Episode 94: Lousia Li

Join Lori and her guest, Louisa Li, Founder of Shanti House, as they discuss the transformative power of yoga and mindfulness and their impact on entrepreneurs. Many entrepreneurs find themselves overwhelmed with the pressures of running a business, often neglecting their mental health and personal values. Through Shanti House, Louisa is dedicated to supporting individuals in finding balance, enhancing their sense of purpose, and thriving in all aspects of life!

Here are the things to expect in this episode:

• Louisa's career transition pursued a personal calling that has a more tangible impact.

• The most common challenges startup founders face in the early stages of their business.

• What inspired the creation of Shanti House, and how did it come to life?

• Benefits entrepreneurs gain from Louisa's unique blend of yoga and business consulting.

• And much more!

Louisa’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisa-li-47247832/

Shanti House website: https://www.shantihouse.co/

Shanti House LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shanti-house-co/

Episode Transcript

00:00

You're listening to the positive impact philanthropy podcast, where we share the journeys of everyday philanthropists as they incorporate philanthropy into the lives. Philanthropy is a personal journey through the stories we will share here, we hope that sparked something in you and how you can make your own philanthropic impact in the world. I'm your host. Lori Kranczer, attorney, philanthropic advisor and legacy gaming strategist. Together, we're going to explore what it looks like to be an everyday philanthropist and make a positive impact in the world. Before we get started, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode posted on Wednesdays. So today I'm excited to introduce and share the story of Louisa Lee. She's the founder of shanti house, and there's a lot to unpack in her journey. So I'm excited to welcome her.

00:54

Welcome Louisa. Hi Lori, thanks

00:58

so much for having me very excited about this.

01:00

Oh, well, I'm absolutely thrilled. So why don't you start and share about your journey and what you do now?

