Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kylie James, Founder of Koru Nutrition Inc., located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Koru Nutrition is a nutrition company specializing in customized nutrition solutions. We work with clients that have been involved in motor vehicle accidents, as well as private clients. Although we work with all kinds of clients, we do specialize in neurological health, including brain injury, spinal cord injury, as well as Autism, and ADD/ADHD.
Tell us about yourself
I was initially working as an occupational therapist, but I wanted to switch and work with nutrition and athletes since I played multiple sports and played at both national and international levels. I was also always passionate about how food impact brain health in terms of mood, behavior, motivation, and cognition, but my nephew became paralyzed from the neck down when he was 1.5 years old due to medical malpractice, so I became extremely interested in exploring nutrition and spinal cord injury and my colleague, and I won a grant from the Paralyzed Veterans of America to research and wrote a book on nutrition and SCI. This was to encourage research on nutrition and SCI as well as educate individuals with SCI, their family members/caregivers, and health professionals on what nutrition interventions they could implement to help prevent and address the many secondary health complications. From this, we have been a part of research projects in Canada and the States.
I started the business as a chance to work in an area that I was passionate about, and my business has now grown to include 25 staff of nutritionists, dietitians, homeopathy, and Naturopath Doctors.
What motivates me is creating and developing!! I don't get bored because there are so many different areas that you can focus on in a business, i.e., administration, client work, marketing, education, social media, etc. I love learning and love the business side and strategizing on how to continue to grow and develop the company. It never gets boring.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Speaking at Harvard Medical school at the World Functional Medicine Conference, wrote a book, and my goal was to create a business that would give me a work-life balance, which I have achieved.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Being the sole owner, it gets lonely in terms of not having someone to share the highs and lows and help to problem-solve situations as they arise.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- You need to define a very specific avatar on who your ideal customer is; therefore can create very specific target marketing.
- If you are a sole practitioner, establish some sort of accountability person or business mentor to help strategize and ensure you stay on track, as it can be overwhelming when starting a business.
- Do a business course. If you are like me, I had no training on how to set up my own business. It was only later that I started to do this and read books. I wish I had done more of this in the beginning.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://korunutrition.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Korunutritioninc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/korunutritioninc/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/koru-nutrition/
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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