Heal to Lead

14Failure's Great Gift

A FEW YEARS into running my marketing agency, I had the idea to launch a holistic health platform. I saw a gap in the market and I love the strategic thinking and creativity that's required for multifaceted business models. The idea was to help wellness practitioners market themselves more effectively, pair natural products providers with their target consumers—and schools and certification programs with their ideal students—and provide people interested in alternative medicine and complementary healing modalities with educational content and resources.

It was just before the 2008 recession when I started the Holistic Option. My timing has historically been this impeccable. It's almost like each time I launch something new, I purposefully wait for the full count—just like back in those softball days when it was my turn at bat. The business model itself was nicely diversified and included recurring monthly subscription fees for practitioners to be on the national, web-based directory (vetted by a top advisory board), advertising revenue from podcast sponsors and website banner ads, and ticket sales from in-person, educational events. I bootstrapped a good portion, took out a personal loan, and the remainder of the start-up funding came from seed money from friends, family, and colleagues who believed in me, the concept, and the larger vision in the world.

To say that there was a lot of pressure on my shoulders is a vast understatement. I was a young entrepreneur, ...