Latest / Glovisor Podcast / She Couldn't Find Answers for Her Health. So She Built the Solution | Saha Collective Story [Ep 80]
Transcript
- Alenka Kyslik: I just went through a series of health issues. I wasn't finding answers in conventional medicine And so what I did was out of sheer frustration, said, hey, there's a better way to do this. And I built out a matchmaking system that looks at who you are as a whole person and then gives you recommendations for a non-covered by insurance provider. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Welcome to the Glovisor Podcast, where we explore business growth, communication, and personal development through real conversations with people who make an impact. Our guest is an entrepreneur and former corporate software professional who turned her own challenging health journey into a mission to help others find answers. She created an online platform that uses personalized matchmaking to connect people with holistic experts. Glovisor welcomes Alenka Kyslik. Hi, Alenka. Alenka Kyslik: Thank you very much. Hey. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: All right. I'm excited. So Alenka, please let us know a little bit more about what you do. Alenka Kyslik: Yeah, so my background is in corporate on the tech side and I just went through a series of health issues. I wasn't finding answers in conventional medicine and there's no system really to find answers outside of that if you know you're trying anything out of pocket. And so what I did was out of sheer frustration, said, hey, there's a better way to do this. And I built out a matchmaking system that looks at who you are as a whole person and then gives you recommendations for a non-covered by insurance provider. So it could be anything from like DNA testing to Pilates to a gut health coach to a therapist. It just really depends on what you're going through and where you're at. And then we match you with someone who can help you. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: were you exceptionally techie before you started this? Alenka Kyslik: So I spent 15 years in the tech world. I'm not a software developer, but I speak the language and I know how to design systems based on how software works. It just, it's one of those things that when you come from like, you know, engineers find solutions to problems via their engineering brain. I found solutions to problem via my tech background. And so that's how it happened. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: I guess one of the things that makes individuals most successful is when they look around and they can't find a solution to the problem they have. How long did that process take you? Alenka Kyslik: two years by the time I put my foot down and was like, I'm gonna do something about it. Okay, but just it's not just two years. It was I I stopped counting at $10,000 American. And about 50, that's five, zero different types of treatment. And that was the moment where I was like, mm-mm, this is not okay. We're doing something about it. but now we are almost five years from the initial like when I've went back and been like, yeah, that was the thing that started it from a health perspective. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: So now did you find a solution to your personal issue first before you embarked on this journey? Alenka Kyslik: well, I found a series of things that helped, right? I think the a hard thing that we look at right now is are the health experiences we have in terms of conventional medicine are like, here's a pill or here's a surgery to fix your problem. The reality is there's often a lot more nuance to that and there's a lot of layers. So did I find a direction in a series of things that I had to fix? Yes. Am I perfectly fixed? No. but we are you know years down the road but it took me decades to get here. So I'm trying to give my like right like it's I'm doing exponentially better. I'm not wearing a brace. My leg is not visibly atrophied where you see that there's less muscle, right? I'm doing a lot better, but this is what I've learned is an entire lifestyle change, right? If you have high cholesterol and you're really prone to have a heart attack, you could like take blood thinners, but really you need to make lifestyle changes, right? And that's a bigger conversation. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: once you decided to embark on this journey, what was your first step? Alenka Kyslik: I would say my first step was getting over myself, getting out of my way because I I'm so grateful, my friends, who put up with me talking and brainstorming and getting excited about what I was wanting to do. But it took me a good six months before I decided to like, okay, let's create the legal entity, let's actually start building the thing. I think the biggest thing is like you have an idea, you need to validate that idea, make sure people are actually willing to pay for it, which is very different than you know, building something. You need to make sure people are willing to pay for it, and then you need to start building it. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: once you hit the button and it went live, what happened? I mean, was it like it just validated everything you've done to that point? Or was it like, whoa, I'm gonna have to start doing something else or a little extra marketing to making to make things happen? Alenka Kyslik: Yeah, I think it's a really frustrating part for a lot of people because we're usually either good at building or good at selling and generally not good at both. And so you have to learn the other thing, whatever it is for you. just because you built something amazing doesn't mean people know know about it, right? And most of us don't have thousands of dollars to throw at advertising or hiring somebody to do that. So that has been the biggest amount of work is just how do people learn that it exists and it can help them. