40 Under 40: Colleen Kavanagh is blazing a trail in holistic health benefits
PHOTO / Tim Greenway
Colleen Kavanagh founded and leads SoulBeing, a startup that connects employers with a network of alternative health and wellness care providers as a benefit for employees.
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Significant professional accomplishment: Developing enough courage to become an entrepreneur when my first child was only 6 months old, the persistence to see the company through multiple pivots, the strength to keep the business alive through the pandemic (and the birth of a second baby), and the confidence to grow SoulBeing into what we are today.
Current state of mind: Peace and plenty, my family motto.
Passion project: My whole life feels like a passion project. SoulBeing is my current focus as a professional endeavor. Between running a startup and being a present and involved mom to Millie (5½ years old) and James (3 years old), I’m at capacity with two full-time-plus jobs that are uniquely important and fulfilling.
‘Lightbulb’ moment: When I was working for GE Healthcare, I learned that 70% of people being treated in our hospitals today are preventably ill. The seed was planted that compelled me to build an infrastructure facilitating access to evidence-based health care services focused on holistic, root-cause and preventative care.
Audacious goal: To shift the way our society thinks about health care to include a more comprehensive understanding of the options available to support our overall health. To empower others with resources that allow each of us to better care for ourselves and each other.
Favorite quote: “To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves — there lies the great, the singular power of self-respect” — Joan Didion
Influential book: “Being Mortal,” by Atul Gawande. The subtitle is “Medicine and What Matters in the End,” it reframed for me the role of medicine in our society today in comparison to what it could be: enabling well-being rather than just ensuring survival.
Favorite TV show: “The Great British Bake Off”
Best way to recharge: Spending time with my kids, ideally in the ocean or on a forest trail. Reading books of every genre. Making art (poorly), listening to music, dancing and doing yoga. I love to cook, and I’m also an aspirational gardener and tennis player.
At age 60: Continuing to do meaningful work and philanthropy, writing books, playing tennis and golf, spending time with my adult children and husband, Matt, at home in Maine. I’ll become increasingly eccentric — studying astrology, mentoring entrepreneurs and angel investing — and no doubt still be surrounded by rescue dogs.
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