Mel Afflerbach is a self-described 'health nut, yoga teacher and mama who drinks green juice with a dash of Tequila'. A serial entrepreneur at heart, Mel has created and built multiple businesses in the health and wellness arena, from yoga instructor to women's retreat creator, to prepared meals chef and podcast host…Mel is not afraid to blur the lines of entrepreneurship.
We dove right in, discussing what made her jump in to her small business journey and how COVID-19 put a wrench into things but also sparked innovation. As she pivoted to grow her wellness brand online, we look at tactics she leveraged to grow her audience online, and her vision for the future.
The Start
- Health and wellness career began 15 years ago
- Discovered that yoga helped her anxiety so began teaching
- Explored yoga in Utah, Austin, and Colorado
- Expanded to nutrition with her prepared meals business 'Natural Kitchen'
- Dove into health/holistic coaching with Ayurveda
The Shift
- Maximized yoga to lucrative business - Women's Yoga Retreats
- COVID shut downs and partial closures had a heavy impact
- Had to pivot and publish content on a virtual platform
- Still needed to give students that intimate studio connection
- Time to slow down a little bit and to pivot
- Realized anxiety was suppressed with staying busy
The Strategy
- Identify avenues to connect with people: social media, email, texting, messages
- Be personable and connect as you would in person
- Expanded website with a blog, newsletters and email captures
- Be real and authentic: leverage FB or IG Live
The Action
- Follow people that you are authentically connected to
- Take their trainings, see what's working for them.
- Capture contacts to build your email list to have that physical connection
- Pick four categories for your social media content
- Avoid over-curation, don't want to trigger people
- Ask why am I doing this, what's my goal in it? All content must hit those points
The Mindset
- Mornings: meditate, gratitude journal, coffee, time outside
- Has a lot of amazing women as an entrepreneurial support system
- Focused on the next 30 days at a time
- Goals and Vision
- Women's Yoga Retreat in May 2021
- Continuing with Green Juice and Tequila podcast
- Launching the Green Juice and Tequila cookbook
The Wrap-Up
If you could listen to one music artist for the rest of your life, who would it be? Gorillaz
Where can people find you online?