Calm Chi Wellbeing Centre

A passion for business              

Mandy Rigg has turned her passion for helping and empowering others into an award-winning wellness business.

A critical care nurse, kinesiologist, and health and wellness coach, Mandy is passionate about educating, treating and caring for people holistically, incorporating mind, body and spirit.

“Kinesiology looks at the strength and flow of the energy or chi of the body,” Mandy explains. “It supports a ‘vitalistic approach’ where the body is looked at as a functioning whole.”

“Western medicine treats a person based on a ‘reductionist approach’ looking at a disease process, or part of the body involved in the disease, rather than acknowledging the effect on the entire person.  I love combining my eastern and western knowledge and concepts as it provides the perfect platform to support a person to heal on all levels.”

In 2014, Mandy turned her passion into a business, Calm Chi Wellbeing Centre. Treatments include kinesiology, health and wellness coaching, nutrition consulting, Reiki, EFT and matrix reprinting, ear candling and hot stone massage. The centre develops and sells essences and sprays that balance and revitalise the body’s energy.

Mandy’s knowledge of eastern and western medicine and her exceptional level of care, including ongoing support, set her apart.

While she had the skills to succeed in business, Mandy felt she needed guidance and direction in establishing her practice. She heard about SBMS through Maroondah City Council, which hosted a State Government Women in Business Program.

Each four-hour workshop was followed by a session with an SBMS mentor. Mandy started with Barbara Cox as her mentor and had extra coaching sessions with Bruce Hall.

Barbara is a management consultant with a focus on strategic and business planning, leadership and management development, human resources, facilitation, coaching and training.

Bruce is a workshop facilitator who has been a mentor for 10 years, specialising in personal development, marketing and e-marketing.

SBMS is a non-government, non-profit organisation of volunteer expert mentors who give their time and experience to help small business.  It is supported by Small Business Victoria, which refers clients to it.                  

Mandy had six sessions over six months as part of a ‘women in business’ program, then continued coaching with Bruce after that.  

Bruce helped with time management, the website, pricing and e-marketing. He found that Mandy cared deeply about her clients but needed to balance the demands of running her business, working as a critical care nurse and caring for her family.

Initially Bruce focussed on pricing, a Facebook page and discussing website options. Once Mandy consolidated her operations, the business began to grow.

“This growth was not surprising given Mandy’s expertise, caring attitude and her ability to combine her knowledge from being a critical care nurse with eastern modalities,” Bruce says.

They also discussed achieving a better work-life balance. After creating a Facebook page, Mandy launched a Wordpress website and hired an office assistant.

She and Bruce then worked on optimising the website for searching and creating content to reach and educate a wider audience about what kinesiology and Calm Chi Wellbeing offer.

Her hard work and dedication paid off when Mandy won Nature & Health magazine Practitioner of the Year award in 2016 from a national field of 240.

“An amazing effort,” Bruce says. “Mandy is a wonderful caring individual, a human dynamo, who sets a great example for others to follow.”

Since seeing Barbara and Bruce, Mandy has achieved:

• improved profits and returns
• better work-life balance
• a web presence
• enhanced processes and systems
• honest and supportive guidance
• increased staff numbers
• business opportunities outside clinic hours.

Mandy now has an office manager, receptionist and a bookkeeper. “Bruce taught me to work at what you are good at and outsource what you are not skilled in; work smarter, not harder” she says.

“I have learned how to delegate, which in turn has taken a lot of pressure off doing it all on my own. Employing amazing staff has changed my whole business, allowing me to focus solely on my strengths and supporting my clients.”

Mandy has seen a substantial increase in client referrals and more public website enquiries.

“The growth of my business has been exciting and positive thanks to the support and guidance from SBMS encouraging, educating, and guiding me in the right steps to grow my business,” she says. “I received the guidance I needed to implement all these tasks.  I am so grateful to have such wonderful mentors like Bruce and Barbara.” 

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