Women in Wellness: “Why it is so important to remain vulnerable” With Avalon Lukacs of AURA Inner Beauty

To show up and make the changes we want to see in the world, it is so important to remain vulnerable by always embracing our feelings, for better or for worse, and not bottling it up. For me personally, it is important that I take a moment to self-reflect, remind myself of the bigger picture, plan around the things that I can control and just let go of the things that I can’t, because those will be the things that prevent me from moving forward. With so much going on in the world right now, it has never been more important to nurture our mental health. Without giving too much away, I have some exciting plans in the way of product development because there is so much beauty in a brilliant mind.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Avalon Lukacs.

Avalon is the Founder and CEO of AURA Inner Beauty, a holistically inspired line of inner beauty products that nourish your beauty from within. With a master’s degree in business specializing in entrepreneurship and innovation, and a mom of two beautiful twin boys, Avalon loves educating people how beauty goes way beyond skin deep. AURA is truly redefining the way we think about beauty and its relationship to our overall health and wellness.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I was born and raised on the sunshine coast of Vancouver BC as a proud Canadian. With the energy sector booming in Calgary AB, I moved to the flat prairies so I could pursue university and chase the corporate life. It seemed that I had things figured out, but my priorities started to change through my life experiences.

It was truly my own personal journey that inspired the idea of AURA Inner Beauty. After years trying to conceal, mask and treat a myriad of skin issues with every topical product and treatment imaginable, I discovered the power of botanical ingredients that helped heal my skin from within. AURA’s inspiration not only revolves around my own personal journey, but also serves as a way to educate, inspire and empower women to nourish their own beauty from within.

My love for entrepreneurship and innovation is a huge part of who I genuinely am, which made it an easy decision to shift focus from the world of corporate monotony to something more meaningful as the founder of AURA.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

In AURA’s early days, my friends and family were always very supportive, but I don’t think that my husband quite understood it all. As a small business, there was never any shortage of work to be done, and he was never one to shy away from it when I needed his help the most. I remember one time being so busy that he agreed to look after general email inquiries. I clearly recall the time when he came across an email from an exclusive celebrity-owned spa that was interested in carrying our products. He was so excited that he woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me — it was his ‘aha’ moment! That story makes my heart smile as an entrepreneur and wife, but most of all it helped him realize that I was onto something incredibly special.

Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

As an entrepreneur, I believe that we all live with some regrets, especially with the high stakes that come along with first starting your own business. With no guarantee of success, the risk of losing it all can be daunting, but some risks must be taken if you want your business to thrive. I found myself somewhere in the grey when I was offered the opportunity to work with a large retailer that would have given AURA tremendous exposure on their highly esteemed platform. Needless to say, we were unable to agree on terms, so I learned the hard way that sometimes we need to make short-term sacrifices to achieve long-term success.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Since gratitude comes from a place of crisis, and helps us cope with crisis, it is so important to surround ourselves with people that we can rely on through the good and the bad. I feel so fortunate to have a very supportive network of friends and family, my small but mighty team, and my lovely local champions. I believe in being transparent and honest with what I can and can’t do and really listening to what others say, so they can feel inspired and empowered to sometime take the reins. That’s the challenge of running a start-up — you have to wear so many hats and look like you’re in total control while barely holding it all together.

Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

Skin issues were just the start of my journey, but it also shaped the way I dealt with chronic stress, bouts of fatigue and burnout, and various changes as a result of pregnancy. I was so inspired to help others suffering from the same issues, so I decided to do something about it. I knew I wanted to create products that do more than just help skin, I wanted to create products that improve overall wellbeing for whatever stage you’re at on your own journey.

