The Power of WholyMe- At a recent Certified Organic press event, arranged by the Soil Association I had the pleasure of meeting Celine Ivari – Founder and CEO of the wellness brand WholyMe. Their mission is to revolutionise our approach to wellbeing and help people discover the power of holistic health.
WholyMe combines its knowledge of science and the power of nature to bring the best all-natural, organic wellness products that offer highly effective results, consisting of the award-winning Relief Balm, Drops and Salts.
Our modern lifestyle is a source of constant pressure, which often leave us feeling aches and pains across our bodies. Aches and pains are a signal of tension and a way for our bodies to tell us we need to relax and recover.
Celine started formulating natural products when she witnessed just how seriously her mother’s stressful lifestyle impacted her health.
Armed with expertise in Genetics and fuelled by a strong desire to give everyone the tools to maximise their wellbeing, she embarked on a journey to make the healthiest, highest quality soothing products for everyday stresses, aches, and pains.
Women Talking talks to Celine to find out more about her wellness brand.
How has your life changed since you embarked on the WholyMe Journey?
“It’s been a very exciting journey! In terms of how my life changed, very likely like most entrepreneurs, it becomes all-encompassing, I am always working, but it never feels like work. There is a very big sense of ownership and responsibility that comes with launching your own company, which means you grow every day! Always looking for ways to grow the business but also grow as an individual. “
“It’s still very early phases and I am wearing a lot of different hats, from product development, supply chain management, HR, finances, marketing, sales and customer care, there is never a dull day. Our community really fuels me and the rest of the team, seeing people’s responses to our remedies, noticing how we truly help people with a healthier approach to pain management is incredibly rewarding. “
“The challenge is to find a balance though, launching a start-up can easily take up all aspects of your life, I find it important to integrate practices that keep me grounded, and spend time with friends and family. I work on this actively, it’s about knowing it’s not a race, it’s a marathon.”
What inspired you to start WholyMe?
“WholyMe was really born from a personal experience, having witnessed the impact of my mother’s stressful lifestyle on her health I made it my mission to help her in any way I could. I was determined to find an effective and completely natural solution to help her aches and pains, but I could not find that anywhere. I started digging deep into natural solutions and formulating products myself, which helped my mother tremendously. “
“This experience highlighted a bigger problem: the way people address lifestyle inherent stress, aches and pains are completely flawed, we either ignore our bodies alarm systems or turn to pain killers, medical solutions for lifestyle issues, and that does not make any sense. That is when I decided I wanted to transform consumer behaviour towards a more holistic approach to health.’
“WholyMe’s first range of products serve to effectively soothe body and mind, the remedies can be integrated as part of your self-care routine, all-natural all good.”
As an expert in genetics, do you feel this is linked to our individual wellness journey?
“One of the most empowering lessons from my genetics background was understanding the importance of our environment on our predispositions. We are all born with a unique set of genetic codes that define our physiology. However, the environment we live in can alter which genes are switched on and which ones are switched off, so we really have a lot of control over our genetic material. “
“There are some simple truths for everyone, our modern lifestyle is filled with stresses, aches and pains are now common, having a more holistic approach to our health, integrating practices to manage our stress, and acknowledging our pains can have a huge impact on our wellbeing but also on our predispositions to conditions and long-term health.”
Cannabis is becoming a well-used ingredient in the beauty industry, why has it taken so long to become mainstream? Do you find people apprehensive about using products containing CBD/cannabis ingredients?
“I believe several factors have contributed to the surge in popularity but there was definitely a rise induced by the 2018 passage of the US Farm bill by former US President Donald Trump, which legalised medical and recreational cannabis at the state level. This led to an explosion in CBD popularity.”
“Though it is regulated highly, and we cannot make any allegations, claims or much marketing here in the UK, people have access to information and do their own research. It doesn’t take much effort to find all the feedback consumers share online and this, in turn, drives consumer behaviour. There is definitely a shift in perceptions, I notice a lot more acceptance and tolerance for CBD/cannabis products, though you still find many people continue to be apprehensive, it is strikingly impressive to see how quickly perceptions changed and the market adopted the use of cannabis products.”
Moving forward, do you have any other products you would like to add to your range?
“Definitely! We listen very closely to our community and ensure we keep developing products that they ask for; we are working on a few new products now which we are very excited to launch to market! You can sign up to our newsletter to stay informed of product launches”
For more information visit WholyMe here
Poppy Watt