The Amazing WHC Team
You’ll find a warm welcome from all our team. From friendly front desk staff to helpful health coaches and the passionate practitioners, our goal is to help you feel like part of the team on your journey to better health with holistic services. Get to know the people you’ll be partnering with before you even step through our door.
Vicky
Patient Advocate/Health Coach
What do you love most about working at WHC? I love helping people discover healthy, nutritious ways to improve the way the feel.
How do you spend your time away from WHC? I enjoy going for walks, reading and spending time with my husband and kids.
What’s your favorite “healthy” recipe to make/eat? Healthy and delicious does not need to be difficult or time-consuming. A staple at our house is chicken breasts and salsa in the crock pot. Put chicken and your favorite salsa in the crockpot, cook on low for 6-7 hours or high 3-4 hours. About an hour before you are going to eat, shred the chicken and continue to cook in the salsa for about an hour. We eat this plain, in tacos or on lettuce as a salad. I am also a teacher - not a lot of time to eat lunch and sometimes a line to use the microwave in the teachers’ lounge - this chicken is even tasty cold, straight out of the lunch box.
Fun Fact about you: My husband Carl and I are the parents of 5 “kids” age 25, 24, 22, 21 and 16 - we have a standing lunch date, every Sunday at 1:00. During the week, someone sends a lunch request in our family group chat. Family and good food.
Johanna
Patient Advocate/Health Coach
Suzanne
Front Desk Administrative Assistant
What do you love most about working at WHC? Helping people with their health journey.
How do you spend your time away from WHC? Biking, camping, walking my 3 dogs, Jeepin’ with my husband and helping out with my beautiful grandkids.
What’s your favorite “healthy” recipe to make/eat? Caprese balsamic chicken salad, salmon & broccoli and anything low carb.
Fun Fact about you: I’m a licensed real estate agent.
What do you love most about working at WHC? Working with like-minded people
How do you spend your time away from WHC? Cooking, cleaning, catering, hanging out with family and friends
What’s your favorite “healthy” recipe to make/eat? Mock rootbeer floats (I use frozen bananas and Zevia root beer blended up)
Fun Fact about you: I rarely make the same recipe twice!
Deanna
Support Staff
What do you love most about working at WHC? I love helping our clients and building relationships with them.
How do you spend your time away from WHC? I try to spend as much time with my family and friends, whether that be on a patio somewhere, whatever events that may be going on in the Des Moines area or golfing with my husband.
What’s your favorite “healthy” recipe to make/eat? Keto chili
Fun Fact about you: I used to perform on rollerskates at the Iowa State Fair when I was younger.
Azra Kolz, BSc
Associate Practitioner and Nutrition Coach
Azra joined the WHC team in October 2023 and has a Bachelors in Nutrition Science from Iowa State University with 9 years of experience working in the holistic health field. She shares the same passion for helping people achieve optimal health through diet & lifestyle changes and other holistic modalities.
Azra is extremely passionate about functional nutrition and getting to root cause issues. Her favorite quote sums it up perfectly : “Food is either the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison.” - Ann Winger
When Azra is not helping people look and feel their best, she enjoys hanging out with her husband, dog, friends and family. Azra is always looking to do something active. Some activities she loves include hiking, traveling, rollerblading, trying new restaurants, extreme sports or challenges, and much more!
Nikki Barkhaus, FDNP, NRTP, RN
Owner, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner
My professional journey in healthcare began in 1997 as a CMA. I continued my education to earn my nursing degree in 2002. I am grateful for my experience and the wonderful people I met while working in pediatrics, cardiology, mother/baby/gyne, family practice and home health care. However, I started to have my own health challenges and did not want to be faced with chronic illnesses that have affected my own family. There had to be a better way and I was determined to find it. Under chiropractic care, my interest in natural health was inspired. I began to explore holistic nursing in search of alternative health options. In 2019, through my own health improvements with muscle testing, I was inspired to attend Ulan Nutritional Systems to become a Nutrition Response Testing® practitioner and opened Wholistic Health Center in January 2020. Since that time, I have continued to seek education and am now a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, which allows me to look deeper into correlation with labs. Nutrition has long been researched and found to be medicine when done correctly. My mission is to build healthier communities and change the healthcare paradigm to prevent chronic illness and disease. I am honored to be serving in the community where I was raised!
Fun Facts about Nikki:
My favorite movie as a child was Grease and I dreamed of being Sandy.
I was a dancer from a very young age and was on the SEP RhythAMetteS dance/drill team, becoming a captain in my senior year.
At my senior prom I was voted Best Laugh for my uncontrollable snort when I laugh. Some things never change!
Why choose Wholistic Health Center
Nikki Barkhaus is the proud owner and practitioner of this center with a mission to find the root cause of symptoms through nutritional solutions and educate on living a healthy lifestyle for the prevention of disease.
Her values in healthcare began to change as she became more aware of the failing healthcare system. She saw increasing numbers of adults and children who suffered from cancer, autoimmune disease, neurological disease, vaccine injuries, cardiac conditions, digestion problems, and endocrine disorders all with no real cause explained. Knowing what these illnesses cost families, not only financially but emotionally, Nikki felt a strong need to be part of a solution to the healthcare crisis and also take a stance to protect her own health. She literally prayed for the right opportunity to present itself so that she could make a difference in this world and to the people she loves. In the fall of 2018, Nikki was feeling very fatigued, had no energy, was not sleeping well, and had gut issues that she’d battled for years. A friend at work told her about a natural health nutritionist new to Des Moines that she might be interested in seeing. Nikki started following her social media pages for a few weeks, loved what she saw, and made an appointment. Since December of 2018, Nikki have been amazed by nutrition response testing and the results experienced by thousands, including herself.
“During this time on my own designed clinical nutrition program, my husband and I also went in a weight loss program with his chiropractic office that was instrumental in teaching us about food and what is needed for optimal function and weight control. We successfully reset our bodies with the guidance and motivation of Dr. Kory Pohlman. It is a change in my lifestyle that I have embraced and become passionate about sharing and now coaching in my own office!
When asked if I was interested in becoming a nutrition response test practitioner, it did not take me long to realize this is what I was meant to do and it was at the right time in my life to make a change. Joining the Ulan army brings me great joy knowing that I can give hope to others, find the root cause of their conditions, and naturally restore their health. I am looking forward to being a part of your journey! Together, we can change the healthcare paradigm.”