5 minute read
Meet The Zacharys: Passionate about Wellness
www.NorthgateLivingCA.com @NorthgateLivingCA #NorthgateLivingCA
By Kara Navolio, Resident since 1991
Some of Northgate’s newest residents are the Zacharys! Their local holistic health clinic, Body Love Cafe, has been in the neighborhood for years, but this summer they relocated their family here as well. Their home, near Arbolado Park, has undergone an extensive remodel with David performing most of the work and Brandy creating the design. They love that their home is so close to work that they can bike there.
Brandy was a single mom for 15 years raising her daughter, Nikita, on top of being a business owner and Functional Medicine practitioner, so she was not interested in dating. Her friend Katie kept pushing her to try online dating so in an effort to appease her she agreed to go online for only one week and promised to go on just one date. “After creating a totally impossible wish list for a mate, including that he had to live in the same town, the computer matched me with David,” says Brandy. “It was love at first sight, and a year and a half later, Katie was the officiant who married us. Nikita was key in selecting the non-traditional ‘Victorian-Steampunk Carnival’ theme. Our amazing community of family and friends helped us pull together an incredible wedding with all the guests dressed in costume, playing carnival games and having a grand time as we danced the night away under the stars.”
Brandy and David celebrated with a Victorian- Steampunk themed wedding
Brandy, a Lafayette native, received her BA from Loyola Marymount University’s Honors College graduating Magna Cum Laude. She completed advanced training in an elite Functional Medicine certification program achieved by only a few physicians in the Bay Area. If that didn’t keep her busy enough while running her practice, she is involved in the local launch of the Functional Medicine Academy which provides training for other doctors and healthcare professionals.
Brandy is driven to educate her community about the benefits of her profession after a life-threatening chronic illness forced her to abandon her career as a professional speaker and business consultant. She became very ill and labeled permanently disabled with conventional medicine providing little in the way of diagnosis. In between caring for her young daughter and doing her own deep dive researching her symptoms, she felt compelled to start crossing off things on her bucket list and made it to the semi-finals in a competition to find the next great Bay Area stand-up comic. That sense of humor kept her going and a never-give-up attitude led her to recovery and her current career.
“Creating Body Love Cafe was my passion project after getting well, with the hope that no one else would suffer the way I had,” explains Brandy. “To this end, I continue to teach free educational classes to the public each year. Body Love Cafe is a very different type of doctor’s office that embraces a variety of natural and alternative health therapies while blending eastern and western medical expertise.”
David grew up on a farm in Minnesota. He learned how to work with his hands and developed an appreciation for the beauty of nature and a responsibility to ‘leave more than you take’ from the earth. After studying physics at Moorhead University, he discovered a talent for bodywork and massage therapy and went on to obtain advanced certification from Northwestern Health Sciences University. While he had a successful practice and enjoyed both the elements of human physics and the personal fulfillment of healing his clients through bodywork, a few years ago he felt the pull to leave snowy winters behind. He decided to give in to his long-time love of sustainable living and electric cars and moved to the Bay Area after accepting a job at Tesla. It was that move to a city where he worked long hours with little time to socialize that he decided to join the dating site where he was instantly matched with Brandy.
Once he met Brandy’s daughter, they easily transitioned into life as a family. He missed the gratification of helping people relieve their pain through bodywork, so he started working at Body Love Cafe once a week. They soon decided as a family that David should leave the grueling Tesla commute behind, and he made the leap to working full time at Body Love Cafe. When he’s not in the office, you’ll find him cooking healthy gourmet meals, transforming his yard into a soothing oasis, or keeping his hands busy providing handyman services to neighbors that keep referring him.
Nikita, 17, graduated from high school early, at the age of 15, and now attends community college studying psychology and criminology. She’s an avid reader, is writing her first novel, attends kickboxing with David, and is an active leader in her school’s LGBTQA community. She is preparing to transfer to Mills College to complete her BA with the hope of later attending a joint MS/Ph.D. program. She is interested in research but also toying with idea of a career as a profiler for the FBI.
Rounding out the home chaos are two pets: a cat named Kiki and a dog named Sookie. Kiki loves tearing up furniture, much to Brandy’s dismay. Sookie, a tiny long-haired Chihuahua and ARF rescue, is a bit neurotic and loves chasing squirrels twice her size.
David and Brandy love relaxing in their backyard hammock while watching the turkeys fly by, soaking in their mineral water hot tub, or riding their electric bikes along the trails. Look for them in their matching bright pink and blue Mohawk bike helmets.
The Zacharys love the quiet neighborhood of Northgate, the wildlife and the open sky. “This neighborhood has such good energy,” adds Brandy. “We love the park, and every neighbor we’ve met has been incredibly kind and welcoming.” She’s hoping to continue meeting more neighbors and expanding her “Sunday Brunch Crew.”