01:10

Yes, sure. So I work right now. Currently run a wellness community for entrepreneurs in New York City. My background actually is not in wellness or entrepreneurship. I was in corporate for the last 10 years, you know, management consulting. So most recently was just at Boston Consulting Group for the last five and a half years. And before that, I was at Ernst and Young in their financial services advisory practice for about five years as well. So hold, you know, background career has been in management consulting, working with major Fortune, 500 companies from anywhere around digital transformations to technical and age implementations and most recently, more, kind of strategic, you know, projects for all types of clients, and primarily in the financial institution sector. So, yeah, kind of coming from that into what I'm doing now is a big pivot. A lot of it was driven by personal kind of experiences, or, you know, motivations that really drove me to kind of pursue more my personal passions and what I really felt like I wanted to bring to the world and to, you know, my community here in New York. So essentially, you know, last year, in November, I decided to leave BCG and kind of pursue what I thought, you know, might be more aligned to my personal passions and what I wanted to bring to the local community here in New York. And so decided to leave in November and went to Bali, actually, for a month to get my yoga teacher certification. Spent a month that, yeah, about a month there really, really wanting to pursue my personal passions around spirituality, movement, mindfulness had always been very into yoga and practicing for about eight ish years. But obviously, you know, working 65 plus hours a week, never really had the opportunity to, you know, dedicate 200 plus hours to get my certification. So the first thing I decided to do when I left was get my yoga teacher certification. I really wanted to, yes, spend some time just kind of going down my personal passions. And so got my yoga teacher certification. Knew I wanted to somehow incorporate that into my future, whatever I decided to do next, but wasn't sure if I wanted to be, you know, work at a studio or just teach, you know, private lessons. I think the biggest thing for me was really just to deepen the practice and potentially get the opportunity to share this practice to people that you know were close to me, or that I felt like really could benefit from the practice for me, yoga, spirituality has been such a huge part of my life, and it's really transformed the way that I approach not only my personal life, but everything in business, and how I was kind of operating and navigating the corporate world. For so long, I just felt like it was a really good balance for me to center myself and ground myself in moments, out of really, really high stress or anxiety that just kind of comes naturally with, you know, work or relationships or things that kind of come as you become an adult. And so for me, it had changed my life so so or impacted my life so deeply that I was, I hope that I could share that practice with others in the future. And then in the beginning of the year, I decided to come when I came back to New York, I really wanted to do something professionally more entrepreneurial. I think for me, there was always this entrepreneurial spirit inside of me, but I had been, you know, in corporate for so long, really wanting to just seen some more of those, like, you know, concrete skills. And after 10 years in consulting, 10 years in corporate, you know, had amazing experiences, got to work with incredibly bright people, got to travel the world. But I think for me, it was a big personal decision to really try to pursue something that, you know, it was kind of always calling for me. And so, yeah, when I decided to leave and got my yoga teacher certification, came back to New York, I knew I wanted to get the startup ecosystem here in New York somehow, but I wasn't exactly sure to what capacity, you know, what stage, what sector, was very foreign. That whole world, to me, was so foreign, coming from 10 years in corporate so really started to talk to a lot of founders in the city to get an understanding of, you know, what is it that I should be looking for, or what are the specific kind of challenges or problems that the startup founders are facing. And it was actually through those conversations that I discovered that there was this opportunity to really help these entrepreneurs and founders in many, many ways, one