In 2015, Dominique Cousin—a mom of two, wife and business owner—said her legs stopped working. In 2021, the Lake Houston-area resident was diagnosed with one of the worst cases of multiple sclerosis her doctors had seen in a decade.
“They said, ‘We can give you the most aggressive medication that is available on the market, but all it will do is prolong the inevitable, and that is you will be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, and within three to five years you will not be able to walk again,’” Cousin said.
Today—five years after her diagnosis—Cousin is not wheelchair-bound and runs annually in a 5K hosted by her own nonprofit, The Phoenix Journey, which provides the support she said she wished she had during her own journey with MS.
The approach
After doing extensive research and working with her chef husband to harness the healing power of food, Cousin said she was able to mitigate her MS symptoms through a total overhaul of her lifestyle. After 10 months of eating clean, staying active, prioritizing sleep, minimizing stress and figuring out what regimen of supplements, acupuncture and other holistic therapies worked for her, Cousin said she started feeling like her normal self.
“As I got better and as I received the help that was needed and I’m starting to walk again, I’m starting to run again, ... I looked around and said, ‘I want to help others,’” Cousin said.
In 2023, Cousin launched The Phoenix Journey, a nonprofit that provides support for individuals who have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. The organization offers individual and group counseling/coaching, monthly webinars and nutritional classes that teach clients how to cook and grocery shop for their specific dietary needs.
“I found the recipe for my success, and now I help other people find the recipe for their success, because it’s not all the same,” Cousin said. “I created what I wanted for me when I had no one to understand what I was going through.”
Clients also have access to a network of holistic and medical professionals who have been vetted by the organization. Nonprofit officials negotiate pricing on the client’s behalf and, in some cases, pay for services entirely, Cousin said.
“We do our best to make it affordable because when you’re not able to utilize insurance and not going through the traditional medical system, it gets very expensive,” Cousin said.
Get involved
To become a Phoenix, Cousin said prospective clients must be an adult, have a diagnosed autoimmune disease and be willing to share their lab work.
“We do look at the whole body, and we truly do get to the root cause,” Cousin said. “It’s not just having a diagnosis. ... It's figuring out how we got here. Is that from childhood? Is it genetic? Is it triggered by trauma? Is it triggered by food?”
To become a preferred vendor, holistic and medical professionals go through an application and interview process.
“When people come to us, they know we’re not going to oversell you, so we have to make sure that we’re aligned,” Cousin said. “We always put the clients first, and providers are second.”
In addition to The Ascent 5K, which is held annually in March, the nonprofit will host its inaugural fashion show in September. Funded solely through donations, The Phoenix Journey also has a partnership with Kendra Scott in The Woodlands and will be unveiling a new signature jewelry piece in November, the proceeds from which benefit the Lake Houston-area nonprofit.
What’s next
While the organization is based in the Lake Houston area and a large portion of clients come from the north Houston area, The Phoenix Journey is completely virtual, which Cousin said has allowed the nonprofit to serve clients from out-of-state and even around the globe.
Eventually, Cousin said she does hope to have a physical location where clients can meet in-person.
“It’s called The Phoenix Journey because you’re never done. I live my life 99% symptom free, but there’s no cure for MS, so I can never say it’s gone,” Cousin said. “ I live my life fighting against a disease every day. The difference between myself and somebody else is that I have all the tools that I need.”
