Occupation: I’m a naturopathic physician. I’ve been practicing for about a year. I taught for a while after graduating in 2009 from the University of Bridgeport College of Natural Medicine. I do all kinds of naturopathic medicine and specialize in naturopathic oncology.

Family: I’m married to Andrew Hardial. We have a son, Delroy, who is 22. Our daughter is Asia, and she is 9 years old, and our little one is Aeden, and he is 7 years old.

How long have you been in Newtown? I opened my office in the same building as Sound Center for Music in Hawleyville, in September of 2013. I have another office in Milford, near where we live in Bridgeport.

What do you like to do in your free time? I like to go to the beach and bury my feet in the sand and read. It’s very grounding. I like to do yoga and I do a lot of meditation. I try to catch up with my children in my free time. I’ve done some writing of articles in naturopathic journals. I also collect rocks and have a nice collection.

Do you have a favorite book? I don’t read a lot for pleasure, so it’s mostly business related, but that’s pleasure for me. A lot of reading is related to natural oncology. There’s a lot to learn about complementary therapies and different modalities that can help healing.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? I go to Rocky Neck Beach, to find a beach nearby, and I like to frequent Jones Beach in New York whenever I can. I have always wanted to go on an African safari, since I was a young child. And now, I would love to explore the rain forests in the world. I would love to find out about the many plants that can be incorporated into natural care.

What is the best thing about Newtown? I am meeting some really wonderful people. People are very interesting, warm, giving, and welcome. That’s what I’ve experienced. I read about Jennifer Zulli and Sound in Natural Awakenings magazine and came up here to meet her. I felt like I belonged here, even just driving into the town. The energy I felt here is incredible.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? That was my mother, who I lost in May 2013 to pancreatic cancer. That’s always been my journey, to make a difference in the area of cancer. She was always my biggest cheerleader and motivated me. I admired her, because she had only an eighth grade education and lost both parents by the time she was 14. But she was so giving and knew so much about botanical medicine. She learned that from her father, and I was in awe.

Do you have a personal philosophy? Do the best you can, for whomever you can, and don’t expect to be reciprocated. Whatever you put out to the universe will come back to you. My mother used to say, “If you can’t do good, don’t do bad.”

Do you have a guilty pleasure? It’s chocolates. I choose a really good quality, dark chocolate, because I know it has health benefits. I nibble on it and enjoy it. My husband would say my other guilty pleasure is buying things for the kids.