Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Antoinetta Vogels, founder and CEO of Healthy Sense of Self, located in Bellevue, WA, USA.

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

Healthy Sense of Self is a self-help business that promotes the SoS Method through books and an Online Course. My Target Audience consists of people who sense there is something off with them but can't put a finger on it. These people can be found in all walks of life as their functioning on whatever it is they do or want as well as health-related issues are negatively impacted by their psycho-emotional makeup that is rooted in a lack of Sense of Self.

Tell us about yourself

Interesting how you put the question because my Sense of Self Method (SoS Method) is exactly about questioning "why you do what you do." I had trouble sleeping a lot after the birth of my first daughter and had to find out that I did things for Indirect Motivation, which means not for the obvious healthy goal but to get approval. The approval made me feel good, and I took that for a sense of self, but I discovered it was a false sense of self. It kept me attached to the outcome of things. I used people and things to gain my False Self because, as you can imagine, without it, there was enormous fear of not- being seen and heard, not existing (Annihilation). So your question is the most relevant one in the world. Knowing why you do what you do has everything to do with thoroughly knowing yourself. I want other people to benefit from my findings so we can make the world a better place.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Writing, editing, and having them produced in an organized way is no minor accomplishment. I used to work as a musician in a symphony orchestra and had no clue about publishing a book. The fact that I had to start over in a different language is just one aspect of the hurdles I had to take to find the correct path and be more or less successful.

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

Here, the story of the chicken and the egg applies: what comes first: your idea to work out a concept/theme for a business or to get your ducks in a row to run a business. I just started to develop my theory and had no idea how hard it was/is to run a business. Multitasking, juggling, getting things accomplished and paid for while raising my two daughters and adapting to a different culture (coming from the Netherlands and having lived in yet another culture before coming to the US, lovely Portugal). Too much, no oversight or insight upfront, but then again, unless you start a logistical business, I do not see there could have been another way.

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

  1. Create your product before you engage in any type of financial or business-type of activity.
  2. Be aware of taxes that may apply and that you can only have your Losses deduced for a few years.
  3. If you really want to be successful in business choose a product that appeals to people and not one that aims at helping a small group of people, even though your intentions are the very best. In the end it is about sales and if you don't sell or people cannot find you, your business is not viable.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://healthysenseofself.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HealthySenseOfSelf/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Healthysenseofself/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/healthysos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annetvogels/

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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