Stepanie Quilao is one the top health bloggers in the world, but she endured many struggles before she achieved both success and happiness. Now, she has a very successful Twitter account, a great blog, “Back in Skinny Jeans,” a book of the same name( in addition to two other books), and an iPhone app. She has also appeared on multiple television shows. Here are a few key excerpts from an interview I conducted with her.

1. Could you give me a brief history of your professional life thus far? I know that you have a successful Twitter account and blog, a new company, a book and an iPhone app, and tons of devoted fans, but could you elaborate on your earlier professional life and how you got to these new ventures?

In my previous life, I did high tech marketing and consumer evangelism for NVIDIA and Microsoft. I have a BS in Industrial Technology with a Product Design emphasis. I got to be a millionaire in 2001 when the start-up I worked at went IPO and the stock split a couple times. I traveled around the world, ate at the best restaurants, and slept in 5-star hotels. My life on paper was a dream come true, but in reality, underneath it all, my soul was empty.

I hated the person my career was turning me into, and as a result I became self-destructive to the point where I ended up on medical leave for 3-months. I wouldn’t listen to all the signs, so my body took me down to force me to listen. At the time, all I saw was devastation and a break-down. In reality, I experienced a break-through. I was given a blessing, and fortunately I saw that. I left the comfort, security, and misery of my glamorous life for the uncertainty, the unknown but adventure of getting my life, me, back.

I had no idea what my path would look like, or who I was, but inside, I finally found the guts to go figure it out on the fly, and learn to live in the present. It was the scariest and most exhilarating time of my life. I had enough money to last 2 years. I spent that time getting my health back, doing volunteer work, traveling (for fun), working on the great American novel, and doing whatever popped up. I took a mid-life retirement, and it was the best thing I ever did.

Fast forward to 2005, after bouncing around temp jobs, doing my own startup that failed, and feeling kind of lost, I discovered blogging when I met this guy who was making 6 figures blogging. I thought that was the coolest thing because what I heard was “freedom.” So, I started with four blogs. Three of those blogs had business plans and were on topics that I researched to be top traffic draws. The fourth blog was Back in Skinny Jeans, and it was just a superfluous blog to pontificate about me wanting to wear my skinny jeans again. Here is my very first blog post as a professional blogger on Back in Skinny Jeans, “ Damn Bitches ,” which is about the tragedy (in my mind) of how supermodels make more money than educators and healers. Here is my first About page . It’s funny to look back at where I was nearly seven years ago. I have grown an enormous amount since that time. It’s also amazing to think that I started blogging before Twitter existed.

I thought nothing of Back in Skinny Jeans except fun. I mean who is going to build a career or change the world blogging about pants? Well, four months later, not only was Back in Skinny Jeans getting more traffic than the other three blogs put together, it was making more money. I had just slapped on some Google AdWords and shared books I loved from Amazon, and I started making money talking about pants! Who knew?

Actually, I talked more about pants. I talked about the skinny jeans as the modern day glass slipper, about the illusion we women cling onto about having happily ever after once we can wear a pair of pants we wore when we were our skinniest or a size we wish we could be so that we can fit some unrealistic standard of beauty to the extent that we’re willing to sacrifice our health for vanity. I was one of the first healthy living bloggers to honestly talk about the unglossy parts of life the women’s magazines didn’t.

The more I shared my passions, my struggles, and my tips for healthy living, the more people came. Brands started coming and offering money to talk about them. Media outlets started writing about me and interviewing me. I got asked to speak at conferences. A career was born without any plan or formal training, only my deep desire to help others live a healthier life. The universe conspired with me to make things happen.

2. What inspired you to become so passionate about your work and, particularly about your topic of health and wellness?

In my book, Death of a Road Warrior , I go into detail about my breakdown, and what led me to medical leave. In a nutshell, I was hospitalized for depression, panic attacks, an eating disorder, alcohol abuse, and post traumatic stress from a sexual assault. Yeah, I was dealing with an enormous amount and it was the darkest, most painful time of my life. I was hospitalized for things that carry shame, guilt, and stigma, stuff that no one wants to talk about or admit to.

Over a course of nine years, I went through all kinds of hospitals, doctors, therapists, pills, insurance companies and healing modalities from traditional medicine to alternative, and Eastern medicine. I tried almost everything, and shared much of those experiences on my blogs. I still find it mind blowing and so humbling, that I have become one of the top social media influentials in health and wellness when I have zero training or certification in anything health related.

I believe my influence is built upon the fact that I have shared the patient perspective. I can speak of health and wellness from the point of view of understanding the pain, suffering, and frustration as well as the success, joy, and relief of the healing process. I have been willing to expose my most human moments in my blog.

Late 2007, I was the top healthy living blogger, and I had a relapse with my eating disorder and went back into treatment. I hid that fact for months from audience, and decided to shut down my blog because I felt like a complete hypocrite. How can I help other people live healthier lives when I can’t do it myself? But through a twist of fate, on January 2, 2008, my first post of the New Year, I decided to come clean to my audience with a three post series and share the truth and to ask for compassion. I experienced a side of humanity I never knew existed! Being authentic and vulnerable not only helped me heal, but business wise, my sponsors supported me, my web traffic grew 30% over the following four months, and I got asked to speak at more conferences. This is the kind of learning you would never get in business school.

The one thing that drives me to blog is a deep desire to not only help others live healthier lives but to help others feel less shame, guilt and stigma, and to know that you are not alone. You are not damaged goods, unworthy or unlovable because you have had stigmatizing things happen to you. And, no matter how bad your life has gotten, you can heal, pull yourself up, and use that experience to grow, evolve, and to help others.

One of my favorite sayings is that God cannot talk to everyone at once, so he uses us and our life experiences to share his love and wisdom. There is nothing more perfect than blogging and social media for that purpose. I believe all of us our storytellers and through our lives we can help others and help make the world a better place. This wisdom comforts me and helps me never regret my past.