Trauma healing and women’s business success
Natasha Bray runs an online business that helps thousands of women a year overcome trauma and, through therapy, empowers them as business owners. Read her incredible story:
“The easiest way to describe it is a business that helps female entrepreneurs unlock more success. But it takes a holistic approach to success — not just success in their business but in their lives as well.
One of the key routes to success is going back and looking at the things that have happened in their lives, which have affected who they are today, and show up in their businesses.”
Natasha herself had humble beginnings:
“I was chronically abused and bullied all through my childhood and teenage years. I grew up on one of the roughest council estates in my hometown (Bridgend, South Wales).
Becoming a mum for the first time brought a lot of my own unhealed past trauma to the surface and I realised I couldn’t bury that anymore. I had to deal with it — my son is the inspiration and catalyst for my own healing and phenomenal success and impact I have been able to have on other women in business and their families as a result.”
At the time Natasha founded her business, she was signed off of work with stress and post-natal depression. She had been working as a social worker and juggling being a single mum. Her business began bringing in £3,000 a month and eventually she decided to put her energy into it full time and resign from her job.
“When I was on maternity leave it was more of a health-based business. Then I kind of pivoted — I started training in hypnotherapy and other tools I could bring to my work. It was going through those alternative therapies myself, and I started to see more success happening in my business.
I was starting to make the connection between working and healing in past traumas.”
Recently she has published a book ‘When Women Heal’, featuring 16 female entrepreneurs from around the world. The book raised £10,000 on its launch, which went to the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. She also has 7 incredible staff members and is soon hiring more.
“Women entrepreneurs can be addicted to struggle and addicted to work. They often aren’t getting the fruits of their labour, because they don’t feel worthy of success, and aren’t charging what they’re worth.
The last year I have worked with over a thousand woman. I have an extra therapist on my team now, who started earlier this year, but most of this has been myself. I work with women either one-to-one or in group projects.”
During the pandemic her business has continued to flourish, although at times Natasha has found it difficult.
“COVID has been a collective trauma. Many of my clients found it brought up triggers of not feeling safe, and this affected me too. There were some lower-income months during March and April 2020, and then I managed to work through it, and we have been growing since then.”
Natasha is currently pregnant with her second child and another business idea is brewing.
“Next on my agenda is significantly shifting my business model with the upcoming birth of my second son later this year. I am setting up my second business, the School of Healing Mastery — a training and resource school for other therapists. I have already trained 60 practitioners worldwide in my unique therapy HeartHealing.
They have spread the impact of my work further than I ever could have, using my therapy in other languages and with different client groups including autism, healing of trauma and working with men and children.
I am excited for what the future holds.”
