Emily Hoon Champions Functional Medicine and Inner Healing in Switzerland
- Unique Wisdom
- May 26
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 14
In Zurich, Switzerland, Emily Hoon’s path unfolded when she and her loved ones battled through health issues. After these hardships, Emily realized that she needed to bridge the gaps within conventional medicine and help those left in the dust, focusing her expertise on helping women’s health and lifestyles. Her story enables us to explore unconventional paths to help others, thinking out of the box and innovate beyond what we already know.
Navigating Change, Loss, and a Lifelong Calling Toward Healing
I came to Switzerland from Singapore in 2006 and lived in Basel for 16 years. Since 2023, I’ve been in Zurich with my partner.
When I arrived in 2006, there was no LinkedIn, and Facebook was fairly rudimentary. As I was not married at the time, the only way to stay in Switzerland long-term was to marry my then-boyfriend, which I did, as my employer at the time was not able to offer me a full-time contract unless I married my Swiss boyfriend.
Fast forward to 2019, which was a pretty bad year emotionally: my father passed away from cancer in Singapore, and my ex-husband wanted a divorce. My father’s cancer turned out to be the turning point in my life, as I started to question why he and other family members were diagnosed with cancer and why I had reproductive issues.
My interest in medicine started a long time ago at Cedar Girls’ Secondary School, where my ambition was to become a medical doctor.
Empowering Women to Thrive Through Personalized, Root-Cause Healing
My job as a Functional Medicine Practitioner for corporate female warriors has been extremely rewarding because not only can I resonate with their health issues, but also their lifestyle. I am in a very good position to consult them on how to make dietary and lifestyle changes amidst their ambitions.
I spend a lot of time going through my female clients' health histories and lab work because my aim is to connect the dots between lab work and their symptoms. Unfortunately, conventional medicine does not do it and I will in this gap by explaining why they are feeling the way they feel and what can be done to mitigate those symptoms.
My mission is to help women thrive - not just survive - and so my protocol is very different from woman to woman, as I take not only their lab work into account, but also their lifestyle and habits.
My added value is having Asian roots (Singaporean), and as I personally grapple with stressful aspects of my corporate job, I tend to resonate more with women in the same position who are career-minded and juggling their households at the same time.
Weaving lifestyle changes into their lives is extremely challenging but I take pride that I understand their lives intricately which certainly helps to produce success.
Lastly, I am not an advocate of ONE diet - neither vegan nor vegetarian nor keto. This is not what functional medicine is all about.
Drawing Strength from Loss and the Support of a Caring Community
My classmates at the School of Applied Functional Medicine, my partner, and my family have been my pillars of support.
Looking back, I wonder where I got the courage to take on so much, but it was my father’s passing that gave me strength.
Taking Small Steps with Vision, Persistence, and Self-Belief
Photo Credit: Emily Hoon
Have a vision and implement baby steps one at a time. Do not be discouraged by any setbacks because those are guaranteed. :)
Pick yourself up and look toward the next baby step as a task to accomplish.
Stay Connected
You can learn more about my work at www.emilyhoon.com or connect with me @thrive.with.emily on Instagram.