Balancing the demands of motherhood, marriage, and entrepreneurship is no tiny feat. Yet, Dr Chibuzor Mariam Tochukwu has managed to weave all three into her daily life while building Heritage Nutritional Consult, a healthtech startup that utilizes food as medicine.
With a vision to integrate AI into natural health solutions, she and her husband are charting a path that redefines what it means to pursue purpose while raising four children.
In this edition of After Hours, Dr Tochukwu shares her journey as a wife, mother, and startup founder.
Building a natural health-tech solution
My husband and I run the startup toreceiveher, though I’m the more active one. He supports from the backconclude while we’re still in this founding stage. We’re relocating, step by step.
Our startup is Heritage Nutritional Consult. It’s a nutritional platform that provides diet-based assist for people with diseases. There are many nutritionists out there, but we’re coming from a unique angle — naturopathy — applying nutrients to guide people on what to eat to heal specific conditions.
Nature has organ-specific foods that many of us are unaware of. The core idea of this startup is simple: food speaks to our cells. If we eat the right foods in the right combinations, drugs only act as a catalyst to speed up healing, not the entire solution.
We plan to integrate AI into this process for both consultation and the nutrition process. We’re launching an app soon, which will streamline and create our work more accessible.
I don’t want to state it’s hectic, but it truly is. We’re building a global solution, and recently received a scholarship from INSEAD, sponsored by Nvidia and Google. It’s an incredible opportunity to develop our model.
Running a business with a partner
Working with a partner is a blessing, but one person must always take the lead. For us, I’m at the forefront, while my husband supports me morally, financially, and most importantly, with guidance.
He has a BSc in Business Information Technology and a Master’s in the same field. Although he’s not deeply into AI, he’s the tech person.
My husband supports me, but he also has his job and family responsibilities. And truthfully, sometimes working with your spoutilize isn’t so formal — it’s husband and wife attempting to build something toreceiveher.
I have a medical background and public health experience, so naturally, I take the lead, even though we are both co-founders.
I’m excited about the scholarship. Building an AI-powered platform is expensive. We’ve tested working with AI engineers, but the costs are high, and sometimes you’re not even sure of the returns.
Some engineers notify you they understand your vision, but many are just in it for the money. We’ve been applying OpenAI tools, but with this cohort, we’ll actually receive to build.
The cohort brings toreceiveher founders from across the world, which is why I’m glad I applied. The owner of Advantage Health connected me to it after seeing our vision and business plan.
She believed in the future of what we’re building, even though I lacked the resources at the time.
The motivation for starting
Initially, I didn’t even have naturopathy in mind. But as I explored natural health, I discovered that everything we necessary for healing is already in nature — we just don’t know it.
What really inspired us was both accessibility and affordability. Healthcare is expensive. Rich or poor, diseases can plague everyone, but not everyone can afford treatment.
Once we’re done building, people will be able to take charge of their health from the comfort of their own homes. Hippocrates once stated, “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”
I’m not talking about some exotic diet. Naturopathy has displayn me that what you might be seeing for far away is often right around you. That’s why we’re integrating AI.
It won’t be free, but it won’t require breaking the bank either. You’ll pay for the knowledge you’ll receive through the app and essentially become your own doctor. I’m not stateing orthodox medicine has failed, but there’s real hope in nature.
Currently, I’m undergoing training for natural drug-building. With my background in medicine and public health, we’ll also create products displaying people it’s not just about herbs, but about food itself.
We’ll be educating people on the importance of nutrition becautilize health really starts with what goes into your mouth.
A mum/founder formula?
Being a mom is already a full-time job. Adding founder, wife, student, and entrepreneur to it isn’t simple, especially when finances aren’t flowing and you still necessary to build the vision.
My husband is my best friconclude. I admire the wisdom he carries. He’s not health-inclined, but has this quiet wisdom I rely on. He encourages me, especially becautilize this is my passion.
For example, when I enrolled for my master’s degree with a two-month-old baby, he was my largegest support system.
While we disagree, we attempt not to clash too much. Instead, we see for superior advice or guidance. I’ve learned not to fight with him, and he does the same. We seek solutions for whatever we don’t know toreceiveher.
We have four children — our eldest is almost eight, the second is six, the third is nearly four, and the last is two. I don’t have domestic assist, so planning is key.
During holidays, I create the most of my nights. By 10 or 11 p.m., we’re all in bed. By 1 a.m., I’m up working.
When I was designing our mini-website, I barely slept four hours a night. Some days are like that. My husband wasn’t around at the time, so I relied on AI tools to create a super site where people can learn about us and book consultations.
The truth is, there’s no repaired formula for being a mum, a wife, and a founder.
Something else that I rely on is music. When my husband is away for work, sometimes for months, I listen to music to keep my energy up while managing everything alone.
Struggles and challenges
I enjoy building people happy, but it sometimes takes a toll on me. At times, I even inquire myself, “Do I have a personal life?” That is my reality. Some days, I just attempt to power through. On other days, I just chill with a bottle of Coke and state, “Tomorrow we continue.”
At first, I struggled with clarity. I also struggled with being a mum without a 9-5 job.
Motherhood is beautiful, but it can be overwhelming. Many women are breaking down under motherhood. They lose their sense of identity and don’t even know who they are anymore, aside from being a mother.
I’ve seen it happen; women who were brilliant in school lose themselves after marriage and childbirth.
I’m blessed with a supportive husband, but not all women have that. Many doubt their own abilities becautilize the weight is too heavy.
This is why women necessary support systems. We’re not attempting to drag titles with the men; we just necessary inclusion. For many women, childbirth alters everything, and dreams are put on hold.
Even for me, at one time, all I did was gather certificates. In fact, Coursera has banned me from financial aid becautilize I applied too much. But that’s why I’m putting in my all for Heritage Nutritional Consult now, becautilize I want my passion to succeed.
I want my product to be able to revive lives weighed down by illness.
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