Business Innovators Radio - Discovering the Healing Power of Ayurveda with Sondra Rubin

Episode Date: September 21, 2023

In this episode of Vegas Business Spotlight, hosts Tim Knifton and Marco Salinas dive into the world of entrepreneurship in Las Vegas with a focus on the unique and ancient practice of Ayurveda. They are joined by Sondra Rubin, the founder of Anu Ayurveda Health Center, who shares her remarkable journey and insights into the natural healing powers of Ayurveda.Sondra explains that Ayurveda, originating from India over 5,000 years ago, offers natural medicine using diet, lifestyle, and Ayurvedic herbs to rebalance the body from chronic illnesses and diseases. She emphasizes that Ayurveda is not a fad diet, but a science of life that provides a common-sense approach to understanding the body’s imbalances and their causes.Through her eight-fold approach, Sondra assesses her clients’ health history, diet, digestion, energy levels, and more to identify imbalances and provide tailored diet recommendations, herbal remedies, and lifestyle changes. Her focus is on addressing the root causes of chronic illnesses, such as autoimmune diseases, digestive issues, and metabolic disorders, rather than just offering temporary relief.During the interview, Sondra also shares her personal journey from being a CPA to finding her passion in Ayurveda. Her own battle with autoimmune disease and her daughter’s health issues led her to seek natural healthcare alternatives. Inspired by her own healing experience through Ayurveda, Sondra dedicated herself to getting professionally trained and spreading awareness about this ancient healing practice.If you are curious about the power of Ayurveda and how it can transform your health and well-being, this episode is a must-listen. Join Tim, Marco, and Sondra Rubin as they uncover the wonders of Ayurveda and its potential to restore balance and vitality to your life.About Sondra Rubin:Sondra Rubin is a practitioner of natural medicine, specializing in Ayurvedic healing techniques. After being introduced to Ayurveda by her mentor during her time at Southern California University of Health Sciences, Sonda was inspired to create her own practice to share the benefits of this ancient medicine. With a focus on rebalancing the body naturally from chronic illness and disease, Sondra utilizes diet, lifestyle changes, and Ayurvedic herbs to help her clients achieve optimal health. Ayurveda, meaning the science of life, is a 5,000-year-old holistic approach to medicine that emphasizes understanding the root causes of imbalance and making informed choices to restore health. By bringing awareness to her clients’ unique health situations and empowering them to make important decisions about their well-being, Sonrda guides them on their journey to wellness.https://anuayurvedahealth.com/About The Show Sponsor:“Vegas Business Spotlight” podcast is proudly sponsored by RSVP Las Vegas, your premier direct mail postcard service in the heart of Las Vegas. With a commitment to delivering outstanding results and effective marketing solutions, RSVP Las Vegas specializes in helping businesses connect with their target audience through direct mail.Visit their website at RSVPLasVegas.com to explore the range of direct mail services they offer. From designing eye-catching postcards to precisely targeting your desired audience, RSVP Las Vegas has your direct mail marketing needs covered. Their team of experts is dedicated to helping your business make a lasting impression and drive results.Whether you’re launching a new marketing campaign, promoting a special offer, or aiming to boost brand awareness, RSVP Las Vegas is your trusted partner in direct mail marketing success. Contact them at [phone], and their knowledgeable team will be ready to assist you.Experience the power of effective direct mail marketing with RSVP Las Vegas. Trust their expertise and enjoy the benefits of reaching your audience directly. Visit their website or give them a call today to start your next successful marketing campaign with RSVP Las Vegas, your premier direct mail postcard service in Las Vegas.Vegas Business Spotlighthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/vegas-business-spotlight/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/discovering-the-healing-power-of-ayurveda-with-sondra-rubin

Welcome to Vegas Business Spotlight, the podcast that brings you the brightest minds and success stories from the bustling business scene in and around Las Vegas. Join us as we journey behind the neon lights and uncover the strategies, triumphs, and insights that shape the entrepreneurial landscape of the city of lights. From visionary startups to industry titans, get ready to be inspired by the stories of those who've turned dreams into reality on this iconic stage. And now, your host, Tim Nifton. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Vegas Business Spotlight. I am your host, Marco, and I am thrilled to have you here with us today as we continue our journey through the vibrant world of Las Vegas entrepreneurship. But before we dive into today's conversation, I want to, extend a very warm welcome to our featured guest.

