"But to really be a great entrepreneur I believe that you need to develop skills and knowledge to get you there."
Katherine Maslen Tweet
Katherine Maslen is a clinical naturopath, nutritionist, author, speaker, host of The Shift Podcast and the creator of Shift Clinics. She is the author of the best-selling book Get Well Stay Well and is a regular voice in the media. Katherine is the host of the podcast The Shift, an audio-documentary series with a cult following and the founder and CEO of Shift.
Shift is a leader in the natural health industry, offering the world’s first natural health memberships. As well as overcoming her own personal adversity, Katherine has helped over 5000 patients and speaks internationally on health and wellness.
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Table of Contents
Thank you for joining us today. Please introduce yourself to our readers. They want to know you, some of the background story to bring some context to your interview.
Katherine Maslen: My name is Katherine Maslen, I am a naturopath, author, host of The Shift Podcast, and founder and CEO of Shift Clinics. At Shift we help people to shift their health and their life. At our heart we are a natural therapies business, but we help people in a number of different ways. We have our flagship clinic Shift Brisbane, where we have a team of naturopaths, acupuncturists, massage therapists and emotional wellness support practitioners that work collaboratively to help people work through complex and chronic health conditions.
Quite a number of years back I created the first ever membership based health practice. What that means is that when people work with us at Shift, they pay a set weekly fee that includes any modality that they need and we essentially project manage them through their health journey. We also offer natural health memberships online worldwide, have a heap of self guided online programs and host over 50 health and wellness events per year.
I started Shift back in 2011 because I wanted people to come to a place where they could truly have collaborative care. At Shift we are very results focused and we share one patient file between us all. We workshop cases and work collaboratively for the best outcome of the patient. I haven’t come across another clinic that works quite the way that we do.
I released my first book about 6 years ago and am currently working on my next one. My podcast The Shift is also a key part of my business, it is a unique content offering that allows the listener to really be immersed in the science of their health issues and begin to take steps to immediately make their shift. Season one was on gut health, and season two is all about women’s health and hormones.
You are a successful entrepreneur, so we’d like your viewpoint, do you believe entrepreneurs are born or made? Explain.
Katherine Maslen: I think a bit of both. I know that there aren’t many people who could work the way that I do – and certainly the other entrepreneurs I know have something a little bit special or weird about them too. I think that we’re born with this inner drive to do more, to be more, and are willing to put in the good fight to get it. For others they are content with a less unpredictable or more mellow way of being. But to really be a great entrepreneur I believe that you need to develop skills and knowledge to get you there. But I think that you need to be born with a certain level of tenacity too.
If you were asked to describe yourself as an entrepreneur in a few words, what would you say?
Katherine Maslen: I’d say I was creative, innovative and unequivocally committed to my vision.
Tell us about what your company does and how did it change over the years?
Katherine Maslen: When we began in 2011 we were essential just a natural health clinic. While we collaborated and shared files, we offered the traditional model of one appointment at a time. As we progressed I could see that people needed more – and we went from offering packages that were more comprehensive to then natural health memberships. When we launched the membership model we got some significant pushback because it was new. But now people seek us out for this specifically.
So many people who are unwell see multiple people and struggle to find a plan that works for them. We find that coming to our clinic is such a relief as finally we can work with them on many levels over months to rectify their issues at the cause. Our vision is to change the face of health, and to do this we need to reach as many people as possible. This is why I wrote my book that has reached thousands, released my podcast which has had over 300,000 downloads and offer online programs so that people can engage with us for a low cost. This way, many more people can make their shift.
Thank you for all that. Now for the main focus of this interview. With close to 11.000 new businesses registered daily in the US, what must an entrepreneur assume when starting a business?
Katherine Maslen: I think assume nothing and do your research. You can assume that unless you put in your best, you’re probably not going to get very far. To excel you need to be clear on your vision and what you want to get out of your business. You need to do your numbers and properly analyse if you can make it work. Assume that it’s going to be rocky, and that you’ll need to pivot and adjust in order to make it work.
Did you make any wrong assumptions before starting a business that you ended up paying dearly for?
Katherine Maslen: Some of my biggest mistakes were wasting money on bad marketing choices and underestimating how difficult it is to hire and manage humans, with their complex emotions and values. I had to learn a lot of things the hard way!
If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what advice would you give yourself and why? Explain.
Katherine Maslen: I would tell myself to get support sooner. It wasn’t until I began to engage in a business coach and other professional development that my business really took off. So don’t skimp on paying for someone to give you advice in the early stages so that you can avoid problems that you may not see.
What is the worst advice you received regarding running a business and what lesson would you like others to learn from your experience?
Katherine Maslen: I’ve been very fortunate that most of my mistakes in business have been from my own doing rather than on the advice of someone else! If I had to say anything, it would be focusing too much on revenue and not enough on profitability. In the early days I didn’t really put enough emphasis on really knowing my numbers, and it cost me dearly.
In your opinion, how has COVID-19 changed what entrepreneurs should assume before starting a business? What hasn’t changed?
Katherine Maslen: I think COVID-19 has just turned up what business owners already had to deal with – and that is the fact that we have to put out fires and deal with problems all the time. Problem solving is really what we’re good at, that is how we survive. With the lockdowns, uncertainty and changes in the market and how we operate, it’s been an incredibly taxing time for small businesses owners and I don’t think enough attention has been put on that fact. I think we need to be ready to pivot now more than ever, but I’m hoping that we can reach a normal level of mayhem again soon.
What is a common myth about entrepreneurship that aspiring entrepreneurs and would-be business owners believe in? What advice would you give them?
Katherine Maslen: A common myth that I see is this belief that just because you own a business it means that you make a lot of money. The truth is that the majority of small business owners make the equivalent of a wage, and it takes a lot to be successful. It takes a lot of tenacity to make it work, but it also is a lot of fun. If you can deal with uncertainty and create something cool, then I say go for it.
What traits, qualities, and assumptions do you believe are most important to have before starting a business?
Katherine Maslen: As I mentioned earlier, it’s best not to make assumptions but to do your research and make guided decisions. Tenacity, creativity and the ability to problem solve are important, and I also think that you need to be able to flex and pivot. Rigid thinking will make your life so hard as a business owner, as will being fixated on only one way of doing things.
How can aspiring leaders prepare themselves for the future challenges of entrepreneurship? Are there any books, websites, or even movies to learn from?
Katherine Maslen: There are SO many resources available. To begin with I’d suggest you find your tribe – by being around other business owners, startups or entrepreneurs you’ll pick up so much more than reading any book. But there are a lot of great books – I’d suggest Andrew Griffth’s books for new small business owners. They have some great advice. Some of my favourite books are To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink, Start With Why by Simon Sinek, Dare to Lead by Brene Brown and oh gosh – there are so many!
You have shared quite a bit of your wisdom and our readers thank you for your generosity but would also love to know: If you could choose any job other than being an entrepreneur, what would it be?
Katherine Maslen: You know I think I’d love to work in marketing and brand, it’s a big part of what I do and I’m really good at it! For me I’m beginning to do a lot more coaching for other leaders and I love that space. I have a love of sailing so maybe an olympian? (laughs)
Thank you so much for your time, I believe I speak for all of our readers when I say that this has been incredibly insightful. We do have one more question: If you could add anyone to Mount Rushmore, but not a politician, who would it be; why?
Katherine Maslen: Brene Brown hands down. The work that woman does is absolutely amazing. If you haven’t checked her out – her messages are one of the most powerful you’ll ever hear.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Katherine Maslen for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Katherine Maslen or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
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