Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaykayla Smith.
Hi Shaykayla, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
As far back as I can remember, I found myself asking questions about why we think the way we do, what shapes our beliefs, and why people experience the world so differently from one another.
I was a quiet, observant, and curious kid. I’ve always loved learning, asking questions, and understanding how things work.
I grew up in an Asian-immigrant household where dreaming big was encouraged. Like many first-generation Asian children, I was taught the value of education and hard work from an early age. There was always an energy of pursuing opportunities, working hard, and doing what you could to create a better life while caring for the people around you. I carried those values into everything I pursued, always looking for opportunities to learn, grow, and challenge myself. Looking back, that perspective shaped me more than I probably realized at the time.
Throughout my childhood, my sister and I were constantly creating something. We’d set up lemonade stands, make handmade crafts to sell, and organize yard sales. At the time, I never thought of it as entrepreneurship. It felt natural, almost instinctual. I enjoyed creating, sharing ideas, and building things from the ground up.
What began as childhood creativity gradually evolved into a deeper interest in entrepreneurship, innovation, and building ideas that could have a meaningful impact. I started working as a teenager and balanced multiple jobs throughout college. When I discovered the startup world, I felt like I had found an environment where curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving perfectly came together.
Over the next decade, I had the opportunity to build across a wide range of industries, from technology and fashion to wellness, biotech, and creative ventures. I found myself drawn to fast-moving environments where ideas became reality and where I could help founders bring meaningful visions to life through brand strategy, marketing, operations, and community building.
As rewarding as that work was, it also brought challenges I hadn’t anticipated. Like many entrepreneurs, I experienced periods of burnout while navigating my own health alongside the demands of building. Some of those seasons also brought profound personal loss. Watching my father, who was an entrepreneur himself, navigate colon cancer shifted something in me. It changed the questions I was asking about success, health, and what it truly means to build a meaningful life.
Those experiences changed the way I understood entrepreneurship. I began to see that behind every company was a human being and the wellbeing of that person inevitably shaped what they created. That realization sparked a much deeper curiosity. I wanted to better understand why some people thrive while others struggle, how our health influences the way we think and behave, and how our internal world shapes the lives we create. Over time, that curiosity led me to become a Certified Holistic Health Coach, and what once felt like separate interests gradually came together into one body of work.
Today, I work with founders, leaders, and high-performing individuals through Integrative Wellth, exploring how our internal state, our environments, and the way we care for ourselves shape the way we lead, create, and experience life. Looking back, every chapter has felt connected. Each one has brought me a little closer to the work I believe I was always meant to do.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t think entrepreneurship was ever meant to be a smooth road, and in many ways, I’m grateful it isn’t.
I’ve come to believe that some of life’s greatest lessons emerge through struggle. The seasons that challenge us have a way of expanding our perspective, deepening our empathy, and shaping the way we move through the world.
There have been seasons of uncertainty, moments where I questioned my direction, and periods where I found myself pouring so much energy into building that I lost sight of the person doing the building. I’ve experienced the financial uncertainty that comes with bootstrapping a business, wondering how to make things work while continuing to believe in the vision. I’ve experienced moments of burnout, navigated personal health challenges, and walked through profound grief after losing my father. Those experiences changed me in ways I never could have anticipated.
One of the greatest lessons entrepreneurship has taught me is that external success and internal alignment don’t always grow at the same pace. It’s possible to build something that looks successful while feeling disconnected from yourself.
Over time, I realized many of the challenges I was experiencing weren’t unique to me. So many founders and leaders carry an incredible amount of responsibility while continuing to push forward, often placing their own wellbeing at the bottom of the list. That realization became one of the driving forces behind the work I do today.
I wouldn’t change those difficult seasons. They challenged many of the assumptions I held about achievement, productivity, and success, and gave me a deeper understanding of leadership, wellbeing, and the human experience. More than anything, they reminded me that behind every founder is a person with hopes, fears, relationships, responsibilities, and a life beyond the business. I believe that’s the person we have to care for first.
Those experiences taught me that a fulfilling life isn’t built by optimizing one part of ourselves while neglecting the rest. It’s built when the way we live, work, lead, and care for ourselves begins to feel aligned. That’s become the foundation of both my life and my work.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Integrative Wellth is a coaching practice built around the belief: the quality of our lives and the quality of what we create are deeply connected.
For many founders and leaders, success comes with extraordinary opportunities, yet it can also bring immense responsibility, constant decision-making, and an ongoing tendency to place themselves at the bottom of the list. Over time, I became increasingly interested in the person behind the business and how their internal world shapes the way they lead, build, create, and experience life.
Through private coaching, I work with founders, executives, and high-performing individuals to explore the intersection of health, leadership, identity, and human potential. Rather than viewing wellbeing as a collection of isolated habits, I take an integrative approach that considers the whole person. Our physical health, mental and emotional wellbeing, relationships, environment, purpose, and daily rhythms all influence one another, and together they shape the quality of our lives.
What sets Integrative Wellth apart is that the work extends beyond performance. My goal isn’t simply to help someone become more productive or optimize another area of their life. It’s to help them cultivate greater alignment between who they are, how they live, and what they’re building. I believe sustainable leadership begins there.
More than anything, I’m proud of the intention behind the brand. Integrative Wellth was built from lived experience and a genuine desire to support the human side of entrepreneurship. My hope is that the people who work with us leave with more than healthier habits or clearer goals. I hope they leave with a deeper understanding of themselves and a way of living that feels aligned with the life they’re creating.
How do you define success?
Success has become a much different concept than it was earlier in my life. For a long time, I thought success was something to pursue. It was tied to achievement, productivity, building meaningful businesses, and reaching the next milestone. While I still value ambition and love creating, my perspective has evolved over the years.
Today, I define success as living in alignment.
To me, that means living in a way where the person I am, the work I do, the relationships I nurture, and the way I care for my mind, body, and spirit all support one another rather than compete for my attention. It means making decisions that reflect my values, creating work that feels meaningful, and building a life that I don’t feel the need to escape from.
I don’t believe success asks us to choose between ambition and wellbeing. I believe the most sustainable success comes when those two things grow together.
At the end of the day, success isn’t a destination I’ve arrived at. It’s an ongoing practice of paying attention, staying curious, and continuing to build a life that feels deeply authentic to who I am.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shaykaylasmith.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shaykaylasmith
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Shaykayla-Smith/61557037444664/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaykaylasmith/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shaykaylasmith
- Other: https://substack.com/@shaykaylasmith
