Anna Harris is on a mission to make a positive difference in people’s lives by promoting health, wellness, self-care and resilience in this busy and challenging world. Determined to facilitate long-term change and optimal wellness for families, she created Luxe Tribe Wellness Dispensary, offering the very best in natural pharmacy, complemented by a qualified and intimate knowledge of natural medicine. Here to support your journey to health and wellness, they provide dietary and lifestyle advice, and support healing through their evidence-based and traditional knowledge, prescribing natural health products that are best suited to your needs. Here, Anna talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind Luxe Tribe Wellness Dispensary, the challenges she has overcome along the way, and her plans for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Having actively worked within the natural health industry for over a decade, I have seen many trends come and go. A common thread that has emerged throughout this time is that the quality of advice and information about health and natural products is inconsistent, and this can make all the difference to someone’s life. As a mother of two myself, I know how absolutely vital it is for parents to have accurate information to base decisions on, and how difficult it can be finding reliable material. Unfortunately, we live in a ‘disinformation age’, and what is most readily available is a plethora of contradicting, non-credible and incorrect information, where opinion is easily interpreted as fact. Busy parents might have a quick query or simply don’t have the time to research answers to their queries – they need solutions right here right now!
Luxe Tribe Wellness Dispensary is the result of my determination to facilitate long-term change and optimal wellness for families. The idea is to create a platform where we are available and ready to support parents in their search for answers about health and natural medicine. We seek to not only improve upon the availability of useful, accurate information, but to encourage a mentality where parents seek the services of qualified Natural Health Practitioners. We are here to inform and support healing with our evidence-based and traditional knowledge, dietary and lifestyle advice, prescribe natural health products that are best suited to an individual’s unique needs (where necessary) and, perhaps most notably, work in collaboration with other healthcare professionals to bring about good health, wellness and joy.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Putting the idea of Luxe Tribe Wellness Dispensary into action has certainly been an experience. I am relatively new to the e-commerce and social media space, so this has all been a massive learning curve for me. Although I have been offering online consultations online for a few years, launching my dispensary online has proven to be a whole new ballgame. I have been blessed with much encouragement and support from my family and those within the industry, as well as some with logistics and marketing knowledge – the rest is simply hard work and fortitude. Luxe Tribe Wellness Dispensary launched online in February 2021 following around 6 months of preparation – we are extremely pleased with the results, and will be continuously innovating to improve on information, services and of course adding lots of healthy goodies for parents and kids alike!
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
My biggest breakthrough actually involves personal growth rather than anything from a ‘business’ sense. For a period during the development of the site, I was feeling very overwhelmed, especially since I didn’t have the technical knowledge I needed to make an e-commerce site successful. I had to use all of my learned tools to push through this experience, with the biggest challenge being my belief in myself. Learning new skills can be difficult and can leave you feeling quite vulnerable; working on my self-worth and believing in my capabilities created the perfect environment for me to seek out answers and ask for needed assistance – pretty much the same things you have to work through when you become a parent! I now know more than ever before, which has strengthened my resolve and motivated me to innovate further.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Balancing work, family and self-care is something I often discuss with patients, especially since my special interest is in mental health and emotional resilience. It can be one of the most challenging aspects to get down. Having practised and worked in the health industry for over 10 years now, I have long recognised the importance of a healthy work/family balance, and have learned to find a balance between yin (rest) and yang (activity). Rostering activities and entering events into calendars (effective time management) helps you see all that needs to be done throughout the week, while a list of daily goals to accomplish breaks things down into bite-sized pieces, making things a little less overwhelming. Most importantly, however, is the self-care component – I have to ensure I schedule in giving myself space – regular yoga practice, meditation, crafting, spending time in nature and reading all help me take a much needed mental break. It can be very difficult for parents to work through demands while still setting time aside for themselves, and I must admit there are times where I have forgotten to ensure I maintain this balance, but before long I manage to get things back on track!
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Running a business is the health industry is complex, and often-times quite political. There are many competing interests that can impact business, and by the same token many of us (myself included) wish we could do away with the ‘business’ aspect altogether and just focus on helping others. This is reality however, and as much as we would like to get philosophical, we have bills to pay and families to provide for too! We also need to ensure a balanced energy exchange for our expertise, just the same as other healthcare providers.
Across many industries, small, local, family-owned businesses struggle immensely with the competition that arises from large corporations and the natural health industry is no different. Small businesses simply cannot compete with the buying power large pharmacies and major online outlets have, thus we cannot sell product at such discounted prices. Sadly, this factor actually puts many practitioners out of business – they simply cannot afford to engage in a ‘race to the bottom’. Because there isn’t a simple solution to this challenge (yet), we promote our value in the support we give, the knowledge we impart, the wisdom we share and the collaboration we encourage. This way, our customers know they are important and are being cared for.
