Last weekend I attended the W.E.L.L. Summit for the first time. This annual wellness conference brought together an array of speakers and presenters, ranging from fitness and nutrition to beauty and wellness to fair trade and ethical fashion and valuable information on building your own wellness brand. A weekend filled with good food, inspiring brands, engaging and thought-provoking luminaries and most of all, a strong, wellness community.

Held in Brooklyn on Oct. 5 and 6, 2018, here are eight sessions and panels that stood out at this year’s Summit.

PANEL–THE ART OF THE HEALTHY HUSTLE: HOW WELLNESS LUMINARIES STAY HEALTHY, STRONG AND SANE AS THEY BUILD BRANDS THAT ARE CHANGING THE WORLD, PRESENTED BY WOMEN’S HEALTH MAGAZINE AND HOSTED BY EIC LIZ PLOSSER

Liz Plosser, the editor-in-chief of Women’s Health magazine, hosted and moderated a lively panel of leading women in wellness including Robin Berzen, Founder of Parsley Health, Sarah Larson Levey Founder of Y7, Candice Huffine Founder of Day Won, Influencer and activist Mia Kang, and Ally Love founder of LoveSquad and host of New York Brooklyn Nets. 

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR YOUR WELLNESS BUSINESS, WITH IZZY SAPIEN OF RITUAL REBELLION, KSENIA AVDULOVA OF WOKE & WIRED AND LINDSAY PATTON-CARSON OF PIPERWAI, MODERATED BY JAY WEEKS OF WELL SUMMIT

This diverse panel provided tangible takeaways and answered tactical questions on how to use social media, newsletters and other online platforms to grow your wellness business successfully.

PANEL: WOMEN INVESTING IN WELLNESS, FEATURING TINA BOU-SABA AND ROBIN LI

This powerhouse panel of female investors helped us navigate the world of funding, giving us an inside peek into what investors look for when partnering with wellness companies.

How to Build a Successful Speaking Career, with Amber L. Wright

This informative session with speaking coach Amber L. Wright, helped us get clear on our message, nail down our target audience and take those first steps toward finding and booking engagements.

MAKE YOUR INNER SHADOW YOUR GAME CHANGER: HOW TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS BY ENGAGING YOUR WEAKNESSES, WITH NELL RUECKL

Instead of ignoring our weaknesses, this session taught us how to embrace them, to build a stronger business. We completed a short vision statement, and walked away with a workbook to enable to us to use all we learned as a springboard for growth.

SUSTAINABILITY AS A MINDFULNESS PRACTICE, WITH ASHLEE PIPER

In this session, author and sustainability advocate Ashlee Piper helped us uncover the small shifts we can all make for the planet, and to help us live mindfully in the present.

HOW TO CLEAR YOUR CHAKRAS AND MANIFEST WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE, WITH NIKKI NOVO

Learn to understand and connect with your seven chakras– our centers of spiritual power in the body. In this interactive session, we learned to identify chakra imbalances and to clear them, and how use your chakras to manifest what you want in life.

FERMENT-ME-NOT: HOW TO USE PROBIOTIC-RICH FOODS TO GROW YOUR GUT GARDEN AND HEAL YOUR BODY, WITH PHOEBE LAPINE

Phoebe will share recipes and strategies for incorporating more fermented foods into your diet, why they’re so much more powerful than a pill and how they’ll make your life that much more delicious.

Other notable Keynote speakers

  • Christy Turlington Burns – Founder & CEO, Every Mother Counts
  • Elisa Camahort Page – Entrepreneur, Speaker and Advisor
  • Scott Harrison – Founder and CEO of charity: water

Other notable breakout sessions and panels 

  • Agatha Achindu – Founder, Yummy Spoonfuls
  • Allison Knott, MS, RDN, CSSD – Communication Expert
  • Amy Ziff – Founder & Executive Director, Made Safe
  • Ashlee Piper – Eco-lifestyle Expert
  • Blair Badenhop – Wellness Copywriter & Brand Strategist
  • Izzy Sapien – CEO Ritual Rebellion and Well/Beauty Marketing Expert
  • Jeannie Jarnot – Founder of Beauty Heroes
  • Jenny D. Brice, MFT, MPH – Psychotherapist & Reiki Practitioner
  • Kelly Love – Co-Founder, Branch Basics
  • Mabel Nuñez – Chief Investment Officer of Girl$ on The Money
  • Nell Rueckl – Founder of Spot Spas
  • Robin Li – Vice President, GGV Capital
  • Sandra Lanshin Chiu – Acupuncturist and Herbalist
  • Sarah Villafranco, MD – Founder & CEO of Osmia Organics
  • Satya Scainetti – Founder of Satya Jewelry
  • Vanessa Feils – Meditation Guru, Life, and Career Coach