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What do I love most about this entrepreneurial adventure in the wellness industry? Meeting other girl bosses from Hong Kong and all over the world! Learning about how business ideas come about and how these dreams grow into full blown businesses, along with the challenges + plans ahead just fuels my heart so much.
I am kicking start my pet project within my passion work via Zippysparkles with the first post of the girlboss stories in a Q&A with Susan Hay – Editor and Founder of Thrive Magazine and Thrive Online.
Susan is an inspiring, big hearted woman in the wellness industry whom I recently had the pleasure of chatting with - I hope you enjoy the story of The Thrive Magazine below, sending so much love ladies! x
Tell us a bit about your background? After a high-pressured career in the corporate world and definitely NOT living the dream! I escaped and went free range. I said goodbye to the stressed, junk food addicted monster that I’d become and started taking a different route. I began to look at my diet, how it affected my body and health. I also researched deep into our food industry to find out what goes into the products we are sold. I opened a Pandora’s lunchbox!
I retrained in Holistic Nutrition and began to learn all that there is to know about natural, healthy food. Health & nutrition has now become my life mission. I truly believe that healthier human beings do good things. That’s why my mission is to help others to become healthier too. I believe in a more natural, organic and free-from food system that enriches the planet and everyone on it. I don’t do ‘can’t haves’, so when it comes to food and nutrition it’s all about balance.
I truly believe that healthier human beings do good things. That’s why my mission is to help others to become healthier too.
What was the concept about Thrive Magazine?
Thrive Magazine is focused on clearing up the confusion around health & nutrition and helping readers to choose a healthy lifestyle. If you’re on your own journey back to health and looking for the latest expert health information, recipes and health news – Thrive Magazine is for you. Thrive is a guide for people to follow if they are looking to make positive changes in their diet, mindset and fitness.
Why do you think wellness has seen such a rise in popularity over the last couple of years?
I truly think that we are becoming more and more disillusioned with the old system of health and wellness. We’re starting to listen to our own bodies more and to choose food that helps us to Thrive. I always say until you can listen to your own body don’t listen to any of the marketing or information out there. Make a conscious choice and always ask ‘why’ – stay curious.
I always say until you can listen to your own body don’t listen to any of the marketing or information out there. Make a conscious choice and always ask ‘why’ – stay curious.
What advice would you give to someone keen to improve their health but not sure where to start? It’s about the small steps, if you have the intention, are going to commit then you will succeed. Have a plan, work with a nutritionist to develop your personalised plan (this makes you
accountable and much more likely to succeed in your goal). Check in with your plan daily and don’t be too hard on yourself. Just think how you want to feel tomorrow and eat food that will achieve that feeling. Oh – and don’t start on a Monday in January! Start now – today.
In a busy marketplace, how can ethical brands ensure they compete and stand out?
You have to be 100% authentic, be transparent and honest with your customers. We live in a world where consumer reviews and social media dominates. Be true and have a genuine intention to help people improve. These are the kind of brands that we work with at Thrive Magazine. They must have a genuine intention to make the world and everyone living on it healthier in some way.
It’s about the small steps, if you have the intention, are going to commit then you will succeed.
Are there any wellness/nutrition trends that you see becoming popular in the near future?
I see a more personalised approach to nutrition and health becoming more dominant. After all we’re all very much unique when you look at our DNA. Food will continue to become a way to heal in 2019 with consumers looking for healthier, organic and energy boosting options. We live in a fast-paced world and if you have a great product that can offer a healthy solution and fast then you’re going to do well.
What are your plans for Thrive Magazine?
We’ve big plans for Thrive magazine and Thrive Online. We’ve been listening carefully to our own readers and audience and we want to provide an expert perspective on health & nutrition. A place online for accredited information, that’s why we launched our Thrive Experts this year. A team of trained nutritionists, fitness trainers and mindset experts who will be working closely with Thrive to provide expert info to our readers and subscribers. We’re also growing Thrive to help healthy, ethical brands to. We work with brands to help them to grow their audience online, via social media, digital marketing and we’re launching our Brand Impact course in 2019 too. The future belongs to ethical brands.
If you could give one piece of advice for those who are starting a business/or are new in the wellness industry, what would it be?
Stay flexible, be able to pivot if you need to. As a new or smaller business you have this to your advantage, you can change direction if you need to. Also, once last piece of advice - socialise, find business networks, groups or masterminds that work for you - running a business and being an entrepreneur can be lonely.
The latest issue of Thrive Magazine is out now, if you’d like to buy a copy head over to:
Twitter: @ThriveFeelAlive
Instagram: @thrivemagazine
Facebook: @ThriveFeelAlive