How Sam Cutler Turned Personal Health Challenges into a Thriving Wellness Startup, MINDFULL

The health, wellness, and nutrition industry has grown significantly over the last several years, with a heightened focus on holistic approaches to well-being. The market, valued at more than $4.2 trillion globally, continues to expand as consumers seek more personalized and preventative healthcare solutions. This growth is driven by increasing awareness of the importance of physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as advancements in technology that make health and wellness resources more accessible.

The health and wellness industry is now focusing more on personalized wellness, with consumers seeking products and services tailored to their individual needs. This trend includes personalized nutrition, fitness plans, and wellness apps, all of which aim to address the whole person rather than just specific symptoms. Additionally, there is a growing emphasis on mental health and mindfulness in this space. This is evident by the rising availability of meditation apps and mental health coaching aimed at stress reduction and mindfulness practices.

Becoming an entrepreneur in the health, wellness, and nutrition industry offers opportunities to capitalize on these trends. Entrepreneurs can create specific products or services that cater to consumers’ needs, such as plant-based diets, mental health support, or fitness tracking. One of the notable entrepreneurs in this space is Sam Cutler, whose journey began with her very own struggles with health and overall wellness.

While working sometimes 80 hour weeks in luxury retail marketing, Cutler started a blog on the side as a passion project. However, she began experiencing burnout and developed several health issues, including a stomach ulcer, inflammation, and hormonal imbalances. These health challenges led her to pivot her blog towards health and wellness topics, where she found solace and healing through a holistic approach.

Cutler's health journey took a serious turn when she suffered a concussion after falling from a pilates reformer, which worsened the symptoms of her original health issues. This prompted Cutler to take matters into her own hands and begin studying the role of nutrition in healing the body.

“I was growing my blog at the time, which was more about my life and what I was doing,” Cutler explains. “But once I was faced with my health issues, I became a health coach and transitioned my blog into my personal healing journey. I really dove into nutrition, anti-inflammatory foods, and the role nutrition plays in healing both injury and chronic health conditions.”

Cutler’s personal exploration into her health and nutrition laid the foundation for MINDFULL, a platform she launched in September 2023. Cutler utilized her blog as an outlet of trial and error, which eventually led to the conceptualization of MINDFULL. The platform now provides holistic nutrition and lifestyle coaching through meal plans, recipes, resources, and a supportive community accessible on the website and app. Cutler and the team at MINDFULL do not agree with the diet culture approach to health, emphasizing that sustainable whole foods and eating without restrictive measuring or calorie counting are what truly give the immediate sense of feeling good and the long term benefits of living longer healthier lives.

Cutler quickly gained traction on her personal platform following a video she posted of her healthy wedding food that went viral, where she faced backlash for adhering to a gluten and dairy-free diet, while guests were given all options for their meal choices. This also showed Cutler that there was a larger story to tell, and that there was demand for inclusive and practical wellness content.

Cutler bootstrapped the business from the beginning, initially leveraging the popularity of meal plan PDFs and eventually using this to fund building a subscription-based model through an easy-to-use app. MINDFULL's mission is to move away from traditional diet culture, instead promoting a holistic understanding of wellness that prioritizes what works best for individual bodies.

“We have women in over 30 countries around the world,” says Cutler. “The women in the app community are constantly sharing photos of their meals, asking for advice, sharing their vulnerable stories and celebrating each other's wins, and it’s so beautiful to witness. Finally, instead of judging others for their physical appearance or how they choose to eat, we are celebrating everyone’s bio-individuality!”

Looking ahead, MINDFULL aims to further personalize the app to individual needs and integrate with popular lifestyle, sleep, and bio marker tools. The app’s vision is to revolutionize the way women look at their health, empowering them to make informed choices for their bodies, and reprogram their relationship with food without conforming to specific diets or body standards.

“We believe that women everywhere should have access to nutrition and health education, to take control of their health outcomes and advocate for themselves,” says Cutler.

BDG Media newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.