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now as people are signing on, did you start to notice any challenges or any issues? Cause very often once we go to market with something, that's when we start to find all the holes in our processes. Alenka Kyslik: my background in software actually has a lot to do with processes, which helps. Not saying you catch everything. Yeah, don't. Like there isn't you will never, no matter how perfect you think something is, there will always be something that surprises you. That's just the nature of building anything, right? You renovate your house and all of a sudden you're like, well, that color doesn't match that thing, or like this is now in a place I didn't want it to be. That that's just how the process is and you have to embrace it. there are some things that I learned, like for example, not to get too nerdy, but I wanted to offer this to companies as a benefit for their employees. And I was like, great, they'll just sign on, they'll give me money. That money will be like a credit that the employees can use and, you know, book a at home massage or acupuncture, whatever they feel like, right? It's not how it works. and that's the sales part in that benefits companies want it to be easy or like Because the benefits team doesn't have the time to do some sort of integration. So then I had to go back and see, okay, could I make this eligible with the benefits they already offer, like health savings accounts, HSAs or FSAs, flexible savings accounts. And that meant I had to restructure my plan to go live from the financial architecture standpoint. and so that to me was like a big, now it's an opportunity, but at the time it was a big frustration. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Absolutely. So now is that available through HSAs and FSAs now? Alenka Kyslik: Yeah, we're we're almost there. We're we're like, give me a couple weeks. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Great. Alenka Kyslik: Yeah. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now, would you be able to share a client case study that someone who signed onto your site and has had an amazing transformation? Alenka Kyslik: Yeah, I mean there there's a a few different people. So I think the biggest thing is when you go through frustrations in your health and you're not finding answers in the information that is available to you, right? Whether that's through your doctors or your friends and family who are making suggestions or whatever, the hardest part of that is feeling like you're lost, like you don't, like you're at your wit's end. And I think the biggest part of this is like giving you back options and saying like, hey, here you go. we have people who have gone through this process and all of a sudden they are hitting the things that they want. To do so they're sleeping better, they have more energy, they're able to function better with their family, with their friends. I think what that looks like and how those individuals get there looks very different because we are at our core individuals, and what you need versus what I need is different, and that's what we are trying to address is how can we give individuals individualized care instead of dumping in them into a pool with like all of the options and saying, Well, this is exactly what everybody else says, so it should work for you, and then you're Well, it's not. And now you have no option. So we're doing the opposite of that. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: one of the things that I wanted to know is how do you handle the providers and then the customers? Because they seem like two separate jobs all on its own. And it seems like they both bring challenges because you need the customers in order to have the providers and the providers to provide the services for the customer. Alenka Kyslik: this is called a double-sided marketplace, right? Where you have supply and demand. there's a really interesting book called The Cold Start Problem that I think I'm on my second or third time reading now, listening to. I don't know why, but you know, business books put me to sleep. I blame university. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Yeah. Alenka Kyslik: but what it talks about is there are two sides of the network, right? And one side is inherently going to be harder than the other side. What is really interesting to me is people are like, how many providers do you have? And then they're so impressed. And and it's not really hard for me to get providers because providers understand the value and they're motivated because they want more clients, right? They're experts in what they do, they're generally not experts in sales and marketing. And if someone else could fill calendar, they'd be very grateful. The customers are the harder side because you have to find them in the right moment, right? It you have to find them in the right moment when they're willing to try something new, where they are going through something so acutely, like they're just really in it and they really need help. That's the harder side. So what I'm doing instead is I'm actually not doing a traditional direct to consumer approach. I'm working on partnerships with other companies and doing referral-based revenue systems that allow us to leverage their existing audience and then bring in more people through that flow. And for me, I think the most important part of that is partnerships is something naturally that I enjoy doing, that I'm comfortable with, versus some people love doing social media and they have a great personal presence. And that works for them. It's just not my jam. like if you look at my social media, it's mostly me recording like in selfie mode. If I'm lucky I put a camera on a tripod and I record something quickly, but I'm not gonna edit it like crazy. You know what I mean? Like some people love doing that. It's just I did it for about a year. I spent two hours a day for Instagram. Did not work the way that like it was intended to. And I followed all the things you were supposed to and I was like, okay, let me, let me switch. Let me do something a little different. