She grew up with all eyes on her, a competitive figure skater from the age of 6. “I grew up on the ice,” she said, describing a childhood spent moving through ever-more competitive training levels with the ultimate goal of making it to the Olympics. “That was the only goal I could think of,” she said. Skating kept Stephenson on the road, which exposed her to new places and ideas. One thing she knew for sure: She would not be staying in her hometown of Champaign, Illinois. “I thought, what about the world?” she said. “This was just where I happened to be born. I knew I wouldn’t stay there.” Yet, when the time came to pick a college, Stephenson stayed in Champaign to attend the University of Illinois, where she could maintain her training standards and go to school. Over the years, she had seen fellow winter athletes delay college to focus on their sport. “They rarely got back to their education,” Stephenson said. “Thankfully, I saw it. I don’t know how I did at 17 or 18.” And then, after a skating career untouched by injuries, Stephenson suffered a string of setbacks during her sophomore year. Rheumatic fever, strep throat and mono — she got them all in the span of a year. Plus, she tore her Achilles tendon and sustained some other injuries. Exhausted, depressed and sidetracked from skating, Stephenson reflected on her go-for-the-gold mentality. “Only one person wins that Olympic gold, and they’re not necessarily an American. You have to have a life after athletics,” she said. From then on, she decided to focus on her education, because that would be her future. “Moving through university, I became enamored with medicine, I think, because of my injuries and my illnesses coming together,” she said. However, despite being supported by a team of sports physicians and psychologists, she remained despondent. “I was thinking, ‘I’m 20 years old, exhausted and medicine has nothing to offer me,’” she said. “They healed me up a bit, but it didn’t help me feel better. The energy and vitality weren’t coming back.” Stephenson began what has become a lifelong quest to understand the elements of good health. Early on, she attended a lecture on diet and nutrition by Jeffrey Bland, PhD, IN ADDITION TO EARNING HER FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE AND ANTI-AGING BOARD CERTIFICATIONS, STEPHENSON BECAME A CERTIFIED NUTRITION SPECIALIST, ACUPUNCTURIST AND DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC MEDICINE. A pioneer of functional and integrative medicine, Dr. Stacie Stephenson has dedicated her life’s work to helping people prevent chronic disease and recover from illness naturally. MAR/APR 2021 | 28 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA

FRONTDOORS MEDIA | 29 | MAR/APR 2021 The Stephensons devote a large share of their time to improving cancer treatment and driving positive change, supporting local and regional causes in Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and more.