Joining us today is Ms. Sandra Rubin. And my number one thing prior to this was hoping that I don't mess up her business name, but if I do, she will correct me. Her business is called a new Iyerveda. Ayurveda. Ayurveda. Okay, a new Iyerveda Health Center. And we are honored to have Sandra on the show today to share her experiences and

her insights and all the wisdom that she has gained through her remarkable business journey to success. So without further ado, let's get right into it. Sandra, welcome to Vegas Business Spotlight. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much. Absolutely. So let's jump right in. I want to learn about your journey. The first thing that really stands out to me, Sandra, is obviously there's something very unique that you are doing here with your business. This is a very unique name. This is not something that we hear on a daily basis. So can you start with that? Can you tell us a little bit about, let's just start with that name. What does a new Iirveda health center mean and what service are you providing in the Las Vegas market? Yeah. So I provide natural medicine that's originated in

India, that's over 5,000 years old. And I use diet, lifestyle, and Iyerbatic herbs to help rebalance the body naturally from chronic illness and disease. And the name of my company, Anu, is basically from my mentor that taught me Ayurveda at the Southern California University of Health Sciences in Whittier, California. I wanted to name my practice after her because she had taught me so much about Ayurveda. I've seen her heal, so many people, including myself. And I, after that experience, I just wanted to dedicate my, my future business to her. And Ayurveda actually means the science of life. And it's a 5,000-year-old medicine. It's not one of these fad diets. And it originated in India. And it's just such a beautiful

science. It's a common sense medicine, I like to call it, because when people start to hear how I describe what's going on in the body, what is at a balance and why it's at a balance, what are the causative factors that are impacting their overall health and make sense to them. They understand from a very fundamental viewpoint about what they're doing, what they're eating, how their life looks, what kind of stressors they're experiencing and how it's impacting their overall health. And being able to spotlight that, being able to bring awareness and allow them to make these really important decisions on how they're going to manage their health going forward is something that I do for them. Very, very interesting. I love that.

Okay, so there's a lot to impact. Just with that, with your first introduction statement there, very interesting stuff, first and foremost. And I think that what's coming to my mind is, okay, so you have this very old ancient process or practice of healing. Am I right? I mean, the objective here is healing, right? What would an ideal candidate for this look like? Are we talking about healing from, I have high blood pressure, I have diabetes, or are we talking about I've got, you know, mental health things that I need to overcome? Is it a mixture of all of that or is it very narrow focused on what you can do? Can you kind of give me an idea with this type of method here that you're involved with? Who's your ideal candidate and what are you kind of working towards helping them to heal from? Yeah. So a lot of the times people are coming to me with chronic illness.

That's anything that's been going on over a year, whether it's digestive, discomfort like heartburn or, chronic, you know, diarrhea, constipation, those kinds of things that they've tried, you know, over the counters or they've tried going to the doctors, and it really isn't effective. Even leading into these more severe autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema, these people are the ones that are suffering because because although Western medicine will give them some immediate relief, whether it's through steroids or these prescription medications, they're not dealing with the root cause of the issue. And so their disease generally progresses or stops responding to medications after an extended period of

time. So those are the ones that usually come and are seeking out a more natural approach. Sometimes people who are just naturally minded, people who, you know, are looking for a better way to manage their health or they're given a diagnosis or they're given perfect blood work sometimes and they still feel pretty crappy. And so they're like, hey, I know something is still off. People who are dealing with weight, excess weight that, you know, haven't been able to lose the weight, aren't, they don't want to go for any kind of invasive surgeries. So they're looking to basically, from an Ayurvedic perspective, we just reset their metabolism. You know, it's as simple as that and just getting them on their way. People who are dealing with high cholesterol and high blood pressure,

they do come to me. They generally have a really good result. And people who are dealing with blood sugar issues, pre-diabetic, diabetic, they are also getting some incredible results. So it's exciting for me to kind of see how their overall health improves over a few months, putting them in the right direction, giving health basically back into their hands. That's what I do for them. I educate them. I show them the right diet that's for them, for their body type. I explain to them the kind of imbalance that's going on for them and why these things are happening and how to manage it in a much healthier, long-term approach way. Got it. I see. So, very much focusing on on the root of the problem versus what we're kind of more familiar with here,

which is just go ahead and take the issue, it won't bother you as much. But the underlying problem is very much still there. Right. Right. So I kind of got used to that concept of just, you know, kill at everything. Right. It sounds to me like you go a lot deeper with that. Can you can you kind of give us a walkthrough of what maybe what what does that the i guess we would call us the iervida process right is that is that the proper way to explain that what would that process entail can you kind of give us an idea of of what somebody might do with that yeah so generally when people come to me i practice traditional iervatic medicine so i go through an eightfold approach. And what that entails is going through their chief complaint. What's been bothering them?