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now if someone wants to work with you, what is the step-by-step process? Do they go to the website? Is there a membership? How does that work? Alenka Kyslik: So I felt really strongly about not charging a membership by default. And I say that because a lot of people, you don't want to charge a membership and then not be able to serve the clients, right? Maybe there isn't like exactly the right practitioner for them. They want something in person. They live in a remote area. Like we're not going to be, we're not gonna have that. So what I do instead is the providers set their prices and we take a percentage of each appointment. Booked. And so, and that's a flat percentage, and that goes towards covering the costs of the platform, the marketing, etc. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: So now if I'm a brand new customer and I live somewhere i i where you don't provide services currently, would you be able to help to source people? Alenka Kyslik: I can definitely source people. That's like I said, the easier part is sourcing the providers because the providers they understand the value of what we're they're what we're providing. I think one of the biggest things is we try our best to avoid a potential mismatch between a provider and a client. For example, you have really bad back pain and you are just in so much pain that, like, the idea of doing Pilates to help with your back pain is just not gonna happen. Right? Like for some of us that's the case where we just need someone to give us relief. Plotties is not an option. Maybe you need acupuncture instead. We might have the Plotties person, we might not have the acupuncture person. But if you tell us like, hey, can you find me someone? We could do that for you. Separate from that, there are a lot of virtual services that didn't like this is now becoming more of a standard. You can find someone who can probably help you. Sure, there if you want a massage therapist, that's an in-person thing. There's only so much we can do with that, but there are likely going to be other people that can help you that you didn't know existed. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now based where your business is currently, who should be contacting you right now? Alenka Kyslik: People who have gone through or act are currently going through chronic stress, chronic fatigue, and chronic pain. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: also providers, I would imagine you would want those. Yes. And Alenka Kyslik: Providers who serve those conditions, yeah. Yeah. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: no venture capitalists? Alenka Kyslik: that is a rabbit hole that I am happy to go down. what's really interesting about the space, there's a new study that came out from the Global Wellness Institute that looked at providers of what's called complementary and alternative medicine. And they broke it down per c per like area in America specifically, we're just talking about America, that is currently a $41 billion per year market. But a lot of people I talk to are like, this is such a niche business. And I'm like, well, it's not. Cardboard, which by the way, makes more than all professional sort of sports combined, which I thought was a fascinating statistics. But it is, it is big and it is booming and it is growing, especially with the way that healthcare is in the States. if somebody in venture wants to talk to me, I am happy to talk to them. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: What is the single most important takeaway that you want our listeners to remember from this conversation? Alenka Kyslik: I think the most important thing That you need to remember when you're going through something like this is it probably took you years to get here. And it might take a little bit of time to get answers. So give yourself some grace. So whatever you're going through, it's okay, like it's it's tough. But meaning, if you don't find that one person that like one appointment that gives you all the answers, maybe that is because it's only part of the solution. Part of the solution could be multiple appointments with that person, could not be two, but it's gonna take take some unwinding of all the work you've done to get you to this place. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Great advice. now, where is your business headed to next? Are you just servicing US? Are we moving into all of North America, South America? Where are we headed? Alenka Kyslik: Yeah, so we're focusing primarily on the US market in terms of clients. we do have providers in other parts of the world, and the reason for that is there are tons of people who have amazing expertise and you often can offer for a lot cheaper what you are looking for. but yeah, we're just focusing on the US market for now. That's the primary focus. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Now where can people connect with you, find out more about your work and continue this conversation? Alenka Kyslik: the easiest way to find us is saha collective.com. You can send us an email at info at saha collective.com and then we're on most social media at saha.collective. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: Well, Alenka, thank you so much for joining us today. And thank you so much for sharing so much information about your business and the value you shared today. Alenka Kyslik: Thank you so much having me. Joe Abreu - GLOVISOR.com: You're welcome. Thanks everyone for listening. 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