Meet Marie-Noelle Marquis

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marie-Noelle Marquis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marie-Noelle below.

Hi Marie-Noelle, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I moved to Los Angeles at the age of 19 feeling absolutely invincible despite not knowing the language or having much experience navigating a big city or life as a matter of fact. I was in for quite an awakening but it quickly taught me that I had to learn to have my own back. I couldn’t trust anyone, I sadly couldn’t rely on anyone either. This was a city where everyone was trying to get ahead at any cost. I had a very healthy upbringing and self-esteem was something my mother instilled in me so I think that definitely helped guide me through the sharks. I went through a lot. I was moving to LA in the prime “casting couch” era and all I can say is I can identify with all the women who came out during the “me-to” movement. It made me realize what I loved about film was the creativity and I decided I would be doing that but on my terms. I partnered up with a couple of friends and we started a production company called Mental Pictures. A few years later, I created my own company Maywell Pictures making small indie projects and in 2012 I partnered up with filmmaker Brian Clark to create Entity Media Entertainment (EME). I went through intense trauma in my early years in LA but I learned that while what happens to you is not your fault, it is your responsibility to transgress it. No one is coming to save you and life has so much to offer. I want to experience all of it and I refuse to be held back by the past, illness or what other people say I can’t do. So I have had to find ways to pick myself back up at every turn and keep going and growing.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

In 2015 I was diagnosed with Lupus and Hashimoto’s, two autoimmune diseases. Doctors told me there was no cure, but I was determined to find answers. A friend introduced me to the Autoimmune Protocol which, in part, uses an elimination diet to help mitigate symptoms and restore gut health. It was nothing short of life changing. Within 6 weeks I was allergy free, joint pain free, asthma free, memory-loss free and I had more energy then ever. I felt amazing. However, in order to stay compliant with the protocol I needed to cook all my food. I’ve never liked cooking and it was a real struggle. In addition, the better I felt, the more projects I was inspired to create and the less time I had to cook. My doctor told me I needed to accept the concept of living a quieter life to tend to my illness but for me, the problem was not that I had an illness. The problem was that anti-inflammatory foods that were compliant with the autoimmune protocol (AIP) were simply impossible to find in our seed-oil filled fast food culture. The problem was the supply not me or all the other millions of people navigating autoimmune diseases in the US. So I set off to create the solution. In order to do it justice though, I decided to go back to school at the age of 40. I graduated as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, enrolled at the Kharrazian Institute of Functional Medicine and got certified as an AIP (autoimmune protocol) coach. I discovered how much I liked working with people one of one and guide them through their own healing journey. Shortly after opening my practice I was reminded of how much I and my clients needed convenience in our autoimmune journey. So I decided the time was right to officially launch Urban AIP – a 100% organic, AIP compliant, chef crafted and nutritionist designed food company determined to take the stress of cooking off your plate and bridge the gap between healing and convenience. Urban AIP focuses on individual heat-n-eat meals, snacks, crackers and bulk food items to help elevate your healing experience. We are the only AIP meal company using only organic ingredients, wild-caught fish and seafood and pasture-raised, grass fed/finished meat that are never supplemented with corn or soy. We also offer non toxic and plastic free packaging, larger portions and higher protein counts to help people struggling with autoimmune tissue breakdown have access to all the protein they need to rebuild their body. We offer subscriptions and one-time purchases shipped directly to your door, anywhere in the nation. I launched the company in December 2023 and we have grown by 500% over the last 17 months. We are currently heading into our first major fundraising campaign in order to scale our operations to continue meeting our customers’ demand and expand to retailers.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1- You have to believe in your dreams and in yourself. If it exists inside of you, it’s there for a reason. The book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho has been my bible and I have referenced it so many times in my lows in life. It has always been a good reminder that when you want something so strongly, the universe conspire to make it happen. You just have to keep believing. “just” is not a small word though.

2- You have to be willing to let go of who you are for who you can become. Meaning be willing to learn and grow. Learn to trust yourself so that reinventing yourself does not mean you will “lose” yourself. It means you can become a new butterfly.

3- Fear is only the imagination playing out the worst scenario it’s ok to feel the fear but you have to move through it. I often would sit and imagine within my fear, what is the worst thing that could happen. And then I would go down that rabbit hole for a while until I saw that in the end, I wouldn’t die. Even in the worst case scenario, I would still be able to figure things out so the thing I was scared of didn’t have its place and I needed to get over it. With that said though, listen to your gut. Some fears are there to protect us. You have to know the difference.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Since I have started Urban AIP, I have felt overwhelmed A LOT if I’m honest. I’m navigating a whole new series of challenges and learning as I go. When I feel overwhelmed, I find a quiet place in nature or with animals. Basically something to ground me in life. Silence, to connect with myself. I have to eliminate all the distractions. And sleep. I need to get a full night of sleep to reset my nervous system. And if that doesn’t work there’s L-theanine and adaptogenic herbs. I gave up alcohol a few months after launching my company because I couldn’t allow myself to have those sort of crutches available around me. I knew that would cloud everything and prevent me from running my company. I’ve never been into drugs either so when I get overwhelmed my strategies are really all about self-care and connection with nature. But it was a journey to get here. I think if I hadn’t done somatic trauma therapy I wouldn’t be as solid in the face of high stress.

Contact Info:

• Website: urbanaip.com urbanaipwellness.com
• Instagram: @urban_aip
• Facebook: @urbanaip
• Linkedin: marie-noelle marquis
• Other: I also co-host this AIP summit Podcast here: https://www.aipsummit.com/podcasts/the-aip-summit-podcast