We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Josie Santiago a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Josie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

Work-life stress motivated me to start my own business. I was in a job that valued relentless work over employee well-being, and I did what any ‘good’ employee would do—I conformed. In a culture where everyone was overworked and under-resourced, I too worked incessantly. My job took priority, my well-being came last, and, soon enough, my health began to decline. Within two years, I was burnt out and needed to focus on my own well-being. As I began to recover and prioritize my health, I discovered that focusing on my well-being made me even more impactful and transformative ( something I cognitively knew but didn’t know how to embody in our work culture). I learned that when we truly center our well-being, we not only thrive but also enhance the chances of those around us thriving as well. I started to question why wellness wasn’t at the center of our work culture and what might happen if we prioritized wellness first. This led to the creation of Akili Well, a venture designed to support that vision and help others live it out.

Throughout my life, I have been dedicated to service work, but I never imagined becoming a small business owner until I truly embraced what Akili Well represents—a chance to dream and live the fulfilling life we deserve.

Leaving my job in October 2021 was a significant risk, especially during a global health crisis. Despite uncertainties about financial security, I knew it was the right move for me. Fortunately, I was rooming with an experienced entrepreneur ( Hope Lehman, founder of JustBe). Observing her business practices, I realized I had already learned a lot about where to start. I used that knowledge and sought support from mentors through AnewAmerica and the Boss Network during my first year. Their guidance made that initial year very successful.

Visibility, financial sustainability, and navigating the challenges of going it alone are some of the toughest obstacles I’ve faced—and still face. The steep learning curve to get my service out there created considerable stress. I wish I could have taken my time and proceeded at a more manageable pace while building my foundation. If I could offer advice to my past self, it would be to enjoy the process more and not just focus on the outcome. And that’s the advice I would give to anyone else starting their own practice.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a seasoned trainer, facilitator, and certified leadership and wellness coach with over a decade of experience crafting impactful learning experiences, immersive workshops, and retreats through a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) lens. My career began in activism within the education and non-profit sectors, where I honed my skills in organizing and conflict reconciliation. I made a deep commitment early in life to be an agent of transformation through social change and invested many years in various peacebuilding practices.

My personal journey to wellness began with yoga, a practice I adopted to counterbalance the stresses of my demanding work life. Following a severe back injury and the physical and mental toll of cumulative stress, I turned to wellness to regain my strength and reconnect with my sense of wholeness.

As the founder of Akili Well, I lead a learning and development service that offers one-of-a-kind experiences, holistic group support, and dynamic leadership training. At Akili Well, we integrate experiential learning with well-being practices and DEIJ tools to foster leadership growth and build inclusive cultures. We provide highly effective leadership training, employee resource group support, and professional coaching tailored to organizations. We also offer individuals 1:1 professional coaching, wellness retreats, and unique women’s programming.

My interdisciplinary approach blends holistic healing modalities with a focus on self-awareness, self-care, and collective transformation. I am dedicated to creating trauma-informed, healing-centered workplaces and supporting individuals’ mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Through Akili Well, I aim to make wellness tools accessible and affordable, ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to thrive.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My back injury in 2016 was one of the biggest lessons of my life. Shortly after running a half marathon, I suffered a back injury that forced me to reevaluate my relationship with my body. I realized I had built my identity around performing and had placed a lot of my self-worth in being able to produce. A year later, when my body wasn’t recovering as it had from previous injuries, I faced the reality that I might never return to the passions that I loved. Gradually, I began to accept that my body was not something to be fixed and that it wasn’t a machine. I started to view my body differently, embracing it as ever-evolving, and I began to honor and appreciate it more than I ever had. Self-compassion became a crucial part of my journey, helping me navigate this new perspective. I learned to respect the aging process with greater sensitivity and learned the true importance of rest. This shift in mindset has profoundly affected my approach to my body and how I move in my practice. I have to be extra conscious of how many hours I am putting into work throughout the week and if I am ‘on’ too much. As an solopreneur- it’s easy to fall in that trap. It takes intentional practice for me to keep this new perspective about my body and to live in alignment with it. I want a thriving business, but I also want to live well in the process of seeing it grow and thrive.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

Yes, I probably would because I feel this is my life’s calling, but if I had the option to clone myself- I would love to be a scientist of some sort.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.akiliwell.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akiliwell/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AkiliWell/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephine-s-68a918145/