Meet Dr. Renee McSwain

Dr. Renee McSwain is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist, and owner of Sagelight Integrative Wellness Center. With over 25 years of experience spanning healthcare, entertainment, and leadership development, her unique bicoastal career has taken her from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, giving her a distinctive perspective on how to bridge ancient healing wisdom with modern organizational needs.

She began her career working for public relations and consulting firms, managing healthcare communication outreach efforts on behalf of federal agencies, associations, and independent filmmakers. Through her work communicating healthcare messages to the public for various federal government agencies, she recognized a critical gap: the lack of accessible information about complementary healing therapies. This realization became the catalyst for her professional transformation.

Alongside her healthcare communications work, Dr. McSwain built an impressive career in the entertainment industry as a producer and director, creating training videos and educational content that combined storytelling with practical education. This unique blend of communications expertise and creative production would later become foundational to her approach to leadership development and wellness education.

Dr. McSwain earned her Doctorate in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine and Master of Science in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine from Maryland University of Integrative Health, completing nearly 200 trimester hours and 400+ clinical treatments. She also holds a Master of Arts in Film and Video Production from American University and a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from University of South Carolina.

Today, Dr. McSwain has extensive experience in leadership development across higher education, government agencies, and private industries. Her approach focuses on practicality and incorporates health and wellness as the foundation. She has designed and taught courses in Stress Management, Time Management, Nutrition and Wellness, Mental Health Education, Ergonomics, Sleep Hygiene, Fitness and Exercise, Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence, and Workplace Wellness Program Implementation.

Dr. McSwain is also the creator of the EpiTyet® Healing Framework, a proprietary approach that integrates Traditional Chinese Medicine principles with contemporary leadership development. Her pioneering work in Seasonal Leadership applies the 5 Element principles of Chinese Medicine—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—to organizational dynamics, team development, and personal resilience. This innovative framework helps leaders align their strategies and self-care practices with natural cycles and elemental energies, creating more sustainable and harmonious approaches to leadership and wellness.

She is the former founder and CEO of Sagelight Integrative Wellness Center, an interdisciplinary wellness practice she established in 2018 to expand access to holistic care and collaborative provider models. Under her leadership, Sagelight grew into a multi-practitioner integrative health hub and served as a proving ground for the systems-based approaches that would later inform her leadership and educational work.

Today, Dr. McSwain focuses on advisory, speaking, and teaching engagements through her DrReneeHolistic leadership platform, working nationally with leaders, institutions, and organizations seeking ethical, human-centered approaches to performance, wellbeing, and organizational sustainability. She is frequently invited to facilitate critical conversations, advise cross-sector initiatives, and contribute to dialogues on leadership, resilience, and systemic transformation.