Elaine's Story

How a health meltdown taught founder Elaine Morrison that beauty is an inside job.

I never set out to build a wellness brand but I had an idea that I just couldn’t get out of my mind. As a certified Pilates instructor, the journey that would completely transform my relationship to wellness and beauty began in 2013 when seemingly out of now where my health took a complete nosedive and I built it back up from within. I was burning the candle at both ends working six days a week teaching and managing two Pilates studios for a private club in Los Angeles.

My symptoms began with a new pair of pants that wouldn’t zip up, even though nothing about my diet or fitness had changed. Next came the fatigue that wouldn’t go away even after ten hours of sleep. My skin lost its glow, becoming dry and lackluster and I developed Guttate psoriasis from my scalp to my ankles. Then, a chilling question from my hairstylist: “What’s going on with your hair? It’s breaking and falling out.” Desperate for answers I read Sara Gottfried’s “The Hormone Cure” and the lightbulb went on when she described my exact symptoms and their cause: a thyroid autoimmune disorder called Hashimoto’s.

I started reading everything I could get my hands on about reversing autoimmunity through diet, and even though this was not the route endorsed by my doctors, I had nothing to lose. I began an autoimmune Paleo diet — first eliminating gluten, dairy, and grains, then slowly adding fish to my repertoire after 24 years as a vegetarian and vegan.

Collagen came up again and again as an important supplement for hair, skin, and nails so I added that in too. Within a matter of months, my labs had so drastically improved that the Hashimoto’s was completely reversed. All psoriasis faded away, and to my delight and extreme relief, my hairstylist informed me that small baby hairs had started to fill back in.

Coming out on the other side of this experience left me with an unshakeable belief in the profound interconnectedness of health and beauty. And so I launched Elaine Wellness with collagen, not only because it played such an important role in my healing, but because it serves as a potent reminder that small changes in our diet can be completely life-changing.

Changing the narrative for women around beauty and aging is my passion. Radiant beauty is an inside job and aging is a privilege. The diet and beauty industries have shamed women for long enough and I believe there’s a better way to talk about aging. I’ve created a company that offers high-quality products to help women look and feel their best from the inside out. There’s so much opportunity to create community and conversation around beauty, health, wellness, and aging that has a positive, inclusive message. Very few companies are speaking to women 40+ and I’m here to fill that void. I’m building a community of women to have conversations around what it means to age well.