Karen Aroney, Director & COO, PureVitality Nutrition Concepts Pte Ltd

Increasing burnout rate and alarming health concerns of professionals in the corporate world is one of the inescapable realities of today. Meet Karen Aroney, founder of PureVitality Nutrition Concepts, who is addressing the nutritional and wellness needs of corporate executives and entrepreneurs.

Having been part of the corporate world herself, Karen has first-hand experience of how hectic schedules, tighter deadlines, erratic eating habits and excessive stress can play havoc on the health of professionals & entrepreneurs. Armed with degrees in Psychology and Human Nutrition, Karen’s endeavour is to make the corporate world healthier and more productive through simple nutritional and lifestyle changes.

GlobalLinker (GL) spoke to Karen about her passion for spreading wellness and her commitment to providing nutritional solutions for busy professionals and entrepreneurs.

GL: Tell us about your business.

Karen: PureVitality Nutrition Concepts Pte Ltd provides nutritional advice and awareness through individual, family, and corporate coaching programmes and workshops, to empower people to adopt optimal health and wellbeing. Our approach is on whole food nutrition, which provides strength and energy for both health and fitness. The consultation outcomes are improved energy, a healthy weight, and better eating habits of a range of foods, without any diet fads, restriction or deprivation. ExecFuel is an online programme that was built to better support clients, by providing them with the right nutrition and fitness tools to live a healthy, happy life.

GL:  What drew you towards health, nutrition & wellness?

Karen: I was not always a nutritionist; however, I have always been fascinated by human behaviour, both the physical and mental. After graduating with a psychology degree, I ‘fell’ into the world of corporate, specifically telecommunications. It allowed me the ability to work with people in a field of technology that was fast paced and enjoyable.

I had gained financial success, however, I was unfulfilled. My own weight fluctuated constantly due to excessive work stresses, and I suffered from hypothyroidism (so I was always fatigued). Eventually, my focus became more on myself and ways to eat and exercise better, so that I could feel energized again.

My early 30’s were a trying time. I was still adjusting to relocating from the comforts of western life to living in Asia, our twin girls were born prematurely, my own mother passed away from an autoimmune disease that she had been battling for four years, and I was transitioning careers. My mother’s passing was essentially my catalyst for delving further into the world of nutrition, completing my postgraduate degree in Human Nutrition, and eventually setting up my business to help others.

GL: What are some of the challenges you have faced in establishing your business?

Karen: Trying to be everything in my profession, to everyone. It exhausted me to wear many hats, and I was not fulfilled. As a result, I was not fulfilling customer obligations to the best of my capabilities. You can’t be amazing at everything, find your niche and believe in that, and in yourself.

GL: Who are your clients? Share with us some of your success stories.

Karen: Corporate Wellness is my focus. Recent findings have indicated that whilst the US is still the highest with 13 per cent of obese people worldwide in 2013, China and India together accounted for 15 per cent of the world's obese population, with 46 million and 30 million obese people, respectively. According to the study, one-third of the world's population globally, is classified as obese.  And this transfers to the workplace too, where we spend most of our time.

As a qualified nutritionist working with both male and female executives over many years, I have seen the dangerous consequences that gaining high body fat, or living with hypertension, or diabetes, leads to. Often the result of neglecting your health is serious complications such as obesity, stroke, hypertension and diabetes. I have seen client’s breakdown because their emotional state is vulnerable due to their lack of inner health. The common theme in these stories, are the challenges of trying to be healthy as a busy executive.

My fulfillment in this role is seen through success stories; A male executive in his late 40’s, who suffered from severe hypertension for most of his adult life, came to see me begrudgingly due to his doctor’s and wife’s orders. After a few months of my coaching and advice, with a focus on nutrition (not just exercise), his blood pressure decreased to normal, and he was able to come off all three of his medications. He is now racing in triathlons!

GL: Tell us about ExecFuel. What is the aim of this programme and how has the response been to this programme?

Karen: My work with executives and busy individuals in the corporate space specialises in nutrition and wellness for time-poor professionals who may travel excessively, work long hours, and do not have fixed routines. It became apparent to me that a solution was needed - a flexible and practical nutrition programme that could be sustained over the long-term and applicable to every day working life; in the office or on the road.  A straightforward solution that would ultimately help busy executives reach their health goals, amidst day-to-day challenges.

We launched ExecFuel, an online 6-week nutrition and fitness programme into the market in January this year, and the response has been phenomenal.  The 6-week programme allows busy individuals to apply healthy strategies to their daily lives, at their own pace and feel energized almost immediately. ExecFuel is a step-by-step, tailored and sustainable nutritional solution to empower busy executives to improve energy, develop healthy habits, and gain education and awareness of how to eat a range of foods without any diet fads, restriction or deprivation.

GL: As a woman entrepreneur, how do you balance your work & family responsibilities?

Karen: The secret is to dedicate time to just be ‘present’ with your family. This means leaving work stress, technology, paperwork at the door, and simply spending quality time. It’s also good for your soul!

GL: You have a clean and user-friendly website. How important is a good digital presence for your business?

Karen: A nice clean website is important in order for customers to visit your page, and stay there to look around. As you can see, content for us is imperative, as it keeps us relevant, but it also provides customers with a better insight into what we are about, and provides them with great information for free. For example, customers that visit us can download the Executive Travel Checklist, which is a FREE cheat-sheet that provides you with tips on how to eat healthily while you travel for work.  

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Karen: Stop and re-evaluate your goals. What do you want to achieve at this exact moment in time? Is the pressure you are under created by you or is it external? Remember that you decided to run a business so that you could have the control. I would plan my business goals to be crystal clear, and more specific, before starting the business. It would have saved much needed time and energy.

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