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

Varsha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us 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?

I started my business, Illuminated Health, when I moved to London from California. When I moved, I found it quite difficult to find a job and after 6 weeks of searching, my husband encouraged me to start my own business. So here I was, in a new country, newly married, new home, and I dove straight into establishing my business. At the time, I was teaching yoga, so I began by starting yoga classes. I found a local venue to host yoga classes. I made my website, did door-to-door leaflet distribution, and putting up local flyers about my classes. However, I was often met with crickets. I tried a variety of different venues and it would be a good day if I had 1 person show up to my class. Occasionally, I had 3 or 4 people show up on an inconsistent basis.

Next I decided to host a nutrition workshop at a yoga centre. We marketed it for about 6 weeks and no one showed up. No one even enquired about it. Thats when I decided to start networking. This is when my business gained momentum. Within six months of networking, my yoga classes began to grow at a new venue, but my nutrition business was still quiet. However, through networking, I was introduced to an osteopath who was expanding his clinic and was looking for a nutritionist. And it was through his support and mentorship that I was able to get my nutrition business off the ground.

During those quiet days and those empty classes, I wanted to give up. I wanted to throw in the towel because it broke my heart. I used to come home crying and thinking I was a total failure. However, my husband supported me and motivated me to keep trying. So I did. I kept trying. When one door closed, I would find another one. But I found that networking was the key to growing my business.

For anyone who has a dream, I would advise you to keep going. Keep trying and there is always a way. Its not easy getting your business off the ground. I would encourage you to network. Yes, do tell your friends and family all about your business, but professional networking is that hidden gem that can elevate your business. Try out many different groups and stick with the ones that feel like your tribe. Because your tribe will always have your back and will support you in all that you do.

Varsha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My Story:

The reason I chose the path of holistic healthcare is not because of my own story, but rather because of my mom. I saw my mom suffer and it inspired me to look at other ways the body can heal. My own story begins through my mom’s story.

When I was 16 years old, I really wanted to go to medical school. I spent my time volunteering at a hospital and spent summers shadowing doctors and going to medical conferences for high school students. Then one day, my parents picked my brother and I up from school and as we sat through traffic on our way home, we were rear-ended and our car was in the middle of a three car collision.

This is where my mom’s story begins. She ended up with such severe pain in the back of her shoulders that her entire quality of life was impacted. She was always in pain. It took the doctors months to diagnose and we all felt so helpless. There was nothing we could do for her. It was hard seeing her in chronic and debilitating pain. All this time, she was loaded up with pain killers, which had side effects which led to more medication. But she was constantly suffering. Once she was diagnosed, the doctors offered her surgery, with the odds of paralysis from the surgery higher than the surgery even working. At this point a family friend suggested she try yoga. What doctors couldn’t help her in all these months, yoga cured her in six weeks! I was amazed. To be honest, I didn’t think it would work at the time but all she did was go to yoga for six weeks and that was it – she was all better. It felt like a miracle to me.

This changed my entire perception of the world of medicine. I thought to myself that if I was a doctor, how could I have helped my mom? I would not have been able to do anything different than what the doctors did. Thus began my search for alternative medicine as I still wanted to be a healer but not in a traditional sense. Growing up with Ayurvedic home remedies, I naturally gravitated towards studying Ayurveda. At the same time, I also trained to be a yoga teacher with the same teacher who healed my mom. My thirst for knowledge as a healer didn’t end here. I realised that I wanted to study more. At the time, the western world was not ready for straight up Ayurveda (at least not in America). So I went on to earn my masters in health education and nutrition. I was and still am more interested in integrative or holistic medicine. This way I could combine the science of nutrition with the knowledge of Ayurveda.

So here I am now. I moved from San Diego to London when I got married (yes I moved for love!) nearly a decade ago and started my own business pretty much right away. I’ve also got two young children so I know all too well about balancing health with family and work. I am a qualified and registered nutritional therapist, an Ayurvedic consultant, a senior yoga teacher, and a health educator. My specialities include helping those with digestive health problems and autoimmune conditions. I love to work with clients who are ready to transform their health for the long-term. I am also qualified in nutrigenomics, which is a field of study that investigates the relationship between an individual’s genetic makeup and their response to specific nutrients and dietary factors.

