FROM THE STUDIO TO THE BOARDROOM

A Woman’s Journey to CEO In the Wellness Industry

It’s a story of resilience, reinvention, and quiet defiance. Of women who entered a field built around care and slowly began shaping it with strategy, structure, and leadership.

The wellness industry may look balanced today, but let’s be honest — even in 2025, we still navigate a man’s world. No one likes to admit it, especially women who’ve worked hard for their seat at the table, but it remains true.

I’ve spent years in this space — from teaching aerobics in small studios to co-founding one of India’s leading wellness organizations. Along the way, I’ve learned that progress doesn’t erase bias. It coexists with it.

 

The Historical Lens: How Far We’ve Come

To understand where we stand today, it helps to look back. Women’s entry into the paid workforce is still recent — barely two generations old.

Many of us grew up in homes where both parents worked. That feels normal now. But think back one generation further. How many of our grandmothers worked full-time jobs? Very few.

For centuries, men built empires, traded, and led, while women managed homes and families — roles that were vital but unpaid. It was only after World War II and through the feminist movements of the 60s and 70s that women began entering offices, factories, and eventually boardrooms in large numbers.

In wellness, this shift was especially visible. What began as small, niche practices — yoga studios, group fitness, nutrition coaching — evolved into a global industry, largely driven by women. Luckily, wellness has always been a women-strong field. But momentum doesn’t cancel history. The system we work in wasn’t built for us. And that shows up every day.

Natashya Phillips

The Double Burden: Care and Credibility

In wellness, women often start with a natural advantage — empathy, intuition, and connection to people’s needs. Yet, those same strengths are often undervalued when they rise into leadership.

Even today, a woman’s expertise can be met with doubt. Early in my career, a manager once told me, “You just have to smile and look pretty.” He said it casually, but it landed hard. That one line carried centuries of conditioning — that women are meant to decorate spaces, not define them.

Over the years, I’ve heard subtler versions of that same message. When women lead with empathy, it’s called “soft.” When men lead with emotion, it’s called “visionary.” These double standards don’t vanish because you have a title. You learn to navigate them — by being twice as prepared, twice as credible, and often twice as tired.

In wellness, bias can take another form. Because the industry is built on care, women are often expected to bring compassion, while men are assumed to bring strategy. In my previous companies, I’ve seen this play out in boardrooms — where ideas shared by women are overlooked, only to resurface and gain traction when voiced by a man. These moments don’t define the journey, but they do reveal how deep-rooted perception still is.

From Passion to Leadership

Most women enter wellness through passion — coaching, yoga, nutrition, or emotional well-being. But as the industry professionalized, the role evolved. Leadership began to demand structure, systems, and scalability.

That transition — from one-on-one care to one-to-many vision — isn’t easy. It means learning finance, operations, technology, and governance, areas where women were often underrepresented. It also means setting boundaries between empathy and efficiency, because leadership without structure leads to burnout.

At LCHHS, we’ve seen this firsthand. Many of our leaders started as nutritionists or coaches and grew into roles that demanded data fluency, strategic thinking, and people management. They didn’t lose compassion — they learned how to operationalize it.

Learning to Lead Without Losing Self

When I stepped into leadership, I learned that power isn’t about volume. It’s about presence. For women, especially in wellness, leadership means blending empathy with clarity, and intuition with data. It means building systems that serve people, not just profits.

At LCHHS, our focus has always been on creating structures that reflect our values, not just mimic corporate norms. Leadership in wellness needs both science and soul. You can’t run an organization about balance if your own leadership lacks it.

I found strength in mentorship — both male and female — and in surrounding myself with people who believe in shared success. Mentorship matters because it turns isolation into insight. It reminds you that ambition and authenticity can coexist.

 

Building the Path Forward

The wellness industry is at an inflection point. Its next phase of growth depends on more women at the table — not just as practitioners, but as strategists, CEOs, and decision-makers.

To make that happen, three things are essential:

● Mentorship that goes beyond motivation. Women need practical guidance on business, finance, and leadership — not just inspiration.

● Access to capital. Funding ecosystems must evolve to value long-term health impact, not just short-term scalability.

● Structural support. Childcare, flexible work, and wellness for leaders themselves are not luxuries. They’re essentials.

Women already make up most of the wellness workforce. It’s time they represent the majority of their leadership, too.

 

The New Face of Leadership

Leadership in wellness is no longer defined by control or command. It’s defined by coherence — aligning empathy with efficiency, and data with humanity.

Women are uniquely positioned for this shift. They bring depth to strategy, balance to systems, and integrity to scale.

The path from studio to boardroom is no longer a leap — it’s a continuum. And as more women make that transition, they’re not just leading companies. They’re redefining what leadership can look like — grounded, empathetic, and strong.

The author Natashya Phillips, is the co-founder of

 Luke Coutinho Holistic Healing Systems (LCHHS)