Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Patricia Patterson, Founder of Flamboyannt Wellness, located in St. Augustine, Trinidad, Trinidad & Tobago.

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

Flamboyannt wellness is a transformative wellness company. Our operating model and purpose is to empower and help as many people as possible to change their life and health destiny, rediscover how their body is supposed to move and feel, and help individuals to understand, align and uncover who they truly are at the core from the lens of how God made them and sees them. At Flamboyannt Wellness, we believe in delivering and building a sustainable business that contributes positively to society through education, alternative medicine and therapies, good diet, and nutrition, as well as combining different technologies and platforms to offer unparalleled choice, value, access, and convenience to customers and clients that will help them to improve their health and to take control of their life and health destiny to be able to live happier, healthier & pain-free lives. Because it's possible.

I am a big advocate of wellness, self-care, being the healthiest you can be, and living life "in grace" therefore, as an Orthopedic Massage Therapist, I specialize in chronic and acute back and shoulder pain, as well as leg discomfort and conditions. Many of my clients have issues with old injuries; some are athletes, some have chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart conditions, and arthritis, as well as some, have neurological conditions. And to support and help my clients, I use a variety of tools and massage techniques to bring restoration and relief. I also help and support individuals as Core Identity Preceptors to discover their destiny as it relates to their area of service to the earth and to find clarity by uncovering who they truly are from the lens of how God, the maker of all things, created them. As a core identity preceptor, I work with individuals to help them learn how to embrace who they are so that they can learn to live from a place of worthiness and deservingness and set healthy boundaries in their life. I have a special heart for people navigating the intersection of achieving their goals, introverts, and people trying to uncover who they are. I find a sense of fulfillment in walking alongside others in their journey. I don't expect that any of our journeys will look the same, but I deeply value the importance of having someone to journey alongside – wherever the road may lead.

I believe I found my calling in coaching and teaching because of my own experience. And my goal is to help people to change their life destiny beyond illness, pain, and blindness of who they truly are by helping them find clarity to discover who they truly are. Ultimately I want my clients to know that they can experience goodness on any path, even though life can seem like a "mess" sometimes. I believe that when people know who they truly are at the core and how they can change their life and health destiny, even when life curve balls come, they can go through it and be ok even before everything is "healed" or "fixed." We were born to thrive because everything we need is already within us, but we just need to know and understand who we truly are.

I am also very passionate about helping other massage therapists and wellness entrepreneurs grow and build their businesses. Therefore as a business mentor, I support, coach & empower other massage therapists and wellness entrepreneurs to build thriving businesses, increase their earning potential and become more confident in selling and marketing their services so that they can make the difference they are meant to make an impact the lives of those they're here to serve, while doing what they LOVE, having a healthy work-life balance and being paid for it. So when I'm not coaching or seeing clients, you'll probably find me outside with my plants, exploring nature, or doing some micro exercises. As well as after a good day's work, I am most happy in my kitchen. That's where everything happens. Cooking, preparing some great food... and listening to some uplifting gospel/ worship music praising God!

Tell us about yourself

My name is Patricia Patterson. I am a woman of faith, a certified orthopedic massage therapist, a core identity preceptor, and a business mentor for Massage Therapists and Wellness Entrepreneurs, which operates under the training and development arm of the business called Taking Check. I have been practicing massage therapy and holistic wellness since 2016. I hold a bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science with an emphasis in Psychology and have been working in the Health & Wellness fields for approximately 6 years and 6 years prior, respectively, in sales.

Prior to owning my own business, I used to work in the cosmetics and beauty industry, where I worked as a Branch Manager. My days, however, at my corporate job consisted of long hours, high stress, and usually moving between meetings or stores. Though I loved what I did, wellness at that time was not a priority for me really. Though I always did my best in taking care of myself and eating as healthy as I could, wellness was not high on my list of priorities. I was a workaholic during those times. So balance was not something you could say I understood or took seriously. Eventually, I realized my work and lifestyle were draining me, and I wanted to make a change. With this feeling building up inside of me, one day, I woke up with an idea in my mind to go study something in therapy. I wasn't too sure at the time what exactly I wanted to do, but after doing some research on what was being offered in the field of health and wellness, I decided to do a course in Professional Massage Therapy. I was still working full-time in my corporate job in the beauty and cosmetic field at the time, so the programme was ideal for me since it offered flexible hours. However, I always dreamt and desired about working for myself and having my own business since I grew up with a mother who was always doing some form of business and was an entrepreneur in the retail food sector.

