That is the belief of Lee Tan, the woman behind Well+Being, a wellbeing business in Dunedin which recently bagged a handful of awards at the Spa & Wellness Awards (Asia Pacific) in Australia.
Well+Being was named best urban wellness centre and runner-up in the best holistic health spa, while Ms Tan was wellness warrior of the year runner-up.
Awards might be all very well and good but Ms Tan said the success was not about personal accolades but bringing awareness to her ultimate cause, which was helping people reduce chronic illness.
The health system did not have the resources to “keep propping things up” and the responsibility now fell on people themselves.
In her early 50s and a pharmacist by trade, she has more than 30 years’ experience in the health industry and co-owned two inner city pharmacies, as well as founding laser and skin clinic Groom. She also started the first walk-in brow bar in Dunedin at Life Pharmacy.
It was during the Covid-19 pandemic years that she “saw the worst of human nature”, and that was coupled with her own increasing interest in wellbeing.
She had a chance to pause and “re-look at everything”, pulling away from pharmacy to focus on her family.
During her down time, she decided that health coaching appealed and she became certified as a health and mental health coach.
So why establish Well+Being in St Andrew St?
“It needed to be done, right?” she said this week.
Ask her if it was a gutsy move given the economic environment and she goes a step further, describing it as “so crazy”.
“Sometimes, I’m like ‘that was really a blur’,” she said of the centre’s establishment.
But she had felt a strong calling to set up a different business because modern-day living was “stressing everybody out to the max” and she was the sort of person who, having seen a problem, wanted to solve it.
Being an innovative person, coupled with having service to the public as one of her personal values, Ms Tan said she felt like she had the tools to execute her vision.
At the pharmacy, she realised it had a lot of power during Covid-19, stocking medication, hand sanitiser, face masks and the like, but there was an imbalance — people should be empowering themselves.
Health professionals were getting burnt out, more medication was being dispensed and stress was a large part of chronic illness.
She figured if she could help people reduce their stress levels, then chronic illness would hopefully reduce — “but society is not there yet.”
Well+Being’s treatment philosophy revolved around the five pillars of wellbeing — movement, nutrition, sleep, mindfulness and community.
It opened in March last year and the ensuing 20 months had been a “rollercoaster”.
Acknowledging she did not want to be stressed, Ms Tan said she had to invest a lot of energy in herself and it was all about living a purposeful life.
She went for daily nature walks with her dog, without headphones, and let her thoughts come and go without judgement.
Often her best ideas came from those walks.
She also focused on protein intake, stress levels and sleep priority.
Ms Tan recently launched a podcast series with Highlanders personal development manager Sonya O’Neill called How Are You Really?
Guests included the likes of swimmer Erika Fairweather, cricket coach Mike Hesson, cancer medicine professor Chris Jackson and menopause specialist Dr Deborah Brunt.
It was aimed at sparking honest conversations that went beyond the surface, offering insights and support to help listeners navigate whatever came their way.
Ms Tan wanted to encourage people to talk about their feelings. Not being able to articulate how you felt was a big part of stress.
She was also very big on self-compassion — “nothing is going to happen unless you’re kind to yourself … new habits won’t form if you’re not kind to yourself”.
The most rewarding aspect of her latest business was when clients told her they did not reach for their phone first thing in the morning when they woke up and how they felt so much better.
“I’m just really excited I’m in a position to influence people with the right information.”
