Returning to Her Roots

Zoey Gong is making traditional Chinese medicine cool, approachable and relevant for a new generation of wellness seekers

- Coco Marett

In the pursuit of holistic wellness, more people than ever are turning to ancient healing modalities such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to better understand—and optimise—their bodies.

New York-based practitioner Zoey Gong has built quite the name for herself in the wellness space for sharing and preserving the knowledge of TCM through her educational content, easy-to-follow recipes and science-backed approach.

“Rather than promoting products, I want to focus on education because I believe it is the foundation for everything. Education allows people to live healthier, happier, and more sustainable lives,” she says.

We caught up with Gong about incorporating TCM into modern lifestyles, and how her life’s work has helped her connect deeper with her Chinese roots.

When you moved to the US from Shanghai, you began to develop an array of health problems. What is it about modern or Western lifestyles that can be harmful to our health?

When I was 16 years old, I started having health problems after only two months of living in the US. I gained 15 pounds and started to have constant skin rash and joint pain. After a year, I found a hard lump in my breast, which was diagnosed as a benign tumour and quickly removed by surgery.