We were lucky to catch up with Char Newell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Char thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

It still blows my mind that there is a simple formula for fostering a positive workplace culture and organizations still miss the mark. My saying is “Corporate health begins with your employees”. The success and health of any company depend heavily on the well-being and engagement of its employees. Happy, healthy, and engaged employees tend to be more productive, loyal, and motivated to contribute to the success of the company.

Organizations are not proactive in their efforts they are reactive. The truth is I spend a lot of time trying to get leaders to understand employees are the backbone of any company and providing a safe space for employees to be transparent and vulnerable will lead to a more mentally healthy workforce. The people who work for a company are its most valuable asset. They are the ones who drive innovation, produce goods and services, and interact with customers. Investing in their well-being and job satisfaction is a smart business move. A healthy work environment, including physical and mental well-being, leads to higher job satisfaction, engagement, and motivation, which in turn leads to higher productivity.

The formula is simple “treat others like you would want to be treated”.

Char, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I use to shy away from talking about myself, but I realize it’s important to celebrate your accolades and journey. That’s what pushes you forward, being grateful for your experiences.

I am the CEO and Chief Corporate Life Coach for Your Healthy Reality. I am a published author, with an amazon best seller, “The Yellow Weed”. I am a Certified Corporate Life Coach, Certified Strategic HR Business Partner, Certified Master Life Coach, and Motivational Speaker. My work was recognized by the Young Gifted & Black Entrepreneurial Awards and I was honored with the Professional Services Award for Strategic Vision & Innovation in Human Resources in 2018.

Your Healthy Reality is a certified women/minority owned management consulting firm that takes a coaching approach to delivering consulting services and leadership development while helping our clients to cultivate a positive workplace culture.

Before starting Your Healthy Reality, I’ve spent over 15 years of my career as a Human Resources Executive for organizations on a National scale. I have successfully completed hundreds of high-volume mergers & acquisitions, transformed broken cultures, and taught organizations how to rebrand their image by using one very important resource, their PEOPLE. It was the time I’ve spent in HR that made me realize, the mental health of the employees are suffering in organizations and I wanted to create a business that focuses on helping the people in the organization operate at their best selves on daily basis. To be clear, not the organization’s definition of what best looks like for you, but your own views about who you are, what motivates you, and what functioning at your best means for you as an individual. I know we all have unique gifts that just needs to be discovered. People are really suffering in their personal lives and they bring those issues with them to work whether we like to believe it or not. So why not create a safe space for them to be transparent and vulnerable.

My coaching and development model is unique because we know the whole person shows up to work, not just the skills and experiences. So no matter the service I provide, I am focusing on the individual in the seat and not just the position.

Our sweet spots are:

1. Executive & Leadership Coaching & Development.
2. Safe Space Group Coaching, journey to the “growth mindset”.
3. Strategic Human Resources consulting and development.
4. Organizational Development that ties your people strategy to your business strategy.
5. Training & Development Workshops that drives performance and makes a positive impact on the mental health of your employees.

I am really proud of the fact that I created the “30 days to a new you journal” which can be found on amazon. It’s a journaling technique I created during the pandemic. The purpose of the journal is to help people gain self-awareness, become emotionally intelligent, but most importantly retrain their minds back on the path of positivity. Fast forward to now 2023, this same journal is the workbook for my 30 days to a new you safe space group coaching program.

Life is beautiful if you allow it to just flow.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Soooo many lessons along this journey. I’ve learned starting a business actually takes a resilient mindset. Every successful business owner has gone through some stuff. Nothing happens overnight. Phew! Your Healthy Reality is my 5th business. The one thing you have to be sure about when entering the entrepreneur space is you will not allow the “spirit of giving up” to take over your soul. That spirit use to show up on a daily and I would have to go into battle with myself to get it to back down. When you don’t see things happening and money is not flowing, that spirit knows exactly what to say to make you quit.

I started Your Healthy Reality in June 2018 and my first year seemed like I had a promising business. I acquired a few clients, not enough to pay my bills but enough to let me say I am going to keep going. I have to admit, I was all over the place my first year. I wasn’t even clear on my services because I was taking the paycheck any which way I can get it. Then 2019 was so fruitful and beautiful. I was like, YES, I got this! We all know what came next in 2020. The pandemic hit and I lost 50% of my clients. I had to learn how to pivot real quick.

I have to say the pandemic was sort of a blessing for me as it relates to my business model and strategy. It made me realize where I really wanted to focus my efforts and learned how to get it done virtually. I was able to sustain the business by focusing on my virtual trainings.

Now I know, it’s a continuous evolution when you are a business owner. You have to continuously reinvent yourself. It’s ok to allow your original vision to lead you to new destinations. If you believe in your product or service that’s enough to make it successful.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Confidence! I absolutely believe when you show up confidently about your product, your service, or even your process, the client believes you and wants to buy from you. I always say, all I have to do is get them on the phone. I know once I get the meeting I am getting the deal. Where does confidence come from? Your experiences. If you can connect your pitch to your experience that’s gold. I am blessed to have started a business that I have first hand experience in. It definitely makes it easier to show up as the subject matter expert. I can draw from so many encounters that I have had over the past 15 years, that I’ve never met with a client that a challenge I couldn’t resolve. This is where I appreciate time, because with time comes wisdom.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yourhealthyreality.com
• Instagram: @your_healthyreality or https://www.instagram.com/your_healthyreality/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charnewell/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/dearlifewarriors
• Other: Char Personal IG: @boszilla or https://www.instagram.com/boszilla/

Image Credits
Char’s photos taken by- Nick Nelson, The Brandprenuer Agency