Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Alex Colkitt, Founder of AC Holistic Wellness, located in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I am a Life & Happiness Coach, and I help ambitious women break free from expectations and redefine success for themselves so that they can be cured of burnout and build a life they love and deserve.
Tell us about yourself
Prior to being a coach, I started my career in corporate marketing as a content strategist. I spent eight years feeding into the hustle culture in New York City, grinding away, which ultimately left me the most unhealthy and unhappy I’ve ever been and completely burned out. The pandemic hit, and I took a really hard look at where my life was at that point and decided there was no better time to change the path I was currently on in pursuit of fulfillment and long-term happiness.
Through this self-exploration, I discovered Health & Wellness Coaching. For the first year of entrepreneurship, I focused on helping driven women like myself develop healthy lifestyle routines to reduce stress. However, I know there is so much more that goes into improving the quality of your life and your well-being than just diet and exercise. A huge piece of that puzzle is personal and professional development.
When you think about it, your job dominates most of your waking hours and can significantly impact your overall health. I could have continued coaching people on reducing their stress and slowing the stages of burnout, but that wouldn’t be honoring my truth. I know from first-hand experience that if you’re burnout from a career that is so unfulfilling, no amount of stress management coaching is going to help because it’s not healing the root cause of the issue.
The first step in my well-being journey was trusting my intuition to get off of the career path that I thought I needed to commit to forever because that’s what somebody else told me about how you achieve success. Taking this step didn’t just reduce my stress; it CURED it.
I was able to redefine success on my terms, I pursued my dream to positively impact others and found fulfillment through entrepreneurship, and now I am on a mission to help other women do the same!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I now measure success based on the number of people I have positively impacted, so my biggest accomplishment as a business owner in my first year is having worked with ten amazing clients who have all created change in their lives and are on the path to long-term happiness. There’s nothing that brings me more joy than helping someone else find their passion and build the confidence to go pursue it!
I’ve also worked with a handful of Corporate Wellness clients, which is near and dear to my heart because of my corporate background. Bringing a bit of positivity and motivation to burnout employees is beyond fulfilling, and seeing wellness in the workplace is inspiring! (something I definitely could have used a few years ago.)
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
For me, it was self-managing. I came from a very structured work environment with a boss telling me exactly what to do and when it was due. Without this structure, I had to learn how to put guardrails in place and focus my attention strategically to only work on things that would make the biggest impact now that I’m wearing so many hats.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Don’t worry about how you’re going to build the business; just focus on small actions towards your goal, and the how will become clear with trial and error. Taking action will give you all the feedback you’re looking for to figure out the how.
- Find a community with other entrepreneurs. Being able to collaborate, brainstorm, share ideas or just be able to talk with somebody going through the same things as you are is insanely helpful. You can’t do this alone, and your network is your net worth!
- Have unwavering belief in yourself. There are going to be so many ups and downs, and this has been an emotional rollercoaster like no other, but I’ve never lost faith in myself or my ability to do this, even on the hard days. Grit, resilience, and perseverance, baby! You’ve got this!
Where can people find you and your business?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex.colkitt/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/acolkitt/
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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