Johane Filemon is on a mission to improve gut health, one microbiome at a time. A board-certified Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and mother of five, she joined Mompreneurs to break down how food choices shape our health, from digestion to overall function.
“Food is medicine. The foods we eat can help reverse our body’s symptoms, or it can harm.”
Johane Filemon, founder and CEO of Wonderfully Nutritious Solutions
Filemon founded Wonderfully Nutritious Solutions in 2014, offering personalized, one-on-one nutrition counseling focused on improving whole-body health. Her approach is all about getting to the root, not just managing symptoms. “When people come to me, what I’m trying to find out is: what is the root cause? What started this and what can we do to reverse it?” she said. “What you’re eating, and the quality of your food, influences a lot of the symptoms that you’re experiencing.”
‘I Became My First Patient’
Before helping others, Filemon applied her nutrition training to heal herself. Four years after passing her board exams, she began experiencing health issues and struggled to get clear answers. “I got sick and they could not figure out what was wrong with me,” she said. “I was going all over Atlanta trying to find out what was wrong. But I did notice that every time I ate certain foods, the symptoms would be worse.”
Ultimately, her diagnosis revealed H. pylori, a bacterial infection that damaged her gut. But “harsh antibiotics” weren’t enough to resolve what her body was signaling. “So I started doing a lot of research,” she said. “I became my first patient.”
Through targeted testing, she identified which foods her body could and couldn’t tolerate well. “I reversed my symptoms within 14 days,” she said. “I ate the foods that my body tolerated well, which allowed my whole system to calm down, the inflammation to reduce, and allow my gut to heal itself.”
‘Gut Health Is The Hot Topic’
Filemon’s work focuses on prevention and treating inflammation, often a quiet warning sign behind common, overlooked symptoms. “Inflammation can present in so many different ways,” she said. “My job is to help reverse those symptoms before they become disease. Because inflammation, as many studies have shown, leads to disease.”
In recent years, awareness has grown around the microbiome’s importance as the foundation of good health. “If your digestive system is not functioning as it should, it starts impacting everything else,” Filemon explained. “So all these conditions that we’re being diagnosed with—cancer, diabetes, heart disease—they all stem from how our gut is functioning. Your gut microbiome starts developing from your first day on this earth.”
This awareness is especially relevant regarding certain foods that are common in the U.S. “A lot of them are full of preservatives, (which) are microbiome disruptors. They start messing up our digestive systems which results in these conditions and symptoms that we experience,” said Filemon. Whole foods, on the other hand—that are rich in fiber, antioxidants, and nutrients—support healing. “A lot of times, when you see these foods that are ultra-processed, it’s mimicking something that’s naturally occurring, but it’s cheaper,” she explained.
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Filemon is committed to breaking unhealthy patterns, helping families pass down more balanced relationships with food—inspired by her own upbringing in a household nourished by French, Haitian, and African cuisine.
‘I Fell Into Being Full-Time Because Of The Pandemic’
Filemon turned her side hustle into a full-time venture during the pandemic, when she finally had the space to focus on her own practice. “I was working for a company at the time. I started seeing patients on the side whenever I could, and I started to build that little by little,” she said. “The pandemic allowed me to focus fully on my private practice and helping as many people as I could.”
Since launching Wonderfully Nutritious Solutions in 2014, the mompreneur was already conducting much of her business virtually. That early experience made the pandemic shift to a remote workflow relatively painless. “At that point, I was like six years in. I was already virtual,” she said. “I knew what to do. I had the tools. I’m not going to say it was smooth sailing, but smoother than a lot of my colleagues.”
‘Whether It’s Family Or Friends, We Need To Have That Village’
Filemon’s husband and five boys are at the heart of her journey—both her biggest supporters and her motivation for doing what she does. “My children motivate me,” she said. “I want them to see that you can be a leader. You can be successful in whatever you focus on if you work hard at it.”
That sense of community reaches beyond her immediate family, shaping how she approaches both life and business. “As a mom and a mompreneur, we may not always have a significant other, but we need to have that village—whether it’s family, friends, however it looks like, that village is so important in what we’re doing.”
Don’t miss out on the full conversation. Watch this episode of Mompreneurs above.
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Welcome to Season 4 of Mompreneurs—where we spotlight brilliant Black women who are building their businesses and raising their families with strength and style. Join host and New York Times bestselling author Nancy Redd as these inspiring mompreneurs share their stories and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. Catch new episodes of Mompreneurs every Monday on MadameNoire’s YouTube channel or listen to the podcast online on the Urban One Podcast Network.
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