How long has it's been bothering them? Their family history of chronic illness and disease. Their personal history of any hospitalizations or surgeries. I go through their diet, what they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, their alcohol intake, their digestion, their urinary frequency, bowel movement, energy level, sleep quality, their spain quality, their sweat quantity. I go through checking their pulse from an Ayurbatic perspective, and I look at their tongue from an Ayurbanic perspective. And then from there, I'm able to assess what's going on in the body, what kind of imbalance is occurring, and I'm able to give them a diet recommendation, an early, recommendation and any lifestyle changes that may be necessary to help rebalance the body.

And that's basically what I do for them. Got it. Okay. So you're doing a pretty thorough initial assessment of the individual, right? You're really kind of going deep and figuring out probably a lot of the things that get ignored. Even if you're seeing a doctor, right, a traditional doctor, they don't, they typically don't worry about. you know, how much, how much you're sweating or, you know, different things like that. But apparently it sounds like from this process that you follow, some of those deeper characteristics

seem to paint a bigger picture as to, you know, what needs to be done. And so that's really, really, really interesting. And I have to be honest, I don't really hear about this very often. So this sounds like something that I'm glad we're talking about it because maybe, maybe this needs to be, maybe there really does need to be a greater awareness, you know, of, of what it is that you were doing because it sounds like you believe in it. It sounds like you've probably seen people that have had some pretty significant improvements. Am I right? Yeah. How long have you been at this officially now, Sandra?

Yeah, about two and a half years. Okay. Got you. Now, before we started the podcast, we were having a little conversation and I had mentioned that I was looking at your LinkedIn profile, And it looked to me like you had a different journey prior to involving yourself with this. So you've been doing this for two years. Can you talk to me a little bit about what your past life, so to speak, was and what you were doing? And more importantly, how did you transition from that world to doing this full time? Because I have a very good friend of mine who is in that previous world that you were in. And let me tell you, there was a significant amount of effort that was involved in achieving that, you know,

achieving that degree and, you know, getting into that world. And I'm talking significant. We were talking about like, you know, law degree or, you know, MD type level of effort. So this was not like a little small project that you were doing prior to this. So for somebody to walk away from that, you had to really believe in. you're doing now to walk away from that and all the work that went into that. So reveal what the mystery business was that you had to our listeners. And then tell us about how that came about you leaving that world and doing what you're doing now full time. Yeah. So I was a CPA,

which is a certified public accountant. And yes, it was many, you know, long hours, years of, you know, getting to that point of, you know, finishing my degree and studying for my exam. And what had happened to me, which is I feel like a lot of what, you know, young professionals go through, which is climbing that corporate ladder, working, you know, 60 plus hours a week for extended period of time, trying to have it all, having a family, being married, you know, having a career. and then eventually getting to the point of burnout. And how that shows up for people is different. You know, sometimes it is that mental aspect.

Sometimes it's that physical aspect. And for me, it turned into an autoimmune disease. And what that looks like is different for everyone. But it was just a very unhealthy lifestyle. It was the constant, you know, go, go, go. It's the constant, you know, personality. type that is overachiever, you know, hard worker doesn't really have an off switch. And that's just how I'm built. And, you know, not understanding that that can eventually lead to a chronic

illness or disease. And at the same time, my, my youngest daughter also developed an autoimmune disease, which doesn't make any sense, right? She's, you know, two years old and she's dealing with, you know, a chronic health issue. And I just knew that fundamentally we were just doing something wrong. So I took a step back. I looked at our diet. I started seeking out care, health care that was more in line with my personal beliefs. And I feel like that kind of shifts and changes as you become a parent because I feel like I really wasn't aware of different options when I was just a, you know, young professional just working in the work field. I just didn't want to expose my, my children to harsh chemicals and that kind of thing. And so once I got into the natural health

world and once I started paying attention to diet and my lifestyle and how I was living, we started to heal. We started to feel better. And finding Ayurveda was the one thing that turned my autoimmune disease off and restored my health. health entirely. And so once that happened, I just couldn't sit back and just continue the lifestyle I was living anymore. It didn't make sense to me. And so I said, okay, well, I'm going to get professionally trained. I'm going to be fully educated in this medical science. And I went all in. And so luckily, my husband didn't leave me because he's been through everything. you know, from the beginning of just like, I'm going to be an accountant and I'm going to be a CPA

and now I'm going to be an Irobatic practitioner and, you know, is the school ever going to stop? Is, you know, your desire to just, you know, turn it off ever going to stop? I mean, unfortunately, I don't think so. It's just my personal, you know, life story, I guess. It's just constantly learning, constantly educating, writing. You know, I wrote a book, like just It doesn't stop, but I do it in a healthy way now. I do know that there are these turnoff times and, you know, we have weekends as family times and knowing that there is a better way to be balanced and yet still, you know, successful. So that's basically my journey. Very cool.

