Plagued for many years by ill health, Mary-Ann Shearer embarked on a personal quest for a common-sense approach to health and well-being. Her intensive studies into nutrition and a natural lifestyle over nearly 30 years led her to develop a simple yet highly effective program that produced unimagined levels of health and vitality. The first to benefit were her family and friends, but after several years of one-on-one consultations, she wrote the book The Natural Way: A Family’s Guide to Vibrant Health (now in its 21st reprint) to help meet the growing demand for her time and knowledge. Since then, Mary-Ann has helped many thousands of people to understand and correct their diet-related problems, thereby building a valuable database of case studies that backs her ongoing research. Mary-Ann has also published two recipe books (The Natural Way: Recipe Book 1 and The Natural Way: Recipe Book 2), each a compilation of more than 300 recipes developed during her popular cooking demonstrations. Her books have been runaway bestsellers, outperforming all other natural health titles in southern Africa. Healthy Kids: The Natural Way was released at the end of 2001 to wide acclaim. Perfect Weight: The Natural Way was released in August 2003 and has had record sales to date. Take Control, written by both Mark and Mary-Ann Shearer, was released in May 2005 and is set to match the extraordinary sales records of its predecessors. Further books are in the pipeline, including a full-color recipe book on healthy entertaining and a definitive reference work entitled The AÐZ of Natural Health. Together with her husband, Mark, Mary-Ann runs seminars on “Finding the Balance,” “Take Control” and “Sex, Drugs, and Cinnamon Rolls,” subjects covered in detail in their book Take Control. She also contributes to numerous magazines and journals on an ongoing basis. Mary-Ann has, over the years, addressed many diverse groups of people throughout the world, from farmers’ wives in the heartland of South Africa, to professional medical people in Houston, Texas. She is in demand as a motivational speaker and regularly addresses groups at business seminars, schools, churches and various associations such as the Cancer Association. She also appears frequently on national television and radio and had her own slot on national talk radio for many years. Mary-Ann visits the U.K. and the U.S. regularly, where she is fast becoming a speaker in demand. Technikon South Africa (now part of Unisa—one of the biggest correspondence universities in the world) has approved her Natural Health and Nutrition Course, and more than 650 students have enrolled worldwide. Mary-Ann’s aim is to show that it is fun and easy to be healthy, and it is this philosophy that inspires her many projects. She and her husband Mark have developed a unique range of whole food products for the retail market. They run their business from Stellenbosch in the Cape. She sends out a regular free e-mail newsletter. Mark and Mary-Ann also film an entire three- to four-hour monthly Digimag, a digital magazine on DVD that can be ordered online or by fax. This service can be accessed on her Web site www.mary-anns.com.