Tell us about your business, Balance8 Wellness, and how it came about.

Balance8 Wellness is a clean-label, natural wellness venture with a long-term vision to redefine complete wellness, one brand at a time. Our mission is to build a portfolio of eight category-leading brands, each focused on solving a specific wellness need. With a strong focus on transparency, integrity, and a multidimensional approach, we specialise in building focused brands with products tailored to individual needs rather than generic trends.

I have always been drawn to healthcare, and through early experience in the pharmaceutical space, I saw a growing shift toward preventive health and the rise of nutraceuticals as a new frontier in wellness. After graduating from Imperial, I joined Holland and Barrett, one of the world’s leading health and wellness retailers. To deepen my learning and broaden my perspective, I moved into retail operations at their flagship store in Marble Arch.

That firsthand experience with customers exposed me to what was not working in the industry — from fragmented solutions and generic products to a lack of transparency and misleading claims. My retail experience, along with certified training at H&B, combined with exposure to London’s startup ecosystem, led to a clear conviction: wellness must now be solved, not just sold.

That conviction led to the creation of Balance8 Wellness. Our flagship brand, BrainMatter, stands as a foundation of that belief. It takes a multidimensional approach to brain health and longevity, placing transparency and clean label integrity at its core. And this is just the beginning.

How have you found your entrepreneurial journey so far?

My entrepreneurial journey is still in its early stages, but it has already been incredibly rewarding. What has surprised me most is how personal the experience is. It is not just the business that grows; you grow with it. Every day brings new challenges and valuable lessons, and each one shapes you as a founder and as a person. Building a venture from the ground up as a solo founder has been both intense and fulfilling. It requires resilience, self-belief, and a willingness to keep learning and adapting. But this is just the beginning, and I am excited for everything that is still to come.

What is next for Balance8 Wellness?

We launched our flagship brand, BrainMatter®, in January this year, and the journey since then has been filled with exciting milestones. Each month has brought new achievements, and we have been fortunate to gain early recognition. BrainMatter was featured in the Evening Standard, The Guardian, and The Independent, and received four category-leading nominations at the Get the Gloss Wellness Awards, winning Best for Brain Health and Best Vegan Supplement. It has been incredibly encouraging to see consistent growth and increasing community engagement. Building on that momentum, we have begun work on our second brand, WIRED®. It is a next-generation high-performance brand created for those who dare to be number one. Whether in sport, at work, or in life, WIRED will support peak performance through clean and science-led formulations. We are currently in product development and plan to launch later this year.

As a dancer and choreographer, how has your artistic background helped your transition into a business owner?

At first glance, they might seem like very different worlds, but my creative background has shaped my approach to business in more ways than I expected. Dance taught me discipline, resilience, and the power of storytelling, all of which are essential in entrepreneurship. Performing under pressure, working collaboratively, and constantly striving for originality are skills I carried from the studio into the business world. Before starting at Imperial, I actively pursued dance professionally. I taught classes, led workshops, created content for social platforms, and organised fundraising events. In many ways, that was the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. I was building something from passion, managing people, and connecting with an audience. Over time, my priorities evolved. During the pandemic, I realised I wanted to create something more sustainable and make a lasting impact on people’s lives. That shift in mindset ultimately led me to the world of health and wellness.