So it was during my time at Massage Therapy school while learning what I was learning and loving it. After finishing the course, I decided to venture and start my own business doing massage therapy on the side while still working my full-time corporate job. I started getting a few clients during my spare time due to a few ads I ran in the newspapers, which offered my home visits service. It was during that time of doing those home visits and going to clients' homes to offer my service that I started to desire more and more of owning my own business since I loved seeing the transformation my clients were experiencing. So inspired by that and also thought about my past experiences. I decided I wanted to do something in this field to help people to feel their best and to help them restore balance to their health through wellness methods and lifestyle changes. I wanted to help people who had pain and physical limitations to rediscover the way their body was supposed to move and feel and help them to take control of their health destiny because it was possible to do so.

So in 2016, after much thinking, prayer, and an aligned incident, I decided to take the leap of faith and go into business full-time and open my own private massage therapy practice/ business. It was scary and exciting at the same time, but I was determined to make it and see my business grow. It is a rewarding experience once you have the passion and tenacity to be a successful entrepreneur. And yes, there will be challenges along the way, but with tenacity, you will overcome them. So in terms of the business overall, I have worked with a wide scope of people, ranging from Olympic athletes, international dancers and choreographers, entrepreneurs, office workers, and professionals, as well as paraplegics, stroke patients, and those who have issues with neurological and musculoskeletal issues. Therefore the thing that motivates me to keep doing what I do is the fact that I'm passionate about life restarts and helping others make positive lifestyle changes by showing and sharing with them how to take charge of their health destiny– at any age, with self-care, wellness tools and delicious, wholesome recipes along with learning how to think and see life and things in a positive manner because our mindset has a big part to play in how successful we will be at achieving our goals or overcoming life or health obstacles.

So, in conclusion, for me, maintaining a healthy balanced lifestyle is important; self-care, my spirituality, stress management, eating food that's nourishing for my body and cellular health, quality sleep, healthy relationships, physical activity, and enjoyment of life are all priorities. For me, it's about "turning down the volume" on life and allowing myself to breathe. It's about balancing work and life to be truly balanced. As well as it's about giving myself grace and determining what energizes me and makes me happy and doing more of it! These are simple bits of wisdom, but I know they can be are sometimes overlooked. And I can tell you this based on my own wellness path and that of some of my clients. So it's my belief that the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle is the small changes that will lead to long-term health and happiness.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment thus far has been the creation of my two signature programmes that I always wanted to create to help support and impact the lives of the individuals that I am meant to help, support, serve and impact in the world.

The first course/programme is my online self-paced business course/ programme for massage therapists and wellness entrepreneurs called Energetically Thrive. This program/course is a 12-week/3-month self-paced online sales and marketing group course that teaches massage therapists and wellness entrepreneurs how to energetically sell from the heart and how to attract their ideal clients by using magnetizing marketing frameworks. The course/programme also consists of access to 12 sessions of group coaching with me, where I will be supporting and showing the most effective ways to sell and market a wellness business/ practice in order to build and grow a thriving wellness business.

And my second signature programme is called CORE - The Identity Uncover Programme. This is a 12-week/3-month transformational coaching programme to help introverted women entrepreneurs and individuals through a self-discovery process that will help them to uncover their core self, identity, and values, set healthy boundaries, and truly align with who they are at the core of their personal life and business or career.

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

For me, one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner is having to be a multi-tasking problem solver. I think this is one of the things as a business owner that can sometimes be a heavy burden and can be lonely and a bit stressful. But as an entrepreneur, you learn to embrace it because you know that it is something that comes with the territory, and it's a part of the game when you decide to become a business owner.

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

  1. Be open to taking advice from those who have already been where you want to go and who have learned what it takes to build a business. It can help you avoid making costly mistakes and accelerate your success. I really believe in learning from others or having a business mentor/coach who can really help to give you guidance to help you to navigate a lot of the pitfalls when building a business. Be a lifelong learner
  2. Surround yourself with or establish a group of trusted peers that you can go to as a sounding board for advice when you have tough decisions to make. Having a good support system along your entrepreneurial journey is a good thing to have. When you surround yourself with like-minded individuals, it truly helps and pushes you towards achieving your goals because you have a group of peers that you know wants to see you win. You can learn from them as well.
  3. Embrace and expect some ups & down in business. Learn to adapt, adjust and align to unforeseen circumstances quickly. Because your failure to adjust can be the result of the making or breaking of your business. You have to continually adapt to new needs, changes, and shifts in the market. The truth is there are going to be inevitable ups and downs in every industry, so this is something you have to embrace and expect at some point in time. So whether you are new to business or even if you are seasoned in business. The fact of the matter is that there will be times when ups and downs happen in business, and you have to just realize that. When you learn this and accept this, it makes it easier for you to roll with the punches and stay the course because you understand that this is a part of the game of being a business owner. And it will help you to not quit early along the entrepreneurial journey.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://flamboyanntwellness.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flamboyanntwellness
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flamboyanntwellness/
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/optimalpat
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3COB48a

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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