Mary Ann Kalonick, who is now a business owner, Registered Dietitian and Health Coach, was born on a spring day in Dearborn Michigan to Joan and Tony Mantua. She was the 4th out of eight children and the second girl. She had a great childhood, where her parents expected her and her brothers and sisters to play outdoors. It was before the technology age, in fact decades before.
She did well in school graduating from high school in the Honor Society. The only project that she can remember she failed on was when her science teacher wanted the class to each collect 40 insects and mount them. That wasn’t happening for a number of reasons…she hates bugs, hates killing and it made absolutely no sense to her.
Growing up with 4 brothers and 3 sisters, she never lacked for companionship. It wasn’t a privileged lifestyle but she never felt deprived. She was brought up in the Catholic faith and attended a Catholic elementary school. Thus, the one new outfit she got at the beginning of each school year was plenty, uniforms were mandatory, except for ‘Color Day’ once a month.
This childhood fostered an intelligent, independent adult, mindful of financial responsibilities, with a mindset to accomplish whatever she wants to accomplish. Somewhat of a dreamer with the confidence to go after it and the stubbornness of a bull when people say she can’t do something.
Mary Ann graduated from Allen Park High School and then started at Michigan State University. After one year she quit college and started working at the US Postal Service. She worked there for 13 years and just prior to her going “postal”, quit to go back to college.
At the age of 33, she started at Colorado State University, graduating with a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics. After an internship, she passed the American Dietetics national exam and became a Registered Dietitian.
After working in several areas of Dietetics for greater than 25 years, Mary Ann opened her own center. The center is called “Monarch, Your Wellness Place” and is a DBA of her “Art of Living Healthy, LLC” company.
Monarch is a Christian based center, with its staff striving everyday to live up to the ideals of their faith.
Mary Ann loves being able to help people live a healthy lifestyle. She also enjoys public speaking, resume writing, writing articles for newspapers and magazines and writing a monthly nutrition newsletter.
What Monarch, Your Wellness Place Offers:
Monarch offers nutrition counseling, group exercise classes, whole food supplements, Tower Gardens, botanical skin care products and chemical free household cleaning products. It also carries tools for weight loss.
Other products for purchase include: gourmet coffee and tea, sandwich wraps from Nature’s Table and green and protein smoothies from Living Green Restaurant in Mount Dora. Wheatgrass shots can also be purchased, along with protein bars.
Mary Ann has a special interest in keeping people off dialysis, she worked at a dialysis center for 9 years and knows the challenges associated with being on dialysis. In that effort, she holds monthly Chronic Kidney Disease support group meetings at her center.
A couple of times a month, community classes are offered. Most are free, some have a minimal charge for supplies needed.
