Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal and business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jacob Aqua, co-founder of Source Wellness, located in Atlanta, GA, USA.

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

Source Wellness is a company that works at the intersection of DEIMW (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Mindfulness, and Wellness) to “Cultivate Mindful Culture.” We work with large corporations and non-profit organizations to provide programming - workshops, webinars, training programs - and strategic culture change efforts to help them integrate DEIMW into the fabric of their organizations. We are working with organizations such as Amazon Web Services, J.Crew, Oregon Family Support Network, and more.

Tell us about yourself

As an entrepreneur, I’ve always been an ideas person, a connector between like-minded people, and I’ve always worked to find ways to bring my ideas to life. In college, I had difficulties with mental health, and with the help of a loving community, medical professionals, the healing effects of time, and intentional contemplative practices, I have been able to cultivate stability, peace, and a deep desire to help others experience freedom. Recognizing and coming to terms with my privilege has helped me understand that freedom, equity, and opportunity for marginalized communities are something that will lead to well-being, freedom, and a better quality of life for us all.

Each day, I dedicate my life to helping bring well-being, mindfulness, and DEI to organizations because I understand that we spend much of our waking lives working. If we can help organizations operate in more healthy ways on a systemic level, help cultivate inclusion and belonging for all people within organizations, and instill a human-centered way of operating on a large scale, quality of life will improve drastically for many. With this goal at the heart of my work, work doesn’t really feel like work. It is simply what I enjoy spending my time doing.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

An accomplishment that has been monumental in my life has been finding ways to integrate the principle of rest into my daily work life. For example, my business partners know that I WILL take a nap almost every afternoon without fail. This helps me embody the fact that my productivity does not define my value as a human being. It also shows me that Source Wellness’ work in the world can only be bolstered when our partners and coworkers can show up fully from a healthy and happy place. If we do not “tend to our own garden,” we will not be able to co-create better work environments with our clients.

Rest is an integral part of my daily practice, and while I recognize the point of rest is not to make us more efficient cogs in the machine, it does help me be more productive. When I’m committed to work that is improving the lives of others, productivity has more meaning. To summarize, I can say my most important accomplishment as a business owner is that we have successfully incorporated the vision of rest and well-being into Source Wellness’ company culture. We’ve cultivated and embedded mindful culture into our own company, which is a testament to our ability to do this for other organizations.

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

For me, the hardest thing as a business owner is the process of having to operate in roles that I may not have expertise in. As you probably know, entrepreneurs have to wear many hats. It is not always as glorious or fun as it may seem from the outside looking in. Many people assume that you can do whatever you want when you own a business. While I can take a nap each day, I also have to work on the business in ways that I do not have expertise in. Doing tedious work outside of your skillset can be frustrating and exhausting. If you do not have a deep mission that drives your business towards its goals, it is hard to overcome the hurdles that will inevitably come your way.

Starting Source Wellness, I did not know much about running finances, data-driven marketing, legal work, and this list can go on and on. Many more pieces will arise that I will have to simply figure out through research and experience. Thankfully, Source Wellness has always been a mission-driven company, so whenever I do not want to work on the business side of things, I consider how my actions will eventually lead to the improvement of others’ lives. This is what drives me.

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

  1. It’s important to find co-founders, employees, and/or coworkers who you can trust and who you are skilled in areas that you are not. There is a much higher likelihood that your venture will be successful with the right people on your team. In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins talks about getting the right people on the bus (sometimes before you even know where you are going!).
  2. Be resourceful and intentional. If you are lucky enough to have access to capital or funding, it can be easy to justify spending money on things that may not be necessary. It is extremely important to budget intentionally, spend money sparingly, and do as much as you can on your own before having to pay others to do something. This does not mean settling for lesser quality. It means that when outsourcing work or bringing people on your team, it must be an absolute necessity if you are spending precious money. And if you plan to eventually go for funding, one of the most important things that investors love to see is resourcefulness.
  3. Take good care of yourself and find a community of like-minded people that will uplift you and help you see your value. Self-care and community care are essential in the process of growing a business. Again, you cannot help others if you don’t tend to your own garden, so if you are emotionally, physically, and mentally drained, you cannot fully offer the world your tremendous value. Taking time to breathe, rest, be still, and slow down on your own and in the community is absolutely invaluable. Without like-minded people helping you see beyond the doubts that will inevitably arise, the incredible worth that you have as a person, and your vision for why you started this project in the first place, it is difficult to make it to your end goal.

Honorable mention: Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize. And pivoting is okay.
As an entrepreneur, you will most likely feel that there are always an infinite number of tasks you can be doing. So you must prioritize and prevent yourself from being spread too thin. As you walk through the journey and gain more experience, you may realize some things aren’t as valuable as you thought. You may recognize that you are missing something absolutely crucial. It is okay to pivot and sometimes even necessary to make large enough changes to impact your entire business model. However, each pivot brings many new action items to the table, so you must try to take a bird's-eye view and, once again, prioritize what is most important.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.sourcewellness.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itssourcewellness/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/source-wellness/

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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