Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Tara Taylor, founder of Restored Vitality, located in Trenton, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I am a Holistic Nutrition Practitioner and have started the Holistic Nutrition and Wellness business, Restored Vitality. I help clients find their optimal wellness through developing a deeper understanding of WHY they are having issues and preparing a plan based on healthy diet and lifestyle choices, helping them balance and correct weakness and nutritional deficiencies. I help them RESTORE their VITALITY.
I help clients who want more energy, a balanced, even-keel mood, good blood sugar control, or balanced hormones. I put plans in place to help them age the healthiest way they can, balance premenopausal or premenstrual hormones, have better digestion (feel less gassy, bloated, gross after they eat) and be more ‘regular.’ If you want a healthier relationship with food and with eating or just want to feel better, I can help!
While I have a diverse clientele with various health issues, I am very interested in helping women with hormonal imbalances. This was me about five years ago – tired all the time, insane cravings, mood swings, and gaining weight at an unhealthy rate. I thought this was what aging (approaching 50) was supposed to feel like. Well, no, it isn’t! And after getting myself out of that downward spiral, I wanted to help other women do the same. I wanted to help them understand that you don’t have to feel lousy at any age – you deserve better.
Tell us about yourself
I graduated with a BSc. In Marine Biology many moons ago and spent most of my professional career in Marine Conservation as a Director at the Vancouver Aquarium. Due to moves and family and well, life, I left that career to raise my family. As the kiddos started to get older, I needed to figure out what I was going to be when I grew up.
I knew I wanted to help people. I was frustrated with our current health system – few were looking for why people were not well, only how to stop the symptoms. And even fewer were looking at how to prevent issues in the first place. There had to be a better way.
I have always been very interested in energy healing – reiki and chi gong - as well as the healing power of meditation and nature. I found that Holistic Nutrition embraced both Eastern healing philosophies and the best of Western Nutritional science. Maybe this was one of the better ways?
During my course, it was my first case study. As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t in great shape. I was also dealing with hypoglycemia and was worried it might lead to diabetes. I took my case very seriously and figured out the root causes of my issues. Within six months, I was feeling fabulous. My energy was up, my weight was going down, mood swings were stabilized, no more cravings (I thought this was impossible!), and not one blood sugar dip since I followed my own protocols three years ago. And I am not going back. I am motivated to help other people feel this great. Everyone should know what optimal health feels like. That may sound cliché, but it is true.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Seeing my clients succeed! Watching someone who was struggling with wellness, after making a commitment to their own health and making some key diet and lifestyle choices, start to feel better.
Most people have no idea how good their body is designed to feel, and when I can help someone realize what good health feels like, I feel I have accomplished something real. That is a success to me.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Marketing, staying on task, cash flow, accounting, no benefits, fear of failure…I could go on. But seriously, I think for me, it is recognizing my own value – my time and my expertise, what I have to offer. And then asking to be paid for it. I think that we often undervalue ourselves in this business – in many businesses. I know I do. Coming up with what to charge people for my services was probably the hardest part of setting up my practice. I still have a really hard time sending out invoices and asking to be paid.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Do what you Love but have a plan. Do/share/become something that you love! This is a must, in my opinion. It is not easy when you are starting your own business, but when you really love what you are doing, it can help get you through the tough times and keep you going.
But make sure that what you love will also be financially viable – just because you love it doesn’t mean that you can live on it! The last thing you want is for your passion to cost you time, energy, and money. So, make a plan. Do some research, set some goals…look at what you hope to bring in (realistically) and how much that will cost you, personally. When will your break-even point be, and based on your own situation, can you live without an income until then? Is there a market for what you are proposing to do/sell? If you build it, will they come?
True success will come with passion and a plan😊. And some other key things, but that is a great start! - Learn to step out of your comfort zone. For me, that was embracing social media. When you are a certain age and rely on your 12-year-old to explain how to do cool things on Canva or how to change the brightness on your computer, it is tough to jump right in and use social media as a major marketing tool. It was hard to accept that the marketing strategies I used in my 20s were just not as effective as the tools we have today (there are exceptions depending on the target audience). So, even though Instagram and Twitter were foreign languages to me, I had to take the plunge, watch some Youtube videos, read some articles, talk to some experts and then I had to put myself out there all the time. This is still a work in progress for me!
- Know who your target audience is (make sure you have a target audience!), inside and out! What do they like or dislike? What might be their barriers to working with you? How are they best reached? You can’t be everything to everyone. This is not easy!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.restoredvitality.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RestoredVitality.HolisticNutrition
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restored.vitality/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/restoredvitalit
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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