Meet Our Providers

Natalie Fischer

ARNP, BSN, MSN, FNP-BC

I'm Natalie, she/her. I've always been an introverted old soul with a tender heart. I'm from the midwest originally, but have lived all over the country and settled down in Olympia (one of the first places that really feels like home) in 2020. After my sister was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer when I was 12, watching her treatment journey inspired me to go into healthcare. I worked a variety of caregiving jobs while attending nursing school and, once I became an RN in 2007, primarily maintained love-hate relationship with the Emergency Department for many years until I completed graduate school and became a Nurse Practitioner in 2015. I have enjoyed my work as a provider and have been surprised to find how much I enjoy chronic disease management and managing complex patients with numerous overlapping conditions in primary care, urgent care and inpatient settings. Evolutions in the healthcare world as well as the current political climate (yuck) have inspired me to pivot my focus.

I most closely identify with pansexuality and have been a part of/advocate for the queer community since my first girlfriend exposed me to a whole new world. Queer and non-gender conforming folks have been close to my heart and some of my closest friends for most of my life. Witnessing the current eruption of obsession, discrimination, hostility and violence targeting LGBTQ+ people and the corresponding rapid disintegration of their rights and safety (in an already unsafe world) is beyond horrifying to me and has left me feeling like I want to do more. Gender-affirming care has always been an interest area for my work, so when I was out for a drink with Shanti one night, and she said she wanted to start a clinic called "Pride and Joy" and asked if I wanted to partner with her, I found myself instantly crying and smiling so much I could hardly get out the word yes. 

This business is not only special because it is two besties coming together to create a safe place in a toxic healthcare world, but in its origin, it is a manifestation of the light and ease we want to offer the non-gender conforming community. We strive to make accessing healthcare (your human right) to feel anything but anxiety-provoking; we want to really know you and for you to feel deeply cared for and supported in your journey.

I live in Olympia with my spouse Shane, our neuro-spicy son who keeps us growing and evolving all the time, our cat Mazzy and a small flock of backyard chickens. I spend as much time as I can in nature hiking, camping, gardening and kayaking while trying to capture it all in photography. When I'm not doing these things, you can find me in the hot room at True Self Yoga, reading some fantasy novel or cooking. Don't hesitate to say hi if you see me out around town or at our next protest. I look forward to connecting.

Shanti Herzog

MSN, ARNP, FNP-C, PMHNP-BC, PMH-C

Hi, I'm Shanti (she/her)! I grew up in the mud of Olympia and have wandered around the PNW trying to find my way since. As a youngster, I tunneled through on the path I thought I was supposed to take, essentially drew my future career out of a hat, and I’ve done okay (despite still feeling queasy and faint at the sight of blood). My neurospicy brain loves the flexibility of healthcare as a career, and I’ve dabbled in many different positions and areas since becoming a nurse practitioner, from community health to urgent care to correctional health, and for the last few years, psychiatry. In synchrony with this professional path, I’ve witnessed and experienced profound shifts personally, as my baby brother bravely blossoms into himself as a trans man, as my young children joyfully explore their gender expression, as my community becomes more open, accepting and supportive, and as I follow their lead and allow myself to question and embrace my own identity.

At every turn both personally and professionally, I’ve experienced the brokenness of our healthcare system, and while I strive to be a human touchpoint in the industrial capitalist wasteland, I know we all need things to shift for the better as soon as possible.

For years, I’ve been trying to figure out how to engage in changing the healthcare system, and Pride & Joy represents an exploration towards that end.  My community is queer and trans and suffering in so many ways and for so many reasons, and we are also bright spots of hope and creativity and vitality in the world. With Pride & Joy, we hope to break down some barriers to support folks in expressing themselves fully with tools often kept locked and legislated.

Outside of my paid work, I’m busy with three of the cutest and most exhausting beings on earth (2 kiddos and a pup). Time outside in the dirt, sun, and trees is my therapy, and crafting inside with an electric blanket and audiobook gets me through the darkness of winter.

I’m excited to meet and work with YOU!