A healthy outlook on life

AFTER being made redundant twice in two years, one Lissycasey resident is fighting back. In the past six months, she started her own business, employs two people and is now hoping to expand.

Edel Waters, the managing director of the HealthReach Franchise in Limerick and Clare, featured on this week’s The Business program with George Lee, where he examined innovative ways to create employment.
George visited the National Franchise Centre in Limerick to find out more about the Franchise Acceleration Startup Training (FAST) program and explore some successes, that have already come from it.
Edel admits the FAST program was instrumental in getting her to where she is today. Originally from Meath but living in Lissycasey, she was made redundant on two occasions over the past few years and so decided to go  into business for herself.
“I worked for a Japanese company Buffalo Technology Ireland and spent three and a half years in Japan before moving to the company’s Shannon operation. I’m an electronic engineer and was working in project management and that kind of thing. When Buffalo set up here, they moved me here but then they moved to Holland. They asked me to go but I was newly engaged to my West Clare man so I decided to stay put.
“I moved to RR Donnelley, who supplied Dell. Dell was 98% of their custom and they are in the process of closing down at the moment. I worked in China with them for a bit but then I decided I needed to do something else because we were thinking about starting a family and all the engineering jobs involved a lot of travel and spending weeks and months away from home. You just can’t sustain that with a family,” Edel told The Clare Champion.
Edel was laid off in June 2010 and by June of this year she had, under the umbrella of the National Franchise Centre, successfully launched the HealthReach Weight Management program. Having created employment for herself and two health promotion consultants within three months, the franchise model has proven to be the way to go. Now, under six months in business, Edel is hoping to expand.
“When I was made redundant from my last job I had been there less than two years, so I wasn’t eligible for redundancy but I was eligible to take part in the Franchise Acceleration Startup Training (FAST) program. This was basically a six-month incubation period in the National Franchise Centre, which I began in January. I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I went in but they profile you and help you to find franchises based on what would suit you, the hours you want to work, the capital you need to invest and what risk you want to take. As part of FAST, I was introduced to HealthReach and it really suited me and I believe in what they are doing. It ticked all the boxes for me,” Edel outlined.
HealthReach operates weekly group meetings providing information on a range of health issues. The modules are designed to provide groups with common lifestyle-related health disorders support in a group setting. HealthReach can also provide corporate services to companies in their own premises for both groups and individuals.
“HealthReach is about bringing nutrition to the masses. The groups could be compared to Weight Watchers or UniSlim but the difference is the talk for one thing. You get weighted and measured on arrival but the emphasis is very much on the talk. There is a different one every week, so it might be on activity, the immune system, protein, balanced diet or nutrition for example. Every week there is a healthy change to make to promote these lifestyle changes,” explained Edel.
“The second point of difference is that there is no membership fee. There is a fee to attend each meeting but there is no miss fee if you can’t attend a meeting,” she added.
Edel has been interested in diet and nutrition for years but her interest was piqued during her time in Japan.
“Japan has the healthiest diet in the world. When I came back, I had real difficulty getting back into the food here. I was making it at home and bringing it to work with me, I just couldn’t face into a big sandwich. Even the portion sizes here compared to Japan are so huge. I was always interested in nutrition. Now I am doing a diploma in health coaching and nutrition and I have taken on people who are already nutritionists to run the classes,” Edel outlined.
The second element of the business is that HealthReach provide private consultation facilities where individuals can meet with the nutritionists and avail of a range of health screening services where they receive instant results.
Edel’s HealthReach Weight Management program has already made remarkable progress for a start up.  Along with weight management groups running in various locations in Limerick City, a clinic has now been opened in O’Connell Street to cater for the growing demand for private consultations, where clients can avail of cholesterol testing, body mass composition testing and activity monitoring.
HealthReach will be expanding to Ennis shortly and within corporate and community groups. 
“I could start classes in Ennis straightaway if the demand is there now and people want to take part. While people are very conscious about spending, they are seeing that this program is about life-long results and not just a fad diet. It’s lovely to hear people say that, for once in their life, they feel in control of their weight.”
More information on HealthReach is available at www.healthreach.ie/limerick.