Acne was once a dominant factor in Katie Stewart’s life, but after taking matters into her own hands, turned it into a force for good. The Registered Holistic Nutritionist sat down with us to share her empowering story—and how her holistic approach is helping thousands of women clear their acne.
Most people have dealt with some form of acne, often as a teenager or young adult since an estimated 85% of this age group experiences it—so much so it’s become a stereotype and part of the “awkward phase”. Yet, because of this perspective, many individuals who struggle with acne as adults (up to 15% of adult women do) feel embarrassed, unattractive, or self-conscious.
Former local cable television host and Floor Manager for Hockey Night in Canada, Katie Stewart knows these feelings all too well. She vividly recalls the frustration she experienced dealing with cystic acne on her face and body as an adult woman entering her profession. “I was starting my career in television and I wanted to be taken seriously, but I felt like I wasn’t,” she shares. “It impacted me at work. I was constantly thinking ‘What are my coworkers thinking? Do they see me or just my skin issues?’”
And it didn’t end there.
Stewart found herself applying heavy makeup, wearing it whenever she was in public, whether at work or hot yoga. And despite her love for doing makeup, that passion began to diminish the more she felt “forced” to conceal her skin. “It weighed on me so heavily, especially working in television,” she continues. Her self-esteem and confidence plummeted, and even with her boyfriend (now husband), she didn’t feel beautiful. But from his perspective, she was—acne or no acne.
“If you’ve never dealt with acne yourself, you don’t understand that it’s not just a physical issue. It’s very much a mental and emotional one as well,” Stewart emphasizes.
After five long years of buying countless high-end products, going for expensive facials, trying different medications, taking supplements, getting acupuncture, and even stealing her younger brother’s topical acne medication, nothing seemed to work.
Not until Stewart made the connection between her internal health and skin health.
“I went back to school to study nutrition in 2014 where I made that link. I read in a textbook the impact of birth control on your body and causing acne. I had taken the pill for a decade so that just lit a fire under me and gave me that aha moment that this wasn’t a topical issue, it was an internal issue,” she says. “It was a lot of trial and error, but I cleared the majority of my acne in about 18 months.”
After becoming more specialized in acne, Stewart entered the holistic nutrition space in 2017 while still working for Hockey Night in Canada. After the COVID-19 pandemic, her purpose shifted, and with it, ended her 14-year career in the television industry. “It was a seamless transition where I decided to go all in on my business,” she says.
Now a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, co-host of her podcast The Clear Skin Chronicles, and the CEO of Katie Stewart Wellness Inc., Stewart is an acne expert dedicated to helping women feel empowered, confident, and beautiful.
“As I became more specialized in acne, I discovered that there are so many more nuances besides just what worked for me. I couldn’t teach my clients to do the exact steps that work for me because their bodies are so different and so unique. That’s when I really had to figure out the bigger imbalances and the routes and paths that need to be taken for the individual to clear up their skin.”
That’s where The Clear Skin Solution comes in, designed to get rid of your acne for good—without medication or harsh products. It’s a 6-month virtual coaching program with a dedicated team of experts committed to your clear skin journey, a hair trace mineral analysis, and lifetime access to course content.
“When women sign up with us in The Clear Skin Solution, they’re hanging out for six months. They come in and get assigned their own acne-clearing team, which is a nutritionist, a nutrition assistant, and an esthetician who follows their whole journey,” says Stewart.
Through functional testing and a root-cause approach, more than 2,000 women have cleared their acne with Stewart’s 5 Acne-Clearing Pillars: Gut health, detoxification, hormonal balance, emotional well-being, and nourishing skincare.
At its core, KSW wants women struggling with acne to finally feel confident in their skin again, especially since many of Stewart’s clients are nurses, mothers, and teachers.
“For some of these moms, when their kids draw family photos, they draw their mom with red spots on her face or make comments about the boo-boos,” Stewart shares. “It really impacts them as moms. They always say that they feel like they’re taking time away from their kids because they’re spending so much of it worrying about their skin. They don’t want to be in photos with their family because they’re too embarrassed about how they look, so they’re missing out on a lot of memories and time with their kids and family.”
Stewart is here to change this reality with her revolutionary approach to the way people deal with acne and skin health in general. And it all starts with empowering women so they can feel beautiful in their skin. Take this review from a previous KSW client: “This program taught me so much and gave me back my confidence and really helped to change my mindset.”
“When women reclaim their confidence, they step into the world with purpose, making the impact they were always meant to,” she concludes.
If you’re ready to take control of your skin health, Katie Stewart is eager to help you begin your journey. Click here to apply for The Clear Skin Solution.
To learn more about Katie Stewart, follow her on Instagram.