Very, very cool. Yeah, I think in what I've seen with, you know, the people that I know that are in the CPA world, again, the demand for it is really. really high. And so, you know, the, the ability to end up in a situation where you're just, like, completely enamored, you know, and completely engrossed in this stuff where you can hardly even come up for a breath of air is a real thing, right? Especially in the earlier years when you're trying to build something. Maybe, maybe 10 years down the line, you've got the thing built out and you've got staff and all that. But, you know, the first few years is, it's just, I'm sure it's extremely difficult.

And so it sounds like you've been able to find a better balance with what you're doing now. And that sounds like that's maybe even part of the whole overall goal of what it is that you're doing for, the people that you're helping as well is to find a better balance so that we can avoid the burnout and we can have all, you know, have a good, peaceful, happy life. Imagine that. And so that's great. So thank you very much, Sandra, for sharing all of that about, you know, how you got into that and that type of thing. So I was going to ask you about adaptability, you know, having a business usually does require that you pivot.

But I think I really think you kind of address that because that's what that's, I think that's why you're doing what you're doing now. I think that was the big pivot, right? It was what you were doing before was leaving you completely burned out. And what you're doing now seems to allow you more flexibility, more family time, and greater fulfillment in the things that you're doing. So I think that that one's kind of, I think that one is kind of covered. I'm going to move over to more of some of the technical things as far as the business itself. And one of the questions that I like to talk about is how to just how to grow, your business overall. If somebody's listening to this and they are either new in their business

journey or they're considering starting a business, there's a whole lot of things that might be on their mind and a whole lot of things for consideration of should I do this? Should I not do this? And if I've already taken the plunge, how do I make this thing, you know, pan out well? Because I'd prefer not to have to shut it down and, you know, maybe go back to a nine to five job or, you know, that kind of thing. Those are all real threats for anybody who is self-employed. What are your thoughts on networking? Obviously, networking is a crucial growth tool, right, for any type of a business. Can you share maybe some tips on building meaningful connections within people, whether it's in the Las Vegas business community or anywhere? If anyone, you know, this is going to be on YouTube. So it could be heard by anyone, really.

So can you share a little bit of your tips on what has worked well for you within the networking realm to make actual meaningful connections? Yeah. I feel like everyone kind of struggles with this, especially in the beginning. I mean, I came from, you know, behind the computer, just, you know, plugging away hours and hours, you know, during the day. And so pulling myself out and now putting myself forward into, you know, as the forefront of my business was a big change. challenge for me. So joining a networking group that meets pretty regularly was a big impact for me, personally. There's a couple of groups. One, that's called BNI. That's pretty popular. I love that group. There are tons of local events that have like either women, you know, own businesses that they have these little, these groups. Whenever there is medical related networking events, I always go to those.

The one thing that kind of changed for me when just going to these events was I didn't just attend and just, you know, introduce my business. I really wanted to connect with certain people. And so making sure that at the end of the event that I was going and introducing myself and getting their card and then following up with an email, following up with a coffee after, making sure I'm building that relationship because that's how it happens. Because otherwise, it's just another card. It's just another phone number and it's just another email. And you just don't remember. You don't put a face in the name. And so that's where I kind of didn't realize that relationship building is so important. And I kind of done, I did a ton of networking and just got no results. And so, you know,

being a more confident business owner, knowing what I have to offer, knowing how we can collaborate, in the future, making that awareness and connection for them if they're not aware, because obviously nobody really knows about IER VETA or the benefits of IERVET and how it can possibly impact the community that they serve. So that's what I would really recommend is just making sure that if there is that person that you are meeting that could be a potential referral partner for you or a business partner in some way, making sure to build that relationship in a deeper level. Sure. No, I think you're 100% right. I think probably the biggest sin when it comes to networking is

going and touching, I mean, you know, shaking hands and getting business cards and doing all these things. But then if you don't do any kind of follow up after that, most of that will be done in vain. It really will because the magic really happens in the follow up afterwards. And I think the majority of people drop the ball by doing the networking and not doing any of the follow-up afterwards, right? And so, yeah, that is key. Now, I am a, as we mentioned earlier, I am also part of the same networking, worldwide networking group that you are, which is B&I. And what I found is is that, you know, we go every single week and we give our pitch, we talk about what it is that we do, but the real magic happens in the one-to-ones. When we go and we spend that time and we get to know the person,

We spend 30 minutes or an hour and we say, tell me about yourself. I tell you about myself. And we really kind of find out the backstory and we find out why what that person is doing is so important to them and all that kind of stuff. That's really where things get moving, right? And as well, as you get to know these people, it starts to become easier to refer to because, you know, now I have a better idea of what you're looking for. Now, you know, when you gave your, you gave your 30 second pitch, I kind of was like, oh, that sounds kind of cool, but I really know what that does. And then when we have that individual time, we really learn that stuff. And it's like, okay, now I know what to look for, right?