just from a business perspective, I felt like a lot of them were really struggling with understanding, you know, or just problem solving. Given how much stresses were just solely on their shoulders, they didn't have this massive team, or all these abundant resources that corporate gives you to really scale your business. And so a lot of them are starting out from scratch, you know, without a lot of guidance or without a lot of resources and leverage. And so I saw just how stressed they were in terms of, like, actually building out their business. But then the second thing was there just general kind of mental health. It seemed that there was just a lot of, you know, obviously stressors that comes with running your own business, being an entrepreneur, but also from a personal standpoint, like the isolation of being by yourself, kind of like working through from morning to night by yourself, you know, all of these things that you typically would have a team for in corporate. A lot of these entrepreneurs were just kind of figuring it out on their own. And so in those conversations that I had with the start founders, there was a lot of themes around, you know, wanting to, you know, be have more social connections, to walk, wanting to have more time for, like, their personal goals, whether it's fitness, working out, just being, you know, better overall health. And then, yeah, obviously, from their business perspective. And like, wanting to build their network and be connected with advisors, or be connected with other entrepreneurs that kind of going through what they're going through, that might be able to help connect them to other resources, other people in their community or in their network. And so for me, I saw this opportunity to really help these entrepreneurs. And when I was telling them my story about, you know, my past, coming from working at BCG, now, getting my yoga teacher certification from Bali, and then coming back to New York, they were asking, you know, do you teach yoga? I really want to get into movement mindfulness. I really want to work on my mental health. And, you know, prioritize some of these things that I've been neglecting as an entrepreneur. And so I wasn't teaching at a studio at the time. And I was, you know, had basically just come back to New York, but enough founders had asked that I decided, you know, maybe you know, why not? Why don't just do a class for these founders and see, kind of, if you know, if people like it. And it was for me, actually good practice to teach as well, to share my practice in a way where I could actually help entrepreneurs, which is another personal passion of mine. So I felt very lucky that to kind of marry the two personal passions. And so I did. I did one class went really well, did another, and it went really well, and it kind of just naturally took off. And at a certain point I was like, maybe there is something here. You know, like a lot of I was getting a lot of support, a lot of feedback that, you know, these classes are really helpful, really help them. Like they would come into the class or leave the class and just be like, they had no idea that I even needed that. And it was a way, I think, an outlet, for them to one, get to moving their body is getting to do some breath work and meditation, and actually, you know, bring consciousness to the connection between their mind and their bodies. But also get to meet other like minded, ambitious entrepreneurs that are in kind of the same boat as them. And at the same time, you know, discover new connections and potential business opportunities. And so, you know, I felt so blessed and lucky that I serendipitously fell into this, fell into this kind of opportunity where I get to marry my two personal passions and help these entrepreneurs in multiple assets, their businesses, their personal relationships, their mental health. And yeah, it's been, I guess, four months now. We officially launched in the end of April, and since then, we've done 10 events. And yeah, it's been growing. A lot of it's just been growing the community meeting a fantastic entrepreneurs, really inspiring stories, and then helping connect them and giving them resources, while also getting them kind of moving and bringing consciousness to some of these more kind of mental health areas that they have, you know, historically been neglecting, just Given the stressors or the lifestyle of being an entrepreneur, absolutely, oh, my

10:44

goodness. Okay, so there's so much I want to go through.

