Norma Curby has a passion for health and wellness and has made it her focus for the past eleven years. She is owner of Well life Center for Anti-Aging Functional Medicine in Atlanta Georgia. The center’s mission is to provide services for patients that allow them to feel good, look good and be well. Well life center focuses on health protocols that support healthy graceful aging for every age group. Norma Curby is CEO and co-owner of Lean Nutrition, Inc., a privately held corporation. Lean Nutrition, previously owned and operated Nutrition House Atlanta retail stores, Nutrition Active Juice Bars, Lean Therapy nutritional coaching and Nutrition Active Sport online nutrition store. She is also co- founder of InnoVen Cyber Inc. InnoVen is a software technology company that provides technology solutions and services that
connect customers to onsite services at stadiums, restaurants, amusement parks and fitness locations.
She holds a Doctor of Naturopathy Degree from Trinity School of Natural Health, Indiana. She is also a Certified Nutrition Coach and a Master Herbalist with Trinity School of Natural Health. She is a certified Sports Nutritionist, CISSN, and a Certified Preventive Health coach with Emory University, a Certified Community Health Leader with the Satcher Health Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine. She has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with concentration in structural engineering, a Master of Science in Engineering Management and a Professional Development Degree from the University of Missouri Science and Technology (Missouri S&T). She is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program from the University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN and the International Marketing Program from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.
She has over 30 years of experience in business strategy, general management, M&A, new business development, and marketing in various industries, including healthcare, food, agricultural, and industrial chemicals. She was most recently a Vice President and Corporate Officer of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., a [today $64] billion global home healthcare and industrial gases company headquartered in Allentown, PA. She served as Vice President Corporate Strategic Planning. In this role, she had responsibility for the corporation’s portfolio management strategy (M&A), long range planning, growth /development and corporate economics. She also headed up the corporations global Sustainability area which included socially responsible strategies to leverage the corporation’s involvement in energy
solutions, the environment and developing global markets. Prior to that role, she was Vice President Global Customer Engagement at Air Products where she was responsible for the corporation’s worldwide customer logistics, customer service, credit and collections, electronic commerce, CRM and customer facing marketing processes. Prior to joining Air Products and Chemicals, Norma was Vice President and General Manager of Monsanto’s Phosphorus and Derivatives business and subsequently Solutia, Inc. Norma was a member of the leadership team that established the Solutia, Inc. IPO [chemical entity spin off from Monsanto].
She is founder of The Wellness Institute at Nutrition Therapy Rx, Inc., DBA The Georgia Wellness Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health outcomes in underserved communities. The organization provides a team of volunteer wellness ambassadors whose mission is to connect people in underserved communities to the resources they require to improve their wellbeing and overall health.
She served as board director and member of the board compensation committee for Elemica, an e-business company. Norma has been an active philanthropic leader participating in both corporate sponsored and community sponsored organizations. She served as a director of Monsanto Corporation’s charitable foundation and served as a director of Monsanto’s political contribution fund. Other community board positions include the Nursery Foundation of St. Louis, the YMCA of Greater St. Louis and the Girl Scouts of Greater St. Louis. She also, served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of Missouri- Rolla (Missouri S & T). She was one of the first members of Sustainability Global 50 (consortium of top corporate executives focused on saving the planet).
We had the amazing opportunity of sitting down with Dr. Norma to discuss the health and wellness industry, how she got her start and what the future holds for her.
Who is Norma Curby in four words?
Fierce, Compassionate, Innovative, Woman
What inspired your start into the health and wellness industry?
My interest in health and wellness started late in life during my early 50’s. I was a senior executive in a fortune 100 company working in a stressful high-pressure job when I realized I just didn’t feel “good” anymore. I was experiencing multiple health issues including weight gain, fatigue, memory issues, headaches, severe joint pains and a knee that sounded like opening a rickety old gate when I walked up and down stairs. All of my key health statistics: blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, etc were just fine. I had no disease diagnosis. My doctor told me that my symptoms were associated with just getting older.
‘Getting older’ did not tell me anything about how my body was supposed to work or what to expect in the coming years. I am an engineer at heart and am always curious about how things work. I set out to find the answers. I needed to know why something so inevitable as aging meant I had to feel so awful. What I discovered is that my body had succumbed to chronic stress after many years of physical and nutritional abuse. Over the next seven years, I embarked on a process of trial and error based on what I learned through additional education to remedy my situation. I demonstrated that the ravages of chronic stress on my body could be reversed. It became my desire to share the knowledge I had gained with
others in a straightforward manner, that would shortcut the years of trial and error seeking the right solution that I had undertaken.
