Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in mental wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Amanda Armstrong, CEO and Founder of Rise As We, located in Alexandria, VA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Rise As We is a mental health coaching business that helps people struggling with anxiety and depression reclaim their lives through personalized coaching and nervous system regulation.
Tell us about yourself
I'm a neuroscience and trauma-informed coach and the founder of Rise As We, a mental health coaching space. I know first-hand that healing has no one size fits all. Like most healers, I have my own history of mental health struggles and trauma. What really turned the page in my healing journey was learning to understand my nervous system and different mind-body systems. This education and awareness shifted my lens from constantly feeling at war with myself to realizing that my brain is and always was fighting FOR me; I just didn't know how to listen. What I've created are the programs I wish I would have had in my healing journey.
I also have a MA in Kinesiology | Exercise Psychology, where my research was on the bidirectional relationship between depression, movement, and social support. This was my introduction to the world of behavior change and lifestyle healing. After graduation, I worked as a Health & Fitness Specialist at Google HQ for five years, where I had the opportunity to run some really awesome mental/physical health pilot studies. I left in 2018 to run Rise As We full time and have never looked back.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Creating something that truly makes a difference. One of the clients we worked with had spent years in therapy, taken medication, and was still having almost daily anxiety attacks. She felt hopeless and like maybe she was too broken to get better. Within five weeks in our coaching program, she was no longer having anxiety attacks and had so much more hope for her healing. It's been three years since she finished our program, and she is still thriving. I have countless stories like this of people frustrated, unsure what to do next, who've found their way to the other side of anxiety and depression and now have confidence in what it looks like to stay there. It's amazing to be a part of.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The hardest part about being a business owner is learning as you go. When you're creating something that doesn't exist, there's no blueprint. It's been both an exhilarating and exhausting part of the process.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Choose something you really care about.
- Find mentors & ask for help.
- Just keep going; you have what it takes.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/
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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