Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Melissa Deally, founder of Your Guided Health Journey, located in Whistler, BC, Canada.

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

As an Integrative Health Practitioner, Registered Health Coach and trained in NLP / TLT and Hypnotherapy, I help people get to the root cause of their health issues and truly heal. I use these tools to address the physical, emotional, and mental bodies. My business is 100% virtual, and I work with the entire English-speaking world. I use a two-prong approach:

  1. Discover your toxic load and lower it
  2. Discover your body's imbalances and then I guide you on bringing your body back into balance, at which point it will heal itself. This is done with Functional Medicine lab tests, mailed to your home!

I offer a very high level of support to ensure her clients' success as we navigate the path of bringing the body back into balance, creating new lifestyle habits, and releasing limiting beliefs, to ensure lasting results.

Tell us about yourself

I was in the corporate world for 24 years, when one day, big fish bought little fish, and I was given an hour to clear out my desk and no word of thanks! At that moment, I knew three things:

  1. I would never work for someone else again.
  2. Whatever I did next had to be more of service to the planet and humanity.
  3. I had no idea what I would do next, but I was open to being guided.

I started learning about the brain and the effects of toxins on our brain and body. 4 months later, my oldest daughter got a concussion in her first grade 12 soccer game of the season. I started going to her appointments because she didn't have the ability to retain what she was told and come home and tell me. 2 months later, I got a phone call from the school that my younger daughter had a suspected concussion from grade 8 gym class! At that moment, I looked up at the heavens and said, "Really? This is how you show me my path; please stop taking out my children!" I then had two sets of appointments to go to as I guided their healing journeys and wondered what other people did who didn't have a Mom that was conveniently not working full time to support them.

I realized there was a gap in the medical model; people need more support. The body doesn't heal in a stressed state, people need to be guided on their healing journey, so they can relax into and trust the process, releasing the stress so their body can heal! I was then invited to work at a holistic clinic that was opening, supporting others with concussions, but I couldn't get liability insurance as I had no "training," only my own experience and learning. So I went back to school and became a health coach and then integrative health practitioner, and now I focus on working with people struggling with gut and digestive issues as well as hormonal imbalances.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Replacing my corporate income, and last year I was honored to be the recipient of the 2021 Quality Care Award by Businesses From The Heart.

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

Ensuring your mindset is in the right place, that you believe in yourself, and keep putting one foot in front of the other, knowing you are living your purpose, and keep believing, even when it feels hard.

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

  1. Hire a coach because the fastest way to success is to follow the path of someone who has done it before you. All coaches need coaches!
  2. Find your tribe - the people who will support you and lift you up on those down days and who believe in you, even when you don't believe in yourself, so you can regain your belief. This is not family - family is often the worst, as they" to "can sometimes be the worst.  They mean well, but are too busy trying to keep you "safe" suggesting you shouldn't go out on your own, it's too risky, play it safe, get another job!  If they don't support your dreams, find people who do.
  3. Just get out there and do it; you only have to be 1 step ahead of your client, don't wait until you think you'll be the "perfect coach" - just get started, start saying "I am a health coach" or "I am a life coach," you can become the person you want to be. You have to first be that person by speaking it, don't wait until you "feel ready." Start before you are ready; that is how you launch your business and then learn and grow along the way. If you wait until you are ready, you'll never start!

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

When not serving my clients, I can be found on my paddleboard, backcountry hiking & camping with my daughter(s), or downhill skiing or cross country skiing, or planning my next trip for my Girl Guides (Girl Scout) unit, or working on my passion project, Girls Matter, helping keep girls in school in Uganda, breaking the poverty cycle, one girl, one family, one village at a time.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://yourguidedhealthjourney.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melissa.deally
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guidedhealthjourney/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissadeally/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.