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Hi, I'm Debra Wanger
I'm an actor and someone who spent years feeling like a stranger in my own body — exhausted, foggy, hormones out of balance, convinced that was just what happened after 40.
Before I ever ran a client's labs, I worked as an assistant at CAA under Michael Ovitz, then later as a talent manager. I've been on both sides of this business — the one asking performers to show up at their best, and the one trying to actually do it, year after year, contract after contract.
I'm also the Amazon bestselling author of The Resilient Actor (which I narrate myself on Audible) and The Resilient Actor's Workbook & Planner, and a Resident Artist at Cygnet Theatre, still booking and performing in 2-3 productions a year.
Who this is for?
Working actors, performers, and public speakers in their 40s and 50s who are still auditioning, still showing up, but whose hormones, energy, and memory have quietly changed the rules on them. If lines aren't sticking the way they used to, or you're bracing for your body to let you down mid-scene, you're exactly who I built this for.
Why I do this work?
I tried the personal trainers, the diets, the traditional doctors who told me everything looked "normal." None of it accounted for a body that has to perform on cue on a schedule it doesn't control. I stopped guessing and started testing — hormones, gut, stress response, the full picture — and built a plan around what I actually needed, not what worked for someone with a 9-to-5.
Now I help other performers do the same. With data, not guesswork.
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner
Immune-Centric Certified Coach
Mindvalley Certified Coach
Human Potential Institute Certified Coach
Dave Asprey Upgrade Collective Coach
Amazon bestselling author of The Resilient Actor: How to Kick Ass in the Business (Without It Kicking Your Ass) & The Resilient Actor's Workbook & Planner
Who do I help?
ACTORS & PERFORMERS
Because "the show must go on" shouldn't mean running on fumes, cortisol, and coffee.
public speakers & high-achievers
Your voice, focus, and energy on stage start with what's happening in your gut, hormones, and nervous system.
anyone who's heard "everything looks normal"
...and knows it isn't.
We dig deeper with real lab data.
My Bio & Background
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My most important qualification: I am a person, an actor and a single mom who used to be exhausted, burnt out, overweight, stressed and broken out. I kept asking doctors (including holistic ones) for help. All I would hear is that “everything is normal” or “it’s just part of aging” or they would play whack-a-mole treating one symptom at a time. Things never really improved. Only when I found the FDN methodology of looking at my whole health picture, applying my health & life coaching skills with a full 360-degree review of all my body systems, was I able to really move the needle on healing. I want to free people who are frustrated with the traditional medical paradigm and not getting the answers they need.
Okay, so now my formal training & qualifications…
I am a board-certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner, Certified Human Potential Coach and Immune-Centric Coach. My certifications are with Joel Greene, Mindvalley and the Human Potential Institute Certified Coach Training Program with Dave Asprey (the founder of Bulletproof & Upgrade Labs) & British physician, Dr. Mark Atkinson.
My passion for biohacking and health helps others avoid the health pitfalls I experienced early in my own career. I continue to study up on the latest longevity and weight loss science, and bring it to my clients in a playful, accessible manner. I translate the nutritional science into English. I am also an Upgrade Collective Community Coach, leading the weight loss & fasting special interest group. I have helped my clients lose weight, gain mental clarity, triumph over fatigue, and reignite their professional passion.
I graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University and received a Masters of Fine Arts in musical theatre from San Diego State University, where I graduated Phi Kappa Phi as a Marion Ross Scholar. I worked as a professional actor from the age of 18 in various cities all over the country. I decided to take a hiatus from performing to explore the “other side of the table.”
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This ultimately led me to a health journey- first finding the health answers for myself and then helping others lose weight, improve their mood, manage their stress and find a healthy balance in their lives. I'm not a coach who read about performance stress in a textbook. I've stood in the wings shaking before a show. I know what it costs when your body doesn't show up for you — and exactly how to fix it.