“One of the biggest things I say to people is I just kept on following my internal nudges to get me to the next step,” says Amber Berard-Althouse, who goes by Amber Heals online. She was born in Edmonton, where she lived until she was a teenager. She moved to the Yukon and has spent most of her life there, much of it in Whitehorse and some in her traditional territory of Kluane. She’s Tlingit on her mother’s side as well as French and German.

Since she was 18,  Berard-Althouse’s been into natural healing and she loves practicing and teaching yoga. Medicinal plants and ayurveda are also her passions. She’s recently become an entrepreneur, creating workshops and leading walk and talks to teach about medicinal plants. She likes being outside skiing, hiking and being in nature.

“My name is Amber Heals, because I have healed a ton through teaching others about our culture and history.”

Before she started her business, Berard-Althouse worked for Parks Canada, giving tours and sharing about Indigenous culture in Kluane National Park and Reserve in her traditional territory. Sharing about her culture and the history of her land in her own territory was something she loved to do as part of her work with the government over the course of a decade. Before becoming a public servant, she worked in customer service and hospitality in bars and restaurants, starting as a teenager at McDonald’s.

At one point she got work with the city of Whitehorse but she found it too depressing and went back to waitressing. It was a decision many people struggled to understand, but Berard-Althouse lives her life in pursuit of happiness. “If I have to go to work every day, I want to do something that fills me up,” she explains.

Her journey with yoga started in 2009 and as a yoga teacher in 2014. She wanted to be able to teach people a skill. She began to realize she wanted to do more than one thing, as much as she was being encouraged to focus in one direction. Berard-Althouse took her love of teaching about medicinal plants and her traditional territories and turned it into a two-day interpretation program so she could teach other Indigenous people how to do so. The program is one that lights her up and brings her joy.

Becoming an entrepreneur is something she’s always wanted to do. As a kid, Berard-Althouse was always creative and sold her creations like friendship bracelets to park visitors. When her friends started going away to post-secondary, she decided to travel. “Traveling was by far the biggest teacher in my whole life,” she reflects. As she traveled, she decided to get into the health and wellness field.

As fas obstacles go, Berard-Althouse had a hard time getting out of her own way and believing in herself. Other people also had a lot of opinions about what she was doing. Leaving a good job with the government where she was advancing and making good money wasn’t something a lot of people understood, but it wasn’t what she needed. Pension and benefits seemed too good to pass up for some people but she doesn’t believe in working for a future she might not have. She wanted to give her dream a try. “It's been the best move I've made for myself so far,” she beams.

Her advice for youth considering starting their own business is, “Believe your opinions, believe in yourself and you. Other people that are trying to stop you… they're just trying to protect you, and it is out of love. But that doesn't mean that they're right. Follow the nudges, because every single thing I did in my life got me to this point…You don't need to go to university and college to be successful. If you do go, Great, awesome… You have to believe in yourself, and that's an easier said than done thing. It does take work, but you're worth it."

To take care of her mental health, Berard-Althouse goes for walks, spends time away from her phone and in nature. She prioritizes finding community as the entrepreneurial life can be lonely and intense. Doing things that light her up and not always working is also important for helping her find balance.

For inspiration, she looks to Shayla Stonechild, an Indigenous yoga practitioner and Jessica Dumas, a First Nations coach. Growing up, Berard-Althouse didn’t have many role models as she was raised around alcoholism and intergenerational trauma. She aspired to happiness, pride, not worrying about money, clothes or food and not struggling. If anything, she wanted to be a singer like Lauryn Hill. Traveling opened her mind and showed her things she couldn’t see before.

Looking to the future, Berard-Althouse wants to keep training more First Nations people in interpretation so they can take part in the tourism industry. She would also like to launch an online coaching program to help Indigenous people heal. Finally, she would like to become a motivational speaker.

To inspire youth with her message, she wants to say, “This world has always been in chaos and one thing this planet is good at doing is keeping homeostasis, just like our bodies. So don't lose hope for the future; the planet Earth, Mama Gaia, mama Earth, she's taking care of us. You need to take care of yourself. Your voice and your path matter."

She kept following her internal nudges and that’s how this park interpreter found her path to entrepreneurship and new joy. Learning through life’s twists and turns on and off the yoga mat and working with medicinal plants, Amber Berard-Althouse is using her passions to help others thrive. Sharing culture and history wherever she goes, that’s how she became Amber Heals.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.