An entrepreneur has built a successful business in Neath offering alternative therapies after a personal family tragedy in a bid to improve the accessibility of wellness in the local area. Selena Booth founded Magnolia Health and Wellbeing centre with her daughter Hannah and best friend, Jayne Mogford, after her husband Richard Booth passed away from a rare form of cancer.
Mrs Booth decided to launch the business after seeking ways to come to terms with her loss and exhausting traditional medical routes for mental and physical recovery before trying alternative medicine acupuncture. The centre offers 15 local wellness therapists and offers holistic wellness and beauty treatments including homeopathy, reflexology, hypnotherapy and art psychotherapy.
It also supports others living with cancer, offering free treatments to people fighting cancer on select Sundays in memory of her husband. Since its launch, Magnolia Health and Wellbeing has been supported through NatWest’s Entrepreneur Accelerator Hub.
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The programme helps entrepreneurs across Wales scale their businesses and offers one-to-one coaching, a programme of thought leadership and events, access to a network of like-minded entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs also have full-time use of NatWest’s co-working space in One Kingsway, in the centre of Cardiff.
Hannah Booth said: “We founded Magnolia Health and Wellbeing as a way to remember my dad and to improve the accessibility of wellness in the local area. My mum credits acupuncture as changing her life and we want to create the same moments for other people who are going through a challenging time.
“As first-time business owners, we were a bit lost when founding the centre and so the support of NatWest and the Entrepreneur Accelerator Hub came at exactly the right time. They were able to provide expert guidance, but we also found a community of other business owners with shared experiences to be so incredibly helpful.
“I would highly recommend the Hub to any Welsh businesses looking for guidance, no matter your size, as the community spirit is absolutely unmatched and has been the biggest support and motivator for us throughout our business journey.”
Applications are now open for The NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator programme, with ambitious entrepreneurs encouraged to apply before spaces fill up. A free taster session is being offered at the Cardiff Hub on July 4, 12, and 19 as well as August 10, 15,and 20.
