Balance by Nature is an award-winning corporate health & wellness consulting company that develops wellness programs to help employees thrive. “Balance by Nature was born out of a personal experience that I had working in the corporate world. Before launching this organization in 2012, I spent my career in the travel industry. The success I experienced in the role came with a lot of stress, which was manageable until my dad got sick with cancer. Suddenly I had a lot of stress in my work life and in my home life, which eventually made me sick,” said Nicole Mixdorf, Chief Wellness Officer of Balance by Nature.
During a subsequent leave of absence, Nicole was amazed how reducing stress and focusing on self-care resulted in her symptoms completely disappearing. “It was a light bulb moment for me to truly understand the impact that stress has on the body, even when we follow a ‘healthy lifestyle’. Stress affects everyone so differently, and can trigger many health issues like anxiety, depression, migraines, weight gain, and more,” said Mixdorf. Corporate professionals regularly suffer from these symptoms without even realizing that stress is indeed the underlying culprit. “I got inspired to leave my corporate career behind and start a wellness business so that I could inspire busy professionals to create balance in their lives and thrive,” added Mixdorf.
Balance by Nature has been recognized as one of the 50 Innovative Companies to Watch based on its offerings. They take a holistic approach to wellness, focusing their programming to support the physical, mental, emotional, social, and financial well-being of employees. “It’s important to remember that employees are the #1 asset to any business. When they feel good, they can bring their best selves to work, providing higher levels of service, tapping into more innovative ideas, and driving the company to higher levels of success,” says Mixdorf.
Balance by Nature has always been at the forefront of the employee wellness industry, continually expanding its service offerings with unique solutions. Before COVID, the organization had an onsite model, where the employees would lead wellness events at the client’s office locations. The organization expanded nationwide back in 2014. Once COVID hit, the whole business was taken online and is now live streaming events worldwide. The pandemic has allowed the organization to expand its service offerings, provider network, market reach, and impact.
Balance by Nature has won 7 awards in the last year as a Top Employee Wellness Company. Nicole Mixdorf has personally received two prestigious awards this past year – “Most Influential Woman in Corporate Wellness Services USA 2020” by Acquisition INTL Magazine as part of their 2020 Global Excellence Awards. She was also awarded as a “Top 100 Healthcare Leader in the World 2020-2021” by the Forum on Advancements in Healthcare.
Other awards that Balance by Nature has won include:
- “Top 10 Employee Wellness Company USA 2020” – HR Tech Outlook Magazine
- “Top 10 Corporate Wellness Solution Provider USA 2020” – Manage HR Magazine
- “Most Innovative Corporate Wellness Company – Western USA 2020” – GHP News
- “Top 30 Most Reputable Companies 2021” – Silicon Review
- “Best Corporate Health & Wellness Consultancy – California 2021” – Corporate Vision
Balance by Nature always thinks about what is happening in the lives of employees, both inside and outside of work, to stay ahead of the curve and deliver relevant content that helps them feel good and succeed. This strategy has allowed Balance by Nature to expand its suite of wellness experiences into new areas over the years to support the needs of its client’s employees continuously. In response to the pandemic, the organization curated new mental health, personal development, and team-building experiences to provide valuable tools for employees to get through this challenging time more balanced as individuals and unified as a team.
Balance by Nature’s mission is to develop wellness programs that inspire busy professionals to make small healthy changes in their daily routines to improve their health outcomes, overall well-being, job satisfaction, and productivity. Balance by Nature collects metrics to evaluate the success of its programs. Across the board, employees report a 90% reduction in stress levels after participating in yoga and meditation classes, in addition to feeling twice as productive in the 3 hours following a lunchtime class. They report an 87% increase in energy levels after participating in the fitness training and boot camp classes and report a 93% increase in happiness levels after participating in dance fitness classes.
Corporations face a wide range of challenges in this COVID-era that sent all their employees to work from home. They struggle to maintain a sense of culture, identity, and team unity amongst a remote workforce of stressed-out employees that are entirely overwhelmed and stretched thin. COVID has personally touched many employees; while there are many who are struggling to work from home along with homeschooling their kids, others who live alone are acutely feeling the isolation and the accompanying depression and mental health issues. Some are triggered by the spotlight on racial injustice, and a lot more are experiencing an emotional rollercoaster from the heated political climate in the country. “The need for effective employee wellness solutions is on the rise,” says Mixdorf.
Balance by Nature’s mission is to develop wellness programs that inspire busy professionals to make small healthy changes in their daily routines to improve their health outcomes, overall well-being, job satisfaction, and productivity.
Balance by Nature creates space for employees to come together and release stress and tensions with its music therapy classes, and other stress reduction experiences. The organization started offering diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and training to facilitate more inclusive and supportive work environments where everyone feels welcome and contributes similarly. Balance by Nature has partnered with an organization that offers phone support for employees with people who have walked in their shoes before.
The organization has also expanded its stress reduction and personal development workshops and seminars to incorporate building emotional resiliency, breaking through fear, releasing the grip of anxiety, embracing change, structuring the day for success, and more. Balance by Nature always has its finger on the pulse about what employees are dealing with to provide real-time solutions that support them, especially in challenging times. This agile approach to content creation and curation has allowed Balance by Nature always to stay a step ahead with innovative solutions.
Balance by Nature’s service offering includes fitness, nutrition, stress reduction, personal development, and team building programs that are live-streamed and hosted in a beautiful online portal for on-demand viewing. Balance by Nature is expanding rapidly, and excited about the positive impact they are making in the world. The organization is always looking into new technologies and is planning to launch a new platform later this year.
