Following Her Heart:
Marisa Sweeney

Marisa Sweeney is a true multi-hyphenate. She owns two businesses—Be Well Integrative Health Services and New Jersey VegFest—recently earned a doctoral degree in nutrition, is a certified yoga instructor, and was recently elected to the New Jersey State Assembly. 

She accomplished it all by following her heart. She listened when it nudged her to leave her job to open her first nutrition counseling practice. And she followed it again a few years later, when she heard a statistic from the U.S. National Institutes of Health that shocked her: Only 9.7% of its budget was allocated to women’s health issues. 

“Less than 10% just isn’t enough,” she says. “There are so many female-specific diagnoses that are completely under-researched, so we don’t have the knowledge to effectively and adequately treat them,” she says, citing menopause, perimenopause, and endometriosis as examples. Another example is heart disease, which behaves differently and is more complex in women than in men. 

Ladies, First

She decided Be Well would focus on holistic, female-centered health. “I pulled together a team of licensed clinical health care providers who make women feel heard when they are talking about their health,” she says. “I’m not a mental health professional or a physical therapist, so I brought in experts in these and other fields, and we work collectively as a team to serve women and to really help them make effective lifestyle changes.”

Today, Be Well has expanded beyond Morristown, reaching across multiple states and welcoming people of all genders and ages—although about 80 percent of its clients are women. It offers everything from corporate wellness to yoga classes, many of which are taught by Sweeney, who has completed 500 hours of yoga training and is also certified to train other yoga teachers. “Yoga is a therapeutic extension of all our services,” she says. “I think we’ve done a really good job creating a safe space where everyone feels welcome.”

A Full Plate (of Veggies)

A long-time vegan, Sweeney followed that passion by founding New Jersey VegFest 10 years ago. “I’ve been a small business owner for a long time and know it’s not the easiest thing to do,” she says, adding that the festival is an “incubator for any kind of plant-based business looking to grow.” The biannual festival—held in Asbury Park each spring and in Montclair each fall—attracts thousands of people. It features a few hundred local chefs, food trucks, and product developers, along with a mix of other offerings, like cruelty-free fashion, cooking demonstrations, live podcasts, and speakers. 

Sweeney says that while there is “undeniable research that eating plant-based food is incredibly healthy,” she doesn’t want people to get turned off by labels or absolutes. “Plant-based eating doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can make small, meaningful changes without completely giving up meat,” she says. She encourages Meatless Mondays or simply eating smaller portions of meat at each meal. “Even small steps toward a plant-based diet can improve your health,” she says.

Next Stop: Trenton

Dedicated to community service, Sweeney serves on the boards of Grow It Green Morristown, the United Way, and other organizations. 

“I own a business that’s thriving in Morristown,” she says. “This is the town where I work and play and live. It’s really important to me that I give back to the community that has given me so much.”

Her focus widened beyond Morristown when she became president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and began testifying before the state assembly on topics like food insecurity. “I was bringing research- and evidence-based plans to change things for the better and then waiting around for other people to make the changes,” she says.

She quickly tired of waiting. “I realized I wanted to be the one changing the world. I wanted to be the one doing things,” she says.

So last year, Sweeney ran for state assembly in District 25, which includes Morristown, and won. Even though she’s spending more time thinking about sinkholes and public schools than before, not much else has changed. She is still out there building community, helping people, and, most of all, following her heart. 

Find out more about Be Well Integrative Services at bewellihs.com. Buy tickets to New Jersey VegFest in Asbury Park, held May 16 and 17, at njvegfest.com.

Photograph by Steve Hockstein/HarvardStudio.com