Christopher Walker discovered he had a passion for medicine and the human body in his teens. However, his passion was truly ignited when he doctors discovered he had a tumor in his brain. He decided that he would not go the normal treatment route and instead, worked on healing himself through other methods.
“I’ve always been fascinated with the human body. At age 16 I performed a bladder stone removal surgery on a man in Mexico, and later became the first person to graduate from Duke University’s neuroscience program in just 3 years. While I was at university, I was plagued with a host of serious health issues. When I was 19 the doctors found a brain tumor in my pituitary gland, which spurred a huge motivation for me to figure out how to heal myself without using dangerous drugs or surgeries. Within 18 months of diagnosis, I was 100% symptom-free, using only nutrition, strategic supplementation, exercise, and lifestyle adjustments. My success with healing myself naturally led me to starting my company UMZU in 2015 with my business partners Darren Crawford and Mike Dobson.” Christopher recounts.
It was this life changing journey that inspired Chris to join the e-commerce world selling and creating supplements to help people live a healthier life. Their products help all different kinds of people with all different types of ailments. Their products have truly been revolutionary and life changing for many people.
“Since 2015, we’ve been creating supplements and other natural products designed based on a foundational health philosophy, called the Thermo Diet, that allows the human body to correct its micronutrient deficiencies and balance hormones naturally. All of our products are clinically dosed and based on hundreds of research studies to be effective. I run an e-commerce direct-to-consumer health products brand called UMZU, headquartered in sunny Boulder, CO. We make natural supplements designed to address specific health issues men and women need help with, along with organic personal care products, pet health products, functional foods, and online educational courses.” Christopher explains.
The biggest challenge for Christopher when starting his business was mindset. This is a point of struggle for many people when beginning their business journeys. This is because selling and creating products is such a switch up for people. It is easy to get bogged down in the details and forget the point of your business.
“The biggest challenge in starting a business is your mindset. Functionally, a business is mechanical, a big system of moving pieces. However, most entrepreneurs get stuck in the minutiae, and many subsequently fail, because they don’t approach building their business with a clear vision. It takes a lot of hard work, and years of learning, but once you establish true clarity of your vision, you are unstoppable if the vision is big enough, ambitious enough. This is especially true if you focus on simplifying the business, rather than making it more complicated.” Christopher says.
Christopher was able to overcome this massive mindset switch and that has made him incredibly successful in his endeavors! For those wishing to start their own business, Christopher’s piece of advice to you is to find a space in the market and fill it by satisfying a need.
“My advice for anyone looking to start their own business is to simply find a real need in the marketplace, a real problem, then solve it. That’s it. If the problem is big enough, the value of the business will reflect your ability to solve that problem over time. Many new entrepreneurs either don’t attempt to solve real world problems, or they simply try to “follow their passions” into building a start-up with no real value. One of the most important things for you to realize is that your business is not about you, it’s entirely about your customers… all of the people you will help with your products. Passion can fuel the right project, but not every passion is worthy of becoming a business.” Christopher advises.
To find out more about Christopher, you can follow him on instagram here. You can also check out his website here. Lastly, check out his youtube channel by following Christopher Walker on Youtube.
