Global Healing Exchange

Name: Sharon White
Position: CEO
Website: https://www.globalhealingexchange.com 
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia

Global Healing Exchange educates its readers on all things holistic health and wellbeing. They have practitioners and experts from around the world that write articles and create content. GHE have a free quarterly magazine that focuses on health issues with holistic treatments.

What products/services do you offer?

We sell advertising. Our aim is to educate our readers for free.

Why did you start your business and how long have you been running it?

I have been running Global Healing Exchange for 8 years. When I got sick there wasn’t a place where I could go on the internet that had holistic information from a team of experts, to help me understand how I could get well again. I had been a wellness practitioner for 20 years and had to piece the information together from my friends and peers, so I knew I needed to create this for others. We needed a one stop shop to find trusted information from trusted practitioners.

What struggles do you think most businesses face in your industry and what would you say they need to do to overcome them?

Most people in my industry are solo healers and practitioners. They are experts at their own modalities but have problems getting themselves ‘seen’. They need sales, social media and marketing skills.

What has been your greatest accomplishment?

To run Holistic living Magazine for the last 5 years.

What has been your biggest ‘fail’ so far?

I don’t see my efforts as failure but learnings. One of my biggest learnings has been to learn how to find the real ‘experts’ to help me grow my business, (social media, IT, marketing etc) rather then blindly believing the people who tell me they are good.

What do you love most about your business?

I love the fact we help people and we have the ability to save people’s lives. There is nothing better than that for me. We do a lot of good, especially for the people who can’t afford healthcare as we give all our information away for free.

What do you find most challenging?

Getting people to ‘see the work we do’. I have a small team behind me but to take Global Healing Exchange and Holistic Living Magazine to where it has the potential to go, we need a bigger team. This means more money to pay a bigger staff. Finding a grant is not easy!

How do you promote your business (please include as many details as you can)?

I am on social media every day. I run groups, have pages on the main channels and use FB ads. I also write articles and make videos.

What business skills do you have (eg. graphic design, customer service)?

I had my own holistic business for more than 20 years running a clinic. Running a small clinic is hugely different from running a PTY company, so I had to learn fast. I have since learned to do all my own design. I designed the look and feel of my business, logo, social media posts, look and feel of magazine etc. I run the social media and have learned to manage my small team.

What software did you/your designer use to create your website (eg. WordPress, Wix)?

We have a WordPress website with A LOT of extras.

What are some of your favourite business tools and apps?

I do the design stuff, so I love Canva and leave the technical stuff to my team.

What do you like about your website and what’s not working for you?

I love it all. I rebranded late last year as it was glitchy and not working. Now I LOVE it! It WORKS!

What lessons have you learnt during your time as an entrepreneur?

Patience, patience, patience. I think I am still learning that one. Also stick with the people you can trust and get yourself a mentor.

What key tips for success in business would you like to share with others?

You need to be passionate about whatever business you set up. There are going to be MANY times when you want to give up. Keep the reason you want to build your business at the front of your mind and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. I have been told by many people to give up but that isn’t me. I have an inner resilience to keep going and enough self-belief in myself to know that I will succeed. If you don’t have this – then maybe being an entrepreneur is not for you.

What is the one thing that you want everyone to take away from this post?

You CAN do anything you want but you MUST keep on learning and growing. Know that in the early days you are probably wrong, then have enough courage to believe in others who have been where you want to go, take note and trust in those people willing to teach you. Find yourself a mentor and keep on trucking.