My Why: How Chronic Illness and Loss Shaped My Life and Led to This Podcast

Why does The Well Known Podcast exist, and why is Shannon Conklin talking about wellness now? In this episode, Shannon goes back to the beginning, sharing her experience growing up chronically unwell, searching for answers, losing her father at 19, and eventually building a career around helping people better understand their own health.

From chronic fatigue and gut health to Lyme disease, holistic wellness, longevity, and the lessons she learned from decades of working with clients, Shannon shares the experiences that shaped her philosophy today: living longer isn’t the only goal. Feeling well while you’re living matters too.

What You’ll Learn

  • How Shannon’s childhood health struggles introduced her to holistic and functional wellness

  • Why her father’s death became a turning point in the way she thought about health and longevity

  • How her own wellness journey eventually became her career

  • Why Shannon believes there is no single wellness solution that works for everyone

  • The real reason she created The Well Known Podcast

If this episode resonates with you, like the video, subscribe to The Well Known Podcast, and share it with someone who’s on their own wellness journey.

Connect with The Well Known Podcast Follow along for honest conversations about wellness, health, longevity, and the information worth knowing.

Shannon Conklin

Wellness Entrepreneur, Holistic Practitioner, and Endlessly Curious about how to feel my best.

I created The Well Known Podcast because I believe wellness has never been more confusing.

We’re surrounded by endless advice, trending protocols, and experts telling us what we should be doing. Yet many people still feel disconnected from their own bodies and unsure who or what to trust.

My journey into wellness wasn’t born from curiosity alone. It was shaped by personal experience, loss, and a desire to understand health on a deeper level. After navigating my own health challenges and losing my father to colon cancer at just 49 years old, I became determined to learn more about what truly influences our well-being.

For more than two decades, I’ve worked in the wellness space, helping people navigate everything from digestive health and nervous system regulation to recovery, resilience, and whole-body wellness. Along the way, one thing became clear: real wellness isn’t about following someone else’s protocol. It’s about understanding your own body.

As the founder of  Organic Edge⁠, I’ve had thousands of conversations with practitioners, researchers, founders, and people searching for answers. Those conversations inspired this podcast.

Chapters

  • 00:00 Why The Well Known Podcast exists

  • 00:40 Growing up chronically unwell

  • 02:15 Searching for answers beyond traditional medicine

  • 03:30 The testing that changed Shannon’s perspective

  • 05:15 Learning to look at her body differently

  • 06:40 Losing her father at 19

  • 08:20 Living longer vs. actually feeling well

  • 09:30 Turning personal loss into a mission

  • 10:15 Beginning a career in wellness

  • 11:15 Discovering colon hydrotherapy and infrared sauna

  • 12:40 Finally receiving a Lyme disease diagnosis

  • 13:25 What thousands of clients taught Shannon

  • 14:15 Why The Well Known Podcast was born

  • If this episode resonates with you, like the video, subscribe to The Well Known Podcast, and share it with someone who’s on their own wellness journey.

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The Well Known Podcast provides educational and informational content only and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Views expressed by guests are their own. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding medical concerns.

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