Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to LINDA MULLINS. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
LINDA, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.
My first job in integrative health was the result of a decision to level-up my own health and wellness. Ya see, like many people climbing the corporate ladder, I was working my tail off and very much dedicated to a company in a different field altogether. I loved my company and my career path. So much so that I was spending over 60 hours a week pouring into other people. I was charged with training and developing high potentials in financial services. That meant long hours, a hundred percent travel and ultimately an unhealthy lifestyle. Over the course of five years I managed to gain 100 pounds!
The travel and the hours were huge factors in the weight gain, but clearly there were other things going on with me. Shortly after my 40th birthday celebration, I was looking at the photos of all my friends and family gathered to celebrate with me. I saw one too many pictures of me. I didn’t recognize myself. I was mortified. How could I have let that happen? You’d think I would have stopped at twenty, thirty or forty pounds, but I didn’t. I was working for a great company and earning good money, but I was miserable with that extra weight. So, I quit a great career and went away to a fitness camp to work out six hours a day. Yep, it was a tough but life-changing experience lasting six weeks.
From that immersive experience I went home, continued losing the weight and getting more fit and healthy and shed 97 pounds. It the midst of that transformation, I opened up my own live-in fitness camp, with a critical component that was missing from the other – a Psychologist to deal with the underlying issues of why we self-medicate with food, alcohol or whatever substance. So my first job in this space was as an entrepreneur launching my first start-up. Nothing like starting at the top, when you’ve only ever worked for others!
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?
Launching that first start-up from concept to high growth was thrilling,rewarding, exhausting and all-consuming. I had traded corporate burnout for a different kind of overwhelm. Ultimately I stepped back into corporate, and several years later found myself yearning to return to the wellness, helping people increase their health, esteem and happiness.
Today, with Inspired Leadership Group, My team and I get to deliver immersive wellness experiences for companies and individual consumers. Our focus is on preventing burnout and overwhelm using an integrative approach. With a focus on mental health and the root causes of dis-ease, our team of experts include cutting-edge neuroscience, mental and emotional health counselors and psychologists as well as naturopath doctors, breatwork and mindfulness coaches and fitness trainers. We embody the definition of ‘holistic health’. Our retreat experiences, workshops and even my Keynote speaking engagments provide wellness solutions that address the root causes off ill health.
Because the mind is a battlefield, thoughts race through your head creating narratives that suck your energy and often have you going down rabbit holes that are not only unproductive, they are untrue most of the time. Knowing that there is a direct connect between brain and body, the gut brain axis, our experts connect the dots and reveal the root cause of trauma triggers and stressors impacting our daily lives. And becuase employee burnout has skyrocketed since the pandemic, we help companies increase the well-being of their people by teaching how to manage stress, anxiety and overwhelm. We do this through immersive off-site experiences where they get away in nature, learn mindfulness, connect with nature and get renewed. Yes, you guessed it, it’s a retreat. So whether it’s one day or multiple days, it is experiential learning with powerful outcomes and more sustainable wellness. The results are more healthier, happier employees who are more engaged and more efficient. In the corporate space, the workshops and retreats include team building, fitness activity and practical takeways for taking better care.
The same goes for the private clients. The big difference being, with a private retreat client, they stay longer, usually around a week and have one-to-one sessions with each mental health counselor, naturopath doctor, wellness and fitness coaches. Because of our wellness team and their cutting-edge neuroscience utilized in treatment sessions, the impact on emotional, mental and physical is profound. We are so honored to play a part in a client’s health transformation. Beyond the immersive retreat, we provide virtual aftercare sessions with any or all of the wellness team so the client can reach their health and wellness goals.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Know your worth and put a high value on your services! Prior to launching my first start-up (or my second) I was in corporate roles in automotive and marine financial services. So I was a ‘numbers girl’ charged with driving teams to increase revenues and make lots of profit. The company valued my worth with a great income and incentives for exceeding sales and profit margin goals. If you value yourself and your services more, the clients will too. It seems counter-intuitive to be priced above your competitors, but give it a go. As long as you provide a quality service or product with some differentiatior, and can articulate that, then increase your margin and set yourself up for profitability.
When I went into business, it was a whole different animal. Not only was wellness travel/ wellness hospitality not much of a thing, there were very few competitors doing what I was doing. But since I had attended a similar experience which helped my launch my own, I had a good model to go by for fair pricing and market comparison. That worked well as a pricing structure, and giving myself a job for six years. But I completely undervalued my own contribution and the dollar amount associated with such a unique and life-changing platform for our clients.
Fast forward to my current company, I pay my team of concierge doctors, psychologists and fitness professionals very well. As you can imagine, doctors for instance warrant a higher rate than other professions. For the first couple of years of this company, for some reason I was undervalueing or leaving out all together, the price or fee for my administrative duties, operations managment, marketing management etc. As a former numbers girl, I wasn’t building in enough prophet, only quantifying my value on a per session basis for my coaching. The truth was, I was undervaluing the services we offer and underpaying myself and the company by thousands of dollars each retreat. Lesson learned. I am NOT a not-profit. So the very first line on each COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) is the profit line. That amount goes first, then the fees for each service, fixed costs etc.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
To me a winning formula is when you have had a personal experience or testimony that led you to go into your chosen field.
I had my story of overcoming my overweight by going to a six week bootcamp experience that fueled my fire and blazed a new path in life. I overcame bad habits and found greater health and joy, so I wanted to the same for others.
My experience fueled my passion for the business. It gave me credibility and resonated with prospective clients. I lived it, breathed it and was excited to shout about it. Anytime we have a story of overcoming an adversity or a story that drove us to serve clients in a particular way, that enthusiasm is contageous, they want to do business with you and are happy to pay the price to be swept up in your joy and passion. People often make emotional decisions when choosing a product, a service or a company. Give them a tangible, human to connect with in this AI-driven world that grows more automated and colder by the minute. Give them something or someonne to believe in that’s real. Encourage them, engage with them and make them part of the journey. People hunger for connection and belonging, no matter the product or service. Be human.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.inspiredleadershipgroup.com, www.luxuryexecutivewellness.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luxexecutivewellness/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RetreatsforLeaders/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-mullins-chief-wellness-officer/
- Other: Google Reviews https://www.google.com/search?q=google+reviews+inspired+leadershipgroup&oq=google+reviews+inspired+leadershipgroup&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQRRhA0gEJMTI3OTFqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1&lrd=0x864e9f479e36ea43:0xd3fb57e91315746e,1,,,,