I always say that you can have the best diet in the world, but if you do not have a well functioning digestive system, then that does you no good. It is through the digestive process that we absorb the nutrients of the foods we eat. It is our digestive system that also supports our immune system. Gut health is at the root of all the work I do and even if a client comes to me for support with weight loss, we begin the work with balancing gut health. Even to balance hormones, gut health needs to be addressed first. With all my clients, I always combine nutrition with ayurveda for their personalised dietary and lifestyle plans.

I offer 1:1 nutrition consultations, group coaching programmes, online courses, and a membership known as Holistic Vitality Hub.

I am a published author. I wrote – Think Healthy Choose Healthy which is published through Balboa Press, a division of Hay House.

I whole heartedly believe that the choices you make today will influence your health tomorrow and beyond. Therefore, take your health into your own hands and take the action needed to regain control over your wellbeing so that you can find your level of balanced health.

My Vision & Why:
When I was studying for my bachelor’s degree, I took a class on prevention of disease. And that shifted my entire paradigm. To be honest, prior to that course, I had not thought of prevention as even a real thing, but clearly it is priceless knowledge.

Think of it this way, if you could prevent disease and stay healthy, how much time and money could you save? Save on insurance? Save on medical testing? Save on consultants? Travel time to see consultants? Time in scheduling appointments? Time off work?

So you see it’s not a very popular topic as it’s not seen as a financially profitable. The healthier you are, the less medication or supplements you need. The less you spend on other specialists and testing.

However, this does mean that you can therefore spend more on things you enjoy like travelling, buying luxury items, and invest in self-care as well as personal growth.

I like prevention because it is easier and preferable to cure. I absolutely love seeing clients who are just wanting to improve their health, be proactive and prevent diseases that may run in the family. These clients want to be educated on how to eat and live. They are committed to their well-being. I also feel fortunate because I also get to help those who want to feel better and improve their health and once we get passed their ailments, they also look at ways to be more proactive about their wellbeing.

Ayurveda and Nutrition have a lot of knowledge and information about how to prevent disease. We know that certain foods work better for some people than others. This is in large part due to the growing science of nutrigenomics, where genetics meets nutrition. We also know that food you eat affects how you feel mentally and physically. The choices we make influence how we feel. I love to inspire people to make the healthier choices because it allows them to feel their best.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Self-care is essential for succeeding in my field. Many people come to nutritional therapists after they have tried so many other approaches. Clients come to me when they are often feeling their worst and are looking for help or support. They want to see that light at the end of the tunnel. In order for me to able to support their healing journey, I have to be in a good place myself. Therefore self-care is an essential component of my daily routine. Self-care can vary from day-to-day, but at the foundation, drinking plenty of water, eating well, and prioritising sleep are my non-negotiables. I also like to go for walks, listen to music/podcasts/audiobooks, do yoga, meditate or anything that helps me switch off from work. I also take the time and spend the money to invest into my own wellbeing. Again this can vary, but I do opt for talk therapy, go for massages, having reiki healing sessions, etc because in order for me to promote health, I must support my own health first.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

For myself, the most effective strategy for growing my clientele is networking and newsletter marketing.

I regularly attend networking events so that other businesses get to know me. However, I do not approach networking as a form of direct sales or marketing. I network with the aim to build relationships and form trust. Generally, many people I network with will not utilise my services. However, these same people will happily pass on referrals because they know me and trust me. This method takes time, but it works. It is thanks to networking that my business even got off the ground. Through networking, I have found my tribe. Being an entrepreneur can be lonely at times, but networking is a great way to socialise and also get support with your business.

Newsletter marketing is something that I find more effective than social media. I send out at least 1-2 newsletters a week to my email list. Usually I provide knowledge or some information that is valuable. This means that when I do send out sales or a promotion, more people are willing to read the email and even purchase my offer. Newsletter marketing also takes time as its a way of also building trust and a relationship, but it works.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.illuminatedhealth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illuminatedhealth
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/varshakhatri
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varshakhatri/