The global health and wellness market is worth more than 1.5 trillion dollars. So many people are looking to improve their physical, mental and emotional wellness. At the same time, so many people are needed to help provide these services. What does it take to create a highly successful career in the health and wellness industry?
In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The Health and Wellness Industry,” we are talking to health and wellness professionals who can share insights and stories from their experiences.
In this particular interview, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Nurse practitioner Sasha N. Beatty.
Sasha N. Beatty launched IVY Infusions with the goal of providing convenient, effective preventative wellness services, and her patients agree that Beatty continues to do just that. IVY Infusions is located in the heart of Greenwich, offering premier service in aesthetic and wellness services with a focus on IV infusions. She cites that among the chief complaints of her patients are fatigue and exhaustion, two things she says can be combated with IV therapy and more. At IVY Infusions, patients can also take advantage of vitamin infusions, NAD+ infusions, oxygen therapy, Botox, fillers, PDO thread lifts, and PRP. Beatty has several specialty areas, including helping patients recover from the long-term effects of COVID-19, weight loss, and wellness plans for athletes.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
Igrew up in the Bronx in New York City and went to Catholic school from pre k-12. I tested out a few career choices like journalism and marine biology and then finally decided to go the nursing route. From childhood I always wanted to help and care for others and had dreams of becoming a doctor. However, I ended up completing my degree 13 years after graduating from high school. I worked in the hospital settings overnights starting in Cardiac Telemetry and stayed there for about 8 years. I then went into labor & delivery for 5 years while in school to complete my NP degree. After I obtained my graduate degree, I worked in outpatient pain management, while building my practice.
Was there a particular person or event that inspired you to live a wellness-focused lifestyle? Can you tell us about your main motivation to go all in?
What inspired me was realizing after working in a geriatric setting that I did not want to be an older person that required several prescription medications to prolong my life or have mostly better days because I need medication to thrive and function daily. I decided to go all in once I realized the demand and need for preventative care and wellness.
Most people with a wellbeing centered lifestyle have a go-to activity, exercise, beverage, or food that is part of their routine. What is yours and can you tell us how it helps you?
Because I have small children and I’m working 24/7, it’s been difficult to work out the way I loved too, so now I just high on my own supply of IV nutrients and I love to travel. Taking a quarterly quick reset trip has always been my go-to to destress, recharge and rejuvenate.
Can you share a story about the biggest challenges you faced when you were first starting? How did you resolve that? What are the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
Nursing is centered around wellness so it’s always in my nature to always help others be well. The business idea of preventative wellness was sparked again while working in the hospital setting and after understanding the pathophysiology of how medication is delivered and best absorbed by the body.
My educational background is science not business, so it has always been a challenge to navigate starting a business and how to keep it running effectively and efficiently. I have not had the luxury of mentors, investors or business partners. I resolve this with more education. I take customized business classes, attend conferences, and continue to stay up to date on the constant changes.
It’s important to always be willing to learn, networking is very important, at some point I had to realize I can’t do everything myself, but finding great team members is its own separate challenge.
Can you share with us how the work you are doing is helping to make a bigger impact in the world? Can you share a story that illustrates that?
When we begin to focus more on our overall health and well-being from a preventative wellness-driven society, let’s not wait until we start to experience body functions breaking down before we give it proper attention. Keep them working at optimal levels most often. Many of us just focus on taking care of the outer appearance and not nourishing the inner part of us equally, if not better, since that’s where all the power begins. Such as constant workout regimens and aesthetic treatments.
Client feedback about the improvement in how they were feeling– Increased energy, knocked out a cold quickly with a natural boost to the immune system, improvement in lab results. I could go on and on about the benefits. With clients reporting these results that’s a heck of an impact.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
Expanding the treatment options and services in the new location. It will be a larger space with multiple options in one space and they all complement each other. Having several appointments in one day and at one location saves everyone time and money.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
- Competence. [I am] always learning. I enjoy live training experiences the most since you get hands-on experience. The guidance you receive helps with being competent in the work I am doing.
- Warmth. I am very social with many of my clients. We also get to vent and de-stress in the office during treatments. That’s a built-in therapy session also and this builds trust.
- Creativity. [I believe in ] having a vision of how you want to live your life. I’ve always believed in making vision boards. Now I do them mentally and everything I put effort into comes to life.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Let’s begin with a basic definition of terms so that all of us are on the same page. Wellness is an incredibly broad topic. How would you define the term “wellness?” Can you explain what you mean?
Wellness to me means remaining in a state of wellbeing. That is trying to always maintain an optimal balance of inner and outer health.
As an expert, this might be intuitive to you, but it will be instructive to expressly articulate this. Can you please share a few reasons with our readers about why focusing on our wellness should be a priority in our lives?
Increased energy with more pep in your step days vs. feelings of dragging yourself around. If you are taking care of yourself to the best of your ability, you should reap the benefits of aging gracefully.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasingly growing understanding of the necessity for companies to be mindful of the wellness of their employees. For the sake of inspiring others, can you share steps or initiatives that companies have taken to help improve or optimize their employees’ mental and physical wellness?
I work with a few private companies that have us come in to provide monthly wellness treatments to those who wish to participate. We offer boosters such as B12, Vitamin D, Mega Burn and Mini energy booster IV ‘s. Most HSA/FSA cards are accepted for infusion services.
Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need to Create a Highly Successful Career in the Health and Wellness Industry”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
Persistence — if you give up easily, get turned off or highly flustered when things don’t work out as expected, you won’t make it. Technology and science is rapidly evolving, and you have to keep up.
Compassion — you have to be genuinely willing to care for others. If you don’t have a passion for what you do, it translates to the clients.
Education — you need to be educated about the products and services and to always be critically thinking about the treatments being performed. I enjoy customizing clients’ treatments and not just following a standard menu, dosage or specific treatment protocol. We’re not one size fits all.
Money — wellness is a full-time job and it costs money for all these various treatments. It’s very important to have treatments performed by a licensed medical provider and for the provider to invest in educating themselves to provide clients with safe results.
Be driven by making others feel and look good. You should be somewhat selfless because you are caring for others.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would promote the most wellness to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Whoa, I never viewed myself as a person of great influence until recently when many women have verbally expressed to me how they look up to me because I inspire them to do and be better when working towards dreams and goals. IVY Wellness Day Spas are all over the world with all of your wellness needs in one location.
We are blessed that some very prominent names in business, VC funding, sports, and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the U.S. with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Oprah. I love her back story and how she was an underdog but built her way to the top. What I admire the most is how much she gave back. She was always open, honest, giving and sharing. Traits of a caring nurse, lol. You could clearly tell she enjoyed giving back and always willing to share her knowledge. I remember when I first was getting the business started, I reached out to a provider who was in another state to ask for mentorship. She told me ‘I’m not doing that anymore — helping others.’ I had to learn this all on my own. Well I did just that too, but it was sad and I thought that when I get myself fully established, I’ll be willing to mentor others.
How can our readers follow your work online?
Instagram & Facebook: @ivyinfusions
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!