From theater kid to nonprofit founder to holistic health coach to app developer, Asha Walker’s career spans the spectrum of community health and wellness entrepreneurship. She is the creator of Asha Walker Wellness (AWW), a wellness platform and community featuring educational and inspirational content and practical tools catering to a whole-person approach to wellness. She is the founder and CEO of Health in the Hood, a nonprofit organization with a mission to create equal food access for all through urban vegetable gardens and wellness programs. Combining her passions for building healthy communities and sharing wellness practices, under the AWW umbrella, Asha is also launching Cured, a holistic wellness app consisting of 70+ modules (over one year of functional content) categorized around food, movement and longevity practices.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I’m a theater kid turned nonprofit founder, turned wellness entrepreneur. I grew up watching my mom doing Jane Fonda workouts and my dad lifting weights on the patio.  Fried food was never on the menu, we grew our own vegetables, and I had two amazing role models who shaped my love for health and wellness. After college I started my career in the nonprofit world and dedicated myself to bringing health to underserved neighborhoods through urban farming. My 20s were all about making mistakes, dating awful people, deciding to never do it again, career shifts and beginning to find my voice. My 30s were when I started doing “the work”.  I started to prioritize whole person wellness. And it made me feel the most like myself I’d ever felt. All my chapters have shaped who I am today, and prepared me to step into my next one as an app creator and wellness entrepreneur with the goal to spread the ripple effect of health across the world.

What inspired you to start your business?

In 2022, after becoming a certified holistic health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, it was like a light switch went off. All of the wellness practices I’d been integrating over the years, and the way I’d been living my life became crystallized. I was empowered to find a way to share these practices with a larger audience to help others reap the benefits of prioritizing holistic health. And that was the beginning of my holistic wellness app, Cured.

Where is your business based?

Cured is designed to serve everyone. It is a global platform available for download on IOS and Android devices. I wanted to reach exponentially as many people as I could with this unique tool. Cured is my contribution to spreading the ripple effect of health.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

Step one: remove imposter syndrome! Starting something new was/is terrifying, but keeping my head down, focusing on my why and who this business was going to help kept me going. It took a few months of different iterations to figure out how I was going to share this information to help people live healthier, happier lives. One-on-one coaching felt like I wasn’t going to be making enough of an impact. An online course felt too static, and not interactive. And then, just like any really great idea, it came to me in the shower - an app!

An app filled with curated wellness practices and resources to empower people to be their OWN health coaches. And it was off to the races from there. After many hours and months of meditation, manifestation, trial and error, and research, Cured was created.

Just like I’d never started a nonprofit before I founded Health in the Hood, I’d never created an app before building Cured. So I started where everyone else does, with Google!

When a project feels aligned it doesn’t feel like work, but more of a calling. For the last two years I’ve spent nights and weekends building the Cured library, learning the intricacies of app development, building my online wellness community, and strategizing how to share this tool with the world. It’s been one of the most exhausting and fulfilling projects of my life. Highly recommend it.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

I’m a believer in not talking about something until it's done. I prefer to work quietly and strategically until the project is completed, and ready to be shared. With that said, once you’re ready to share, I think it's important to know your brand inside and out. Doing the homework so that when you start to build awareness, there is a process of recognition that occurs. What does your brand smell like? How does it wake up in the morning? What does it like to do for fun? When you know your brand intimately, others will too.

Honestly, marketing is always the most challenging piece for me. It’s a world I have zero experience in navigating. But just like anything else, research and trial and error have served me best. Ultimately the more you know your business, the more you know what it needs and how to tell its story. I deduced that digital marketing wasn’t where I needed to start. I wanted to tell the Cured story before focusing on sales. My priority is building community and credibility to ensure the longevity of the product and mission.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Probably overthinking. My biggest challenge of constant overthinking is kind of also how I get it all done. I aim to keep it all in balance by moving my body daily, meditating and lots of breathwork.

Another challenge any entrepreneur faces is funding. I think it’s important to know where you want to allocate dollars, figure out how much you want to allocate, stick to that budget, and then aim to identify investors who believe in your idea and your ability to execute it.

How do you stay focused?

Matcha. So much matcha. Once the matcha buzz wears off, I stay focused because I'm building something that I believe in so deeply that staying energized is easy. Find something that lights up your soul, and focus naturally follows.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

When I began doing market research, the difference between Cured and other health tracking apps was crystal clear. Most wellness apps use a one-size-fits-all approach. They lack the personalized, deep dive resources that create consistency. Cured stands apart from other habit tracks in apps because it invites users to own their wellness journey. By navigating the app, you become your own health coach, your own healer, your own cure.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Doing the homework to build recognition and a trustworthy brand, and hiring an awesome PR team!

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Just start. Put pen to paper. Brain dump all of your ideas, resources and create milestones of success to keep you on track. And enjoy the process! When you build something with love it’s received in the same vibration.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

Favorite app: Cured (obviously). Best way to seamlessly integrate healthy habits!

Favorite podcast: Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee is a podcast that goes in depth into wellness topics from movement to menopause, stress to the science of food. I love listening to it while doing housework. Makes me feel like I'm getting healthier while folding laundry.

Favorite book: “The Unteathered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself” by Michael Alan Singer. I changed the way I think about thinking.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

Canva. Packsia. Shutterstock. Chat GPT. Mail Chimp. Digital ads. SEO support. And a great videographer/ photographer who gets your vision.

Who is your business role model? Why?

My husband. My amazing husband has built successful businesses over his 35-year career that are heart centered and human first. He values and amplifies relationships, builds trust and surrounds himself with a strong team to execute the areas he is less equipped to handle. His strategic lens gives him a leg up on his competitors because he is always thinking five steps out. He is my role model in so much more than business,  he’s literally the best human I know.

How do you balance work and life?

Well, I'm running a whole non-profit and launching an app, so I’m pretty terrible at this. But here’s how I try to keep my work life balance: plan workouts ahead of the week. Make space for mindful reflection. Delegate wherever possible. Do work that doesn’t feel like work.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Pilates. Sun, sea, sauna and date nights.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

Sharing Cured with the world! A getaway with the hubs. Leaning more into the things that bring me joy.

How can our readers connect with you?

@ashawalkerwellness on Instagram or join the Asha Walker Wellness mailing list to be in the know on all things wellness.

https://www.ashawalkerwellness.com/