Welcome to Soul Chat – be Inspired by Empowered Women Thriving with Heart & Soul.
Meet Sheree from Happy and Healthy. delivering organic & gluten-free whole foods to your door.
- What is Happy and Healthy and how did you come to be in business?
Happy & Healthy is an online store, offering a wide range of wholefoods. I am passionate about making wholefoods affordable so we can build ourselves and the next generation with honest, healthy food… and that’s really how it started for me.
Prior to children, I found myself rushing around in the corporate world, grabbing whatever I had on hand and eating on the run. Eventually, and unsurprisingly I hit a brick wall. My non-stop lifestyle caught up with me and a health scare forced me to slow down and reassess. And so it began, food became a big part of my healing.
Fast forward ten years (not sure where they went!) and three children later, food and nourishing their growing bodies is an integral part of our family life, from the selection and variety of the ingredients we cook with, to how it is prepared, right through to the effects on our health and vitality.
One by one, as my babies grew up and headed off to school, I started looking around for something to get my teeth stuck into and that’s when Happy and Healthy presented itself. It was the perfect fit – combining a passion with business skills from a previous life, plus the added flexibility of working from home.
Yes, my life continues to be busy, but in a different, more balanced way and I feel very honoured that my customers choose me to help fill their pantries.
Why Happy and why Healthy? Do the two go hand in hand?
Why? Well they are two things I aspire to be, simply happier and healthier. Good, clean food is a big part of this, but there is so much more, and everybody’s path to happiness and healthiness is different.
For me, happiness is a muddle of positive relationships and my connections with other people, exercising and taking care of my body (sometimes easier said than done!), having direction and events or goals to look forward to, as well as self-care and acceptance of myself, warts and all.
Even just the simple things… for example, I try to walk regularly in the fresh air, but probably don’t do it enough. I energise myself by dancing to the radio with my children – that definitely makes them happy too!
And from there, it is onwards to health. It is proven that happiness and good health go together. Happiness influences health but health also influences happiness.
- You share the following quote on your website – “We Do Not Inherit the Earth from Our Ancestors; We Borrow It from Our Children”. What exactly does this mean to you and how does it relate to the vision of Happy and Healthy?
Boy does this resonate with me. Many of us have grown up in a world of plenty, with little but a passing thought given to excessive consumerism and the toll it has taken on our planet.
Scientists have spent decades sounding the alarm on the devastating effects of climate change, but as a society we ‘decided’ to do pretty much nothing about it. In fact, I read the other day that over the past 30 years, we’ve done more damage to the climate than in all of human history!
If you are anything like me, you will find this statistic upsetting. It is somewhat arrogant to think we can milk planet earth for all she’s worth during our wee blip in time. I believe we all play a role in leaving the world better than how we found it, and it is with this in mind that I strive to make sustainable business decisions.
For example, I try to source NZ grown/made products where I can, bulk buying as a way of reducing packaging, and more often than not, orders are sent out in one of my suppliers’ boxes (i.e. my delivery boxes aren’t brand spanking new, nor are they beautifully branded). I reuse all suitable boxes that come through the door.
- What is the greatest gift you receive from your work?
Gosh, where to start, but if I was probably to select just one thing, it would be the learning. Upon reflection, I think learning affects my wellbeing in so many positive ways.
From my own health and product research, through to chats with my customers and suppliers I am exposed to all sorts of new ideas. It helps me stay curious, engaged and gives me a sense of accomplishment.
- Yin Yang questions –
Train or Plane? Plane
Sweet or savoury? Savoury
Quotes or jokes? Quotes
Massage or facial? Massage
A month without your car or a month without the internet? Car
- Can you share any healthy living life hacks?
One thing I do to make sure I am eating enough greens is to try and incorporate them into every meal – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner’s easy and lunch too, but breakfast can be a little tricky. One way is to add loads of veggies to a morning smoothie – spinach, cucumber, carrots, even cauliflower and courgettes.
Basically, whatever I have available in the fridge or garden I blend up – amazing what a chunk of mango, pineapple and/or banana can disguise!
Oh and beetroot powder is wonderful stuff too… just a teaspoon or two popped into a smoothie (without all the mess and stained fingers) can turn a green smoothie into a pink one, which certainly brings fewer protests and a smile to little faces.
- Do you have a favourite natural product that you stock and how do use it?
At the moment it has got to be my Waterman drink bottle. I’m making a concerted effort to up my water intake. But if I’m making the effort to drink at least 2L of water every day, I may as well be drinking the good stuff!
The Waterman might not be the best-looking water bottle you’ll ever see, but it is one of the only water bottles I have found designed to filter up to 99% of fluoride as well as chlorine, heavy metals and bacteria from tap water. It also re-mineralises and alkalises the water. Brilliant!
- What advice would you give women seeking to start their own conscious business?
Other than go for it, one tip would be to make sure you hit pause every now and again. When you have time off work, take it. Disconnect from all tech devices and stop checking your emails.
As a small business owner and a one-(wo)man band, I often find it tricky to relax and get my mind into holiday- or even weekend-mode, particularly if I’m always checking my emails.
It’s a real tug-of-war between wanting to offer my customers the best service I possibly can and taking time out. It’s so much easier to work when your mind is refreshed (no surprises there!).
To learn more about Sheree and her business ‘Happy and Healthy’ visit