Tag: Massachusetts

2 MOMtrepreneurs Juggling It All: Meet Celeste and Laura of Well Within, Massage and Integrated Health

Starting a business with a friend can be tricky endeavor, but it’s working for Celeste Woodside and Laura Viale of Well Within on Washington Street (between Cabots and Whole Foods). As business owners, they each balance the other’s strengths and weaknesses. In fact, it’s this collaborative culture that infuses Well Within with an integrative approach.

Not only do they offer multiple modalities that includes massage (many, many types!), yoga, accupuncture, mat pilates, guided meditation, Reiki and holistic health coaching for nutrition, but they will actually refer clients to outside wellness practitioners if they feel that is best for the client!

Let’s meet them!

1. When did you decide to work together?
Celeste Woodside

Celeste: “We have worked together in the integrative health community for 8 years and have developed a wonderful friendship during that time. We both shared office space in Newton for about 5 years before coming together in October of 2010 to form Well Within.”

2. Tell me about your families. How many kids and what ages?

Laura Viale

Laura: “I remember the day we were running around Newton Town Hall with kids in tow and thinking, “What are we getting ourselves into??” I had my 2 year old daughter, and Celeste had her 4 year old daughter and her 6 month old son. We had just made the decision to create Well Within and had to file the proper documents with the town. Since we were in a time crunch, we had to get many things done without childcare – it was a bit interesting, but we pushed through and made it happen. Celeste and I are blessed with supportive, loving husbands, and our joyful children.

Celeste has two beautiful children: her super smart, energetic 5 year old daughter, who is an avid gymnast and clearly has her parents’ gifts of creativity; and her adorable son, who will be 2 in a couple weeks and just idolizes his big sister. My happy 3 year old daughter keeps us entertained with endless “dance recitals” in every room of our house. Our extended families have also been incredibly supportive of us in every way allowing us extra time to do what it takes run a proper business.”

3. What is the most challenging aspect of juggling your own business with parenting and taking care of yourself?

Celeste: “Time. More specifically, not having enough. We are definitely learning (on the job training) the delicate and unique art of how a work-from-home-and-also-in-the-office-stay-at-home(ish)-PTO-Mom gets the job(s) done. The gas in the tank comes, not-surprisingly, from practicing what we preach … eating well, moving our bodies, being mindful, getting good sleep (when children allow) and making time for relaxation. With this fuel, we are more grounded and energized and can use our time more thoughtfully. We’ve learned that turning off all devices, getting down on the floor and building a block tower for 20 minutes or so, followed by a good snuggle is a really effective way to get a toddler to understand that sometimes you have to answer emails.”

4. What made you decide to take an integrative approach to health?

Laura: “One of the reasons our private practices were quite successful was because we actively sought out opportunities to work in combination with other health care practitioners to improve the results of our clients’ treatments. The dramatic improvements our clients experienced when integrating treatments really inspired us to create a place where our clients could come and utilize both massage and acupuncture, for example, to relieve their symptoms. The team approach of our staff and the variety of services available, gives us a great opportunity to really make a difference in the health and wellness of our clients.”

5. You also have a blog? Tell me more! What do you write about?

Celeste: “In our blog we talk about all things integrative health. We share articles we love, have guest posts by other local wellness professionals (and authors!) and sometimes we even talk about our kids!”

Well Within is going to host a FREE event in March for cancer patients and their caregivers. They will enjoy a day of pampering and treatments and go home with a goody bag. More on that later…

February 17, 2012
Best Books About Newton, MA That Make Great Gifts!

Newton North Book with photography by Sharon Schindler

Old Newton North High School is officially demolished, but fond memories are preserved thanks to the gorgeous images taken by photographer Sharon Schindler. This coffee table book makes a great gift to any Newton North graduate, young or old. To see more images from the book or to purchase a copy, please click on the image of book.

Newton (MA) (Images of Newton) by Thelma Fleishman

To examine or purchase ANY book at Amazon, please click on image of book.

A historical perspective of Newton. “Incorporated in 1688, Newton has a history as fascinating as it is long. Newton illustrates the cityas development from a community of scattered farmhouses and five small villages in the 1830s to the Garden City of the Commonwealth one hundred years later. Newtonas colorful history encompasses many unique features; not only was it one of the countryas first railroad suburbs, Newton was home to the Stanley brothers of aSteamera fame, to Gen. William Hull, whose reputation suffered during the War of 1812, and, briefly, to Horace Mann and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Newton, however, is best known not for the famous or nearly famous who lived here, but for some of the finest examples of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century domestic architecture in America.”

Walking Trails in Newton’s Park & Conservation Lands

Celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Newton, Massachusetts, December 27, 1888

History of Newton, Massachusetts: town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 by Samuel Francis Smith

To view any book more closely, please click on image of book.

September 11, 2011
High Schools That Send The Most Kids to Ivy League: Newton North and Newton South (WSJ)

The Wall Street Journal looked at the freshman class at 10 highly selective colleges (i.e. Ivy League), counted them up, and ranked the high schools — private day and boarding, public, and magnet — by the number of kids enrolled. While you would expect elite boarding schools like Andover and Philips Exeter to do well, Newton South High School (NSHS) and Newton North High School (NNHS) both made the list sending in 23 or 6% of its class and 25 or 4% of its class respectively.

The pdf is here.

August 27, 2011
Newton Ranks #3 As Best Place to Live According to CNN!

According to CNN, Newton ranked as the number 3 best place to live in America!

WINNER

Top 100 rank: 3
Population: 82,000
Unemployment: 6.0%
Compare Newton to Top 10 Best Places

Less than 45 minutes from downtown Boston via train, subway, or express bus, Newton is divided into 13 “villages” loaded with classic New England charm. Most have pedestrian-friendly shopping districts, parks, and playgrounds.The town weathered the economic downturn fairly well, thanks to such stable local employers as Boston College and Newton-Wellesley Hospital. And Greater Boston, of course, offers a wealth of health care, education, and government jobs.Residents rave about the top-ranked schools, and parents are excited for the new high school opening this fall. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” says Claudia Wu, 51, an attorney with three school-age kids who has lived in Newton for 20 years. It should be: The school cost $197 million, an amount that sparked plenty of local outrage.After all, living in this community is expensive enough: a three-bedroom house runs nearly $600,000. If it weren’t for those hefty price tags, this town would be pretty close to perfect. —Beth Braverman

August 27, 2011