10:49

Yeah, sorry, that was a lot. I realized I was like, I don't know if that was really an order, but it was definitely a little stream of consciousness there.

10:55

No, that's great, and I and I love it, because you definitely, you share your journey is really what many go through when they are doing any type of social impact or philanthropy. It's, it's that sort of aha moment. Sometimes it's not just a moment, but it's that urge, that yearning to do something more and to explore that and identify it, which you did, and then, of course, then execute on it. But I really want to go to where you, where you identified, and how, how you came to have that understanding. When you're in the corporate world, you're traveling, you're working on interesting projects, you're working with smart individuals, right? It's, it's very fulfilling in that sense, but you still felt there was something missing. How did you how did you make that switch, and how long did that take you?

11:48

Yeah, that's i That's a great question, because a lot of people think that it's just like a switch and it happened overnight, and I figured it out all like I figured it all out overnight, and that's not the case at all. It was a decision that I spent a lot of time thinking about. It was super intentional, very, very thoughtful. Because for me, I had worked my entire 20s to get to where I was when I turned 30. And, you know, my my and BCG is an incredible company, like it's such an amazing company, I feel so lucky and privileged to be able to call myself a alumni there, and a lot of people kind of like dream to to work at a company like that. And for me, it was, you know, my dream job. And so it wasn't like, you know, I was miserable and was burnout, and I just decided to, you know, rage quit. Like, that's, that's actually the opposite. I think for me, it was a really, really intentional decision and completely personal. And for me, it was, you know, I think there wasn't necessarily a point in time where I was like, Aha, this is the exact moment that I knew it was one of those things that kind of was building inside of me for a while. I knew that I always wanted to do something entrepreneurial from even when I was young. But there was a lot of, you know, just with my family, my parents are immigrants, and so they it was a very classic immigrant story where they came from nothing or moved to America for the better life for all of us. You know, at the time, my parents are from China, and my sister, who's the oldest, she was the only one at the time, and China at the time, there was still the one child policy, remember now, but they were only limited to having one child, and so they gave up everything to really come to America, and so they could have all of us, and that they could my siblings, I have three siblings, or three, three civilians, and myself, so that we could, you know, have the opportunity for a better life here. And so for me, I think I followed that path for so long because I was kind of conditioned to think, you know, you know, work really hard, get good grades, go to school, get a good job, move to the city and, like, all these check boxes. And I am a really, really hard worker. So I spent my entire 20s kind of just being on like, you know, heads down, really grinding and wanting to kind of achieve what I had to find a success in my parents eyes and maybe society's eyes. But there was a point where I had been doing a lot of soul searching and kind of really tapping into, like, going inward and tapping into, what are my actual values, and what actually makes me feel alive as a human and what do I feel like is my purpose? And once I had those like seeds of thoughts in my head, it was very hard to ignore them, right? Because I think that, you know, while, whilst I was having amazing experiences working with, you know, very, very high level senior executives getting this amazing exposure, getting to travel around the world, live in different cities. And I felt like, you know, working for these corporate these major, billion dollar companies. And I felt like there was something inside of me that felt like I needed to take my skills and experiences and all of this, and I did all this for 10 years so that I could take this experience and skills and bring it to smaller organizations and startups and companies that, frankly, maybe needing it more, or that I could see more of a tangible, tactical impact from and so actually, when I was at my time at BCG, I did some social impact work. I was helping a nonprofit in the Bronx with their they specifically focused on poverty alleviation, but I was helping them with their essential and mutual kind of strategic initiatives, and how to grow the grow the brand awareness, how to improve the operations, how to get more funding, kind of all over the entire spectrum, and I felt just so fulfilled from that. And it felt like, you know, a lot of the same overlap of skills and frameworks and perspectives bringing it to such a smaller organization that was really mission driven. Just felt really different, versus like, you know, a $30 billion thing, for example, right? And so I thought, you know, it was that point in time when I realized, you know, I think I need to, I think I need to bring my skill set, whatever brings the table, and help smaller organizations and startups. Before I even started Shante house, after I left BCG, I was helping one of my good friends. She was a digital marketing agency down in Costa Rica in Tamarindo, and she's the creative behind it, you know, she's absolutely talented, absolutely amazing. I but she doesn't have that business background, and so she was kind of growing very organically through word of mouth, and became so big her business she needed to hire, like, you know, in a team of 80, and she needed to get all these, like, processes online that were that were formally manual. And so she had all this kind of things that were happening, and didn't know how to deal with it, and it was causing her a lot of stress, a lot of kind of, you know, anxiety. But also, you know, from a business perspective, she was losing a lot, a lot of opportunities. Things were falling through the cracks. And so we talked, and I actually met her through a yoga retreat in Costa Rica, and I didn't know that our paths would cross in this way, but she had asked me if I would come on and help, you know, for a few months, just kind of get things in order for her. And so that was my first kind of taste of consulting for like, a small startup, and I just absolutely loved it. It felt so fulfilling to be helping an organization where I could literally see the very next day the impact of what I was helping her, helping her with, and her team with. And so I think it was like those kind of snippets that made me realize this is what I need to be doing, at least for a little bit, try to test out the waters and completely different world. And so, yeah, I guess, I guess long, long story short, it wasn't like an overnight, oh, I woke up and I reached when, you know, decided to just completely 180 pimp that it was something that, I think, in a mix of my personal journey, really taking a year to go inward, probably the most inward that I ever, ever have, and really do that deep diving and questioning of like, what are my values, and what are the things that make me feel really alive, like, and what is my purpose? And I think in the corporate world, it's really hard to even have the time to ask yourself those questions, because you're just on autopilot, honestly. And for me, I felt like I was on autopilot for 10 years. And it was really when I decided, hey, I'm gonna actually take some time for myself and do the expo orientation and go on this self journey that I was able to really confront these hard questions about myself and say, am I actually doing what really aligns to who I am as a person, what my values are? And when I realized that those answers may be no, that was when I really knew that I had to make a change. And so, yeah, it was very, very much personal. I'm so glad I did the 10 years in consulting. And you know, who knows I might be back in the future, but for now, I knew that this was what was kind of calling inside of me.

