New NPs to Help with Your New Year Goals
As we start 2023 with big goals, we brought on serious help to kick off the year. Jodi Dreier and Denise Kuhaupt are both experienced Nurse Practitioners who will join the VIVA Wellness team to support our clients in their weight loss journies. You’ll learn more about both of them below, but Jodi and Denise bring a component to our NP offerings that we could not be more thrilled about: both have a background in mental health, most recently with a Ketamine IV infusion clinic. We know that mental wellness plays an important part in physical wellness—especially when it comes to weight loss. That means our weight loss offerings just got serious reinforcements for massive impact!
Jodi and Denise already know each other, having met as undergrads when they were 19. These two have worked together 5 times over the course of their career, and we’re honored that their passion for wellness has brought them to join the rest of us as Team VIVA Wellness.
In addition to supporting our weight loss clients, Jodi and Denise will be sharing their expertise by helping VIVA Wellness create additional IV Vitamin formulas to add to our growing health and wellness arsenal. While we can’t share the full scoop until details are fully developed, our IV offerings have some surprises coming—both in terms of reformulating existing drips and expanding into new technologies that you’d likely only find on the coasts where we see some of these more progressive offerings. Not anymore—VIVA Wellness is Milwaukee’s leader in this holistic health innovation.
“Personally, I’m so excited to have these two expanding on my personal mission of helping folks become their best versions,” said Jennifer Hruz, FNP-BC, APNP, and VIVA Wellness owner. “Helping our clients toward their goals often means looking at mind, body, and soul. Having additional NPs on staff means more time collaborating, serving clients, and creating the impact that VIVA is here to do when our clients decide to invest in us on their health journey!”
Here is a little introduction to Denise and Jodi, but we invite you to learn more about each of them by reading their bios.
Denise Kuhaupt
Denise brings an extensive healthcare background, working as an RN in cardiac care for 5 years and then as an NP in internal medicine, occupational and employee health, acute care, urgent care, sleep medicine, and mental health.
Denise’s passion for mental health and wellness has been a throughline over the course of her life, but it wasn’t until a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis 10 years ago that she recognized the importance of nutrition in terms of balancing health. She’s an avid fitness gal, with yoga as her favorite activity.
In full vulnerability, Denise is working to understand this new chapter with diabetes, a lifelong history of gut challenges, and the newfound impact of hormonal change due to menopause as it influences sleep, weight, and energy. We applaud Denise as she takes this on with self-compassion, and we are honored that she’ll be able to offer clients an understanding of the complexity of these issues, something so commonly experienced but not talked about enough in terms of true wellness.
It’s of no surprise that Denise loves to connect with her clients, truly understanding their challenges and seeking to connect them with customized solutions to all they’re up against. We love that her varied background means that she can think holistically and outside the box!
Denise loves her husband and two adult children, traveling, shopping, and spending quality time with family and friends.
Learn more about Denise.
Jodi Dreier
Jodi’s background is robust, including time as an RN in cardiac care, ICU nursing, and day surgery and as a Nurse Practitioner in urgent care, college health, sleep medicine, mental health, and medical weight loss.
Her personal philosophy is one that drives how she supports her clients—lasting weight loss is grounded in a consistent healthy lifestyle, and she’s inspired by the challenge of helping others find ways to incorporate small behavioral changes that make a lasting impact on weight management and overall health. There are so many quotes about the HUGE impact of small habits, and we are excited to see some of these that Jodi brings to the table.
Jodi is big on creating customized solutions for her clients and helping them find success and health that work for their unique situations. She emphasizes the importance of also building a strong foundation of habits that support health and weight loss goals, such as nourishing the body with the proper combination of foods, vitamins, and minerals that empower it to carry out its functions. So often those changes alone catalyze great progress toward goals!
A born and raised Milwaukeean, she enjoys Wisconsin summers for time on the water or listening to live music outdoors, but otherwise, she’s dreaming of the beach—her true happy place. When she’s not changing lives or soaking in the sunshine, she’s busy painting and repurposing old furniture, playing cards, making home-cooked meals, and spending time with family and friends.
Learn more about Jodi.
Our Team of NPs is Ready to Help You with a Medical Weight Loss Program
If you are ready to get started with Denise, Jodi, or Jennifer, book your weight loss consultation now.
Bonus tip inspired by Jodi’s love of small tweaks: “make it so easy you can’t fail.” For example, drink 8 oz of water when you wake up, move your body for 5 minutes, eat one vegetable today, etc. These micro shifts are EASY, build energy and accountability, and they often come paired with other great habits. This momentum can build as maybe you’ll drink more water over the course of the day, move for more than 5 minutes or move 5 minutes a few times per day or you’ll eat veggies with each meal.