Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ni-Cheng Liang, CEO of Awaken Breath, located in San Diego, CA, USA.

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

Stress happens! The response is yours. Stress is an inevitable part of life that causes and worsens many diseases. I help others develop healthier relationships with stress through mindfulness meditation. I mostly work with patients with chronic health conditions, as well as healthcare professionals. Teaching evidenced-based mindfulness meditation courses such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction or my own continuing education course, The Mindful Physician Course, and by designing and leading experiential talks, workshops, and retreats, I'm able to help implement a sustainable mindfulness practice as a foundation for holistic health.

Tell us about yourself

The catalyst of my life was my breast cancer diagnosis at the age of thirty-one with my then-only daughter, who was eighteen months old. This was during the latter part of my medical training, sub-specializing to be a lung doctor, and was the wake-up call I needed to stop going 200 miles an hour, forsaking my own needs, including that of my health and well-being. I became a clinical trial patient and also an integrative medicine patient, learning and practicing mindfulness to help me through the most uncertain time of my life as a cancer patient. Coming back after cancer treatment, I approached my practice of medicine in a much more holistic way, now having taught mindfulness for ten years. I've seen the impact that mindfulness can have in empowering my clients to develop healthier relationships to stress by choosing their responses rather than by reacting, which ultimately leads to the improved well-being of mind, body, and spirit.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Through my work in mindfulness at Awaken Breath, I founded the Mindful Healthcare Collective (mindfulhealthcarecollective.com), an organization that has been putting on live online mindfulness events since 3/2020 at the start of the pandemic to help to reduce the suffering of healthcare professionals. I was then named by Mindful Magazine as one of the Ten Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement in 2021.

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

Navigating the balance of maximizing access to my services with keeping services affordable while ensuring that I do not undervalue my expertise.

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

Asking yourself these thought-provoking questions:

  1. What's your why for starting/running/growing your business?
  2. How will you help others with your business?

Then the third tip: Ask for help! There are business coaches and small business networking opportunities that can help you find your zone of genius and help you hire everything else out so you can maximize your resources doing what you do best.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Free resources are on my website awakenbreath.org including a blog, audio recordings of mindfulness meditations, and information about the podcast I co-host, the Mindful Healers Podcast.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://awakenbreath.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwakenBreath/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awaken_breath/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drnichengliang
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ni-cheng-liang-md-723744174/

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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