The road to wellness is outside your comfort zone
I never really thought of myself as the creative type until I started my own business. Once I stepped outside my comfort zone and got out of my own way, the opportunities opened right up. In fact, I was recently invited to join the amazing and talented team of like-minded professionals at The Women’s Pic as a regular contributor on their site. Here’s what they had to say about me!
There is an air of "Joi de vie" around This Wellness Life founder Marianne Zander, a glow of life affirming positive energy that comes with an appreciation for what has been presented to her. But often appreciation or added appreciation comes after contrast, which for Marianne is very much the case.
Born and raised in California, Marianne moved to Australia with her husband and cats in 2007. A holistic health and wellness coach with a background in personal training and vegan nutrition, Marianne also has a Master’s Degree in Communication Management and has worked in various international corporate and non-profit industries. But her passion lies in helping people live their best wellness life.
"I love being outdoors, traveling to warm, tropical places and scuba diving. On the flip side, I love curling up with a good book, my cats, my hubby and a nice glass of organic, vegan Pinot Noir. It’s all about balance, isn’t it?"
Marianne's journey to This Wellness Life has been a long and sometimes complicated one, out of which her business emerged. It began with her personal health issues and the difficult process of diagnosis and finding the correct solutions for endometriosis.
"As a vegan athlete and personal trainer, my exercise was solid and my diet was on point. I had a good job and an awesome husband, but despite all this I was really unwell. I was upholding certain key pillars of my health, while seriously sacrificing others. It was impacting me physically, emotionally and mentally; it was affecting my professional and personal relationships as well. One health issue after the next kept cropping up and it wasn’t until I was put on a waiting list for surgery that I realised there had to be a better way."
Marianne began looking for natural, holistic solutions and started experimenting with wholefood, plant-based nutrition and therapeutic essential oils. With the help of her doctor and therapeutic solutions, she was able to heal her body (both physically and emotionally), and avoid surgery for endometriosis. It was this journey that fuelled her desire to want to educate others on how a holistic approach offers support for all sorts of health and wellness-related issues.
"I wanted to help people put the pieces together to focus on not only key pillars of health like diet, exercise, sleep, and mindset, but also help them understand how it all ties together to impact our overall wellness. I use the analogy of training: you can train the big muscles all you want, but you also have to look after the tendons, ligaments and fascia that hold it all together. After all, we’re only as strong as our weakest link. "
This Wellness Life offers coaching, education, resources, tools and training to help people live their best wellness life. This is done via workshops, small group or one-on-one sessions and is customised to meet the needs of the group or individual. Taking into account her own struggles, it makes sense that a number of Marianne's clients are women dealing with endometriosis, but she also works with women and men along various stages of their wellness journeys. She also collaborates with non-profits and local businesses and offers workshops in corporate and higher education settings.
"I started This Wellness Life in February 2017 and originally focused specifically on essential oils. I’ve expanded since then and now also offer holistic health and wellness coaching. We typically start with a free 15-minute wellness consult, which can be done in person, over the phone or online. From there, we do a deeper dive based on clients’ needs and where they are in their wellness journey. Our model is based on key pillars of health and wellness including nourishment, movement, mindset, rest and recovery. We also look at areas like emotional wellbeing, gut health, low-tox living, stress management and more."
You get the sense with Marianne that even though she may no longer be doing a three hour a day commute, working crazy hours with a phone glued to her ear, constantly on call with little downtime, she is still incredibly busy. Possible the real difference lies with that pre-mentioned life affirming energy she exudes being a big part of what drives Marianne with her business.
"They say that when you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. Since focusing on the business, I’ve really tried to maintain a much healthier balance. I try to work in blocks of time and have really made a much more considered effort to allocate down time with the hubby. I’m delighted to say that he and I have gone on more long walks along the beach this summer than ever before! We’ve also been on two holidays together in the past 12 months, which was unheard of before! I feel like I’m a much better partner and friend than I was before, because I’m not overwhelmed or running on empty anymore and I have more energy to give back to others. I think the most important thing is to do what brings you the most joy. I love helping people. I love educating people and watching the ‘penny drop’ for them as they put all the pieces of health and wellness together. I love watching the transformation that people go through when they make wellness a priority."
Even so, starting and running your own business takes a different level of motivation from a nine to five, with a whole new list of challenges. Marianne sites her husband and her family back home in America as being her big motivators, along with satisfied clients.
"Success to me is hearing my clients’ testimonials and seeing how their lives have improved. This always brings a smile to my face! I love meeting and engaging with new people. I love helping people dig deep to uncover the ‘why’ or the root cause of some of their wellness issues. Oftentimes, people think of health and wellness only in terms of diet and exercise, and I like helping them see things from a more ‘wholistic’ view. I also love learning new things, and my business allows me to do that every single day."
So with a life spent both educating and learning from clients, is there any advice Marianne has to share with us about her journey in starting her business?
"Get outside your comfort zone. Start before you’re ready. Don’t be afraid to try new things and make mistakes along the way. Don’t strive for perfection; it doesn’t exist, it’s not achievable and it will only hold you back. And don’t say you’re not creative, because we’re all creative!"
It's safe to say Marianne is living proof of all that!
The Women's Pic is thrilled to welcome Marianne to join the ranks of our regular contributors. We’ll be hearing more from Marianne in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
