Joan Williams, Karen Pascal and Tramaine Bollers Yan share their family legacy through self-care and gut health.
SISTERS Joan Williams and Karen Pascal, along with Pascal’s daughter, Tramaine Bollers Yan, have transformed their family legacy into a mission of wellness for the Guyanese community and beyond. The sibling duo, originally from the small village of Islington, have published two books, Self-Care Is Intentional and Your Gut and You, which blend their professional training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) with the values instilled by their mother and grandmother. As certified holistic health coaches, podcasters, and former healthcare professionals, the sisters are now working towards workshops, wellness retreats, and community partnerships to help individuals understand the connection between inner health and outer wellbeing. This week, sisters Joan Williams and Karen Pascal spoke to Pepperpot Magazine about their simple yet powerful mantra: transformation begins with intentional choices about self-care and understanding how gut health affects every aspect of life.

The older sister in the duo, Joan Williams, began her journey into the world of wellness by becoming a nurse, working in the profession for several years before migrating and furthering her education in the field. Her introduction to the importance of inner health, however, was sparked by her mother and grandmother, traditional Guyanese women who valued inner health and instilled this belief in Williams. “I was in the nursing field, migrated to the U.S., and started to look at my life and say there is more in me than just being a nurse or a caregiver, dealing one-on-one, but on a broader scale,” Williams added. “I started to attend IIN, which is one of the world’s largest nutrition schools in the U.S., and started training there and learning more about a holistic lifestyle. Everything we are doing now is a legacy of our mother and grandmother. Growing up as kids and coming all the way from Islington, a small village, our mother and grandmother instilled certain values. Everything we share right now and everything we are giving back is from our mother and our grandmother.”
Karen Pascal followed in her sister’s footsteps, studying holistic care as well. Explaining the philosophy behind the duo’s work, Pascal said that the centre of their work is holistic care. While not focusing on the medical side, she explained that their work seeks to take into account all pillars of health and encourages people to pay attention to them. “Understanding all the pillars of health helps an individual to understand more, not to sweep things under the carpet, because many times we are feeling stressed out. Why are we feeling stressed out? Are we getting to the core? That is where Your Gut and You comes in. It’s your inner world and your outer world,” she added. “When you understand the gut-brain axis, you understand more about yourself, because whatever you decide to eat is going to affect your brain. Beautifying yourself is quite okay. But what are you doing for your inner? That inner.”

The trio’s first book is Self-Care Is Intentional. The book’s core message is simple: self-care is not selfish or random; it is a conscious, daily choice. The duo told Pepperpot Magazine that their personal and professional journeys inspired the book on health, caregiving, and healing, and that they saw how often people—especially women—put themselves last. “We started with Self-Care Is Intentional and Your Gut and You, starting to focus on your inner world, what kind of food you eat, how you are focusing on your microbiome, so that you can be healthy, you can be strong, eliminating brain fog,” Williams shared. The book explores themes of listening to your body and emotions, setting boundaries and learning to say no, and shares practical self-care practices people can start today, even in small ways. According to Williams, the book is targeted towards anyone who has been neglecting themselves, running on empty, or waiting for a crisis before paying attention to their own needs, and who is now ready to choose themselves with intention.
The second accompanying book published by the duo, Your Gut and You, places gut health as one of the central pillars of overall health, assessing the gut-brain link, mood, stress, intuition, and emotional health, as well as what we eat, how we live, and our relationship with food and our bodies. The book’s key themes explore these connections, looking at lifestyle changes and steps towards supporting healthy living. Reinforcing the significance of lifestyle, Pascal shared, “A lot of times, you are dealing with the outer, but not the inner. That person could be experiencing depression. They may be having anxiety—so many things are happening with that individual. Awareness. If you want to understand more, it’s not just to read the book; it’s into your lifestyle. If you want it in your daily living, so that you experience that transformational state. Transformation doesn’t just happen just like that. It takes time.”
While the three-woman team has already developed a brand and support base through their podcasts and YouTube channels, moving forward they would like to engage more with their readers and audiences, particularly those in Guyana. Highlighting the need for greater education on holistic health, Pascal shared that, looking ahead, they would like to spearhead projects that not only educate but also connect with and work with communities. “We want to be intentional, and that means looking at whether we can do a pilot programme and workshops. That is how education can be broadened—part of it with communities, part of it with organisations. That is where the knowledge can come in. There is more that needs to be done,” she added. Williams, Pascal and Bollers Yan welcome readers to connect with them for more information on holistic health, upcoming workshops, and wellness programmes. They can be reached at 592-622-6953 or via social media.