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Life Stages, Zulma Y. Terrones
Life Stages has been the synthesis of years of anecdotal and professional experiences, which were first sparked in my young adulthood.
As a first and half generation immigrant and first-generation university graduate, I experienced trauma and stress without a lot of access to resources. In my mid-twenties, I decided to change and improve my well-being and life by leaving Chicago and traveling abroad for a year. One year turned into five, and throughout this time, I traveled in landscapes, cultures, and environments completely different from the ones I knew as an American-Mexican youth raised in an urban setting.
During this time, I, along with other travelers, gained new insight into ourselves and a connection to nature and well-being as we explored and completed novel–at times grueling– physical activities. Since then, I have pursued this nature-wellness phenomenon in professional, academic, and clinical settings. This includes over 10 years in experiential and outdoor education programming and 2+ years in community-based clinical mental health for youth and families in crisis. Furthermore, I obtained my master’s in Psychology and Education with an emphasis in outdoor health from the University of Cambridge, where I also led independent research into the individual understanding and connection to outdoor behavioral health curriculum.
Yet, it was not until 2020, when the world was experiencing COVID-19 and intense social unrest, that my passion, experience, and skills began to intentionally synthesize and evolve into what would ultimately become Life Stages in 2022. I saw the dire growing need for comprehensive preventative wellness solutions. I began forming a flexible, hybrid health model to strengthen physical, mental, and socio-emotional well-being for every stage in life.
The world needs reconnection to the self, community, local environment, and fundamental wellness tools. I aim to bring Life Stages' holistic wellness journey to as many people as possible to help people achieve a baseline of health so they can focus on living and thriving.
Life Stages is tackling the economic and societal burden of mental health and isolation at the intersection of nature, wellness, and technology.
Through a hybrid in-person and online wellness model that includes cohort outdoor adventures and access to a digital community and education platform, Life Stages creates a health journey for individuals to strengthen their physical, mental, and socio-emotional health through nature, community, and science at any stage in life.
See our Life Stages & Mission YouTube video.
I was inspired to start my business through a combination of anecdotal, academic, and professional experiences that highlighted the transformational power of nature and access to basic behavioral health. These experiences culminated in 2020 when the world was experiencing COVID-19 and intense social unrest–highlighting the dire growing need for comprehensive preventative wellness solutions to improve mental health and combat social isolation.
I was inspired to create access to whole mind-body health for every and any stage in life. I decided to synthesize my skills and knowledge into a hybrid outdoor health model to help people reconnect with themselves, others, and nature while working on their physical, mental, and socio-emotional well-being through evidence-based and clinical practices.
Life Stages is unique as it provides a clinical and evidence-based multi-dimensional framework targeting physical, mental, and socio-emotional well-being. Current wellness solutions tend to be siloed targeting specific health and well-being aspects (e.g. sleep, stress, isolation, etc.) rather than utilizing a holistic evidence-backed mind-body lens like Life Stages. Furthermore, our hybrid format allows participants to continue their wellness journey in-person and online at their own pace, time, and community setting most appropriate for them.
As a boot-strapped startup in the Bay Area, I was looking for aligned, cost-accessible resources and support. Through some online searching, I found SCORE and now recommend it to other founders!
The mentoring I received from my mentor at SCORE was invaluable. My mentor provided me with advice and insights to tackle the nuanced landscape of start-ups, especially in highly competitive markets. He became a great ally and thought partner as I navigated consumer research, iterating, going to market, and raising capital. SCORE also provides great access to webinars, workshops, and training to fine-tune specific areas of knowledge.
With the mentorship and resources provided by SCORE, I have gained fundamental knowledge in start-up and business essentials. This has allowed me to dramatically go after my passion and launch my outdoor health start-up to the full extent. I transitioned out of my role as the executive director of an Oakland-based NGO to lead my business full-time and am now in the process of acquiring venture capital and angel funding.
Gianfranco's strengths-based and person-centered approach, keen startup insights, venture capital knowledge, and business strategy acumen were crucial to building and launching Life Stages. He has been a kind and purpose-driven mentor, which has helped me stay motivated and purposeful as I progress in my founder journey.
Starting a business can be intimidating and challenging, yet with the right support, tools, and knowledge, anything is possible. Identifying and cultivating aligned mentors, partners, vendors, and other resources is a great way to ensure you grow in alignment with your vision.
SCORE has talented mentors and resources to help you take your business to the next step–I highly recommend them!
I can help in the earliest stages of an idea to the actual operations of a business. My expertise...
