In Conversation With Natashya Phillips Coutinho
1) What made you choose this field and how has your journey as an entrepreneur been so far?
My journey has been nothing short of amazing. It was a passion that Luke and I used to talk about and it has turned into this amazing organization that we have created. The learnings I have had, the people I have got to work with and of course, the clients that our team impacts daily, are what make everything we do worth it.
2) How do you envisage spreading awareness of the importance of self-care across the globe?
The best way for us to spread awareness is of course through social media and technology. Technology is bridging gaps and helping us not only spread awareness but also use science and logic through the data we collect to understand and personalize the information and plans we share with our clients.
We already have a global presence but we do plan on maintaining it - the plan is to continue doing what we do, day on day - from the nuggets of wisdom that Luke shares every day, to the various clients, that our team of experts consult with around the world. We have to just keep doing our best and we hope that through the experiences our clients have, the message that we believe in gets passed on.
3) What are the specific gaps in healthcare that YouCare as a brand aspires to fill?
We talk about how the West is influencing us in so many negative ways but they also do many things well, one of which is how they value life. And that is exactly what we try to adopt into our current systems as well, where we are not just treating a client that comes to us but we also genuinely care about them.
That’s also the story behind "You Care" where we care about you but first, you too need to care about yourself. This is the one gap that we will be focusing on bridging the CARE gap.
4) What is the vision that YouCare is trying to build a culture in healthcare with?
Our vision is simple and clear. WE PUT ‘CARE' BACK INTO 'HEALTHCARE.’
We aim to address the disease at its roots to parallelly change LIFESTYLE, which involves the way we eat, sleep, move and think. We believe that if an incorrect lifestyle has caused a disease, then a corrective lifestyle can improve it too.
Our eco-system and programs are personalized and customized according to our client’s lifestyle and revolve around the four pillars of good health – Quality Sleep, Balanced Nutrition, Emotional Detox and Adequate Exercise.
5) What are the basic concepts that YouCare follows?
The basic concept that we follow is a holistic one. Our approach isn’t a replacement for medicine. Medicine is great and we need doctors, hospitals, and medication. We have some of the finest doctors in our ecosystem but over and above medicine, we also need genuine care, patience, motivation, positivity, compassion, human touch, and an attitude of real care along with the advice to eat well, sleep well, manage stress, and move more.
For this primary reason, we have a full-fledged integrative ecosystem consisting of registered dietitians, nutritionists, doctors, emotional counsellors, yoga experts, homeopathy doctors and health consultants.
6) Are people beginning to take their way of leading life seriously?
I cannot comment about people in general but the kind of clients that come to us surely seem very serious about leading a healthy lifestyle.
The awareness about leading a healthy life seems to be more prevalent now, people are trying to make smaller changes towards a few simple things like choosing the right oils, finding cleaner and ethical sources of food that go into their body, trying to add some form of movement into their daily routines, etc.
7) Tell us about two tools that form a part of YouCare’s method of guiding people to a healthier lifestyle?
We are looking at each case holistically so there are no two tools – but multiple tools and platforms that we use. One client might need a complete lifestyle change, one might need a lifestyle with medicine, one might need a lifestyle with homeopathy, one might need help emotionally, whereas there might be someone who needs help with yoga or just breathing techniques. So once the client’s goal is clear, we choose the tools that work best for them to meet their goal.
8) How important is an ethical food chain to the health and wellness of people?
In our line of work, which revolves around Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine and Holistic Nutrition, Luke and our team use food and lifestyle as powerful tools to help people suffering from severe illnesses and lifestyle diseases and alleviate their pain and suffering. This means the quality of products is of prime importance.
Unfortunately, the quality available today is highly questionable. From adulteration to using false organic labels, it’s a business that has grown corrupt over the years. At the same time, there are vendors and farmers from different states doing fantastic work in this field and we want to embrace this goodness as much as we can.
With heavy and deceptive marketing and immense variety available in markets and most online shopping sites today, choosing what’s truly chemical-free and ethical is a pain point for most of us.
We thus intended to create a platform for the benefit of all, including our clients and followers, where we keep connecting them with the very best foods and products with a direct connection to the farmers, and vendors who ethically source from farmers. One farmer, one suburb, one state at a time. This is how Luke's Wellness Market and Luke’s Holistic Health page came into existence, back in 2018.
