Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jennifer Dreisch, Founder of Jewel Wellness, located in Kihei, HI, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am a holistic functional nutritionist working with men and women of all ages to find optimal health. Whether there is a "problem" or health issue that can't be figured out, working with many doctors and can't seem to get to the root cause of the "why" is it happening, we do the digging to clear up the causes and getting the body back into homeostasis. Food is one requirement, and what we eat is medicine, so anything and everything we put in or on our bodies will create the internal environment.

I also dive into balancing the microbiome, gut health, clearing out any pathogens that may be present, food sensitivities, acid reflux, stomach challenges, digestion, inflammation, and so much more. I also work with many different test options and labs, so there isn't any guessing on what's going on; we see the results from the tests and can move forward with a real plan.

Tell us about yourself

Healing myself is what motivates me. I was not finding the answers from many doctors and tests I took over several years. How I feel now, there's no comparison to how I was feeling before, and I felt there was no way out; I had no idea what to do.

I can and have helped so many heal their bodies and feel a life that they never knew they could have. It brings me so much joy to hear when a client can do things, eat things, sleep better, and enjoy life with the feeling of managing their stress when they weren't able to before working together.

I first saw the effects of how food is so important when running my first and second marathons in my late 20s. I ran two marathons about six months apart. The first one, I found a functional nutritionist because I was constantly tired after my training. I could train, but then I couldn't have a life afterward; my work suffered, my marriage suffered, wasn't having the joy of life. I went on a "cleanse," which I now know as just cleaning up the body and healing the digestive tract. I followed my nutritionist's program for six months. After finishing that first marathon, I was overjoyed; it felt easy. I went for a run the very next day, and I wasn't sore one bit, not one niggle in my body.

I decided that I was done with my healing, went back to eating the "standard American diet," and continued to train for the next marathon. After completing that one, I literally barely made it to the finish. I cried throughout that marathon, was angry and irritated, and was incredibly sore the following day. I barely could move, sit, or stand, and I thought, how in the world did I run the day after that first marathon six months ago? FOOD, it was my food choices. I inflamed my body, everything hurt, and I was the same age, trained the exact same way, and actually had the exact same finishing time. Just the difference in my body was so eye-opening, and it was then that I realized I wanted to learn more; I wanted to understand why this happened.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Wearing all the hats. I never knew there was so much to do as a business owner; it's not just about what you do, it's about how you do it, when, where, taking time off, rest, motivation, finding joy in the hard tasks, finding help when needed, and learning about self. Taking one set at a time, I remember just setting up my website, finding my logo, my idea, who I wanted to be, how I wanted to share myself, and who my audience would be; these are not simple. Honestly, the whole set-up process was my biggest accomplishment because many times I thought, it's just too much, I can't do this, but you can, we all can, when we have a passion for something, it will all come together.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

For me, it's being alone. I work alone and don't have other employees to bounce ideas off of or ask for help when needed. I have to be the one to pursue my ideas and be confident enough that it will all come together. When I owned a storefront, I also had a salon attached to my business, and I had others around that I could brainstorm, work with, and have help when needed; it also motivates you because you are accountable to each other. I now need to be accountable to myself and remember to be gentle with myself as well.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Take your time. I am an all-or-nothing person, and now that I look back to where I started today, so many changes have happened, and it's all perfectly done. Sometimes we need to take control and get the problem fixed, but for others, it's when to know when to just sit back and allow the cards to fall where they may and then go from there.
  2. If you are passionate about your idea/company, you can do it. No matter what anyone else says, believe in yourself and go for it. I was stuck for a bit as I didn't get support from some family members, and it really stopped me in my tracks... and then I said, I can do this; it's my total passion, and it's what I want to do in my life, and today I am loving every minute of it.
  3. You do need to spend money in certain areas to help your business grow. I was very hesitant about this. I thought I could do everything myself, and I got too stressed out and spent some money on things that I really just didn't want to do. This helped me let go of much stress and allowed me to spend more time on other areas in which I could do a better part in.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: http://jewelwellnessmaui.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jewelwellnessmaui
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jewelwellnessmaui/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jendreisch/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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