Well+Good TALKS: How Women are Advancing the Wellness Start-up Space

Sarah Larson Levey | Founder + CEO, Y7 Studio

Sarah Larson Levey is the founder and CEO of Y7 Studio, which she created at age 26 to answer her desire for a yoga experience other than the traditional practices available to her. Since launching in 2013, Y7 has been breaking down the barriers of yoga, making it accessible and inclusive (all while flowing to the latest beats), and it has expanded to a national business with studios across New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Her industry-disrupting efforts earned her a spot on Create & Cultivate’s 100 for 2020 and Entrepreneur’s 100 Most Powerful Women for 2019, among other honors and awards.

Elisa Shankle | Co-Founder, HealHaus

Elisa Shankle married her love for design (she holds an interior design degree from Pratt Institute) with her passion for holistic health to create HealHaus, a cafe and healing space in Brooklyn. After learning how to overcome her anxiety and depression naturally through diet and plants, she became dedicated to sharing the benefits of alternative medicine with others. Together with Darian Hall, she co-founded HealHaus, which offers indoor and outdoor group programming areas where daily yoga and meditation classes are held. The wellness sanctuary is designed as a safe space where healing is accessible, inclusive, and community oriented.

Rachel Drori is the founder and CEO of Daily Harvest, an organic frozen-food delivery service. In 2015, Rachel set out to solve the modern eating dilemma by making healthy food convenient, delicious, and personalized. From the early days of hand-delivering homemade smoothies from her car, Rachel has built Daily Harvest into one of the fastest-growing consumer brands in the U.S.

In December 2017, Daily Harvest announced a Series B funding round of $43 million, and A-listers including Serena Williams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bobby Flay, and more have also invested into the business. Today, Daily Harvest has expanded to more than 65 recipes including Smoothies, Harvest Bowls, Oat Bowls, Chia Bowls, Soups, Lattes, and Bites.

Alexia Brue is the co-founder of Well+Good and served as CEO until Leaf Group (NYSE: LEAF) acquired Well+Good in June 2018. She’s currently SVP of the Fitness & Wellness Group at Leaf Group. Without raising any outside capital, Brue grew Well+Good from an idea to a digital media and events company that reached 10 million people every month and employed 70 team members at the time of acquisition.

Brue is a frequent expert and commentator on digital media, entrepreneurship, and wellness, and has been featured in outlets including CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, the New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, Yahoo Finance, AdWeek, and Digiday. Brue earned her BA in Classics from Grinnell College and her MA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She serves on the Board of Directors for Wellness in the Schools and is an advisor to the Global Wellness Institute. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.