So going, going that extra step with the networking is crucial. It's absolutely huge. And you absolutely answered that question beautifully. So thank you definitely for that feedback. Talk about a little bit, please, if you would. And Sandra, the idea of, you know, tapping into to the diversity of the people in the place that you are at. Okay, I think Vegas is probably a fairly diverse city, all kinds of different backgrounds, all kinds of different belief systems and what have you. Can you talk a little bit about maybe insights on how you have tapped into or maybe leveraged that diversity that you encounter in your city when you.

you are, let's just say when you're doing the networking, right? You know, have you found any maybe surprising connections or opportunities, you know, from a different, from a group of people that you otherwise maybe didn't think would have worked out, you know, how has that type of thing played out for you being there in Vegas and interacting with lots and lots of different people? Yeah. So I feel like, you know, Las Vegas has, you know, a military base here. So being able to connect with the veterans. That has been something that has been really amazing for me because I love to be able to support them. And that has been the most diverse kind of group of people that I connect with. There you go. Yeah. So that's that was probably one of those that you would have

thought that, you know, maybe maybe that there was nothing there, but it sounds like there's a big opportunity actually in that community. So that's huge. So we're getting close to wrapping up. We We've got about five minutes or so left. I'd like to just kind of wind down with a couple of questions about where you see the future of your business. What does the next couple of years look like for you and what it is that you are doing? Tell me a little bit about maybe your vision for the future and maybe any goals or aspirations that you might have for it. Yeah. So, I mean, I would love to see IER Veda as a licensed profession in the United States so that we could have a little bit more.

support with, you know, health insurance. You know, it's not covered by health insurance. So people struggle with trying to get this kind of natural medicine option in their, you know, in their life because they can't afford it. So hoping that, you know, once that happens, I know that it's in the process, but we're, we're years away. We need a larger Iyer Vedic practitioner community in order for that to happen. We need volume. So hopefully that happens. And if not, I just hope that, you know, this community, this Ayurveda community continues to grow. And more people will hear about Ayurveda, know that there is a health option out there that is natural and safe. And, you know, not so taboo. Like, you know, when I say it, they're like, what is that? You know, like just being,

being more recognized as a medical science that is available would be wonderful. So that is my goal is to continue to educate. I did lectures at UNLV and the Integrative Medical Department so that I can help educate future doctors of Las Vegas so that they know about what I-R-Vita is. Just getting that awareness out there lecturing at acupuncture schools, anywhere that I can. even the holistic nursing association, just trying to allow other medical professionals know that Iroveda is available here in Las Vegas, and it is a viable medical science that can severely impact people and communities in a very positive way. So I'm hoping to do my part and continue to share this beautiful science and just bring awareness. That's fantastic. And I've got one last one for you.

So reflecting on your journey so far, what's one piece of advice or maybe a mantra that you carry with you in your business endeavor? One piece of advice, I would say, is to stay positive. There's going to be ups and downs in any business. And just always looking at, you know, what you've achieved so far has been something that, you know, I do try to remind myself of because just, just. like every business owner out there. You know, it's always like you see that never-ending to-do list. So knowing that that's always going to be there and that should actually be fun, right? It shouldn't be just like this daunting task.

And so just trying to stay positive even when, you know, things don't seem like they're working out. They are working out for you. Definitely. Great advice, Sandra. Thank you so much for everything that you shared. Thank you for enlightening us about something that is not very well known. And again, hopefully this episode will serve as another resource for people to find for,

for what it is that you're doing and help to spread a little bit more awareness of that. So I thank you very much for joining us today and for sharing your journey and for being a part of the Vegas business spotlight with us today. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Absolutely. Pleasure all mine. And that does it for another episode of the Vegas Business Spotlight. We will catch you here next time.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of Vegas Business Spotlight. For more inspiring stories and insights from the Las Vegas business community, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform. And remember, you can catch new episodes each week at Vegas BusinessSpotlight.com, where we keep the spotlight shining bright on the entrepreneurs who make Las Vegas thrive. And don't forget to like and subscribe. See you next week.