Rebecca (Bex) Aldridge combined her experience as a physiotherapist with her understanding as a new mother to set up Health2Mama to help new mums along their pre- and postnatal journey.
What’s your story?
I qualified as a physio in 2002 and after completing a Masters started a company specialising in physiotherapy at home, ‘Physiocomestoyou’, in London in 2007.
After moving to Singapore to be with my husband I set up Health2u offering physio at home and in our clinic. We also provide services such as massage, nutrition and exercise training. Having my daughter Aria 2.5 years ago led to opening our most successful venture yet, a branch of Health2u called Health2mama which specialises in providing physio, training and massage for mums during pregnancy and after birth.
What excites you most about your industry?
Loving fitness and exercise myself, I love being in the health industry which enables me to make a real difference in someone’s life and particularly for mums. Specialising in seeing people at home enables our physiotherapists to make a much more personal connection with their clients compared to the clinic situation and also is just so much more convenient for the client. However we also have the central city clinic for those who prefer it. The ability to be there as a supportive mechanism to mums right from the start through the pregnancy and for a while after the birth is extremely satisfying.
What’s your connection to Asia?
I came to Singapore to stay for 3 months with my husband after we got married with the idea he would finish his “1 year opening a branch in Singapore” (he had already been here for 9 months) and come back to the UK. However my company back in London seemed to run just as well with me out in Singapore, so we never did go back to the UK at the end of the 3 month stay and now it has been 6 years!!!
Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
Singapore due to the massive word of mouth effect here which is not the same in London. Start ups are very common in Singapore and the local ones seem to have a lot of support. I find Asia generally is much more tech forward compared to Europe and ahead of the game in developing new programmes digitally and using social media.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
To listen to advice. Not feeling necessarily that it has to be followed but to be open minded to
other people’s ideas before making a decision. When you have your own business it can be quite easy to fall into being narrow minded and feeling that you know what your business needs to succeed; listening to comments made from people seeing it from the outside can be very helpful.
Who inspires you?
Mums who manage to meet their ambitions whilst still managing to enjoy family life. On becoming a new mum myself I learnt from other working mums that you can manage to be successful, work hard yet still spend decent amounts of time with your child/children. It’s just about having effective time management and being prepared to work into the evening after they have gone to bed to allow some time with them in the day.
What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?
How many people are affected in so many different ways during this current pandemic. It feels like everyday I find out about another large or small business or person/persons that has been affected both in economic and personal ways and in ways that did not cross my mind before.
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
It’s a hard question to answer as to be honest any of the things that have happened to me in the past that felt really hard at the time and created great deals of stress for me have actually been the foundation of other things that have materialised successfully since. I have always had the perseverance to not give up even if it feels it’s impossible but to keep looking for different ways to get around the obstacle in my way and turn mistakes into better things.
How do you unwind?
I find spending time with my family and a glass of wine are the best options to help me unwind. I do feel the need to watch TV for a short while before trying to sleep to switch my brain off from working as I am a late night worker making the most of the time when my daughter has gone to bed.
Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
I love so many places in Asia but I find the most relaxing ones are islands such as Nikoi or Cempedak as they have none of the city hustle so you have no choice but to just eat, rest, paddle and do the odd spot of tennis!
Everyone in business should read this book:
The 5 hour Working Week – this taught me the most important role of delegation. Learning to take the time to teach other team members roles to take away from you which then frees up your time to do more important things.
Shameless plug for your business:
Health2mama is exactly what it describes – delivery of Health Services To Mamas. A team of physios who are also trainers and massage therapists specialising in prenatal and postnatal and diastasis recti (ab separation) home visits & online via Zoom and our own Health2mama App. Physio, exercise, massage either at their home (in Singapore), our clinic (Singapore), or online (anywhere).
How can people connect with you?
We are always available and the best ways are:
W: +65 83582144
DM through Instagram @health2mama or Facebook @health2mama
Social Media Links?
Instagram @health2mama
Facebook @health2mama
—
To hear how entrepreneurs around the world overcome their challenges, search your favourite podcast platform for ‘CallumConnects‘ to hear a 5-minute daily breakdown.
Callum Laing is an entrepreneur and investor based in Singapore. He has previously started, built, and sold half a dozen businesses and is now a Partner at Unity-Group Private Equity and Co-Founder and CEO of MBH Corporation PLC. He is the author of three best-selling books ‘Progressive Partnerships’, ‘Agglomerate’, and ‘Entrepreneurial Investing’.
Connect with Callum on Twitter and LinkedIn
Download free copies of his books at www.callumlaing.com
