We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Naomi Hutchinson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Naomi, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I found my purpose by devoting time to God each day. Early on in the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began deepening my relationship with God through prayer, meditation and reading spiritual texts. I was going through a major shift at the time – transitioning from a dance career to wellness entrepreneurship. In that transitional period, I didn’t know what the end result would be but I knew that I was being called to serve. I was literally a server at the time, working at a fine dining restaurant in Beverly Hills, but this call to serve was greater. Ultimately, I discovered through journaling and meditation that my calling was to serve people by providing accessible wellness resources. I was already living a healthy lifestyle and I was extremely passionate about it so the next step was to share this information with others. Once I embarked on this new career path, I felt so purposeful. Although I had always seen myself having a career in dance, it didn’t feel like it was my purpose. To me, a purpose is something greater than yourself and this transition into wellness entrepreneurship was exactly that.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Before my work, I am a vibrant and curious human being. I absolutely love being a student and learning new keys to living a fulfilling and whole life. I am passionate about love and relationships and I am excited by music, wellness and travel.
Currently, I am enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to attain my Holistic Health and Wellness Coaching certification. I am immensely grateful and excited to be in this program with master teachers in the field like Joshua Rosenthal, Deepak Chopra and Cynthia James. There are not nearly enough black holistic health and wellness coaches which is one of my motivations for completing this program. Upon graduation, I plan to coach clients 1 on 1, as well as host accessible group coaching programs. Down the line, I will also open up my own institute full of black and brown faculty members to educate the next generation of wellness coaches.
In the role of CEO, I curate wellness experiences for black and brown communities locally in LA and beyond through my company, Healthy+Well. Healthy+Well is an online and in person hub for holistic health and wellness. Since November 2021, my company has hosted 32 in person offerings including our Signature Rooftop Yoga Verzuz, Yoga Brunch and Rest n’ Beach concepts. We have partnerships with Nike, Alkeme Health and Partake Foods. This fall, we’ll be traveling to Temecula for our Luxury Wine and Yoga retreat. You can learn more about our offerings via our website: www.healthyandwell.online/services
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities that have contributed to my success thus far are Consistency, Persistence and Intention. As a business owner, the first year will most likely be the hardest because you typically will not see an immediate return on the investment of your time, energy and money. Although this is the case, your effort must be consistent. For example, if the only thing you can do to build your brand is post on Instagram, make sure you do it everyday.
Persistence is a compliment to Consistency because the persistence is what keeps you consistent. I like to think of persistence as an annoying nudge, it doesn’t go away but it continuously pushes you towards your purpose. Building persistence requires faith in your vision and once you have that, showing up consistently will be easy.
The last quality is Intention. I put intention behind everything I produce, whether it’s an e-book or an event for 40 people. An intention is simply a feeling or theme that represents what your offering/service is supposed to inspire. If I’m hosting a Yoga class for a group of Young women then I can make my intention to empower them to feel confident in their ability to accomplish their goals. This intention would then become a thread throughout every part of the Yoga class experience from the songs I put on the playlist to the types of poses that I guide the young women into. Without intention, there will be missed opportunities to foster connection, especially when your focus is building community. People like to know why they’re coming together – having an intention gives them and your team clarity and a shared vision.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I am actively looking for sponsors and investors. I greatly enjoy showing up in person and holding space for healing and wellness but it can be costly. I am looking for brands with shared values who want to disrupt the wellness industry by funding black and brown wellness experiences. Communities of color are still underserved when it comes to wellness and a lot of the offerings that exist are financially inaccessible. Through the support of sponsors and investors, I can continue to produce my in person experiences with more refinement, expertise and still maintain its accessibility to those who really need to attend.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.healthyandwell.online/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthyandwell.la/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/healthyandwell4life
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-hutchinson-31bb229b
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPmyZUa1UxJCDjXjlb1niZg
Image Credits:
Photos by: Jessica Jones @designmsjones and Ja Tecson @jatecson
