivation to make that same positive change in the lives of others that were similarly affected. Her achievements are very impressive. If she continues to live her life with the same empathetic mindset, she will do many more great things and affect many more lives.
This is such an inspiring story! So often we think that teens are too young to have impactful ideas and the skills to make their ideas into a reality, but this is a great example of how faulty that thinking is! I love that she saw a need in her own community and figured out a way to help communities all over the US through free resources.