What made Ruth Tansey leave the corporate world and start her own Healthcare Clinic

Hear from Mi Vida Inner Health Founder, Ruth Tansey as she talks about what made her decide to escape the corporate world and start her own Healthcare Clinic specialising in Colonic Hydrotherapy and holistic therapies.

I’m a single mum to 3 beautiful fur babies! A cavapoo puppy, a beautiful Bengal kitten, and a gorgeous black rescue cat. I have a wonderful family over in Yorkshire: mum, dad, sister and three nephews, and a brother over in Australia with my five nieces!

I have various hobbies. I’ve been pole dancing for over a decade, and I love it; I’m not the best at it, but “God loves a trier,” right!?! I also love yoga and going to the gym, as well as walks with my puppy, Rio.

I love reading anything about nutrition and self-help books that focus on creating a positive mindset. I’m a big fan of Joe Dispenza and love the work of Napoleon Hill and Earl Nightingale.

I subscribe to IHCAN for the latest research on nutrition and love reading this each month, as well as listening to PODCASTS with Steven Bartlett and Joe Rogan.

Working Background:

I worked in the corporate world before venturing into the world of self-employment. I worked for O2, managing their mobile phone accessories, and for Focus DIY as a Buyer for their hand tools, power tools, and car accessories. Before that, I worked in the toy industry in various roles, including Product Management, Marketing, and Product Development.

 What made you decide to start your own business?

It was a decision I made one day after months of feeling overwhelmed and unfulfilled at work. I found the last few years of my corporate life increasingly stressful and thought, “there’s got to be more to life than this”!

I took voluntary redundancy and decided to take some time out to focus on myself and determine what I wanted in life. My passion was using food as medicine, which I’d been doing for many years, and I had seen a massive improvement in my health as a result.

Colonic Hydrotherapy Business

Colonic Hydrotherapy has been invaluable to me. I suffered from chronic constipation and bloating from the age of 15. I was forever banging on the GP’s door. I’d tried every pill and potion, but nothing helped.

When I started having colonic hydrotherapy, my life turned around. The feeling of carrying around toxic waste daily impacts not just how you look but also how you feel. It impacts your mental health, your energy levels, and your general feeling of wellbeing.

I often looked six months pregnant; I was so bloated. Cleansing my body and restoring my gut function has enabled me to naturally open my bowel daily, which has been life-changing. For anyone who hasn’t experienced chronic constipation, it’s hard to understand how it makes you feel. I was bad-tempered, I had fluctuating moods, I was often angry, and I was always worried about the long-term effect it was having on my body.

Did you have to attend a course?

I studied with the Chi Centre for Detoxification in Maidenhead, where I undertook an intense training course in colon therapy with prior online tutorials. I had already completed the first year of Biomedicine for my Nutrition Therapy Diploma, so I was in a good position to embrace the new learning and eager to learn more about gut health as this was an area I wanted to specialise in.

How did you start your Colonic Hydrotherapy Business?

I created a business plan, set myself up as a Sole Trader and set about looking for premises where I could offer my services. I initially opened my clinic in 2011 at David Lloyds in Cheadle. The manager there told me that a few of the practitioners there offered Groupon deals and were very busy as a result. So, I thought, ok that sounds like a good idea; I’ll do the same.

Essentially,I fell into the trap of getting paid very little while working my socks off, often seeing ten clients a day. Now, I’m not knocking Groupon; they helped me establish my business, but it took many years to change my mindset and see myself as offering services people would be happy to pay full price for. You have to be very careful how you set your stall out in the early days of starting a new business.

Do a lot of people have Colonic Hydrotherapy?

Yes, it’s an incredibly popular treatment. We have a good mix of male and female clients, and I can happily say that we attract some fantastic people to the clinic who are focused on their health and want to make the necessary changes to improve it.

It’s important to me that I am working with people I can relate to who are on a journey and see the benefit of investing in their health. It’s also worth pointing out that although there is a lot of interest in colonic hydrotherapy, clients do take their time considering where to go for the treatment. They want good service and will select a clinic based on Google ratings or word-of-mouth referrals.

Is there a business for Colonic Hydrotherapy?

There most certainly is. There’s a ‘need’ for colonic hydrotherapy. There are so many people out there in desperate need of treatment, and this is the reason for creating the Mi Vida Inner Health franchise, so we can support more people needing help restoring their gut health and getting their lives back on track.

What does Colonic Hydrotherapy involve?

It involves a lot of listening; first of all, you need to find out what problems your clients are experiencing to be in a position to offer the best solutions to their problems. You need to be able to empathise and support each client, to make them feel safe.

Often, when clients come for their first treatment, they are very apprehensive, quite often nervous, anxious even. As a therapist, you have to take the lead and ensure your clients feel safe, respected, and listened to.

There’s often embarrassment about having the treatment done. We’re not very open about talking about ‘poo’; as therapists, we have to normalise this so clients can relax and feel at ease. The treatment itself involves filling the bowel with warm filtered water via a speculum which is gently inserted into the rectum via the anus. The water helps to hydrate the bowel, soften the stool, and release waste and gas. Over a series of treatments, this can restore bowel functionality, improving bowel habits and enabling the bowel to open naturally, which helps increase energy and reduce bloating and gas.

Is it hard to find clients?

It isn’t hard now we’re a well-established clinic with a vast database of clients. We also get a regular influx of new clients that find us through searching on Google. We have positioned ourselves as the number one clinic in the North West, and our SEO works well because we have consistently paid for this service on our website.

What is your working day?

My workday is varied. I work from home on the business and face-to-face in the clinic with clients, as well as online with some clients who live too far away to travel to the clinic.

When I’m in the clinic, I mostly see clients who present with some gut health ailment, be it constipation, bloating, diarrhea, or abdominal pain. As well as physically doing the treatment, I’m also listening, playing detective, finding out the cause, and offering a solution to their problems with a mixture of dietary and lifestyle advice.

How hard was it to start your own business?

It wasn’t hard at all. I couldn’t wait to start; I was so excited at the prospect of working for myself and managing my time, and I felt genuinely happy to begin this next chapter in my life. Starting a business isn’t hard; making it work and being successful is an entirely other ball game.

Find out more about starting your own Colonic Hydrotherapy Business with Mi Vida Inner Health. 
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