At AURA, we believe it’s time that all women feel their best, feel nourished, feel empowered and feel beautifully themselves. It’s not about dieting, weight loss or looking a certain way, but more about being comfortable in your own skin and embracing self-love, as your own inner beauty. When we say beauty goes way beyond skin-deep, our goal is to help you ‘look and feel healthy,’ not necessarily make you skinnier. It is more about filling in the nutritional gaps that many of us have and tending to our health first and foremost. That’s why we pour our hearts into formulating premium inner beauty products, as a way to inspire and empower women to nourish both their health and beauty holistically, from the inside-out. Our health is truly non-negotiable and the greatest equalizer when it comes to the beauty of our skin, body and mind.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

1. Diet — prior to having children and running my own business, I was always very careful to maintain a healthy, well-balanced diet. As my life filled with other priorities, I found myself reaching for quick processed foods until noticing the impact it was having on my overall sense of wellbeing. I’m not perfect, but I have found ways to prioritize healthy eating by generally stocking up on fresh produce, curbing my cravings and alternating making healthy meals with my husband.
2. Quality sleep — I’ve always known the importance of quality sleep, but starting a new business as an entrepreneur has resulted in many sleepless nights. It’s not easy, and my mind still races, but I’ve found ways to cope by either listening to a meditation app before bed, taking a hot bath, kicking back with my family or reading a book.
3. Exercise — I didn’t realize how much I took exercising for granted until having children and suffering from postpartum depression. I was shocked how much it affected my mental health — it was a very real and scary thing. I’m not doing as much as I used to, but I am trying to do enough for my overall wellbeing, both physically and mentally.
4. Be present — it’s all too easy to immerse myself in endless work, especially when there is so much on the line as an entrepreneur. To maintain some semblance of a normal life, it has been so important to find ways to disconnect and just be present with my family. Sometimes just unplugging and heading outside is the perfect place to reset, reconnect and recharge.
5. Find your AURA — life can feel overwhelming at times, especially with all the pressures of caring for my twin boys, running my business and maintaining the household. My support network of friends and family help keep me balanced. When I feel I’ve lost a part of my AURA, it’s the small things like meeting up for coffee or a glass of wine, a chat over the phone, or a date night that fills me with so much love and energy to keep moving forward.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Knowledge is power — many supplements on the market are treated as food, rather than medicinal herbs, which unfortunately diminishes the powerful health benefits associated with their use. There are even cases where the purity and potency of these powerful ingredients within supplements are so low that they have little or no effect at all, again diminishing their power. While I think we need to hold the supplement industry more accountable, I would love to start a movement that brings transparency and resources to consumers so they understand the power of medicinal herbs while also having the knowledge to choose safe, effective, and high quality supplements.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Its ok to not have all the answers — mistakes will be made and lessons will be learned.
2. You will hear ‘no’ more times than you can count — it may not mean ‘no’, but an opportunity to present a creative solution or an alternate option.
3. There is no down-time or weekends off as an entrepreneur — you have to remember that it’s a marathon of never-ending work, not a sprint to the finish line.
4. You’re going to need to invest an enormous amount of time and money — it doesn’t matter what stage of business you’re at, you’ll always find yourself fighting to compete for your space.
5. For your business to thrive, you will really need to embrace and lean into modern day online marketing — I remember working with one influencer on an extremely successful campaign and thinking this is it, I’ve finally made it, word-of-mouth will carry this business and produce repeat customers — I was so wrong!

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

To show up and make the changes we want to see in the world, it is so important to remain vulnerable by always embracing our feelings, for better or for worse, and not bottling it up. For me personally, it is important that I take a moment to self-reflect, remind myself of the bigger picture, plan around the things that I can control and just let go of the things that I can’t, because those will be the things that prevent me from moving forward. With so much going on in the world right now, it has never been more important to nurture our mental health. Without giving too much away, I have some exciting plans in the way of product development because there is so much beauty in a brilliant mind.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

You can find us on Instagram @aurainnerbeauty or online at us.aurainnerbeauty.com. We would love to join you on your own personal journey to feeling beautifully yourself, and would always be open to any questions or feedback you may have.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!