Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Amy Ward Brimmer, owner of Way Opens Wellness, LLC, located in Yardley, PA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
At Way Opens Wellness, I provide help for people who are ready to change from the inside out. Based on 30+ years of somatics practices, my primary work is offering instruction in the Alexander Technique, a mind-body method of learning to move with less tension and strain, releasing harmful habits that interfere with balance, flow, and the ability to take effective action in life. Alexander's work both teaches and heals, empowering people to regain easy, simple ways of moving, reduce chronic pain, and improve performance in all their endeavors.
I also provide a type of bodywork called Somatic Release, a proprietary combination of many approaches rooted in the Alexander Technique and including reflexology, trigger point therapy, creative visualization, and other energy-based systems tailored to the individual needs of the client. I have special training in trauma recovery, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and Insight (Vipassana) meditation. I teach meditation in classes and as individual coaching, lead mindful movements such as Qigong and Everyday Ergonomics, and teach practices like self-compassion, loving-kindness, and gratitude.
My latest offering is Compassionate Listening, a somatics-based therapeutic process of listening deeply to the body's many messages to heal the effects of stress and trauma, provide support for decision-making, improve relationships, and reconnect to the authentic self. Informed by the trauma recovery work of Dr. Gabor Mate', Peter Levine, Alaine Duncan, and others, Compassionate Listening is more than just talk or analysis. It is listening and discovery.
Tell us about yourself
My motivation to offer the various things I do is rooted in my own recovery from a dysfunctional childhood and the effects of many types of trauma.
I stumbled on the Alexander Technique when I had a vague sense that my PTSD was not being fully addressed by conventional talk therapy, as valuable as that was. I took my first Alexander lesson in 1989, and I immediately knew that I was on the right path. I decided to become a teacher and began my private practice in 1995. My Alexander work led me into some related fields. I used it as a childbirth educator and doula, writer and editor, social change activist, and eventually into specific trauma recovery work.
I love that I get to do what I love, knowing that the ways that opened for me to learn, heal, and grow are helping my clients and students. I get to meet people from all walks of life under a variety of circumstances, and this work is always interesting.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I think just staying the course, not giving up over all these years. Having faith that the right people will find me and remember that the world really needs what this work offers them.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
The nuts and bolts part, the tasks I don't enjoy doing. Marketing is hard, and it is challenging to communicate what this work is all about because most people haven't heard of it or have odd ideas about what it is.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Do it! Stop second-guessing yourself and trust your gut. Keep trusting that this is something you need to be doing, no matter what.
- Don't isolate, have a team of supporters, especially if you are a solo entrepreneur, people you can bounce ideas off of and share drafts of whatever you're creating or building to get feedback.
- Accept that there will be slow times, periods where it seems nobody wants what you've got. Or after a big jump in sales or activity, there may be less. Peaks and valleys. Don't take this personally.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://wayopenswellness.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WayOpensWellness
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amywardbrimmer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amywardbrimmer/
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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