From Survival to One Wellness

Some moments split life into before and after.

For me, one of those moments came when I was 30 years old, pregnant with my first baby, and sitting in what I thought would be a routine scan.

Instead, I was told I had an aggressive cancer.

My daughter was born by emergency C section. At the same time, a tumour larger than her head was removed from my body. What should have been one of the softest and happiest beginnings of my life became a season of surgery, chemotherapy, separation from my newborn, fear, exhaustion and learning how to survive one day at a time.

When wellness became personal

I came from a pharmaceutical and healthcare background, so I have always respected medicine deeply. I still do. Medical care saved my life.

But when treatment ended and the rebuilding began, I found myself standing in a very different world.

The world of wellness.

And it was confusing.

There were so many products. So many ingredients. So many claims. So many promises. So many people trying to sound certain.

After cancer, I could no longer look at wellness lightly. I became deeply aware of what I put into my body. I wanted to know where ingredients came from, why they were used, what purpose they served, and whether I would genuinely trust them for myself.

Then I became a mother, and that standard became even stronger.

If I would not put something in my own mouth, or give it to my children, I do not want to build a business around it.

Why I created One Wellness Group

That is the heart behind One Wellness Group.

It was never created just to sell more products. It grew from a very personal desire to help people feel less lost when they are trying to take care of themselves.

Because I know what it feels like to search for answers.

I know what it feels like to be scared.

I know what it feels like to want to rebuild your body, your confidence and your life after your health has been shaken.

And I know how overwhelming it can be when you are trying to make good choices, but every product, article and advertisement seems to tell you something different.

My hope with One Wellness Group is to bring together wellness brands, education and practical guidance in a way that helps people feel more supported, more informed and less overwhelmed.

Choosing wellness with more care

One of the biggest lessons from my own journey is that wellness should not feel like pressure.

It should not feel like fear.

It should not be about chasing every trend, buying everything, or believing every claim.

To me, better wellness starts with asking better questions.

What does my body actually need right now? What stage of life am I in? What am I trying to support? Is this something I can use consistently? Do I understand the ingredients? Do I trust the people behind it?

That is the kind of thinking I try to bring into every brand we create, support or work with.

A family of brands, held by one purpose

During my own recovery, one of the hardest emotional parts was looking in the mirror and not recognising myself. My hair, skin and body had been through so much. I did not want a beauty promise. I wanted nourishment. I wanted to feel like myself again.

That experience became part of why I care so deeply about Puraz, our natural beauty and wellness supplement brand. Puraz supports areas such as collagen, skin, hair, nails, joint mobility, gut health and healthy ageing. To me, beauty from within is not vanity. It is confidence, rebuilding and the quiet feeling of coming home to your own body.

I also became more open to gentle tools that could support the body at home, while still respecting the place of professional medical care. That is why Bioptron has a meaningful place in our wellness family. Bioptron is Swiss made light therapy technology used in homes, clinics, wellness spaces and care environments. For me, it represents a softer kind of support, something that can sit alongside everyday care, recovery and wellbeing routines.

As I continued this work, I became more aware of how many older adults are left to navigate wellness with very generic advice. Seniors often need more thoughtful support for their stage of life, especially around sleep, stress, digestion, vision, joints, circulation and healthy ageing. This is where Gold Health feels especially important to me. It is about practical natural health support, but also about respect, dignity and helping people feel more confident in their daily choices.

Food has also been a big part of my healing story. Not perfect food. Not complicated food. Just a deep respect for the way nature can support us when we use it with care. Broccoli sprouts became one of my own staples during my cancer journey, not as a replacement for treatment, but as part of how I chose to nourish my body every day.

That is why I feel so connected to Kiwi Superfoods, which focuses on New Zealand grown superfood ingredients such as broccoli sprout and blackcurrant. Sometimes wellness is not loud. Sometimes it is a small daily habit, repeated with intention.

And because no single brand or product can be the answer for everyone, we also care for healthy.co.nz, a wider natural health store that has served New Zealanders since 1998. It brings together vitamins, minerals, probiotics, collagen, superfoods, herbs, personal care and many well-known wellness brands. I value this space because people need choice, but they also need that choice to feel easier to navigate.

Why Consciously Living feels like the right community

My connection with Dana and Consciously Living felt meaningful from the beginning.

When we first spoke, I felt a shared heart very quickly. Consciously Living is creating a space where people, practitioners, services, products and stories can find each other across Aotearoa.

That matters, because wellness is not only about what we take. It is also about who we trust, where we learn, and how connected we feel along the way.

There are many beautiful people doing meaningful work in New Zealand. Practitioners, founders, educators, growers, makers, therapists, coaches and community leaders. But sometimes people do not know how to find them.

There are also many everyday New Zealanders who want to make better choices for their health, but feel overwhelmed before they even begin.

This is the space where I feel our work can meet.

What I hope we can share next

Through One Wellness Group, my hope is to keep building brands, resources and conversations that help people cut through the noise. Through Consciously Living, there is a beautiful opportunity to bring those conversations into a wider community that already cares deeply about living well, choosing consciously and supporting each other.

Over the coming weeks and months, I hope to share more with this community around topics such as winter wellness, gut health, stress, brain fog, menopause, collagen, healthy ageing, movement, light therapy and daily nourishment.

But more than any single topic, my deeper hope is this:

That we can help more people feel less alone in their wellness journey.

That we can make natural health feel less confusing.

That we can bring science, nature, lived experience and heart into the same conversation.

That we can remind people that healing is not always one big dramatic moment. Often, it is small steps. Better questions. Wiser choices. A trusted person. A helpful product. A new habit. A little more light.

From survival to purpose

My journey began in fear, but it has brought me to a place of deep purpose.

I am grateful to still be here.

I am grateful to be a mother.

I am grateful to do this work.

And I am grateful to connect with communities like Consciously Living, where wellness is held not only as an industry, but as a way of caring for people, families and the world around us.

With love and healing,

Jessie Shi
Founder, One Wellness Group