My name is Melissa Smith and my mission is to empower and nurture women to live their best lives and to be happy, healthy and Hale.
My entrepreneurial journey officially began when I launched the HALE Bone Broth, but since I was young, and even as an adult working in corporate America, I have always looked for the new opportunities in life. I know that for me, in my experiences, good and bad, I have found that it’s important to shift my perspective, pivot in order to create new possibilities, and look for strength and motivation to keep moving forward.
As I was launching The Hale Life as a wellness brand, I saw an opportunity to partner with a friend and fitness expert, Julie Armstrong, owner of The Hope Experience. She wanted to create workshops and retreats geared towards empowering women and creating space to help others feel connected, supported and not alone. I jumped onboard and haven’t looked back. This idea bloomed and grew quickly over the last year, since inception. Our events and Wellness Retreats became highly sought-after, almost from the moment we launched. Even in the days of COVID, we have found ways to be creative and keep building our following and community. We continue to learn and grow as a newly-formed partnership, and we didn’t let obstacles get in our way–we just moved around them and stayed true to our mission and purpose.
Surrounded by others: Watching The Hale Life become a brand, seeing Hale Bone Broth grow in popularity among other passionate entrepreneurs in the farmers market circuit, and selling it to all our loyal customers gave me confidence. I could feel the momentum. Then working alongside another solopreneur / business owner, such as Julie, and diving in full force into the retreat space felt like I was on my own crash course for entrepreneurship. I was surrounding myself with the right people who have been down the path towards being their own boss, launching businesses, creating brands and sharing their passions. This journey has truly been exciting, refreshing, rewarding and challenging all in the same.
What keeps me going: I am driven every day to help people and to bring people together. This passion came after the death of my beloved mother and has fueled me with a drive and energy to connect with as many people as I can. The truth is, we all have a story, and usually the story gives us our why. It is why I created The HALE Life. I wanted to help people heal and become stronger. I want people to live a healthy, accountable life that they enjoy. I want people to feel nurtured and nourished in order to see their worth. I want to see people lean into their purpose and find ways to live the life they were meant to live.
The bonus: There is a sense of pride that has come to the surface and I often refer to it as the feeling of being in a “tribe.” This tribe is built on passion and purpose. It includes a lot of entrepreneurs: women starting their own businesses, launching companies, incubating ideas, and more. Collaborating with others and being in community together has become a secret weapon. When you are all part of a tribe, it becomes like family, and this tribe or community can help to lift each other up. Being an entrepreneur has given me the best bonus: the tribe. This is the silver lining to the hard days, it’s the motivation when you need to be reminded to keep going and it’s the people you lean on when you need to pivot. That’s the magic sauce.