18:57

Well, I think your So, your 10 years in corporate, provided you with skills you're able to now use in what you're doing and helping others in life. One really interesting as and you probably already recognize this, but what's so apparent to me as you're going through is, number one, you're you're very and not everyone is, you know, has that capacity. Unfortunately, it's difficult to do and but what I see, what I am hearing from you are throughout your journey, and even the stories that you're bringing up, a lot relate to with yoga and entrepreneurship, but also mental health, including the organization you mentioned that you were helping, I guess pro bono work and and you're, you're here down in Costa Rica, that she was having anxiety you mentioned with her business, and that also maybe attracted you to that as well, because I'm hearing a lot of that, of the mindset and Just the mental health for individuals and the business owners that you're working with now, the entrepreneurs and did I nail it? Did I get it? Absolutely? Yeah,

20:09

I'm glad that you're able to add up, because for me, mental health is such an important topic. You know, like, personally, I've had a lot of close family members and friends that have dealt with mental health issues. And so it's very near and dear, you know, close to me in that way. And I feel like it's something that, you know, growing up in an immigrant family that was ever really discussed openly, you know, it's, I think it's only actually recently in the past, you know, five, let's say five years that mental health has become a topic that is more widely talked about, you know, with the corporate wellness programs and celebrity ambassadors and things like that. But before that, it was really taboo to talk about your mental health. Like, people didn't really say that they went to therapy or that they were going they were going through depression or, you know, things like that. Like that, like, it was always kind of, there was always, like, a stigma tied to it, and there's still somewhat, is, I think, like there is, it's much better. And though, for me, because I had dealt with a lot of very close cases of it, and I could also see what it was doing to my loved ones and people that I really cared about without actually have that outlet. It's always been something that was has been a huge area that I want to advocate for. I'm so actually one of the nonprofits that that I advise is it's called National Alliance of Mental illnesses. It's not me. When I left BCG, I knew I wanted to get, you know, as part of the smaller organizations that I wanted to help. I decided I wanted to use, you know, my time and effort for mental health advocacy. So that was the first nonprofit that I actually started advising when I left BCG, because it's, it's a topic that is so prevalent, but it's not, you know, hasn't historically been talked about enough, and it's one of those things where, like for I see mental health almost the same as your physical health, you know, if not more important. And a lot of people, when they're sick physically, they go to the doctors and they get, you know, medicine or whatever. But a lot of medical health goes on the notice or undiagnosed or not talked about, never addressed. And it's really painful to see people suffer in that way, and especially in, you know, very, very high stress environments like, you know, where it's very demanding. There is, for sure, I see my colleagues that suffer from a lot of mental health issues and lead to burnout, or, you know, lead to, you know, other kind of, like, you know, mental health issues. And so it's always been my number one kind of topic that I want to advocate for. And it's, you know, driven by personal, personal experiences, personal stories, but also just, you know, I think for me, because, you know, when I was going through the high stress environments, you know, working till 1am or, you know, dealing with, you know, clients from all over the world that were just very, very high, you know, demanding. It is a lot of stress. You know, you can't deny that that pressure puts on your what that pressure does to your mental health. And so for me, you know, spiritual quality and yoga and meditation was always a tool for me to help address some of those stressors so that I could kind of navigate those high stress situations that are just natural in life. And I wanted to really bring that practice to people that may not necessarily know how to go about finding those resources right, or they are stressed but they don't know. Like, do I listen to a podcast? Do I download calm? Do I download, you know, an app like and so as part of the work that I do right now, not only do I teach the meditation in, you know, in real life and in these personal or in these in person events. I also distribute a newsletter that goes out to my community, which actually lists out, you know, resources for them, whether it's like, Hey, here's some really great yoga studios that just opened up in New York. They might want to check out if you're a beginner. Or, Hey, here's like, some meditation classes that a friend is hosting on Fridays, you know, and like, podcasts, books and just resources in general, to help people that might not be familiar with the world and may not have that time or that consciousness to, like, really do do that soul searching that I was able to do get, you know, a little bit of help or guidance and navigating that?

24:40

Yeah, so,

24:44

so good. So I one of the reasons why I really want to share your story is that it shows how we can really identify our values and and make an impact in the world. That doesn't necessarily mean being a donor to an organization, right? And and how we can use our skills our community to affect change. And your your journey is was so clear that I really wanted to share it, because you really went from and it's very similar to mine. So maybe that's why to do philanthropic work. But you went from doing this corporate very different in this high stress environment, to identifying what your needs were and how you want to make more of a connection with your community and also within you know, working with mindset and mental health. You were advising nonprofits, and it's like, and it took a while, right? So it's a journey. It's not just like an aha moment where it's just flipping a switch and you're leaving and know what you're doing, and it's completely different the way you did before you went to Bali. You got your certification, and then you spoke with lots of individuals when they came back and identified a need that they had and were able to apply your skills to what they needed. And so I love this journey because it's not a typical like philanthropist journey that we think of when we think of donors. It really is a social impact, and it's so important because you are really affecting change within the entrepreneur community. So I think it's great. So when, when we think about others that are looking to do something similar, we sell it. What? What's your advice? Like, any tips on how they can go through something similar in a philanthropic journey, not necessarily what you've gone through, because it would be different for them, but any advice for them. Yeah.

