Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Bates.
Hi Julia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
About 10 years ago, my daughter Corey was diagnosed with an Autonomic Nervous System disorder. I am an RN and long time off and on meditator. I understood that meditation positively affects the ANS. I had to quit my job to care for her full-time. I started teaching her meditation to help her with her symptoms. She really struggled to sit upright so I designed a better cushion for her that she used on the floor, on the couch, and in bed to help her sit with more support.
I also loved it because my current meditation cushion was really uncomfortable. I had many family and friends who told me that I should have more made and sell them, but I had my hands full at the time.
Fast forward a few years after she went to college, I was in the process of getting certified to teach meditation. My thought was to connect with the San Antonio tech community as they were early adopters and the Silicon Valley tech community was vocal supporters of the practice. This was 2016-early 2017 before meditation became as popular as it is now.
February 2017 Startup Week was going to start and they had an event called Startup Weekend so I went to check it out and meet people.
I ended up pitching my cushion as part of the event and was one of the winners.
The thing that jumped out at me at the time was no one really wanted to talk to me about meditation, but as soon as they sat on the cushion they understood that a posture can bring you to a calmer place in your body and mind and wanted to talk more about the practice.
I have been teaching meditation locally and selling the floor mello{be} cushion and the chair worker{be} cushion to people all over the US.
It’s a beautiful thing to be able to take a passion, add in a skill set, and make a life helping people in a whole new way.
Thank you for your interest in our story.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has been a very bumpy road. Manufacturing has been my biggest issue. I really want to stay local or at least in Texas. That has been difficult.
Sewing manufacturing in the states has really taken a hit over the last 10 or more years.
Covid was a big problem. I was in the middle of moving my manufacturing from Garland, TX back to SA at the time it started.
I was tweaking the size of the worker{be} when my SA manufacturer let me know all of his employees left due to Covid.
It was almost 2 years before just a few came back to work full-time.
I stopped marketing due to almost no inventory and am just now getting customers back. One of the good things about Covid was that many people started a meditation practice. This is good for Mello{be} and for the meditation community as a whole!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I was a pediatric ICU nurse in San Antonio and Boston Children’s Hospital for many years and later a School nurse. I love taking care of people at that level.
The stress we went through with my daughter’s illness and my mother’s coinciding dementia was difficult. I know that having a solid meditation practice helped get us through some really stressful times. It occurred to me that not many people had access to someone who had the medical knowledge and meditation practice experience that I had. I decided to share my skills and knowledge as a nurse teaching wellness and mindfulness meditation.
It’s a different way to encourage people to take better care of their minds and body.
The mello{be} cushion is just a bonus added on to it. It is the fun part! I call it my “gateway drug” or “Trojan Horse”. It is a good ice breaker for people who still don’t understand the benefits of posture and mindfulness meditation.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Most definitely, it was a risk to keep showing up at events telling people that I am a mindfulness meditation teacher. In the beginning. Most people would just look at me funny. Some people thought I wanted to hypnotize them! I still get some weird looks at times.
I left a very good career that I loved to bring this practice to more people. Once I started mello{be} I was completely out of my comfort zone. I know nothing of the entrepreneur world, manufacturing, online sales, social media marketing, etc.
Financing this adventure was another hurdle I have struggled with. But I learned!
Risk-taking is all part of the entrepreneur’s life. Geekdom has been a great partner in all of it. They are always there to give me advice and cheer me on. They do it for all of their members!
I never really thought about being a risk-taker, but I definitely am. I have put myself out there pitching my business to whoever will listen. (at the Aztec Theater!) It was really scary at first, but it is easier when you really believe that you can help people.
Pricing:
- 6 Week Mindfulness Meditation Class depends of size of class
- 1:1 Mindfulness Coaching $50- $100/hr
- Mello{Be} Floor Cushion $149.
- Worker{be} Chair Cushion $89.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mellobe.co
- Instagram: @mellobeco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melloBecushion
- Youtube: MelloBe Co
Image Credits
Lisa Preston