You have spent the past eleven years focusing in on health and wellness, how did this time prepare you for where you are today in your brand?
Four important points that shapes my brand today
I. The importance of helping each customer to discover what value good health brings
to their individual lives.
II. I must address the myth that most people believe that declining health as one ages
as common and describes it as normal. Declining health IS common, but it IS NOT
normal for the human body.
III. As humans, we are all mostly the same except for the small things that make each of
us unique. Focusing on those small differences is what offers the greatest potential
to improve health outcomes. We are each metabolically unique and the solutions to
address individual health issues are also unique.
IV. People become interested in aging when they look in the mirror or perceive others
physical appearance. But aging starts on the inside. What is seen on the outside
merely represents what has already happened on the inside.
Tell us about your brand Well life Center for Anti – Aging Functional Medicine?
We’ve rebranded to Well life Ageless Center. We meet people were they are in the aging process. That starting point is truly unique for each individual.
We are a fusion of Wellness, Body Contouring, Facial Rejuvenation and Aesthetics. These four categories represent the “aging” doorways that our customers enter through.
✓ Wellness because their body is/ has changed, and they no longer feel good.
✓ Body Contouring because their bodies have changed in a way that is no longer pleasing to them.
✓ Facial Rejuvenation because they don’t like the looks of the person staring back at them in the mirror.
✓ Aesthetics because their skin isn’t functioning well (the way it used to).
What can women expect when entering your centers doors?
Our atmosphere is open and inviting. We are a judgement free zone. If the issue is
important to her, it is important to us. She can expect us to listen to her describe her
concerns. We offer free initial consultations to assess whether or not we can be of
service.
Can you give us the full experience from start to finish? What do you hope women takeaway from their time there?
She will be warmly greeted and escorted to an area where she can comfortably wait for one of our staffers to see her. We will listen to her describe her concerns. We are a judgement free zone. If the issue is important to her, it is important to us. We offer free initial consultations to assess whether or not we can be of service. We will describe our process to evaluate her areas of concern if it falls within our scope of practice. We will discuss costs and options to pay or finance. We do not accept health insurance because most health plans do not cover our services. If we don’t think we can be of service, we will let her know the reason. The evaluation phase will follow. This phase can sometimes be handled immediately, or it can take longer depending on the area of concern. The next phase is the actual service. It can follow immediately after the consultation and evaluation were appropriate or may be scheduled for another time. We want her to leave believing that we are working for the best possible outcome to address her concern. And that we want her to feel good, look good and be well.
Tell us about Lean Nutrition? Can you share the importance of focusing on what you consume?
Lean Nutrition is focused on educating our customers on how the body runs (metabolism) and the importance of providing quality nutrition. There are a few different right ways to feed our bodies. Metabolic individuality determines which way is best for an individual. The Lean Nutrition approach guides individuals in discovering that best way for them.
Our bodies are designed to function, repair, and rebuild themselves automatically without any conscientious intervention from us. But it requires the right nutrients to carry out these functions. Our bodies are programmed to survive. In fact getting rid of all things in the body that are not productive towards functioning, repairing or rebuilding becomes the top priority in the body and certain nonessential functions like repairing and rebuilding take a back seat. If an individual consumes an abundance of nonproductive nutrients like drugs, chemical additives and low quality food, their body
will use its energy getting rid of those things and have little left to carry out top functions, repair itself or rebuild new tissue.
As a serial entrepreneur, what message do you project throughout all of your brands as a whole?
Innovation driven by embracing change creates many opportunities.
You have spent over 30 years developing strategy and perfecting your craft, what was your greatest takeaway during this time?
The only constant in life is change itself. Embrace change, don’t fear it, don’t fight it. Use change to create new and better pathways.
What advice do you have for upcoming entrepreneurs?
Be passionate about what you are doing. Keep your vision and your goals present and be flexible in your pursuit.
What is next for you, where do you hope to see your brand in the next 3-5 years?
I would like to expand the franchise to locations in smaller communities where the kind of services offered at Well life Center are not readily available.
What is your definition of a Pretty Woman Who hustles?
Some one who is a Fierce Compassionate Innovative Woman.
Connect with CEO Dr. Norma J Curby on Social Media at @welllifecenter