26:47

I mean, I think it all starts with yourself, right? And

26:52

taking that time to ask the questions like I mentioned earlier. You know, for almost 10 years, I was in autopilot and just kind of chasing the next thing that was in front of me, like, honestly, just a survival mode, trying to get through the day, trying to get through the week, trying to get through the project. And so my advice would be, really, to be intentional about taking that time, whether it's on the weekends or, you know, taking a week off and going on a retreat, or something like, really just stepping outside of your comfort zone to allow yourself to ask those questions, those hard questions, and look inward and say, You know what? You know? What is it that that I'm really supposed to be doing in life? Because, and I think that the the hard part is that sometimes you ask that something you actually don't know Right? Like for me, I was when I decided, I was like, I want to leave to do something that really aligns to my values. And I was like, Okay, what are my values like? I actually didn't really know what they were. And so then that was really what's like, ignited my journey of self discovery, because I was like, Okay, actually don't really know what my values are like. I know maybe like, the top three things care about. But is that really what my values are? And so I spent a lot of time then being intentional about, you know, whenever I had free time, like doing that work, like journaling, you know, taking a week off to go get my scuba diving certification, or, you know, going to take, you know, classes, you know, outside during the my off hours to really discover, like, some of my personal passions that say, like, is this the thing that makes it click, or that makes me feel alive? And there's a lot of trial and error, and I think that it's just takes the intention to one, the acknowledgement of, like, Okay, I needed to take a step back and just ask those questions to myself. And then two, really stepping outside the comfort zone then to actually explore and try different things that you necessarily, you might not necessarily have tried in the past, and see what sticks and what doesn't, and what makes you feel like this is your purpose. And so, yeah, I would say, like it's a lot of just the intention behind it, and then the resources. I mean, especially living in a big city, like there is just so as an abundance of resources. For me, it was really helpful to talk to people so can making, making those connections, you know, putting yourself outside your comfort, comfort zone, and going to these events I had probably gone to, I want to say I probably had like 50 coffee chats in the span of like, a month and a half, and then would go to events during the week to meet other founders and talk to them and understand, like, what they're going through. And, you know, it's a lot of just taking it upon yourself to be proactive and proactive for yourself, like asking those questions yourself, but then also proactive and actually building your network and meeting other people that can give you advice and give you the resources make the connections for you. Because ultimately, that's what happened for me. Was just once I decided to do the things that were aligned to me, it was like the universe was just opening doors and giving me access to connections or like opportunities that I probably would have otherwise, not, you know, not have gotten but it was a lot of just me putting myself out there to have those opportunities come

30:07

to fruition. I absolutely agree with that. I just might the last point on that, just to sort of confirm what you're saying, is, I feel like when someone identifies what it is that they want to become. They have clarity around it. They are vocal about it, and then the opportunities will also an appearance. And maybe they're there already, but they weren't identified by that individual to see that they were there because they totally met. So I love that. All right, so we're getting close to the end. So this has been an amazing interview to hear your story. Thank you so much for sharing. I think a lot of people can relate to this. What do you see your legacy being? Oof,

30:55

probably to bring the BCG framework in, and got to do threes, right? So probably three things, probably the first is just around kindness and empathy. I really want to be remembered for someone that whether it was my personal life or my professional life, how I mentor and manage my teams, like just doing everything with empathy and trying to really see the other person's viewpoints. I think that's so important, especially in this day and age where just there's so many different opinions and, like, so opportunities to be divisive, like, actually just having that empathy, to understand where the other person is coming from. The other thing, the second thing, probably, is just being fearless. I know that's something that you know some people feel like they don't have, or some people that feel like it's they're not like born with. I really want to be remembered as someone that you know just was fearless in trying different things and being really open minded to new opportunities, and knowing that you know whatever decisions that I make, you know, will be able to kind of get back onto my feet. And the last one, yeah, probably just curiosity, like just being over to someone that's constantly asking the questions, not being satisfied with the status quo, or,

32:12

you know, the norm of like, what society expects, but actually just being really curious and constantly asking questions of, you know, is this what I'm supposed to doing, is this the right way? Is this? Is this the only perspective, and just kind of helping others in that way, to, like, push people to be more open minded, to have that growth set. I'm constantly pushing my friends and family, maybe a little bit too much, to try to be more growth mindset, and really try to, you know, push their perceived limitations, and that's the legacy that I want to leave behind. It's just someone that's always Yeah, leading with kindness and empathy, a fearless leader, and someone that's always pushing those around them to be curious and open minded and continue to grow and evolve as a human being.

32:57

I love that I wrote that down. I think this is great. What a fantastic legacy. All right, Louisa, where can people find out more information about you? And Shanti house, yes, so

33:10

we have a website, so it's www dot Shanti house.co, CEO, so that website has all of our events coming up, our past events to get a sense of the community and what we do. We also do founder features, where we highlight emerging entrepreneurs and their stories, and then resources for entrepreneurs. So whether it's you know, biz, ops, finance, HR, you know, kind of fractional work that helps support them to scale their business, also on LinkedIn. So find me on LinkedIn. Louisa Lee and yeah, we also have a Shanti house LinkedIn that posts our events as well. So if you're interested in joining the community, please, please, please do. We'd love to have you great. Well. Thank

33:51

you so much. This has been fantastic so and then all of our listeners, thank you for joining us before provide us some insights and inspiration. I know I was that you can use for your own fold that journey. So thank you for everyone. Thanks for having me.